Stowe 2/20

[powderfreak]

Today was like yesterday...loud and scratchy. But then it snowed a little and it was still loud and scratchy. However, everything was starting to have that winter appeal again as snow slowly accumulated in the forest. Its the mountain of perpetual snow.
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Its still President's Week...and thus the kids were out in full force.
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Chapel Woods still had plenty of snow. At least 4 feet in there if my pole was even hitting the ground.
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The turns were good in the lower angle hardwoods off the Triple.
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Yesterday, I visited the bench and found the best skiing of the day down the main Angel Food lines. The skiers from the weekend skier groomed it out so when it refroze, it was smooth and predictable. Predictable, in these times of extreme variability, is good.

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The lower angle lines were the best...where the turns were relatively soft.
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The most interesting thing was again evidence of the flash-thaw that occurred on Monday. The Riverbed, which was skiing excellently on Saturday, has been completely blown-out. Either excessive H20 flow or an ice jam (likely a combination of both) led to flooding over Chin Clip at the bottom. The trail was closed yesterday and opened today without too much change in surface conditions...it looked like a few extra passes with the cat were required this time. Here's looking up where the Riverbed ends and water goes under the trail...this time a lot of debris had been left looking like it crossed the trail before the groomers got to it.
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Here's looking at the otherside...must have been quite a torrent at one point.
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Its these times that make the deep powder days that much better...we've been lucky not to have to suffer through long stretches of *firm* conditions and hopefully we'll be swimming in the powder soon enough. For now, the well-covered lower angle woods will suffice.

Until tomorrow...
-Scott

 

[BLESS]

quality.

 

[deadheadskier]

Would've liked to have seen it while the damage was actually happening on Riverbed. Definitely must have been quite the torrent.

 

[davidhowland14]

I'm starting to dread seeing your trip reports. Not because I don't like them, but because they make me so angry...

 

[powderfreak]

Would've liked to have seen it while the damage was actually happening on Riverbed. Definitely must have been quite the torrent.

Me too. I see all these canyons in the snowpack where water was obviously raging and wish I saw them with water. Here's a couple others off of Chin Clip where this creek bed is pretty much completely dried up. On Tuesday, I was skiing through the low angle hardwoods and ran into these openings in the forest. Many are dry but also down to bare rock...make good hiking trails through the 4-5 foot snowpack!

The right channel still has water in it, but the left one is dry.

Dry but evidence of some turbulent water at some point...

I had to take my skis off, slide down into this dry creek bed, then kick steps into the snowpack on the other side. I skied down this gully on Friday...now its completely snow-less thanks to the "flash-thaw."

 

[billski]

Wow. Some of those scenes look pretty familiar, but my memory for my last week's lines is weak... That is absolutely amazing. I am thrilled to see the never-ending snows cranking again. Give us another 6-12, that's all, but winter still has a long way to go. What's so great is that Stowe really doesn't have to rely on snowmaking very much. And that's what makes the woods so great. I'm hoping to get back in a couple weeks, before the mandatory Carribean vacation.

 

[cbcbd]

Amazing shots of the water damage! And sweet, that is some thick snowpack. Gotta love the north country!

 

[billski]

Amazing shots of the water damage! And sweet, that is some thick snowpack. Gotta love the north country!

Yeah, the last thing I worried about was falling. I knew that every fall would be a pleasure!

 

[powderfreak]

Yeah, the last thing I worried about was falling. I knew that every fall would be a pleasure!

Before this was consolidated...any fall would trigger anxiety attacks in most victims as you'd be wallowing in snow with nothing firm to position yourself with. Each arm and pole plant would go down in the snow as far as you could stretch. I always got up drenched in sweat like I just had a huge wrestling match with Ma Nature.

Now, off to make some afternoon turns in the sun! Its warmed up a little bit and looks nice out there!

-Scott

 

[Johnskiismore]

Wow, that would've been something to see when that water released, thank you for the pictures

 

[billski]

I always got up drenched in sweat like I just had a huge wrestling match with Ma Nature.

-Scott

I'm glad you said that. I thought it was just me, acting like an out of-shape, flipped over turtle.
It's funny how when I get righted again, I have to stop and catch my breath!

 

[powderfreak]

Stowe today...was just like yesterday except with a little more sun. Trees are still highly
variable and its survival skiing at its best. Speed is not your friend in
these conditions but Dave and I had fun being the only ones skiing the
trees. Its odd to ski so many Mansfield glades and never see another skier
till getting back on the lifts. There's probably a reason no one else is
going in, but the 1-2" yesterday blew around a little bit, filling in the
mogul troughs. As long as you turn where the fresh snow has blown in, your
fine...but this is the definition of dust on crust.

No pictures today but will probably have something from FSC tomorrow. It'll
be interesting to say the least.

-Scott

ps: This next storm is only going to really hit S.VT and south. Up to 2" is
possible from Sugarbush/MRG and north due to high ratios...with 2-4"
Killington...and 4-7" southern VT (Mt. Snow vicinity). I've got my eye on
next Tuesday which will be the next large-scale precipitation event. Looks
like snow to mixed, but what else is new. This weekend looks like a lot of
sun and good temps to be outside (just below freezing during the afternoon
highs).