Soft wet snow conditions!
About 4 inches of fresh snow on top of a consolidated surface with a very deep base.
We decided to take another tour out of Dave Goodman's Backcountry Touring songbook. "Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast". Unfortunately, he tends to leave out a few critical items, like the long slog back out.
It took us approximately 2 hours to climb to the top of the Steeple Trail via a yellow blazed trail not in the book but appeared to be the best and most direct root to the Skytop Trail. A short bit to the right was the turnoff for the Steeple Trail. That area of the mountain had lots of possible ski lines, with remanents from snow storms past.
We were interested in skiing the trail because it was a classic 1930's down mountain ski trail. This one was cut by volunteers, not the CCC, but nonetheless, it was a great ski. We were surprised by how steep it was at the top. Steeper than Teardrop or Bruce but much less trafficed. In fact, ours were the only tracks on it. The lower section was quite moderate.
All in all, a fabulous ski, just be prepared for a long, cross country-esque ski out.
About 4 inches of fresh snow on top of a consolidated surface with a very deep base.
We decided to take another tour out of Dave Goodman's Backcountry Touring songbook. "Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast". Unfortunately, he tends to leave out a few critical items, like the long slog back out.
It took us approximately 2 hours to climb to the top of the Steeple Trail via a yellow blazed trail not in the book but appeared to be the best and most direct root to the Skytop Trail. A short bit to the right was the turnoff for the Steeple Trail. That area of the mountain had lots of possible ski lines, with remanents from snow storms past.
We were interested in skiing the trail because it was a classic 1930's down mountain ski trail. This one was cut by volunteers, not the CCC, but nonetheless, it was a great ski. We were surprised by how steep it was at the top. Steeper than Teardrop or Bruce but much less trafficed. In fact, ours were the only tracks on it. The lower section was quite moderate.
All in all, a fabulous ski, just be prepared for a long, cross country-esque ski out.
