Category: Mad River Glen

2014-2015 Season, February, Mad River Glen, Powder Day

MRG: Aggro Powder

Basebox

Yesterday’s mellow powder at Bolton gave way to today’s aggro powder at Mad River. Bolton crams insanely good terrain into short little packages. Whereas Mad River Glen kicks your ass all the way down the mountain. And that is just the way I like it.

An extra inch or two fell during the previous night bringing the storm total up to over a foot in the past two days. And more snow continued to fall throughout the day. While Mad River Glen is reporting four feet of snow in the past week, the season total is only listed at 101-151″ which suggests that the base isn’t quite perfect yet in areas that can get skied off.

That caveat said, the conditions were spectacular packed powder almost everywhere and untracked powder (cumulative storm total plus blow in) was easy to find in the woods. The Single Liftline was skiable top to bottom with all drops such as Tower 5 open (an extreme rarity).

Today was my first day of the season essentially skiing from open to close and I went for it. After two “warm up runs” (Ha!), I met up with some friends and we tackled some of Mad River’s best and toughest tree lines. Careful route finding yielded many shots of barely tracked and untracked powder. The skiing was absolutely phenomenal and today was easily my best day of skiing this season, just barely edging out the three day Cannon Trifecta during Thanksgiving Weekend.

MRG Trees

MRG Trees

2014-2015 Season, January, Mad River Glen

MRG: Three and Out

Mad River Glen was an easy decision for the holiday weekend since Mad Cards are not subject to holiday blackouts. Ironically, I decided on my destination due to the holiday but I neglected to think through the ramifications of a holiday weekend at Mad River Glen. Not setting an alarm and arriving an hour after opening bell further added insult to the injury.

The base area was bedlam. Little kids were scurrying everywhere and the lodge was overpacked. The ticket line almost seemed longer than the line for the Single. I shrugged and went with it, I had no energy to be dissatisfied and it wouldn’t have helped the situation. Thankfully, the Single line was never intolerable and, of course, the trees are always empty.

After nine days so far this season, I had yet to have a major tree and bump day. Yet I wasted no time going into the woods and finding some of Mad River Glen’s tightest lines. Constantly winding and branching, these narrow fingers are amongst my favorite lines within the ski area’s boundaries. The packed powder was excellent. The occasional shot of untracked powder I found at mid-mountain elevation skied worse than the packed powder due to the rising temperatures.

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2013-2014 Season, April, Mad River Glen

MRG: Closing Day for the Season

Fall Line

With one Mad Card to go, it was “now or never” so I skied Mad River Glen on what would be their closing day of the season (due to significant wind and rain on Sunday). I enjoyed a late start to allow the snow time to soften. Despite not setting an alarm, I arrived at the mountain just when the snow was getting good. Waking up without an alarm is a huge perk to spring skiing.

By 11am, the snow was prime and almost all trails were still open with mostly wall to wall coverage except in the usual late season thin spots. Most skiers were wearing jackets or long sleeves. But I decided it is spring, damn it, and it was warm enough for short sleeve t-shirt skiing despite the occasional chill on the lift.

Fall Line

Highlights included Gazelle top to bottom, Fall Line, and two super runs down Paradise. I often don’t ski Paradise much. The trail can get scraped down and boney during the winter. But come spring time, Paradise owns. The bump line down the skier’s left was marvelous with perfect flow with occasional obstacles to launch mid-air pivot turns. So many steep trails suffer from poorly formed moguls but I found a quality line on Paradise. Despite the late day fatigue, I couldn’t stop without doing a second lap.

Pardon the poor quality phone pictures. The one drawback of t-shirt skiing is not having any place to hold a camera.

Creamery

2013-2014 Season, April, Mad River Glen

Mad River Glen

Not a single trip report has been posted here since March. No, I have not abandoned the season. But I am suffering from a lack of motivation to blog. The words and stories haven’t been coming to me. The words don’t do the experiences justice but the experiences haven’t been sensational enough to inspire massive photo blogging missives. It is a symptom. I lack inspiration and even skiing is shaded in gray. This too will pass.

Due to poor weather on Shareholder Day, I opted to ski Sunday instead of Saturday and by all accounts it was a good decision. Surfaces were still firm when I arrived around 11:00am and met Tim by the double. At the top of the double, introductions were made between Greg, Alex, and I and we sped down Bunny which was much softer than the bumps, per the crew’s morning report.

The bumps eventually softened, led by Quacky per usual. Most of the Single’s trails never quite softened though Cat Bowl skied extremely well below the usual thin spot at the top. Periwinkle was excellent though the Bowl was “adventurous”, fun for those of us that don’t care about our bases. Birdland was ripping fun and I ended with a top to bottom down Gazelle which was quite fun.

The skiing was solid after noon and we skied almost until close. A great day of skiing though the best terrain never softened. I enjoyed the company perhaps more than the skiing itself. More than ever, I am starting to feel bored when skiing alone so I was glad to be introduced to some fellow skiers that enjoy the same terrain that I do.