powderfreak
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- Joined
- Jan 9, 2007
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March 23 - Day 79
I've been looking for something new to do and it being Easter Sunday, I
figured lift-accessed Dawn Patrol was in order....or something like it. I
was told by a friend who's there every year that the gondola opens at 5:15am
and you can spin laps until 6:30am. The gondi then would shut down till 7am
during the Sunrise Service, but then it would stay open; the one day the
gondola is running well before the quad.
I was on I89 by 4:30am and at the resort by 5:15am. But wait, there are
"Parking Lot Full" signs already up and a steady stream of traffic up the
Mountain Road...all you could see is a line of headlights making there way
up the hill in the darkness. I heard they pulled a crowd for this but the
atmosphere was pretty sweet. Free lift tickets for as many runs as you can
get from 5-8:30a plus free coffee, hot chocolate, muffins, pastries,
etc...take a run, grab a coffee and a muffin then repeat; it was a ski bums
dream.
I booted up by the moonlight and was on my second, moonlit run by 545am. A
freshly groomed Perry Merrill by moonlight with the twinkling lights of cats
still at work over on Quadside and the village of Stowe off in the distance.
By 6am we were seeing the first hints of the sun.
http://tinyurl.com/23qpnx
Moments later it exploded over New Hampshire and Mansfield erupted in
morning alpenglow as the service started. I'm not a religious person, but
its hard not to be thankful for day after day on this mountain.
http://tinyurl.com/25lsnw
http://tinyurl.com/yst2sn
Then it was 7am and time to make some more runs as the hill was golden in
morning sunshine...the quad isn't even open yet so everyone's sticking to
the gondi side.
http://tinyurl.com/yvt855
I went out to the bench and found powder noodle turns in some of the more
hidden spots.
http://tinyurl.com/27xak8
http://tinyurl.com/2claw2
The hill's looking great. This is the deepest snowpack I've seen up here in
my 5 year tenure. Entire stands of trees are now disappearing by the storm
up top and its continuing downhill quite a ways. Now its just trees and
alleyways of snow; spring should not disappoint this year.
http://tinyurl.com/2guluc
http://tinyurl.com/22m5gx
By 10am I had done 20,000 verts and was sitting under the kitchen wall
enjoying the sun when Jumpin' Jimmy called. He's at the gondola. Cool. I
skied down and took one last run with him down the ridge to LT route.
http://tinyurl.com/ytpy7g
I was home at noon following a full day of skiing.
________________________________________________________________
March 24 - Day 80
Dave, his girlfriend Emily, and I arrived bright and early just before the
crack of 11am. Flurries and a period of steadier snow deposited a quick
inch of fluff up top with only a dusting at the base, but its been nice to
be in a mid-winter pattern.
http://tinyurl.com/2x52hl
http://tinyurl.com/2f3c78
We split up and made plans to meet at the Octagon in a bit. I had some
powder to ski. You know after 10,000 people skied past this over the
weekend that either 1) no one knows these lines exist or 2) the people that
cut them forgot about them. The other option is that the snowpack is just
*that* deep and what are normally appetizing looking lines, just aren't
pruned high enough. This line is very close to closing off completely in
spots. I normally have plenty of clearance through here but now from the
waist up its like bush-whacking in spots.
http://tinyurl.com/2xtmvr
http://tinyurl.com/2dk4bt
http://tinyurl.com/yvozv6
Usually impenetrable krummholz is now only scattered tree tops and its one
more storm away from being a straight-up snowfield.
http://tinyurl.com/2hw6j3
Emily had just started skiing about two months ago...based on how Dave
describes it, I was impressed at how proficient she was on the hill. I was
expecting pizza pie but we had moved on to french fry. I guess when you
live with people who eat, sleep, and breathe skiing at home (plus leave 5
days a week to go to the hill), you might also sub-consciously at least know
how to get down.
http://tinyurl.com/2ejgza
When the sun came out in the afternoon, we were making runs down the gondi
trails as white, puffy clouds raced over ridge. We skied until they took
the red cabins off the line and then drove back into the warm valley with
the sun still well in the sky.
-Scott
I've been looking for something new to do and it being Easter Sunday, I
figured lift-accessed Dawn Patrol was in order....or something like it. I
was told by a friend who's there every year that the gondola opens at 5:15am
and you can spin laps until 6:30am. The gondi then would shut down till 7am
during the Sunrise Service, but then it would stay open; the one day the
gondola is running well before the quad.
I was on I89 by 4:30am and at the resort by 5:15am. But wait, there are
"Parking Lot Full" signs already up and a steady stream of traffic up the
Mountain Road...all you could see is a line of headlights making there way
up the hill in the darkness. I heard they pulled a crowd for this but the
atmosphere was pretty sweet. Free lift tickets for as many runs as you can
get from 5-8:30a plus free coffee, hot chocolate, muffins, pastries,
etc...take a run, grab a coffee and a muffin then repeat; it was a ski bums
dream.
I booted up by the moonlight and was on my second, moonlit run by 545am. A
freshly groomed Perry Merrill by moonlight with the twinkling lights of cats
still at work over on Quadside and the village of Stowe off in the distance.
By 6am we were seeing the first hints of the sun.
http://tinyurl.com/23qpnx
Moments later it exploded over New Hampshire and Mansfield erupted in
morning alpenglow as the service started. I'm not a religious person, but
its hard not to be thankful for day after day on this mountain.
http://tinyurl.com/25lsnw
http://tinyurl.com/yst2sn
Then it was 7am and time to make some more runs as the hill was golden in
morning sunshine...the quad isn't even open yet so everyone's sticking to
the gondi side.
http://tinyurl.com/yvt855
I went out to the bench and found powder noodle turns in some of the more
hidden spots.
http://tinyurl.com/27xak8
http://tinyurl.com/2claw2
The hill's looking great. This is the deepest snowpack I've seen up here in
my 5 year tenure. Entire stands of trees are now disappearing by the storm
up top and its continuing downhill quite a ways. Now its just trees and
alleyways of snow; spring should not disappoint this year.
http://tinyurl.com/2guluc
http://tinyurl.com/22m5gx
By 10am I had done 20,000 verts and was sitting under the kitchen wall
enjoying the sun when Jumpin' Jimmy called. He's at the gondola. Cool. I
skied down and took one last run with him down the ridge to LT route.
http://tinyurl.com/ytpy7g
I was home at noon following a full day of skiing.
________________________________________________________________
March 24 - Day 80
Dave, his girlfriend Emily, and I arrived bright and early just before the
crack of 11am. Flurries and a period of steadier snow deposited a quick
inch of fluff up top with only a dusting at the base, but its been nice to
be in a mid-winter pattern.
http://tinyurl.com/2x52hl
http://tinyurl.com/2f3c78
We split up and made plans to meet at the Octagon in a bit. I had some
powder to ski. You know after 10,000 people skied past this over the
weekend that either 1) no one knows these lines exist or 2) the people that
cut them forgot about them. The other option is that the snowpack is just
*that* deep and what are normally appetizing looking lines, just aren't
pruned high enough. This line is very close to closing off completely in
spots. I normally have plenty of clearance through here but now from the
waist up its like bush-whacking in spots.
http://tinyurl.com/2xtmvr
http://tinyurl.com/2dk4bt
http://tinyurl.com/yvozv6
Usually impenetrable krummholz is now only scattered tree tops and its one
more storm away from being a straight-up snowfield.
http://tinyurl.com/2hw6j3
Emily had just started skiing about two months ago...based on how Dave
describes it, I was impressed at how proficient she was on the hill. I was
expecting pizza pie but we had moved on to french fry. I guess when you
live with people who eat, sleep, and breathe skiing at home (plus leave 5
days a week to go to the hill), you might also sub-consciously at least know
how to get down.
http://tinyurl.com/2ejgza
When the sun came out in the afternoon, we were making runs down the gondi
trails as white, puffy clouds raced over ridge. We skied until they took
the red cabins off the line and then drove back into the warm valley with
the sun still well in the sky.
-Scott
