The SkiVT-L listserv members got together for their annual spring gathering at Stowe over the weekend. Having lived outside of the northeast for the past 7 years, I haven't been able to attend one of these for the past 8 years, so I was sure to be there this season. I hooked up with several friends camping Friday and Saturday nights in the Stone Hut atop the Fourrunner quad chair: <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/3664.jpg" ALT="Stone Hut"> <BR> <BR>A neat place, for sure. It sleeps 12, but I wouldn't want more than the 8 that we had in there -- it gets a bit ripe after spring skiing without showering for a few days! <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/crazy.gif"> No electricity and no water, although they do give you a key to the Octagon bathrooms. Heat is provided by a wood stove. <BR> <BR>There's still a ton of cover at Stowe, but once again it's about the consistency, not the quantity. There's still some 90 inches at the stake off the Toll Road. In the woods it was rotten snow -- Friday night didn't freeze at all, and Saturday night was barely below freezing (temperature inversion) such that the base never had a chance to set up. Mashed potatoes/glue was the order of the weekend, and while Sunday early sported a top coat of corn, you'd constantly punch through into the rotten stuff underneath. On the trails I saw precious few bare spots, and even runs like Goat remain open. Chin Clip was closed, but the word we had received from poachers was that there was little reason to close it. <BR> <BR>We were a bit too "tied up" on Sunday to join the rope-duckers on Chin Clip. While the weather on Saturday was a mix of clouds and spotty fog with breaks of sun, Sunday morning dawned stunningly clear: <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/3665.jpg" ALT="Sunrise undercast"> <BR> <BR>Once things softened up a touch in the morning we strapped our skis on our packs and ascended from the Cliff House via the Climbing Gully to the summit of the Chin. (This shot of the Climbing Gully should give you an idea of the natural snowpack out there.) <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/3666.jpg" ALT="Climbing Gully"> <BR> <BR>Amazing, amazing views on Sunday! Not a cloud in the sky, and Jay Peak, Sugarbush, Killington, Whiteface, the Franconia Range, Burke, and the Presidentials were all easily spotted. The view off the west side at Sunset Ridge across the Champlain Valley to Whiteface: <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/3667.jpg" ALT="The view off the west side at Sunset Ridge across the Champlain Valley to Whiteface"> <BR> <BR>The plan was to descend via Hellbrook, but unskiable -- indeed, unhikable -- conditions leading from the Chin to Hellbrook forced us to reconsider after backcountry companion Scott slipped on ice and skittered to a stop on a narrow ledge merely inches away from plunging 80 to 100 feet off a cliff on the northwest side of the summit. After Scott changed his undies, we then instead descended via Profanity, which is the prominent chute visible below the summit in this photo: <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/3668.jpg" ALT="Mansfield Chin at sunrise"> <BR> <BR>We then traversed back west around the Adam's Apple before descending via Hellbrook. This photo in Hellbrook shows the amount of natural snowcover out there: <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/3669.jpg" ALT="Hellbrook"> <BR> <BR>Total time from the Cliff House to the return to the ski area: 3 hours. <BR> <BR>If we get the solidly below-freezing nights that are predicted for this week, I'd expect the base to solidify and the corn to start growing on the surface. This week should be quite good indeed!
