First two days of the season....did not disappoint.
Left work early, pick my buddy up, headed north. Made it to the Prohibition Pig in Waterbury around 9. Pro Tip - the pig stops serving food at 10. Make all travel plans accordingly.
Poutine was A+, chicken and biscuits A. Hill Farmstead single IPA with an anoint name was perfect, sip o sunshine as expected, and couple other good IPAs. Pro Tip - if you want to try a variety of beers at the Pig, order half glasses. I mean, unless you have a driver waiting at the curb....
Rained all the way to where we were staying in Stowe, then turned to snow just as we pulled into the driveway. Would get about 1-1/2"...we were feeling optimistic.
Following morning, thought about Jay, saw no compelling reason to drive an hour, went to Stowe. On the mountain around 10, first few runs were great - Sunrise, Lord, nice and soft - really feels like they got more than the 1" they advertised. Centerline bumps were a bit harsh, icy troughs. That would be the only run we never repeated.
Found a low angle glade down....sunrise? I forget now...might have been North slope at this point? I forget. But we were stoked to be in the trees - as short as it was - on Day 1, first day of december - Spoiler - this would not by the last glade skiing we did.
Nosedive was amazing - soft snow the top 1/3, corn snow the bottom 1/3 scratchy middle 1/3. Great run.
So my friend and I have recently got the notion that we should be touring....which you know, doesn't really make much sense. We live in New Jersey. Opportunities to ski are scarce enough. Why would we want to WALK up mountains on the few ski days we have? Yet, I managed to cobble together an AT set up with some used bindings and my old Rossi B2 skis...and skins. My friend is a tele skier, so it was easier for him.
So, at thin point on Friday, we had skied everything - time to skin....I swapped my Bushwackers for the AT set up, we skied the top of Nosedive, then to the cliff trail where we started our first ever 'tour'....hiked up the cliff trail to Perry Merrill....where the snow looked great....but was utterly unskiable! Wind blown, frozen crust! I was blaming my old, un-tuned skis. But that was a lie - I would ski them later on the trails and they were fine. It was just tough snow for me to ski. My buddy did fine with it.
ut it was cool to get the practice putting gate skins on, getting the rhythm of the hiking, etc...it was fun...
One beer at the Shed....hmm....I forget which one...an IPA I didn't recognize. Good tunes at the shed. One beer at the Matterhorn with wings and dumplings - Two Roads Road to ruin...then dinner at the Bench - Hill Farmstead Edward all night. Food was Meh. Poutine, B, Pizza, B-. But that beer is great....
Saturday, the trails were much more scratchy. Nosedive was still pretty solid. After looking at the closed Nosedive woods a couple of times, we finally gave it a whirl - incredible! Super soft, well covered....really could be open I think....we weren't the only ones skiing it y a long shot, and I bet they open it officially soon. So pumped to have a good length tree shot on Dec. 2....
Then, back tot he AT set up for more adventures! Rode teh quad, put the skins on, hiked up the toll road, saw the Mansfield stake for the first time ever, found the Amhearst trail, hiked that for a bit, turned around at a nice view, continued up the toll road to the head of the long trail, then skied beautiful soft snow all the way back to the quad.
It was full on winter up there....so quiet, and peaceful....really nice way to spend an hour or so. Not that the resort was that crowded. But I could see on a really busy day, be nice to escape the masses....
Changed clothes in the lot, back in teh car heading to Jersey at 2:30....oppps, car stopped at that great beer store in Waterbury. Case of Super Session, 4-pack Lush, 4 pack something else....(already have HT and SoS at home....) Tacos at the Pig brewery - Pro-tip - the brewery behind the restaurant served food and beer - not all the beer offered up front, but if it's packed, you might score a seat there - and home by 9:30.
Fantastic days 1and 2. Stowe really delivered.
Left work early, pick my buddy up, headed north. Made it to the Prohibition Pig in Waterbury around 9. Pro Tip - the pig stops serving food at 10. Make all travel plans accordingly.
Poutine was A+, chicken and biscuits A. Hill Farmstead single IPA with an anoint name was perfect, sip o sunshine as expected, and couple other good IPAs. Pro Tip - if you want to try a variety of beers at the Pig, order half glasses. I mean, unless you have a driver waiting at the curb....
Rained all the way to where we were staying in Stowe, then turned to snow just as we pulled into the driveway. Would get about 1-1/2"...we were feeling optimistic.
Following morning, thought about Jay, saw no compelling reason to drive an hour, went to Stowe. On the mountain around 10, first few runs were great - Sunrise, Lord, nice and soft - really feels like they got more than the 1" they advertised. Centerline bumps were a bit harsh, icy troughs. That would be the only run we never repeated.
Found a low angle glade down....sunrise? I forget now...might have been North slope at this point? I forget. But we were stoked to be in the trees - as short as it was - on Day 1, first day of december - Spoiler - this would not by the last glade skiing we did.
Nosedive was amazing - soft snow the top 1/3, corn snow the bottom 1/3 scratchy middle 1/3. Great run.
So my friend and I have recently got the notion that we should be touring....which you know, doesn't really make much sense. We live in New Jersey. Opportunities to ski are scarce enough. Why would we want to WALK up mountains on the few ski days we have? Yet, I managed to cobble together an AT set up with some used bindings and my old Rossi B2 skis...and skins. My friend is a tele skier, so it was easier for him.
So, at thin point on Friday, we had skied everything - time to skin....I swapped my Bushwackers for the AT set up, we skied the top of Nosedive, then to the cliff trail where we started our first ever 'tour'....hiked up the cliff trail to Perry Merrill....where the snow looked great....but was utterly unskiable! Wind blown, frozen crust! I was blaming my old, un-tuned skis. But that was a lie - I would ski them later on the trails and they were fine. It was just tough snow for me to ski. My buddy did fine with it.
ut it was cool to get the practice putting gate skins on, getting the rhythm of the hiking, etc...it was fun...
One beer at the Shed....hmm....I forget which one...an IPA I didn't recognize. Good tunes at the shed. One beer at the Matterhorn with wings and dumplings - Two Roads Road to ruin...then dinner at the Bench - Hill Farmstead Edward all night. Food was Meh. Poutine, B, Pizza, B-. But that beer is great....
Saturday, the trails were much more scratchy. Nosedive was still pretty solid. After looking at the closed Nosedive woods a couple of times, we finally gave it a whirl - incredible! Super soft, well covered....really could be open I think....we weren't the only ones skiing it y a long shot, and I bet they open it officially soon. So pumped to have a good length tree shot on Dec. 2....
Then, back tot he AT set up for more adventures! Rode teh quad, put the skins on, hiked up the toll road, saw the Mansfield stake for the first time ever, found the Amhearst trail, hiked that for a bit, turned around at a nice view, continued up the toll road to the head of the long trail, then skied beautiful soft snow all the way back to the quad.
It was full on winter up there....so quiet, and peaceful....really nice way to spend an hour or so. Not that the resort was that crowded. But I could see on a really busy day, be nice to escape the masses....
Changed clothes in the lot, back in teh car heading to Jersey at 2:30....oppps, car stopped at that great beer store in Waterbury. Case of Super Session, 4-pack Lush, 4 pack something else....(already have HT and SoS at home....) Tacos at the Pig brewery - Pro-tip - the brewery behind the restaurant served food and beer - not all the beer offered up front, but if it's packed, you might score a seat there - and home by 9:30.
Fantastic days 1and 2. Stowe really delivered.
