Stowe BC

[JD]

Got to the lot today after some morning shoveling and it was windy. Real windy. Skinned up to the gondi house, and the wind seemed to have died down. Skinned up to the summit and the boot pack was calm, we could have passed a bowl with a match. Stopped about 100 feet from the summit and layered up and put helmets/goggles on. Crested thr boot pack and got obliterated by wind. Around the knob towards the top of profanity was brutal. Steady 50-55 knots. We both started showing some frost bite in about 1 minute on our noses and exposed cheek bones. Over into profanity and it is blow off completely. Down to the icy hardpack. My bro starts sidestepping down into it and the wind is at our backs. With every gust I feel my feet unweighting. The pitch here was 40 degrees, rocky, and we were over an icy chute full of rocks and small trees. Yuk. I waved him off and after some tense sidehilling we were over the shoulder. We went back and hit it from the side entrance. It was full of snow from here to the first choke point. Then it was scoured off thru the spruce alley, then as it opened up the snow quality improved greatly. Hardy explored some steep shots off the side of the main line. We got to taft and it was burried. Got warm and ate some food then headed out and scored what I think is the sickest top to bottom run on Mansfield. The snow was truely epic. In the trees up high 20-30+inches blower powder. Base of the mtn. a solid 12-18. We hung out in the notch and skinned around. We found some unstable snow, one chute had slid. The chunder was real firm so we were skinning switchbacks up it. As the upper chute came into view we could see a crown where the avi broke off with a good amount of snow hanging in the top half of the gully. We ended up skiing a gully just over that had not slid. It settled a coula times as we cut accross it on our way up. Hardy gave a real agressive ski cut just below the ice buldge we were dropping in from and nothing happend. I really wish I had my cordlette for such things. It was a short but very steep shot that fed into the gully we intended to ski right about where the depostion pile ended up. Below the chunder the snow was pure joy. Best run of the year today, best snow so far of the season.

 

[WHAPWORTH]

yeeehaww,

looks like a kicking time; you guys certainly found the Great White Magician.

was up on the hour glass two weeks ago, good but still pretty boney. Finally covering up the early January thaw. Bound for big jay and likely mansfield sat / sun if any of you are around and want to explore. big jay was waist deep last weekend even before the storm and empty, which only means one thing for this weekend....

cheers and interested in a few of those lines in your video that i haven't seen up at mansfield, that is if you're willing to divulge.

cheers and thanks for the stoke.

 

[campgottagopee]

Nicely done---thanks for sharing

 

[hardline]

looks like fun. why is your camera tinted so blue?

 

[JD]

Just how it looks in low light situations....with tons of white powder all around....

 

[billski]

nice. You must have been riding pretty high if there was 20-30.
When I fell today (over in Mt. Wash Valley), I couldn't believe how deep it was, since I was sinking in only about a foot. I think the snow was firmer than it looked. Then again, I saw fats in that pic.

I don't miss the wind!

 

[TheBEast]

Way to get after it.....almost as good as a Powderfreak report :razz:....speaking of, hows the rehab coming? You out trolling the forum?

 

[danny p]

awesome vid.....those are def. the goods!

 

[BigJay]

I read your post... mentionning scrapping ice... Then wind blown.... but you look at the video and it's just awsome! Great stuff! This w-e will be great! I can't wait for tomorrow morning!

Now i have to start putting up a video of our BC turns... Every week i get little clips here and there... A few pics as well... but can't commit to uploading all of this... I'll get there eventually!

Good job with the vids!

 

[JD]

nice. You must have been riding pretty high if there was 20-30.
When I fell today (over in Mt. Wash Valley), I couldn't believe how deep it was, since I was sinking in only about a foot. I think the snow was firmer than it looked. Then again, I saw fats in that pic.

I don't miss the wind!

I love when the Chin is gnarly. I def. layed down once feeling like I was gonna get blown down into upper profanity. It's like she was gonna give up the goods, but not without extracting her dews. As H said once we got into the shelter, "we just got slapped around up there." But they were love slaps. Snow was almost perfect. Ski pentration while skinning was 8-12 inches. Mid carve we were digging trenches. The kind of day where you look for every horizon line to cannonball off of. Even cover, every turn was deep and soft in the trees on the top 2/3 of the hill. Playing around in the notch is still a little sketchy. Some big boulders up in there and big pieces of ledge that just got covered from this storm lurking. Skiied that line more conservatively, tips up, not dropping any teleturns. Puls the two Whumps we heard, and the naturally triggered avi from early that morning that we found had me (if not us) a little nervy. It was a wicked fun day though...Only two descents...One top to bottom on Mansi that was broken up into 3 distinct "runs", and one up in the notch. 6 hours. Totally worth it. Still pumped.

 

[Andrew Caffrey]

nice stuff.
not having been there I'm struck by how open it looks, or how much room there seems space there seems to manuever, or is that a trick of the camera?

 

[campgottagopee]

nice stuff.
not having been there I'm struck by how open it looks, or how much room there seems space there seems to manuever, or is that a trick of the camera?

No trickory---that place has some sweet BC

 

[hardline]

nice stuff.
not having been there I'm struck by how open it looks, or how much room there seems space there seems to manuever, or is that a trick of the camera?

its amazing the stuff you can access on mansfield. if you include the backside its just well huge. granted you gota slog out.