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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