J.Spin
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Larger versions of the images, along with some video and vertical/GPS plots are available through the link at the bottom of the report.
The snowfall certainly tapered off last week compared to the previous one, but there?s still a lot of snow in the mountains of northern Vermont, and there?s definitely enough snow for some hiking and skiing. Without much new snow, we knew that surface conditions weren?t likely to be as good as last weekend, but regardless of the quality of the skiing, we wanted to get out with the boys and get some exercise. It actually snowed lightly for a while at our place in Waterbury on Saturday morning, although it didn?t accumulate at all.
We took care of an errand in Montpelier in the A.M., and then had the rest of the day open for tracking down some skiing. We started with a trip up to Bolton Valley, where we intended to pick up our season passes and potentially ski if the snow looked good enough. It was our first time testing the drive up to Bolton since moving to Waterbury, and it was nice to find out that it only took about 10 minutes. Ideally, I wanted to bring Ty out to the Timberline area of the resort, which has some nice broad slopes that I figured he?d enjoy. With the base elevation of the Timberline area roughly the same as the base elevation of Stowe?s main slopes (~1,500?-1,600?), I thought the depth of the snowpack would be about the same. I suspected we might have to do a little walking at the start, but we would probably be able to put our skins on fairly quickly. Boy was I wrong. We drove up the road, and I told Ty to keep his eyes peeled for the first traces of snow. We could see some snow way up in the higher mountains, but nothing immediately near the road. We kept looking and looking and looking? When we finally reached the base of the Timberline area (elevation 1,525?), I was shocked to see that the trails were basically bare. The only trace of snow we could see at all was a small dusting along the south side of Showtime where the trees offered protection from the sun. The lack of snow made our decision about skiing the Timberline area very easy; it wasn?t even an option.
We continued up the access road to the main base area, and finally started to see snow along the edge of the road. Up at the village and base area elevation (~2,100?) there was certainly some snow, but the ski trails behind the base lodge didn?t look like they had nearly enough coverage for worthwhile skiing. So, we popped into the lodge and picked up all our ski passes. I was amazed at how easy it was. At least at Bolton Valley, gone are the days of lamination systems for season passes where you get your picture on one trip, and then finally get your completed pass on a subsequent visit. Our passes were spit out of the computerized print-a-majig about as fast as our photographer could get us in front of the camera. The boys were excited to have passes with their pictures on them, and proudly wore them clipped to the zippers of their fleeces. Well, I think Ty was a little proud; I don?t think Dylan had too much of a clue. You know, just as I?ve been thinking about the days of laminated season passes moving on into history, I realized that my season passes at Lost Trail Powder Mountain (our local ski area back in Montana) were all made the laminated way over the past five seasons. I?m sure the tradition lives on at other mountains as well, but when I saw that Bolton had entered the age of computerized passes, it seemed like it must be getting commonplace.
Although there may have been deeper snow on the upper reaches of Bolton Valley, we knew that a huge hike to get to the good snow wasn?t practical with the boys. So, we decided to head to Stowe. I was worried that Stowe?s snowpack had also disappeared like Bolton?s, but as soon as we saw Mt. Mansfield in the distance full of white trails descending as far as we could see, we knew that there would be enough snow to make the trip worthwhile. When we arrived at the resort, we took a quick circuit around the parking lots to find the closest snow, and wound up choosing the gondola area. After a couple hundred vertical feet of elevation gain, it looked like the snowpack on Gondolier became substantial enough for skinning. Skinning was especially important in our case, because carrying the weight of the boys and their packs is quite enough; the added weight of carrying skis instead of sliding on them isn?t appreciated. There are also the logistical aspects of trying to carry your skis, (as well as kid?s skis in the case of Ty) with a child on your back. You have to find a way to mount them without getting in the way of your passenger, or throwing your balance way back. Let?s just say that skinning is a FAR better option.
While we geared up, I spotted Scott Braaten walking toward Gondolier and flagged him down. We got to chat for a bit and learned that he was planning to head up Nosedive and explore the upper mountain. It was fun to get Scott?s perspective on the early season mountain activities, as he seems to have a lot of interaction with the ski area. In just the time we took to gear up, we probably saw a couple dozen people who?d finished riding on the snow in one form or another, filter their way down Gondolier. Based on the snowpack we?d seen at Bolton and online reports from skiers at other areas, Mt. Mansfield was the place to be in terms of snow. It even seems to have more snow right now than Jay Peak. Why is does Mt. Mansfield seem to have so much more snow than places like Bolton Valley, which is just a few miles away? Whatever the reason, everyone seemed to know it and they were taking full advantage of it. It was amazing to think back to the days when we?d covertly hike out of sight to earn turns at ski areas, for fear of being reprimanded by mountain operations people. All the hiking and skiing is obviously not a problem for the management of the ski area at the moment. I don?t think things would be quite the same if the resort was actually open.
After Scott departed for the higher slopes, we started our initial hike up Gondolier. Ty was willing to walk (at least for a while), which was a big relief for me. E realized that we?d forgotten Dylan?s goggles at the car, and after running back to get them, I returned to find E in conversation with SkiVT-L members Bruno and Kirsten, who had just come down from a run. They filled us in on the snow conditions, which we pretty firm but got better the higher you went. We got the scuttlebutt on all the other SkiVT-Lers that had made appearances on the mountain (which appeared to be many), and then we were on our way to the snow. My Suunto altimeter said we started our hike at an elevation of approximately 1,700? and that we switched to skins at around 1,875? (see the Suunto S6 data plot on the web page for details). Ty even continued to walk with us for a little while longer after we got skinning, but by around 1,975? he was starting to dawdle and said he was ready for the pack. Usually, we?ve had Ty?s skis mounted along the inside of his pack for transportation, but as he?s gotten bigger, it?s been tougher to fit both him and his skis in the pack. So this time, we stuck Ty?s skis in Dylan?s pack, which had ample room because Dylan is much smaller. Dylan didn?t seem to mind the extra baggage, and it was much easier to get Ty in and out of his pack. It did mean a bit of extra weight for E of course, but she seemed up to the challenge.
The day?s skinning was generally a lot of fun, except for the first couple of pitches on Gondolier where the spotty nature of the snow limited our options for switchbacks. In that area we had to take the slope head on at times, and let?s just say that as far as the debated on the width of skins goes, the experience only solidified my favoritism toward the full-width (minus edges) camp. Trying to traverse on a steep pitch with hard snow is just not what skins are best at. That one big steep pitch before the crossover option to Perry Merrill was the biggest challenge. E slipped and lost a ski at one point while we tried to traverse, but fortunately she was able to get it back on pretty quickly. Once we reached the first connection of Gondolier with Perry Merrill, we were more than ready to follow the generally mellower slopes of Perry Merrill for our skin route. From there on, the skinning was divine, and snow squalls came in with lots of flakes to make for a really enjoyable winter scene. Off in the distance, you could barely (I think) make out the sound of the snow guns going on Nosedive, and at one point Ty asked me what that ?Shhhhhhhhh? noise was. I?m not sure if he meant the snow guns, because I?m not even sure if that?s what it was (and I even KNEW they were going), but that?s what I think he meant. He hasn?t really ever seen too many snow guns running, so we tried to explain to him that the noise was the making of snow and pointed out the big tower guns on Perry Merrill. I also told him that we should be happy to be away from the guns for now, since they make a lot of noise (and the freshly made snow often sticks to your goggles too)!
At around 3:00 P.M., E, always the wise one when it comes to thinking of how things are done with the boys, mentioned that we needed to think about heading down. In my mind, we still had plenty of time, light, and energy to keep going. Unfortunately, my mind doesn?t factor in things like little boys getting cold, little boys getting hungry, little boys filling diapers with unexpected gifts, little boys in packs making the typical skin to ski transition take a lot longer, and little boys that don?t ski down the mountain at nearly the pace of Mom and Dad. I?ve definitely learned that when E suggests it?s time to turn around, you?d best turn around soon because the toddler clock is ticking and you don?t want to be on the side of a frozen mountain when the bomb goes off. We picked a spot above us on Perry Merrill that was nice and flat, and said that would be our stopping point. We made it to our designated point with all young boys existing in a relatively happy state, and began the process of switching to ski mode. We?d topped out at around 2,750?, giving us a respectable 1,000? or so of hiking, and somewhere a bit shy of that number in terms of vertical left for skiing. Dylan, who insisted on continually removing his mittens, got mad when he fell in the snow with his exposed hands (and face) and didn?t calm down until he was back in the pack skiing with me.
A couple of snowshoers were coming down the trail and inquired about how we liked our Alpine Trekkers, indicating that they had just bought some and still needed to get skins to complete their package. I said we liked them a lot, as they have thus far (several years) been extremely reliable, and while a Trekker setup is not as light as options like AT or Tele, both the cost and complications of the equipment are minimal. The snowshoers indicated that the snow on ?the other side of the mountain? (I had to think they were talking about Nosedive and similar environs) was much better. It certainly made me want to continue up the slope and head to check it out myself, but even I was smart enough to know that wasn?t practical or wise with the boys. Our next visitor was a gentleman on skis with two dogs. One dog ran alongside him, and the other (which we didn?t know existed until he told us) rode along in his pack. We joked about the concept of carrying passengers while skiing, and I got a picture of his little rider (see the pictures on the web page).
At our top elevation, we found about an inch of new snow over a firm base that had already seen many skiers. Above our crossover to Gondolier, coverage was virtually complete with just a few easily-avoided patches of grass. Ty did pretty well managing the sometimes crusty surface, although we helped him down in a few of the steeper pitches. My favorite turns were off to the far right of the trail, where the snow was untracked and the surface underneath hadn?t been abused by previous skiers. We crossed back over to Gondolier on the descent because the snow on Perry Merrill seemed to die out faster, but it meant we?d have to negotiate that steep section that had given us trouble hiking up. Ty was still skiing, but that pitch was a bit to dangerous for him in my mind, so I carried him through that section. With Dylan on my back, and Ty in my arms, I think it was the first time I?d skied with two passengers. In this case it was mostly side-slipping, but in my opinion, it felt far more stable than trying to walk down a steep, crusty slope. It actually wasn?t bad at all, and to me it was a clear demonstration of just how much better skis are on steep hard slopes than feet.
After that pitch, Ty resumed his skiing, and E was amazed at how he navigated around the bare spots that were starting to appear. Even after E and I had called it quits and started walking, Ty opted instead to put his skis back on and ski another section of snow. Several skiers that were descending the trail with us laughed at Ty?s willingness to keep skiing. They labeled him as a die hard. Eventually we were all walking instead of skiing, and I was very happy to find that Ty had the willingness and energy to walk all the way back to the car on his own power.
Back at the car, the boys had fun milling around while we loaded up the gear, and it wasn?t until we got in the car that we could tell Dylan was getting too cold. He was shivering, so we quickly got the heater of the car going strong for him and planned to make a stop for hot chocolate in Stowe on the way home. Once again, Mom had wisely chosen the appropriate time to head down from the mountain, although personally, I think Dylan would have been much warmer if he had kept his mittens on. He?ll learn. Ty, on the other hand, has already learned the beauty of keeping those hands covered. Overall, the trip was a great (free) way to spend a day with the family, and while some folks might have preferred not to have so many people on the mountain if they were looking for a more backcountry-style experience, I think it was great to see everyone out enjoying the snow.
A few pictures, a video, and the vertical/GPS data from the day are at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2006/04NOV06.html
J.Spin
The snowfall certainly tapered off last week compared to the previous one, but there?s still a lot of snow in the mountains of northern Vermont, and there?s definitely enough snow for some hiking and skiing. Without much new snow, we knew that surface conditions weren?t likely to be as good as last weekend, but regardless of the quality of the skiing, we wanted to get out with the boys and get some exercise. It actually snowed lightly for a while at our place in Waterbury on Saturday morning, although it didn?t accumulate at all.
We took care of an errand in Montpelier in the A.M., and then had the rest of the day open for tracking down some skiing. We started with a trip up to Bolton Valley, where we intended to pick up our season passes and potentially ski if the snow looked good enough. It was our first time testing the drive up to Bolton since moving to Waterbury, and it was nice to find out that it only took about 10 minutes. Ideally, I wanted to bring Ty out to the Timberline area of the resort, which has some nice broad slopes that I figured he?d enjoy. With the base elevation of the Timberline area roughly the same as the base elevation of Stowe?s main slopes (~1,500?-1,600?), I thought the depth of the snowpack would be about the same. I suspected we might have to do a little walking at the start, but we would probably be able to put our skins on fairly quickly. Boy was I wrong. We drove up the road, and I told Ty to keep his eyes peeled for the first traces of snow. We could see some snow way up in the higher mountains, but nothing immediately near the road. We kept looking and looking and looking? When we finally reached the base of the Timberline area (elevation 1,525?), I was shocked to see that the trails were basically bare. The only trace of snow we could see at all was a small dusting along the south side of Showtime where the trees offered protection from the sun. The lack of snow made our decision about skiing the Timberline area very easy; it wasn?t even an option.
We continued up the access road to the main base area, and finally started to see snow along the edge of the road. Up at the village and base area elevation (~2,100?) there was certainly some snow, but the ski trails behind the base lodge didn?t look like they had nearly enough coverage for worthwhile skiing. So, we popped into the lodge and picked up all our ski passes. I was amazed at how easy it was. At least at Bolton Valley, gone are the days of lamination systems for season passes where you get your picture on one trip, and then finally get your completed pass on a subsequent visit. Our passes were spit out of the computerized print-a-majig about as fast as our photographer could get us in front of the camera. The boys were excited to have passes with their pictures on them, and proudly wore them clipped to the zippers of their fleeces. Well, I think Ty was a little proud; I don?t think Dylan had too much of a clue. You know, just as I?ve been thinking about the days of laminated season passes moving on into history, I realized that my season passes at Lost Trail Powder Mountain (our local ski area back in Montana) were all made the laminated way over the past five seasons. I?m sure the tradition lives on at other mountains as well, but when I saw that Bolton had entered the age of computerized passes, it seemed like it must be getting commonplace.
Although there may have been deeper snow on the upper reaches of Bolton Valley, we knew that a huge hike to get to the good snow wasn?t practical with the boys. So, we decided to head to Stowe. I was worried that Stowe?s snowpack had also disappeared like Bolton?s, but as soon as we saw Mt. Mansfield in the distance full of white trails descending as far as we could see, we knew that there would be enough snow to make the trip worthwhile. When we arrived at the resort, we took a quick circuit around the parking lots to find the closest snow, and wound up choosing the gondola area. After a couple hundred vertical feet of elevation gain, it looked like the snowpack on Gondolier became substantial enough for skinning. Skinning was especially important in our case, because carrying the weight of the boys and their packs is quite enough; the added weight of carrying skis instead of sliding on them isn?t appreciated. There are also the logistical aspects of trying to carry your skis, (as well as kid?s skis in the case of Ty) with a child on your back. You have to find a way to mount them without getting in the way of your passenger, or throwing your balance way back. Let?s just say that skinning is a FAR better option.
While we geared up, I spotted Scott Braaten walking toward Gondolier and flagged him down. We got to chat for a bit and learned that he was planning to head up Nosedive and explore the upper mountain. It was fun to get Scott?s perspective on the early season mountain activities, as he seems to have a lot of interaction with the ski area. In just the time we took to gear up, we probably saw a couple dozen people who?d finished riding on the snow in one form or another, filter their way down Gondolier. Based on the snowpack we?d seen at Bolton and online reports from skiers at other areas, Mt. Mansfield was the place to be in terms of snow. It even seems to have more snow right now than Jay Peak. Why is does Mt. Mansfield seem to have so much more snow than places like Bolton Valley, which is just a few miles away? Whatever the reason, everyone seemed to know it and they were taking full advantage of it. It was amazing to think back to the days when we?d covertly hike out of sight to earn turns at ski areas, for fear of being reprimanded by mountain operations people. All the hiking and skiing is obviously not a problem for the management of the ski area at the moment. I don?t think things would be quite the same if the resort was actually open.
After Scott departed for the higher slopes, we started our initial hike up Gondolier. Ty was willing to walk (at least for a while), which was a big relief for me. E realized that we?d forgotten Dylan?s goggles at the car, and after running back to get them, I returned to find E in conversation with SkiVT-L members Bruno and Kirsten, who had just come down from a run. They filled us in on the snow conditions, which we pretty firm but got better the higher you went. We got the scuttlebutt on all the other SkiVT-Lers that had made appearances on the mountain (which appeared to be many), and then we were on our way to the snow. My Suunto altimeter said we started our hike at an elevation of approximately 1,700? and that we switched to skins at around 1,875? (see the Suunto S6 data plot on the web page for details). Ty even continued to walk with us for a little while longer after we got skinning, but by around 1,975? he was starting to dawdle and said he was ready for the pack. Usually, we?ve had Ty?s skis mounted along the inside of his pack for transportation, but as he?s gotten bigger, it?s been tougher to fit both him and his skis in the pack. So this time, we stuck Ty?s skis in Dylan?s pack, which had ample room because Dylan is much smaller. Dylan didn?t seem to mind the extra baggage, and it was much easier to get Ty in and out of his pack. It did mean a bit of extra weight for E of course, but she seemed up to the challenge.
The day?s skinning was generally a lot of fun, except for the first couple of pitches on Gondolier where the spotty nature of the snow limited our options for switchbacks. In that area we had to take the slope head on at times, and let?s just say that as far as the debated on the width of skins goes, the experience only solidified my favoritism toward the full-width (minus edges) camp. Trying to traverse on a steep pitch with hard snow is just not what skins are best at. That one big steep pitch before the crossover option to Perry Merrill was the biggest challenge. E slipped and lost a ski at one point while we tried to traverse, but fortunately she was able to get it back on pretty quickly. Once we reached the first connection of Gondolier with Perry Merrill, we were more than ready to follow the generally mellower slopes of Perry Merrill for our skin route. From there on, the skinning was divine, and snow squalls came in with lots of flakes to make for a really enjoyable winter scene. Off in the distance, you could barely (I think) make out the sound of the snow guns going on Nosedive, and at one point Ty asked me what that ?Shhhhhhhhh? noise was. I?m not sure if he meant the snow guns, because I?m not even sure if that?s what it was (and I even KNEW they were going), but that?s what I think he meant. He hasn?t really ever seen too many snow guns running, so we tried to explain to him that the noise was the making of snow and pointed out the big tower guns on Perry Merrill. I also told him that we should be happy to be away from the guns for now, since they make a lot of noise (and the freshly made snow often sticks to your goggles too)!
At around 3:00 P.M., E, always the wise one when it comes to thinking of how things are done with the boys, mentioned that we needed to think about heading down. In my mind, we still had plenty of time, light, and energy to keep going. Unfortunately, my mind doesn?t factor in things like little boys getting cold, little boys getting hungry, little boys filling diapers with unexpected gifts, little boys in packs making the typical skin to ski transition take a lot longer, and little boys that don?t ski down the mountain at nearly the pace of Mom and Dad. I?ve definitely learned that when E suggests it?s time to turn around, you?d best turn around soon because the toddler clock is ticking and you don?t want to be on the side of a frozen mountain when the bomb goes off. We picked a spot above us on Perry Merrill that was nice and flat, and said that would be our stopping point. We made it to our designated point with all young boys existing in a relatively happy state, and began the process of switching to ski mode. We?d topped out at around 2,750?, giving us a respectable 1,000? or so of hiking, and somewhere a bit shy of that number in terms of vertical left for skiing. Dylan, who insisted on continually removing his mittens, got mad when he fell in the snow with his exposed hands (and face) and didn?t calm down until he was back in the pack skiing with me.
A couple of snowshoers were coming down the trail and inquired about how we liked our Alpine Trekkers, indicating that they had just bought some and still needed to get skins to complete their package. I said we liked them a lot, as they have thus far (several years) been extremely reliable, and while a Trekker setup is not as light as options like AT or Tele, both the cost and complications of the equipment are minimal. The snowshoers indicated that the snow on ?the other side of the mountain? (I had to think they were talking about Nosedive and similar environs) was much better. It certainly made me want to continue up the slope and head to check it out myself, but even I was smart enough to know that wasn?t practical or wise with the boys. Our next visitor was a gentleman on skis with two dogs. One dog ran alongside him, and the other (which we didn?t know existed until he told us) rode along in his pack. We joked about the concept of carrying passengers while skiing, and I got a picture of his little rider (see the pictures on the web page).
At our top elevation, we found about an inch of new snow over a firm base that had already seen many skiers. Above our crossover to Gondolier, coverage was virtually complete with just a few easily-avoided patches of grass. Ty did pretty well managing the sometimes crusty surface, although we helped him down in a few of the steeper pitches. My favorite turns were off to the far right of the trail, where the snow was untracked and the surface underneath hadn?t been abused by previous skiers. We crossed back over to Gondolier on the descent because the snow on Perry Merrill seemed to die out faster, but it meant we?d have to negotiate that steep section that had given us trouble hiking up. Ty was still skiing, but that pitch was a bit to dangerous for him in my mind, so I carried him through that section. With Dylan on my back, and Ty in my arms, I think it was the first time I?d skied with two passengers. In this case it was mostly side-slipping, but in my opinion, it felt far more stable than trying to walk down a steep, crusty slope. It actually wasn?t bad at all, and to me it was a clear demonstration of just how much better skis are on steep hard slopes than feet.
After that pitch, Ty resumed his skiing, and E was amazed at how he navigated around the bare spots that were starting to appear. Even after E and I had called it quits and started walking, Ty opted instead to put his skis back on and ski another section of snow. Several skiers that were descending the trail with us laughed at Ty?s willingness to keep skiing. They labeled him as a die hard. Eventually we were all walking instead of skiing, and I was very happy to find that Ty had the willingness and energy to walk all the way back to the car on his own power.
Back at the car, the boys had fun milling around while we loaded up the gear, and it wasn?t until we got in the car that we could tell Dylan was getting too cold. He was shivering, so we quickly got the heater of the car going strong for him and planned to make a stop for hot chocolate in Stowe on the way home. Once again, Mom had wisely chosen the appropriate time to head down from the mountain, although personally, I think Dylan would have been much warmer if he had kept his mittens on. He?ll learn. Ty, on the other hand, has already learned the beauty of keeping those hands covered. Overall, the trip was a great (free) way to spend a day with the family, and while some folks might have preferred not to have so many people on the mountain if they were looking for a more backcountry-style experience, I think it was great to see everyone out enjoying the snow.
A few pictures, a video, and the vertical/GPS data from the day are at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2006/04NOV06.html
J.Spin
