Mad River Glen: Where Is Everyone?

Fall Line

Mad River Glen received two inches of dense snow overnight. But who’s counting? Any new snow is good this year. And two inches was good enough to open almost all of the Glen’s on piste terrain excepting Upper Paradise, Cat Bowl, Panther, Slalom Hill, and Partridge. I was amazed at how much terrain was open and how good it was skiing.

I began the day with two tentative laps down groomed terrain before venturing into the natural snow on Lower Glade. The rehabilitation of Lower Glade has substantially improved this once dreadful trail. I was amazed at how good the conditions were. Just two inches had saved the day. Conditions were thin, ice and rocks needed to be avoided. But the bumps were soft and engaging, the turns were wonderful. It may have felt like mid-spring rather than mid-February, but it was still quality skiing.

Fall Line

I had planned on skiing for two hours and then leaving when the holiday crowds arrived and conditions deteriorated. But the crowds never showed up and conditions seemed to get better every run. The parking lot was only half full despite this being a holiday weekend. I enjoyed the Single not having a line, but it was depressing to see the Coop doing so badly on a great ski day during a holiday period.

Fall Line and Lower Antelope were both stellar and my best runs of the day. I rarely ski Lower Antelope in its entirety, the woods off LA are normally far too enticing. But today seemed like a good day for it. Panther (before it was closed) to Gazelle was also a nice selection with soft untracked cream cheese on skier’s left.

Fall Line to Lower Paradise was my last run of the day, I wish I could have lapped it a few times. But today was only my eighth day of the season and my first day skiing mostly bumps. Today was also the first day of my vacation, so I didn’t want to overdo it too early. Which was just as well as temperatures skyrocketed above freezing by noon and the lower mountain was getting manked.

Lower Paradise

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