Category: 2010-2011 Season

2010-2011 Season, March, Okemo

Okemo Shit Show

Rolling Thunder

Oh, the places The List has taken me. I will not likely return to any of them. But Okemo is reserved a special honor–a mountain you couldn’t pay me to revisit. A mountain I would even gladly pay to avoid. It is like my childhood feeder hill–Ski Bradford–with ten times the vertical and acreage and five high speed quads. That is Okemo. A royal shit show.

Okemo offers a massive and enjoyable visual on the approach from the east. But any pleasant thoughts regarding the view are quickly displaced by the offending traffic of Ludlow–a municipality that appears particularly devoted to being a ski resort town. The only thing I found enjoyable about Ludlow were slices at the aptly named Wicked Good Pizza.

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2010-2011 Season, Bromley, March

Bromley: The Corn Mountain

Blue Ribbon Quad

Sledhauler on Havoc

En route to Bromley, I experienced disconcerting feelings driving past Magic Mountain. The feelings were irrelevant since Magic wouldn’t have the sunny exposure needed for great corn snow and was closed regardless. But it still felt odd to drive past southern Vermont’s finest to frolic instead at the Sun Mountain. Bromley was the safe bet on guaranteed perfect corn conditions and it delivered with aplomb… and I have no disconcerting feelings about that.

I had not skied Bromley in more than eleven years. Perspective is an interesting thing. Back then I considered Bromley’s Blue Ribbon Quad area as “full of tough diamond runs” that are “nothing to laugh about”. The trails that schooled me then seem mellow now. I have had such an amazing journey in less than a dozen years. And to think that journey is only getting started…

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2010-2011 Season, Burke, March

Burke

Springing forward always sucks. I was kidding myself last night when I set a predawn alarm. Not just because of the lost hour but also for thinking that first chair was a worth while pursuit. The radar was buzzing with snow in Northern Vermont. And I figured maybe it would amount to something worth the extra effort.

While the new snowfall did not amount to much and warmer temperatures made said snowfall a moot point, the skiing today was surprisingly decent. The snow was granular and grabby but not frozen nor hard pack. Despite recent rains, the snow pack was stable and deep showing no signs of loss. This is as good as can be hoped for following a rain event.

Due to the grabby nature of the snow, I stayed out of the woods. Bumps on Doug’s Drop suggested that despite natural trails being skiable, the groomers might be better. So I did some laps on Big Dipper, Bear Den, and Willoughby before calling it a day just as the Ride & Ski NEK Style crowd showed up. Truly admirable that Burke provides a cheap halfday ticket for the locals.

2010-2011 Season, Jay Peak, March, Powder Day

Surfing the Wind Buffed Pow at Jay

Tram

In the past week, I have surpassed my 2009-2010 total days at Jay Peak. Three out of four days this past week were Powder Days. I know the answer already but I can’t help but ask myself “what was I thinking last year?”

Jay racked up an impressive two day total of 42″. And that is not a typo, those numbers are in the correct order. Today certainly didn’t ski like a “day after the wind hold powder day”. Winds laid down an extremely compacted wind buff. The powder was soft and surfy; decidedly not blower nor deep. Though softer shots on certain limited aspects allowed for some boot deep silky turns.

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2010-2011 Season, Earned Turns, Jay Peak, March, NE Ski Blogger Summit

Jay Peak: NSBS Day 3

Skinning Contingent of the NSBS

Beginning our last run back to Stateside Lodge, I saw the same scene repeating itself as we started down the flat top section of Montrealer: groups of skiers and riders posing for a picture with Jay Peak in the background. It’s something I have done myself in the same location from both sides of the camera. Groups can be expected to be doing this any time during a clear day. I skied past one group. And then another group. And another after that.

And then it hit me. Again. It needs to keep hitting me until it sinks into my thick skull that is so bent on personal experience. What we do as individuals matters less than what we do together with others. I’ve had epic days this season. Deeper powder days. But no days before nor days to come are a match for the past three days. There was something special happening.

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