This was the last weekend of operation for the Heaven’s Gate Triple so I thought it prudent to use my voucher for Sugarbush before Lincoln Peak closed for the season. Sunshine and warm weather combined for a fun day despite the lack of quality bumps.
Organgrinder was pretty much it for a full bump run. Ripcord had occasional bump lines. Stein’s Run had horrific widely spaced mounds in between hard pack icy crust. But my most enjoyable runs were down Lower Organgrinder.
The forecast suggested new snow at higher elevations in Northern Vermont. I had a voucher to burn so I set my alarm extra early and made the drive to Stowe looking forward to a few inches (which would be a top five day of the year for my season). With modest expectations, I boarded the Forerunner and prepared for disappointment.
What I found was startling…
For the record.
After closing out Mad River Glen last weekend, I had another “use it or lose it” voucher so I decided to close out Stowe for the season. Perhaps next weekend I will close out Sugarbush before moving onto Jay and finally Killington. The choices are rapidly decreasing and the odds of unused vouchers are increasing.
Meanwhile, I am not earning turns (despite the sunk cost factor) because I can’t bear to let my vouchers go to waste. I hadn’t accounted for the Jackson Hole trip when I purchased my vouchers. Otherwise, I would have had nearly flawless execution of my voucher strategy this season. For next season, I need to remember I only need vouchers for three months. Early and late season are cheap and earned turns in April on Washington are even cheaper.
As with Mad River Glen, the temperature was just barely conducive to t-shirts but damn it, spring is here, so I rocked the short sleeve T again despite the slight chill while riding the lift. Another bluebird day with excellent corn snow commenced. But could I find the same bump line to die for that I found last weekend on Paradise?
I cruised down to Hayride where I enjoyed soft and easy turns. Near the bottom, some bumps avoided the mower but they left much to be desired. I continued warming up on Nosedive where I opened up my turns nearly edge to edge and let it fly. Super fast big turns still put a smile on my face, I seldom utilize the style but it just felt right on Nosedive.
Feeling properly warmed up, I dropped into National where I found decent bumps but nothing overly exciting. I was beginning to fear that the afternoon would be less than satisfactory in regards to spring bumps. But I found mine on Goat where an absolutely amazing line had setup with perfect rhythm and flow. Lap after lap after lap, Goat kept on delivering. Goat ended on Lower National which had a really nice line on skier’s far left.
Mixing it up a bit, I tried National again but ducked through the woods onto Starr. After a few mediocre pitches, I found more great bumps with good lines and flow. The punishment was hooking right onto lower Lookout which sported mandatory grass skiing and ice patches. Interesting “skiing” but Starr wasn’t better than Goat so not worth the minimal punishment at the end. I finished my day with another Goat run and left satisfied.
Stowe closes with deep wall to wall coverage on almost all trails excepting a few thin areas at the very lowest reaches of the mountain. Turn earning should continue for at least another month if not more. It is hard to believe Stowe couldn’t make enough money to continue operations by only turning the Forerunner and the Overeasy, what with $10 burgers (without fries) and $68 lift tickets. But I suspect most skiers today were pass holders, skiing on vouchers, and/or brown bagging it. So returns are diminishing below their established thresholds.
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.
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.
