thesnowway.com – Page 5 – full of allusions

April 17, 20232022-2023 Season, April, Earned Turns, Hillman's Highway, Mount Washington

Hillman’s Highway

Hard to believe it has been ten years since my last time skiing Hillman’s.

I haven’t skied half of Tuckerman Ravine’s routes, but I’ve skied enough to know that I enjoy skiing and climbing Hillman’s the most. Hillman’s is far from the ravine circus and offers drama free climbing. There is a chill vibe. The gully has the easiest pitch in the ravine area, but also the longest run. And there is no need to down hike if the Little Headwall isn’t in, either.

With 80 degree temperatures forecasted Friday and Saturday, I rearranged my work schedule to get to Mount Washington on Thursday. The Tuckerman Ravine Trail was skinable bottom to top, and the Sherburne ski trail was skiable top to bottom. Neither of those conditions would be present by the weekend, with as much as one-third of the Sherburne trail closed after the big melt down.

I had a “summit to car” adventure in mind. The better climbing route would have been Right Gully to the East Snowfields. But with the Little Headwall out, Hillman’s would be the only summit to car option from Pinkham. That assumed there was a skiable connection from the bottom of the summit cone to Hillman’s, via the lawn above the ravine’s lip. I suspected such a connection may not exist, so I opted to ascend the better ski route rather the better summit route.

Which was ultimately the best decision. After climbing out of the gully, I started skinning up to the Davis Path looking for a connection to the summit cone. But despite Hillman’s being quite full, the plateau around the summit was quite melted already despite the early time of the season. I wasn’t going to hike in ski boots across the rocky summit trails, so I turned around and headed back to Hillman’s.

It is just as well that I bailed on the summit option as Hillman’s was already quite cooked by the time I started descending. It would only get softer and mushier as the afternoon progressed. Turns were quite nice but a major workout given the soft snow.

By the time I reached the Sherburne, the snow was extremely wet and sticky. I pointed my skis straight down the Sherburne and often needed to poll to keep momentum. The final few turns were quite barren, but still retained enough snow that I did not need to down hike or side slip.

April 9, 2023April 17, 20232022-2023 Season, April, Mad River Glen

MRG: Sunnyside

A few late season storms really saved the late season at Mad River. Oftentimes, Mad River is closed or barely hanging on by the first week of April. This year, during the second week of April, the mountain was still fully covered and almost completely open (save for steeper and shadowed trails suffering from icy snow surfaces).

The sun was out and the Sunnyside was the place to be. The snow was soft and the bumps were sublime, especially on Slalom Hill, Quacky, and Canyon. I took a run off the Single to see how things skied and the upper mountain trails were quite firm. Even Cat Bowl left a little to be desired, despite its more southern exposure.

Given I haven’t skied much this season and haven’t had a full day of bump skiing in over a year, my legs called it quits long before the lifts stopped running. Amazingly, Mad River Glen would get one more full week of skiing through the following weekend. It is a testament to just how important the two late season storms were to snow pack and preservation.

March 15, 2023April 17, 20232022-2023 Season, Magic Mountain, March, Powder Day

Three Hours, Three Runs, Three Feet: Magic

Magic scored a late season jackpot. After an extremely lackluster season, two key storms saved the end of the season, the second of which was the big one. One foot is pedestrian. Two feet doesn’t happen every season, but happens more often than most skiers realize. But a three footer? That only happens every once in a while.

Most areas were open the day before, but Magic is closed mid-week which allowed the full storm total to accumulate. So, while many other Vermont resorts received almost as much snow, Magic was the only place to open for the full bounty untracked. However, that is information that most powder hounds and Magic loyalists figured out. Which made for a Red Chair lift line that rivals the busiest Single Chair lift lines at Mad River Glen.

I arrived almost an hour before the Red Chair opened. But, despite my early arrival, the lift queue was continually being built, allowing late comers to get an earlier chair despite not having waited 50 minutes. It was quite disappointing and frustrating, but the staff was doing the best they could (many employees couldn’t even leave home due to lack of plowing).

I finally made it to the summit, but I was considerably behind the untracked rush. Many folks floundered in the deep snow, unfamiliar with how to ski the deep dense stuff. I blew past them, knowing I had to get back to the lift ASAP and make better trail selections. After a pair of 40 minute lift waits, I found myself skier’s left of Goniff, sampling the steep off map woods. It was quite nice, but the area needs a brushing.

I needed to hit the head and I didn’t think I could wait another hour for a full cycle. This was a prudent move as the lift was down when I returned to the queue. The slow backup generator was kicked on and it probably took over an hour to get the last skier off the lift. I only got three runs in three hours, but at least I didn’t piss myself on the lift.

Turns out a power line went down and, given the nature of the storm, the power company was going to take a while before they could fit it. I elected to leave at noon, which was a sound decision as the lift never got power back later that day.

Magic seems cursed. Even when everything goes right, everything goes wrong. Had the “new” chair been operational by now, many more runs could have been had by all. Magic cannot control a local power outage resulting from a massive storm. But it is just the mountain’s luck. It was nice to be back at Magic. But it was the most disappointing three foot powder day that I have ever had.

March 11, 2023April 17, 20232022-2023 Season, March, Saddleback

Saddleback

It has been over a dozen years since my last visit to Saddleback, which is a dozen years too many. Given it was closed for almost half that time, I have some sort of excuse. But Saddleback reopened two years ago, and I finally got my ass back up to Rangeley to punch an Indy Pass ticket at Saddleback.

I was amazed at how much the new high speed quad changed the mountain, and equally impressed at how little it changed the mountain. Saddleback was certainly exponentially busier than my last visit. But there was still ample space to spread skiers out and minimal lines at all lifts. Cars were parked a mile down the access road, but I never waited more than ten minutes for the Kennebago Quad.

Speaking of the Kennebago, I spent most of my day up there picking off most trails and glades. No other ski area in the northeast has a terrain pod with quite as much quality ungroomed expert terrain. That includes two of my favorite on map glades, Dark Wizard and Upper Nightmare. Both are tight and have interesting entrances and lines.

Hopefully, it won’t be another dozen years before I get back to Saddleback. But the place is a haul from just about everywhere, and that drive from locations due west involves roads that can only be described as weather war-torn. The mountain is bustling and, with the new ownership and new high speed lift, should be viable for the foreseeable future.

March 5, 2023April 11, 20232022-2023 Season, Cannon Mountain, March

Cannon

Today featured “day after the storm” powder hunting. Given how ravenous skiers were the day before, untracked lines would be hard to find. But I know Cannon pretty well, and found some damn fine cut up powder in the off map woods.

Thankfully, I found a kindred spirit while riding the Cannonball. After our first ride, we split up seeming to have slightly different agendas. As chance would have it, we soon found ourselves paired up again on the Cannonball. I am not a believer in fate or cosmic plans. But, when these types of things that don’t necessarily happen-for-a-reason happen, you gotta go with it.

We made for excellent skiing partners and lift conversation was smooth and easy. We had a shared love of cycling and woods skiing, and both appreciated similar skiing aesthetics and locations. And we paired up well ability wise as well (always a concern when going off map with someone you just met on the lift).

After some fine powdery off map woods, we hit almost every tree line at Mittersill except Bunny. They were all skiing well, though the overall lack of base depth from a poor snowfall season was showing, despite the recent storm. The lesson for today is to keep reaching out to find ski partners. They are out there and they want the company too.