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After a November to forget, it seems like a December to Remember has finally commenced. Thanks to significant Lake Effect snow bands reaching all the way into Vermont and across New England, Mad River Glen was able to open this weekend unexpectedly. With Jay Peak having lift issues and my ski bud Nhski going to Mad River Glen, it was a total no brainer!

Due to the unexpected opening, Mad River Glen had advertised a 10am opening but actually had us on the lift by 9:30am. Seeing the mountain covered in powder and without moguls was stunning, a sight rarely seen at Mad River Glen except during the very early season. Tracks from turn earners blanketed the mountain from the past two days and this morning. But there was more than enough to go around. And the silky smooth lake effect powder was a sublime treat.

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Steve Launches the Tower 10 Cliffs (Photo Credit: eatskisleep / Micky O’Brien)

This was definitely a morning to sleep in (oops) as thing were quite firm out of the starting gate. But things got really good later in the day. Really really good. I arrived at the mountain at quarter past nine and ascended the Single feeling a chill in the air and could barely see two chairs in front of me due to fog. The Triple Crown Bump Competition was being held today and they wanted it on Chute. To break up the frozen crust, they were encouraging the bump comp folks to lap Chute. Despite the crusty snow, Mad River went with Chute and looked to have a solid event despite lack luster turn out.

My first run was down frozen groomer tracks on Upper Antelope and then around to Bunny for a top to bottom frozen groomer tracks quad burner. My skis haven’t been tuned in about a year at this point and the edges were no match for the frozen snow. I slid my way down to the Basebox and awaited the arrival of my partners.

After hanging out for half an hour, I chatted with the guys and we all headed back out for a run down Chute which had been cut up by the bump competition skiers. Better than Upper Antelope but a far cry from spring skiing. Down on Canyon, the bumps were actually surprisingly sweet with especially nice lines in the middle elevations of the trail. We hit the double chair for two more runs down Canyon to Waterfall which got better every run due to lower elevations warming up and traffic being focused on Canyon as the lower mountain bump run of choice.

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What a crowd today! Keep that up folks, no complaints here! We would be skiing into May if we could get half of today’s crowd not to hang up their skis for the season following this weekend. Because, as we all know, there is no more skiing come April.

Let’s review for those thinking about stopping to ski after this weekend: warm temperatures, no wind, sunshine, blue skies all day, lots of smiles all around, every trail open, huge base depth, and the snow still hasn’t even corned up which we can add to the list very soon. April will be sensational.

While the crowds were not expected, conditions today were much as I had anticipated. Three new inches helped refreshen surfaces earlier this week. But two days after the snow event, we are back to very firm conditions all around. Cannon today would have been night and day better conditions than Mad River Glen, but I had two vouchers to use and less than three weeks to use them. Purely an economical decision as I still have two more vouchers and a season pass. Not to mention that it is high time to think about Mount Washington. There is a pressing need to burn any remaining vouchers ASAP and today was a fine day for it.

Bumps on the trails looked rather scraped. Groomed trails skied wonderfully though shady spots not as well as those in the sun. Unmarked woods faired slightly better but were still pretty toasted. Due to a late start and needing to be back in Plymouth for a 6pm presentation (gotta love working Sunday night!), I only got four runs today as the Single was a full coral for much of the day. I found some great snow in the 20th and the drive was well worth those four runs. Earning turns gives you such a huge appreciation for one stellar run, let alone four of them. After yesterday’s bell to bell powder fest and four butt burners at Mad River today, I am one sore but satisfied skier.

With an expected “18-30 inches by Thursday morning” as forecasted by many weather prognosticators, including MRG’s own Josh Fox, this storm bonked early but still delivered a foot of fresh to Mad River Glen. While Wednesday was a spectacular day and well worth a vacation day, it was a far cry from a minimum of 18″. While I had hoped for epic, I was willing to settle for just sensational.

By the time I had bought my ticket and geared up, six dozen skiers had queued up for the Single at 8:30 A.M. I quickly did the math. Given how many chairs were on the line, I was just as well skiing right onto the double rather than waiting for the Single for first run. The line would stay strong averaging an acceptable five to ten minute wait throughout the morning but got down to three to five minutes after lunch.

Ticket window folks were warning of no refunds if the mountain went on wind hold but Mad River kept all three lifts spinning all day despite some occasionally harsh winds. The snow was a dry but dense and wind blown variety that was somewhat grabby yet fast. No dusty light powder on top either but rather solid base building stuff which the mountain needed. Occasionally, I could sink down to the rock hard frozen base when cutting a hard turn through the foot of new snow. This storm will provide a sensational base for the Friday evening event to put the fluffy white stuff on top of.

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It has been just over a month since my last visit to Mad River and that was just over a month too long. Friday skiing rules. Except for having to deal with commuter traffic, school buses, snow plows, and getting up a half hour earlier in order to arrive at the mountain a half hour later. East/West ski commutes in Northern New England are a bitch.

Upon driving into the parking lot and getting a visual on the slopes, I was immediately disappointed. Thursday was the best day for post storm mid-week skiing despite the storm generally flying under the radar due to forecasts calling for mixed precipitation earlier this week. Queuing up for the first lift ride confirmed my suspicions of tracked out conditions. So much for warming up on some of the trails I don’t normally ski. I went straight into the woods on the first run.

A dense powder was found on short but memorable untracked lines. Adjusting to the less than desirable dense snow took a few runs. Not quite the sublime dense powder we saw during much of December. Instead of skiing through the snow, I was tending to land on top of it and let it slide and glide me into the next turn.

Boot to knee deep untracked was found in some of the usual places but I also found lots of tracks in many others. Still managed to find some untracked towards the end of the day around 3pm or so but generally short slots and lines. The cut up and tracked up loose powder snow skied rather well. Bumps were rather forgiving since they were still soft and not frozen. With only one or two inches falling last night and nothing today or tonight, there will be little to no powder at the starting gate tomorrow morning.

What a way to ring in the new year. While less dedicated skiers were partying and drinking last night, I was setting an early alarm and falling asleep just before 10:00pm on New Year’s Eve. I can understand the draw of New Year’s festivities and celebrations. Many years ago, I was into that scene myself. But as the saying goes, you snooze you loose. Or, rather… you don’t snooze because you are working up a world class hang over for the next morning. You get up late and miss skiing right onto the Single Chair for almost four hours. On a holiday. On a powder day.

I was expecting the skiing at Mad River to be good but not great. Maybe I would find some good powder early morning. Or, maybe I would be nailing boot to knee deep untracked at 2:00pm on my last run of the day. Or perhaps both.

Conditions on the trails were a delightful packed powder due to snow from yesterday and most of today. Groomers skied really nicely with the light powder softening things up, especially on trail edges. Moguls still had some crusties under the new snow which occasionally showed through on the surface. Snow started falling off an on by 10am and began in earnest around noon time. By 2pm, it was starting to come down. Hard.

Trees were skiing amazingly well. Lower elevations only had trace remnants of the thaw/freeze and were not that bad. Upper elevations contained dreamy powder and packed powder conditions. With no waiting for the Single chair until noon, clearly there was not much competition or skier impact to conditions. When lines started building on the Single Chair, I moved over to the Sunnyside Double after my lunch break. I simply could not be bothered to wait two to three minutes on a powder day. Boot buckle deep snow was the general rule. Hitting stuff that had been clearly missed yesterday revealed boot deep untracked with occasional AMAZING drifts of knee deep. Some serious jaw dropping untracked was pillaged this fine morning in the lesser known tree areas. But boot deep untracked was still being scored on my last run at 2:00pm which indicated a fine powder day at Mad River Glen.

Three-quarters down one run, I had to laugh. While sucking wind, I realized how much further I had to go to finish the run and get back to the Single. Jay Peak has turned me into a bit of a powder princess with its wide open mellow powdery trees. Not many runs at Jay truly challenge and those runs are usually scraped down pretty sore if not skied first thing in the morning. It was really nice to rough it up today with Mad River Glen’s challenging terrain offerings. You simply do not get that type of challenge at Jay. Or any where else, for that matter.

Photo Gallery

This report is essentially useless gloating as Mad River Glen is now closed for the season. This is due to the construction schedule for the Single Chair rebuild including an important Haul Line inspection during early April. Work begins immediately and even a one week delay would have put an already tight schedule behind. With cold weather to persist through this week and potential snow fall Thursday and Friday, it is conceivable with the current base that Mad River could be skiable from top to bottom perhaps for the entire month of April. Even without the Single construction plans, given the extremely low turn out for three powder days in a row at one of the best mountains on the East Coast, I doubt operations would have turned profitable for an additional week, which is unfortunate for late season skiing in general, let alone late season skiing at Mad River Glen.

Three inches fell over night though it seemed like more in places on the Upper mountain. It snowed all day with not much accumulation. Though it really started coming down hard as I began driving home at 5:30p. Tomorrow will be an amazing fifth straight powder day for the Northern Greens. This is April? This weekend certainly has not sucked. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday combine for a three way/day tie for my third best day(s) of the season. Not the deepest powder but pretty close at times and no competition all weekend with lots of untracked. It has really been sick out there.

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Much to my complete delight, only The Single ran on Friday. Pretty rare is the day when there is no line for The Single for first chair but things are backing up pretty far on the Sunnyside Double. Much of the Sunnyside can be reached from The Single via Broadway to Easy Way, but all the steeper stuff off the ridge was virgin untracked with the total three day accumulation, just begging for some tracks.

Oh

My

Goodness

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Ski it while you can. It is hard to believe that just two weeks ago to the day I was skiing any line on the mountain I wanted with a foot of fresh for the taking. Everything on the mountain was open just two weeks ago, and I mean everything as in pick your line through the trees. Today? Not so much. Generally, I do not set myself up for disappointment this late in the season, but after such an epic March, I had expected slightly better coverage considering all the recent snow. But warmer temperatures and rain took their toll this past week and a half leaving not much snow, especially on the lower mountain.

Temperatures were very cold last night which made for a late start today. My morning routine consisted of taking a lap, then relaxing in front of the Basebox for twenty minutes. Repeat. Moguls in the sun on the upper mountain such as Quacky and Cat Bowl were ready by late morning, but nothing really corned up well until noon time. Many trails required some side stepping or grass skiing depending on the pitch. I did a few killer grass skiing sections with style.

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A really nice day at Mad River today. This was my first powder day at Mad River and it was super sweet. The storm total was about sixteen inches as counted through the entire afternoon and including last night. Some upper mountain trails fared poorly during the rain storm and some exposed mogul tops were in a sad frozen looking state. In a matter of fact, I side cut around the Waterfall on Paradise because the main line looked particularly unfriendly. But for the most part, everything filled in nicely with the best snow (of course) in the trees.

My morning started off just peachy. After a 5:30a alarm to account for slower then normal travel times, I went out to warm up my car only to find that the drive had yet to be plowed. After a pathetic attempt at driving up the drive way with almost a foot of snow on the ground, I proceeded to shovel out a lane for one of my tires doing the bare minimum work to allow my car access to the road. After half an hour and a couple attempts, I finally whaled my car up the hill, around the corner, and onto the road. Road conditions sucked heading out of St. Johnsbury on Route 2 but were better after getting through Danville. Made it to the parking lot only 10-15 minutes late and the initial line for the single was still working its way through the coral, so I didn’t miss much!

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Not being religious, ascending the Single Chair at the end of the day with the sun beginning its descent directly over the top of General Stark Mountain was about the closest I will ever come to believing in a big escalator to the sky. I do know the Single Chair leads to heaven, that much is for certain. No wait, it leads to Paradise. I always get those two mixed up!

Having a Mad Card and a Work Day ticket burning a hole in my Parka, I decided it was past time to make the arduously long and taxing drive down Route 2 to Mad River Glen. I can not believe I used to drive between two to three hours without complaint! Most Vermont locals that have lived in the Northeast Kingdom all their lives probably could not identify where the towns of Warren, Waitsfield, and Fayston are located. Culturally, Eastern Vermont and Western Vermont might as well be considered too different states.

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The morning dawned with bright sun shine, blue skies, and very comfortable temperatures. Weather forecasts were calling for a ninety percent chance of rain showers during the afternoon, but the morning was shaping up to be every skier’s wet snow dream. I boarded the Single Chair at 9:15 A.M. with a big grin on my face that continued throughout the day. It was no April Fool’s joke that today would be Mad River Glen’s last day of operation for the season and I planned on going out with a bang.

I began with a groomer run down Upper Antelope which held out well despite the recent high temperatures. Only one major bare patch existed near the top of the run with about five feet of snow on either side. The snow was wet and frozen gran with lots occasional thin spots with an occasional spot featuring Mashed Potatoes. Ice flows were amazingly edgable!

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Sunday at Mad River Glen was the culmination of a week’s vacation celebrating my return to fully functional condition following a three month recovery period due to a broken elbow and two weeks of taking it easy as I eased myself back into the world of skiing. With much soreness and fatigue, I got myself to Mad River Glen to use my second of three prepaid Mad Cards believing that it would be the last day of operation for the venerable Single Chair.

While getting dressed in the Base Box, I managed to slam my elbow into a hard wood table not once, but twice. The result was a locked up elbow that could not fully bend due to swelling. After massaging the swelling away from the painful nerve and joint motion area, I finally felt well enough to take a run.

Up the Single Chair I went, greeted with a warm air and overcast sky. I opted for Fall Line for the first run since it skied so well earlier in the week. However, the weather had since changed leaving a crusty mess that made for poor conditions on Fall Line. Halfway down the trail, I came across an icy thin cover section on which I lost edge pressure and took a nasty fall during which I banged my elbow. Once again my elbow locked up and provided my nervous system with a wide array of painful sensations. I deemed my Sunday at Mad River Glen over upon my return to the Base Box at which point the swelling would not go down and I could not obtain normal elbow motion.

After a few days of rest, the pain and swelling went away and I was ready to return to Mad River Glen the following Saturday to close out the Ski Area on its final day of operation.

After closing up shop last week due to a horrible melting period and rain storm followed by a rapid freeze, Mad River Glen fired up the Single again earlier this week to the delight of skiers everywhere. At least those skiers that still think it is ski season. The foot of fresh that Mad River Glen received last week was wonderful for the Upper sections of the mountain but only succeeded in covering up potential obstacles down low. After a lot of wind blown snow and grooming, Mad River Glen was able to open up again despite thin cover conditions dominating the lower mountain.

Having taken the previous day off to rest and recuperate for four days in a row of skiing, I opted to burn my first of three Mad Cards today with hopes of returning on Saturday and Sunday to use the remaining two. My vacation this week has been wildly successful scoring some exciting skiing and great conditions and today was no different.

I began my morning by heading up the Single and descending down the groomed roller coaster that is Catamount. Peering up at Cat Bowl, I noticed some enticing bump lines so I boarded the Single at the mid-station and skated over to Cat Bowl. Coverage was mostly good with some occasional thin spots and loose snow on skier’s left. While maintaining my line down skier’s left, I thought that the bumps would be perfect once things warmed up a little. But I would not have the opportunity to return later to find out.

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After a week of below zero temperatures, Mad River Glen decided to offer up an amazing deal too good to pass up. The Glen slashed prices in half all weekend for a promotion called “Freeze Your But Off Weekend” which allowed for 8 hours of skiing for only $25! Combined with the fact that MRG has more open terrain than any other area (100% open this weekend) made the decision on where to ski a no brainer.

My first visit to Mad River Glen in 2003 was a fun but ugly affair. The conditions were “dust on crust” which skied very poorly. Additionally, I was still developing my bump and natural snow techniques so I got showed up by the mountain pretty badly. I had planned to do a four day tour in the Mad River Valley, but was hurting so bad after two days of skiing that I packed it up and headed home. Despite less cover and a general lack of snow, my adventures at The Glen this time around were much improved.

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