You know it's going to be a good powder day when you've just finished shoveling the driveway and you're worried the big town plow will come by again before you leave for the ski hill! Today, with a winter storm warning still in effect, and a couple of feet of snow on the ground, I was surprised when the sun came out as I turned onto Route 100. But when I got up to Mad River Glen? Yup, still snowing.
As the line formed to wait for the first chair on the Single, everyone watched and cheered as a few skiers made deep powder turns down the Practice Slope. Just 24 hours earlier, parts of that run had been grass. Now? Full-on pow.
Indeed, Mad River Glen has had a rough patch in recent weeks, and has been mostly closed. Mad River Glen is an all-natural snowpack kind of place, which is one of the reasons it’s so special. So that requires Mother Nature’s cooperation. Recent warm-ups had melted too much of the main mountain's snow and turned the rest into ice.
But today there was light, deep powder to enjoy. What a transformation! It was a Single Chair kind of day so I never made it over to the Double Chair. One reason? More than two feet of deep pow needs steeps! Mad River Glen has plenty of that. I had great runs on Fall Line, Creamery, Upper and Lower Glades, Paradise, Lynx and Lower Antelope. Catamount Bowl was also in great shape except for a couple of icy spots.
Another sign it was deep? A lot of people had trouble finding their released skis today after they took a tumble.
The very tops of Paradise and Lynx were definitely a little thin, but after that they were fantastic. Another area of concern was the lower third of the mountain, where there isn’t much base, just 2 feet of light snow. Keep this in mind if you head into the woods.
Apparently all the nearby schools were closed so kids of all ages were out in the pow. When I went into the Base Box at midday it was jammin'.
Stella delivered some of the best turns of the year today. Thanks, Stella!
—Skimeister
