Stowe 1.21.12 - 1.22.12

[Cheese]

Date(s) Skied: 1.21.12

Resort or Ski Area:Stowe

Conditions:1" on corduroy

Better than average groomer day at Stowe on Saturday. National was the only trail in slick shape as an early week rain or melt and refreeze has made the surface difficult to allow new snow to stick. Lots of snow guns blasting at the top of the Fourrunner Quad but the snow coming out of them was too wet to make skiing under them enjoyable. Runs from the Gondola were good as were most from the Sunny Spruce Quad. Cover was a little thin on the runs off of the Sensation Quad and Sterling has some stones mixed into the groomed surface so keep a watchful eye there. I was pleasantly surprised to see a good amount of snow in the woods throughout the mountain. Ventured in a few times and didn't hit anything. I'd say the next powder day could be spent in the trees without worry.


Trip Report:

Date(s) Skied: 1.22.12

Resort or Ski Area:Stowe

Conditions:Corduroy

Trip Report:

I expected the natural and man made snow from the day before would groom up pretty sweet so I snapped on the slalom boards and headed straight for the Fourrunner Quad for some carving. Lots of fast laps laying down deep ruts on Hayride, North Slope, Lord and Gulch. Moved to the Gondola and did more of the same on Gondolier and Perry Merril. Towards the bottom of Gondolier they looked to be setting up a course so roped off a section. For whatever reason, they never closed it or set gates so basically left a fresh groom for all those that ventured in there. Again, more hero snow to play in. After a late lunch I headed over to Sensation to see if there was any leftover pow to play in. There were spots where I could still find 1 or 2 turns to awake the muscle memory and prepare for the next storm.

Two better than expected days at Stowe for a slow snow season.

 

[KevinF]

I was up at Stowe as well. Snow guns were blasting like there was no tomorrow on the groomer cruisers off the quad; they must have had them going all week based on the size of some of the whales. I was amazed they didn't have them mowed down for the weekend crowd.

Bump runs were kind of ummmm, interesting. National and Chin Clip were covered in some pretty light fluff Saturday morning which was hiding a really really hard / slick base. The bumps themselves were soft, the troughs could have been home to an ice hockey game.

Groomers were fun though, although hitting the exposed "shiny" sections sure got your attention.

 

[Nick]

Pics!!

 

[Cheese]

Pics!!

Sorry, I took none.

 

[rocojerry]

Sorry, I took none.

I was there 1/21, took some pics, and found some 12-18" in the woods
I'll upload em tonight.

 

[Cheese]

I left out one little complaint. For those who haven't been to Stowe this year they're now using RFID cards. I thought this was going to be a plus as I get tired of showing my ticket and having the bar code scanned on each run at other resorts. However, there's quite a line in the morning as they issue new and reload old RFID cards. At the end of the day when you're all packed up and ready to leave for the day you have to go stand in the ticket line again to get your $5 refundable deposit back for returning the card. Not a fan!

 

[KevinF]

I left out one little complaint. For those who haven't been to Stowe this year they're now using RFID cards. I thought this was going to be a plus as I get tired of showing my ticket and having the bar code scanned on each run at other resorts. However, there's quite a line in the morning as they issue new and reload old RFID cards. At the end of the day when you're all packed up and ready to leave for the day you have to go stand in the ticket line again to get your $5 refundable deposit back for returning the card. Not a fan!

If you plan to ever go to Stowe again, why didn't you keep your RFID card? You can reload them online. I do like the new system; I got mine back in December (so there was no line to get mine) and I just reload it online.