Category: Earned Turns

2004-2005 Season, Earned Turns, Killington, May

Late May Earned Turns at Killington

Late May at Killington

Saturday May 29th found me running all over New England for Memorial Day Weekend festivities and moving errands. At 10 P.M., I found myself in my old apartment in Salem, Massachusetts cleaning the place up and dropping off the keys to the landlord. I was looking at a late night three hour drive home to Vermont which was not very appealing. Also, I was planning a run at Killington’s Superstar the following day. Killington being two hours away from St. Johnsbury had me doing over 12 hours of driving in a 24 hour window which was very unappealing. Fortunately, I had planned for the dilemma by already packing my gear and sleeping bag in my car. I saved a four hour round trip from St. Johnsbury by driving straight up to Killington that night and doing some car camping at Hotel Mobil.

Says the cashier when I walk into the store the next morning looking for breakfast: “Was that you sleeping in the car?” Says I: “Yes it was!”

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2004-2005 Season, Earned Turns, Jay Peak, May

May Earned Turns at Jay Peak

Preparing to Hike for May Turns

Killington claimed that this past Sunday marked the end of the ski season for New England. Perhaps for lift serviced it was, but for the dedicated turn earning enthusiast, there is still much more skiing to be had this season.

It was a toss up between skinning up Killington or hiking up The Jet at Jay. With Killington twice as far away as Jay, Jay Peak seemed like the better option since this would be the last week snow would be remaining on The Jet. Got a late start leaving work at 4:30 P.M. despite planning on leaving 3:30 P.M. No worries though due to the late afternoon day light allowing for late evening turns.

Recent reports indicated that Can Am was decent and had linkable turns down to the terrain park. Warm and damp weather washed much of Can Am’s snow away. Can Am was still doable with a few brakes in the cover but given my late start and desire for continuous vertical, I opted for longest continuous vertical under the Jet triple. The Jet patch also looked rather elegant and aesthetically pleasing.

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2004-2005 Season, Earned Turns, Hillman's Highway, May, Mount Washington, Sherburne Ski Trail

Hillman’s Highway

Foggy Hillman's

My first day of May skiing ever brought my season total up to 34 days which is just one shy the goal made months ago. My gear must have weighed in around fifty pounds in the morning. I did not have the heart to weigh it in the morning to verify but everything weighed in at 42 pounds at the end of the day (sans 3 liters of water, lots of food, my hat, my gloves, ski pants, and a fleece). Hiked up through the long switch backs before seeing some snow around the one third mark. After the second time seeing a long stretch of snow, I got the skins out and went for it. Not a bad decision as I only had to take the skis off about a half dozen times during the ascent. There were a few areas that I barely managed to navigate that will not be passable next weekend. Always glad when I do not have to lug gear up the entire way. I figured more of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail would be bare by now so I lucked out.

While I was set on going into the bowl, various factors at HoJo’s suggested alternative plans. A misty rain and occasional sprinkle was developing with wetter weather not entirely out of the question. Ski patrol was suggesting limiting skiing to the left side of the bowl. Due to the questionable weather, I opted for Hillman’s as it allowed for the quickest descent without need of down hiking. If weather turned foul, Hillman’s allowed an easy ski onto the Shurburne without hiking.

Hillman’s was still covered with exception of a small open stream near the bottom of the gully which required some careful foot placement and a lot of luck to cross high and dry. I managed the crossing on the ascent but ended up with a submerged boot on the way down but no leaks thankfully!

The climb up Hillman’s was a lot easier for me this time around compared to my ascent the previous month. I think the combination of not having skied the day before and better steps kicked into the boot ladder both helped. When i got tired, I made the observation that I had the tendency to try to climb faster which was ironic and amusing, including the implications of creating additional fatigue. Got nearly to the top of the gully when the steps became progressively smaller. My legs were fatiguing due to the extra effort of double kicking in each step, so I bailed just shy of the top. The weather was starting to turn foul as I faced more wind and rain, so just as well.

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2004-2005 Season, April, Earned Turns, Hillman's Highway, Mount Washington, Sherburne Ski Trail

Hillman’s Highway

Hillman's Area Panoramic

Today was my first time up to the Ravine for skiing (not counting my ski down the Sherburne Ski Trail earlier this year). I should have bailed on Cannon the day before as my legs were shot from skiing mashed potatoes and scraped snow on Saturday. I had debated not even going to the Ravine on Sunday but I knew days like this don’t happen often enough and I would have been missing had I not gone. Additionally, it was likely my last whack at skinning without hiking as well as skiing all the way down to the Route 16 via the Sherburne (though just barely).

The skin up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail was sweet with only one or two bare spots. However, coverage is going quick in a lot of areas. Bridges were exposed fully. I suspect the trail will not be skinable top to bottom without removing skis at least once or twice by next weekend. I was really really tired by the time i reached HoJo’s and had developed painful blisters on my right arch and right hand. I made some adjustments to my equipment to better handle friction locations but the damage was done.

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2004-2005 Season, Earned Turns, February, Lost Ski Area, Powder Day, Snow Valley

NELSAP Day at Snow Valley, VT

Steve

A NELSAP Special Event sponsored by the new Snow Valley owner allowed NELSAP’ers a rare chance to earn turns at the Private lost ski area Snow Valley. The owners plan to develop a Private Ski Club with Private Real Estate and lodging for club members. Snow Valley is private property and earning turns at the Ski Area is not normally allowed making this powder day an extra special treat. Six inches of blower powder, sweet!