Stowe feb 15.

[JD]

Location: Ummm.....hellbrook.....er something.
Conditions: rediculously good.
Stowek: Extremely high.


Snowed all day up there. top third of the hill had 4-6 new by 1 pm. 1 lap off the chin. Found P chute to be completely blown in flat with no traffic up high today. Rock Garden, or any of the chin routes should be great tommorow morning. Lower down on the hill was filling in quickly when I left at 2. Should be good fun in the A.M.

 

[billski]

I was there today today. For the mostpart inbound woods. Higher and Lower Els.

In a phrase, JUST GO.
JD, Scott and others said it well. It is best skiing of the season in New England.
Everything, and I mean everything was wonderful. At 4pm, I did NOT want to leave, even though I was exhausted. That explains how good it is. I floated on pow, sunk to about 1 to 1.5 . When I crashed, and I did often, it was chest deep in the woods. Blue and Green trails were wonderful. Blacks had a few scratchy spotts, but nothing that couldn't be skied around.
Cancel your wedding plans, forget the dinner with the hunny. Just go.
It's too good to describe. Full TR and pics on Sunday.
Off to more skiing tomorrow.

JD what does your parka look like? I was in Yellow parka, black pants, which describes about 50 people....

 

[powderfreak]

I'm just going to post my TR with JD's and keep the Stowe Feb 15 under the same title. The snow is so good right now...I'll be out trying to move around and beyond the masses this weekend!

Today was yet another grade-A ski day. I arrived with a grin as it dumped snow, and left with an even bigger grin. Its always an adventure out here and today was no exception...at least for me. A fun day is only a turn away with Jumpin' Jim, Scotty D. and Dave.

We skied powder. It was dumping around an inch per hour this morning and then moved back in again early in the afternoon...before turning colder and windy. A fresh 3" added another layer to the recent dumpage.
Dave enters the white-room.
http://tinyurl.com/28qb75

We explored in the white out.
http://tinyurl.com/2b59u2

Jim likes being a powder and photo tuls. Here he scores the money shot.
http://tinyurl.com/yvnwdn

These are the days...when it alternates bluebird and then snow. Tue/Thur were blue, Wed/Fri were snow so it makes sense that tomorrow looks like wall to wall sunshine.
Another winter day.
http://tinyurl.com/yql6s9

Late in the day, we were descending from Taft. My old, toothpick Bandit XX's were struggling in the deep snow...I had to hop most turns but on one particular turn I felt something give; it was the ski.
http://tinyurl.com/2cgwaj

So now I had a problem. I'm above 3,000ft in about 7 feet of snow with one ski. Luckily, it wasn't actually that bad. Before hitting the Bench Traverse, I struggled; the snow was deep...every pole plant went down indefinitely and while skis stayed on top of the snow, post-holing might result result in drowning. I couldn't really turn because the tip would just get buried at a 45 degree angle...and then head straight into the snowpack. So I sidestepped down some interesting terrain before being able to ski out from the Bench down. Scotty D's duct taping handiwork gave me some confidence in it (and some interesting drag).

I had another pair of Line's in the car that Dave had been using for two weeks prior when his skis needed heart surgery. Dave and I adjusted the bindings and before I knew it, the four of us were back up there.

Scotty d. pulls up, sees the other track, and heads for the real untracked.
http://tinyurl.com/2y28ht
http://tinyurl.com/yul6cl
Scott's one of the few who smile for the camera.
http://tinyurl.com/yvzod4

Another ridge variation.
http://tinyurl.com/22l7m5

Hitting speed in the hardwoods. All the brush is buried back here now, even on these lower elevation shots that can sometimes be sketchy.
http://tinyurl.com/yte2dw

Dave checking his speed after dropping the pillows above. I botched this photo op...as I wanted to get him in the air. Landings were soft.
http://tinyurl.com/28russ

I had so much fun on the last run with the Line's that I can't wait to head out there again this weekend. Its going to be un-godly crowded but you can always lose the crowds by hiking or heading over to Spruce. Singles line at the gondola might work, too. I'm bummed I wrecked my second pair of skis in 2 weeks, but I needed an excuse to get new skis. Just got $800 from our government that should come in handy now. What to buy....?

-Scott

 

[bvibert]

Sorry to hear about the ski Scott, it must have sucked to limp down through all that powder...

BTW, I took care of your original thread for you...

 

[billski]

prepared

Boy Scott, you sure were prepared. I am really suprised you made it down, I would have expected the ski to completely snap and./or you take some good tumbles on the way down.

Was Scotty in the midway lodge at any point on Friday AM? I saw a fella with a beard and the same color parka.

For those who are still sitting on their duffs, the pics Scott presented represent conditions all over Mansfield, and I presume Spruce as well. I have a couple of groomer pics in my camera I'll post maybe tonight.

Regarding crowds, it was suspiciously un-crowded for a Friday. Gondi was ski-on ski off all day, and the chairlifts had zero wait after 2pm. At the peak, the 4-runner wait was about 5 mins due to lack of line management (temporary problem, not the rule)

 

[billski]

pics from billski

Started Snowing, didn't stop until about 2

Chin Clip woods

below rimrock

Near nosedive

chapel:

days end, the skies part. really hard to go home...

Probably my best day all season.

 

[deadheadskier]

Bill....most of that is skiers right woods lower Chin Clip correct? A couple of those shots look like 'riverbed' ....others look like 'big tits' which are to the skiers left of riverbed.

Wherever it is, that's the Stowe I know and love. What an amazing mountain when you catch it like that, which is pretty darn often. Only draw back to Stowe is the ticket price.

 

[billski]

Bill....most of that is skiers right woods lower Chin Clip correct? A couple of those shots look like 'riverbed' ....others look like 'big tits' which are to the skiers left of riverbed.

Wherever it is, that's the Stowe I know and love. What an amazing mountain when you catch it like that, which is pretty darn often. Only draw back to Stowe is the ticket price.

deadhead -
Actually, it was skier's left of CC. I learned a couple of things Friday. The most important is that Mansfield really has a "soul." What I mean, is that mountain is a really complex, intriguing, beautiful place. There is more beauty outside the obvious, named trails, that is seen by so few. It's hard to explain, perhaps by this analogy: If you're a backpacker, you see so much more than if you are a day hiker.

The second thing I learned is that my old bones ain't what they used to be. The steeper pitches proved to be a bit much - I could do them fine, but not for long - I'm not as strong as I once was, that's the PITA of getting older. I see folks 1/3 my age going down with ease, I should have started younger!. I think my funk is going to be mid-pitched woods. I have grown so used to simply using momentum and leverage to carve my way down the hill, and woods skiing requires a bit more strength. I don't want to discourage others though. If you're a skilled skier, you'll be fine.

By the way, I didn't connect with you before this last trip because it was so last-minute. I'll be going back in a couple weeks, so I'll back channel you.

Stowe is expensive, but I almost never pay full price. I get tickets through my club. There is a cap on the number of tix, and the catch is you have to get them in August, but it's worth it. I'd encourage folks to join a club like ours http://www.aceskiandboardclub.org/ now so when the August mail sale comes along you're get the prime tickets.

 

[powderfreak]

deadhead -
Actually, it was skier's left of CC. I learned a couple of things Friday. The most important is that Mansfield really has a "soul." What I mean, is that mountain is a really complex, intriguing, beautiful place. There is more beauty outside the obvious, named trails, that is seen by so few. It's hard to explain, perhaps by this analogy: If you're a backpacker, you see so much more than if you are a day hiker.

Well said, Billski. From five years of exploring the mountain for 60+ days a season, and now at day 53 on Manni this season, the amount of "soul" or even "vibe" that can be felt from the mountain is what keeps me coming back. I love Stowe, don't get me wrong, but its only because of the mountain that its on. From Burlington, you stare all day at that white-capped ridgeline and have no idea you can ride a gondi over 2,000ft up it. The pitches are near perfect with a fairly minimal runout (the downfall I see with Jay is the runout), Mansfields ridgeline shelters the snow on the Stowe side so it remains deep for a long time. Mount Mansfield is also perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing mountain to ski in New England....that coupled with the history of folks skiing this decades and decades ago brings a ski-culture richness that I haven't found elsewhere in the east.

It'll keep me exploring and coming back for years to come. We all have our favorites and I grew up with a season's pass at Gore in the Adirondacks...will always love that place...but I was always dreaming of an eastern ski experience that mixes a relatively well-managed resort with a soulful mountain. It gets better with every new secret one finds and there are tons on Mansfield...in the summertime the ski bums are hard at work doing "forest fire prevention" work thinning backcountry glades

Bill...those lines you skied and took pics of, I love that area (not too far off Chin Clip, but far enough to feel "out there") and is often overlooked as people head further into the notch. There are cut glades like that all the way to Jeffersonville, Vermont on the other side of the notch. If it weren't for the culture of backcountry skiing up here, most of these glades wouldn't have been cut.

Gotta love it!

-Scott

 

[powderfreak]

Bill...next time you come up, let me know and I'll give you a little tour of the plethora of glades on Mansfield. I'm not a sandbagger and play guide often...its easy to find unmapped glades for any ability level. Heck, most of the stuff I have fun on everyday can be skied by an upper intermediate.

 

[billski]

Thanks to all the fire prevention laborers. I owe you one. or two. or three. or four!

More pics. I'm not too good with the adjustments, so I just darkened them so you could see the snow.

Groomer:

 

[madskier6]

Bill...next time you come up, let me know and I'll give you a little tour of the plethora of glades on Mansfield. I'm not a sandbagger and play guide often...its easy to find unmapped glades for any ability level. Heck, most of the stuff I have fun on everyday can be skied by an upper intermediate.

Sorry to jump in here but does that offer of a little guided tour of the Mansfield glades stand for other Stowe visitors as well? I'll be at Stowe over Easter weekend (March 22-23) & would love to get a tour of the glades from you, Scott. I've really enjoyed your trip reports & pics from Stowe all season. I know it may be crowded that weekend but maybe it will be less crowded Sunday morning than say Saturday morning?

 

[powderfreak]

Sorry to jump in here but does that offer of a little guided tour of the Mansfield glades stand for other Stowe visitors as well? I'll be at Stowe over Easter weekend (March 22-23) & would love to get a tour of the glades from you, Scott. I've really enjoyed your trip reports & pics from Stowe all season. I know it may be crowded that weekend but maybe it will be less crowded Sunday morning than say Saturday morning?

Definitely if it works out for both of us.

-Scott

 

[JD]

You all just need to hush up now. Seriously though, great hill.