You know the saying—no friends on a powder day. Well, while the SkiMaven was in Colorado, the Skimeister and friends traveled through a classic Valentine's Day blizzard to share Mad River Glen on an epic Vermont powder day. Despite 30-minute lift lines for the single chair, we got in all the fresh turns that our quads and knees could handle! The big draw was of course all the fresh snow (16" - 20"), but a Valentine's Day "Kiss Your Honey" lift ticket discount (smooching optional) turned out many extra skiers.
By late morning, the snowfall intensified, with some wind thrown in for good measure. Growing lift lines were almost welcomed as chatty rest for our legs before we charged into the next powdery run. We also refueled with food from the lodge (the cookies were especially awesome). With all the fresh snow, every run was a powdery bump run. I discovered that Mad River Glen's natural snow and skiers-only ethos meant the moguls were just more fun to ski than typical bumps at most other mountains. We hit bumps, bumps and more bumps on top-to-bottom runs like:
- Catamount Bowl, Ferret and Glade
- Panther and Gazelle Glades
- Lynx and Beaver
- Paradise, Upper Canyon and Grand Canyon
- Antelope (what a long romp!)
- Canyon, Broadway and Easy Way over to untracked Birdland runs like Lark and Robin
It was still snowing hard when the single chair stopped turning. As we headed down Route 17 on the way home, we noticed that cars were parked a long way out from the base area. With wobbly legs, we celebrated our stormy powder day with a Magic Hat Single Chair ale, hearty soup and truffle fries at Akes' Den in Waitsfield.
Mad River Glen on a powder day? Be mine!
