Category: April

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.

2012-2013 Season, April, Earned Turns, Hillman's Highway, Mount Washington

The Highway to the Highway

Mount Washington Summit from the Top of Hillman's

“This is going to hurt.”

Foreboding feelings of pain were strong going into this weekend. I am in the worst shape of my life. An honest self assessment suggested I could get the job done but only at the cost of several days of pain. But even in the worst shape of my life, I’m still more capable than I give myself credit for and I’ll need to remember that as I start rebuilding my body and, perhaps more importantly, the rest of my life.

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2012-2013 Season, April, Stowe

Stowe: More Lackluster Spring Skiing

Yet another spring weekend without corn snow. The disturbing trend continues. While last weekend’s full on winter days at Smuggs were both excellent, I am getting really desperate for a nice warm spring corn day. And skiing aside, mentally some warmth and sunshine would do my psyche some good.

My original plan was Mount Washington. But the weather did not cooperative with summit temperatures dipping into the single digits Saturday night and the wind honking into the 60+ MPH range. While Sunday was clear and sunny, it was not optimal for great skiing nor going for a summit. I changed plans from NH’s highest peak to VT’s highest peak, hoping for alpine skiing above the trails and corn bumps below.

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2012-2013 Season, April, Smugglers Notch

Smuggs: One More Run

Highlander Glades

Today is my eighth day skiing Smuggs and the mountain still gives me the warm and fuzzies. A month ago, I reported that The Honeymoon Still Isn’t Over. Nay, I think it has barely just begun. And I would be hard pressed to say when it might end.

The phrase of the afternoon was “one more run.” I took a half dozen “one more runs” — I couldn’t tear myself away from the mountain. The skiing was just too good. I continually pushed through physical soreness to keep going until mental fatigue started to set in near the end of the day.

Weather varied tremendously throughout the day ranging from warm and sunny at the base to full on winter with two inch per hour graupel and hail. Visibility ranged from miles to feet but clouds were always nearby even when things started to clear. Every run seemed to feature a completely different weather pattern than the last.

Snow conditions were also quite variable though generally pleasant despite occasionally being a challenge. Water saturation was quite high but mank/chunk levels were moderate and controllable so long as visibility would allow foresight in planning turns.

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2012-2013 Season, April, Smugglers Notch

Smuggs: Don’t Stop

Upper Mountain Elevator Shaft

Days like today reinvigorate me with that overwhelming feeling of living to the fullest. My body unleashed testosterone and aggressiveness that combined and fueled a kind of visceral mania. My eyes opened wide, I stumbled out of the shadowed state of depression, and felt a lost but not forgotten passion. Where has it been? I have it now but I know it can be fleeting. So I need to use it while I have it, internalize it, and make it mine again.

The bright light of spring split the clouds in the early afternoon. The metaphor was not lost on me as I slowly skied the traverse, looking around, breathing deep, feeling human again. Or at least feeling like myself again. Well, except for the poor physical conditioning.

I soon found myself in an elevator shaft, in the trees on upper Madonna Mountain. A pair of trees towered over partially buried deadfall and an ice patch. I could make the turn but I had a hunch that there was either glare ice or rock under the snow where I planned to turn. There wasn’t much room for speed control below the trees, so it was to be a straight line into an eight foot wide 35 degree elevator shaft. I looked to my left and other tracks had opted for discretion leaving the line untracked with two inches of fresh covering who knows what beneath. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have even been thinking about the calculation, I’d already be at the bottom. I wasn’t going to back off it, I was out to recapture something that I lost. And what a place to do it.

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