Slide Tour Part III

The third time is a charm with skiable heavy wet glop. First two excursions to the slide found slide for life and high avy conditions. The day started warm (45*) but heavy wet snow was falling by the time we left. The BC has started to lose significant snowpack. That time of the year. Here's to a bumper corn harvest this spring! 40 days so far for me and 35 for Katie.

Panther Sunset Tour

Headed up to Panther Mtn. after work on 3/20 for a quick solo foray for some turns. Skinned up breaking trail in a breakable crust racing the sunset to the top of the mountain. Got to the top in time to watch the sunset and then headed down in the twilight. Scary fast and breakable near the top but down lower nice silky turns as long as speed was kept up and edges not set too hard. Made it back to the truck just as it was getting headlamp dark. A fun evening.

St. Patricks Day Jay Powfest

On Friday, March 16th a Noreaster was brewing, time to head for Jay. Saturday morning brought deep snow, relatively warm temps, no wind and no crowds. The only people around were hordes of telemarkers and the crew from Backcountry Magazine conducting ski tests. An unreal day and we got to ski with Lincoln and hang at the party van. Sunday we BC skied off the Catamount trail, met a surfer/ATer Nathaniel, who help share trail breaking duties setting the skin track in deep snow. It just kept snowing harder and harder all weekend. Nothing but fresh tracks even in bounds at the resort.

A couple few images are burned into my skiing memory from the weekend.

- First run off the tram Saturday morning, pillow dropping one wind sculpted drift after another while skimming over pine scrub on the summit ridge.

- Last run off the tram Saturday dropping skier's left of Green Beret off the summit ridge, hitting the pow field perfectly below the face chutes and then skiing fall line woods, popping through one rabbit hole after another into untracked lines, only crossing ski runs to reenter the woods, all the way down to Stateside Lodge.

- Following Linc from the top of the Quad down through steep woods. Soon after Linc told a couple of snowboarders who were sitting/slideslipping through a chute in the woods to "sh*t or get off the pot because we're coming through" we found an uninterrupted high speed, tight line through the woods that was just incredible. I managed to emerge unscathed after taking a high speed beater in close quarters.

- Skiing the drop to 242 with Kate and Nathaniel in bottomless superlight on Sunday. Steep, deep overhead powder. Faceshots galore. Snorkel weather - lots of blower powder inhaled.

Skiing in the east or anywhere for that matter just doesn't get any better. 38 days so far for me and 34 for Kate.

Gore with the Girls

Spent the day, 3/11, lift skiing at Gore with the neices. Tough conditions for most of the day but a good time! Me 35 days and Kate 31 days so far this season.

Slide Tour

Headed out 3/9 for a tour of a local slide. Unfortunately after digging a pit, no go, avy danger too high. Got some turns in the woods.

Jay, VT Pow!

Jay Peak and the Jay cloud comes through again! Friday 3/2 brought another snow day from school with ice, freezing rain and rain hitting upstate NY, destroying the great conditions. Headed north in search of all snow and made the drive up the sometime sketchy Northway to Jay. Saturday we were one of the first in line for the Jet lift and got first tracks down Derricks with 6" of powder. The rest of the day was spent lift assisted lapping of the OB diving down towards 242 from the Stateside area. Sunday brought truly insane conditions. It was nuking at the Pass with nearly a foot on the ground when we got there in the morning. We skinned up to one of the most beautiful birch glades around, set a skin track, and did laps as far down as the Catamount Trail. The morning tracks were filled in by afternoon. On our last run we ran into chadh who came out of nowhere and skied right up to us. We followed him down through perfect trees to the steep drop to 242 where I left Kate and the gear for the walk up the pass. Luckily, I was picked up right away. The last two pictures are from Sunday. It was snowing too hard to bother with a camera. The powder streak is alive! Nothing but untracked powder runs in February and the same goes for March so far. Kate is up to 28 days and me 32. At least half BC days and more than half are deep powder days. Whoever says the east doesn't have good conditions doesn't really ski the east.