Bright sun and softening snow greeted us at Mad River Glen ski area in Fayston, Vermont, this morning. We did not rush out the door to get there when the lifts opened because we knew the snow would have to soften up a bit in order to be edgeable and enjoyable.
We loaded the Single Chair for the first time at about 10:30 a.m. and on that first run we stuck to the groomed Catamount trail — enjoying gorgeous scenery along the way. From the top of the Single Chair (at 3,644 feet) you could see the frozen Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks, and as you skied down you could see Camel's Hump and Mt. Mansfield, and even the ghostly white Presidential Range in New Hampshire.
As midday rolled around, the snow softened to corn snow in any place the sun had hit. We enjoyed swishing our way down runs off of the Single Chair and the Sunnyside Double, including Porcupine, Quacky, Bunny, Upper Antelope, Wren and Snail. We could start skiing some of the sunniest stretches of bumps, as well, and we liked the challenging bumps on Slalom Hill when that opened.
There is still quite a bit of snow up there on General Stark Mountain. Mad River Glen plans to stay open for one more week through Sunday, April 13. (A few Vermont resorts celebrated their final days of the ski season today: Bolton Valley, Magic Mountain, Bromley, Middlebury Snow Bowl and Northeast Slopes. Pico, Cochran's and Quechee Ski Hill are also closed for the season.)
We noticed a lot of families skiing MRG today, as well as a lot of telemark skiers. The Skimeister felt right at home with his free heels!
We have to admit that part of our selecting Mad River Glen as our destination today had to do with the ability to soak up some sun for après ski. The Basebox base lodge has a rather large deck that faces the lifts and a few trails and — most importantly — the sun! Servers walk around to take your order for cold beverages and Reggae music was blaring from the single chair. It was a great place to be today!
All hail spring skiing!
Just a reminder: Mad River Glen does not allow snowboarding.
