Mark Renson
New member
WOW !! ..... it's these amazing MRG Saturdays that I've been having ..... <BR> After hitting heavy snow on I-89 between Exit 9 & 10 in NH, I had clear sailing. Next morning, I hopped on The Double to do trail checks. I found great light fluff on top of a firm edgeable base on Panther and fluff on the side of lower Panther which was not brutally <BR>groomed. Happily, MRG has been leaving a generous swath of candy on the sides of the Novice/Intermediate terrain, lately, which makes is so the novice could check out the candy and bail back onto the groomed, if necessary ... plus, it gives types like me more! I paused at the entrance of a short mellow tree shot on Birdland where temptation got the best of me <BR>and I nailed it, finding great cover. <BR> After fixing a hole on Snail, I headed up The Single. Apparently, I misread a directive and patched the wrong hole which prompted the Patrol Director to chirp "That's why you're still ONLY a candidate, Renson". ... gee, thanx. That only made me ski harder down Fall Line. He and I and Penny worked on opening Creamery and an off-piste chute. Penny opted for a woods shot after this - being that she seemingly knows the story behind every bolt in The Single, I figured that following her choice would be right. Of course, it was .... And we proceeded to rip another one in Birdland which was followed by some of the best on-piste untracked I have found all year on Robin. This is not the first time I have found great <BR>untracked, there - apparently it drifts in very nicely on that trail. <BR> I hit Paradise. After dropping off the waterfall a little a bit ungracefully, I headed to the right side and found sweet snow, including patches of untracked (I was able to do so all day long) and found a line and rhythm that gave me the classic New England style "roller coaster ride" feel that reminds me of why I champion Eastern skiing so much. It was actually <BR>some of the better skiing that I have ever had on 'dise. <BR> More great skiing ensued and then I ran into Todd Fisher in the Basebox. He asked me about tree skiing. He had that look on his face and I blurted out "look, just wait for me to go to the bathroom and I'll just show you where they are - I can't guarantee that they're in, yet" <BR> Up the lift we went and then I had him follow me. Around a hidden corner, I poked my head into an entrance. "There -> that's the <BR>entrance to &%@ +(*&%$#@!, Todd". Hmmm ... looks pretty good, I thought while admiring the few tracks in there. <BR> Of course, we did it even though I had only planned on showing him the entrance. No problem with cover/any nubbins on the traverse in, <BR>it's just that the hoop-tee-doos slowed ya' down (more snow will fill 'em in and it will be a cruise, shortly); the main line was great with just one log that I scraped; the brook crossing was a bit tricky but so what, we were able to find much boot top-to-knee untracked on the sides. Todd passed the exam, as well. To ski this before Christmas is truly a treat, <BR>especially with fine conditions. <BR> We were now addicted. On the lift for another "fix", man. Todd was impressed at how well hidden this second treasure was. I was thrilled that there were no tracks, there on *)( $#@ *&^%$#@! And we had a blast. It was not the epic descent I had here last year (my #1 ranked East run from last season) but to have such coverage and conditions at this time of year <BR>was a true treat as we finished off with some knee deep fluff at the bottom that had drifted in. <BR> One more for us junkies was needed, so we hopped on the lift for another. I did not want to be seen, so we headed for a lower entrance that was more hidden. The entrance was rough and we were about to retreat when I saw a glimmer of hope at the end of a sunbeam. Yes, it turned out to be what we were looking for and we were soon on the main line of !@#$%^&*( #%%*?, enjoying some nice tracked powder, even though we never met up with Danny, Laurie, Keith or Mr Kincade. A bit more snow was needed on this one, <BR>but it was certainly worth it, especially if you took some time to do some scouting. The last pitch was excellent. <BR> Man, it was like bellying up to your favorite bar and knocking off 3 hearty shots of strong yeksihw in a row. BANG-BANG-BANG !! .... aahhhhhhh - YUMMY!! <BR> Did some more sweet runs and then assisted with an injury on Quacky. At the aid room, the Patrol Director reminded me to get on the lift soon for sweep. For sweep, I volunteered for a repeat of the prior Saturday's Cat Bowl-Lynx-Beaver combo as it was so-o-o-o good. At the top of Lynx, I paused to suck in the alpenglow draped over Camel's Rump and the Worcester Range in the distance and then proceeded <BR>to have a stellar downhill run. It was not on a par with last week's epiphany at dusk; that was like a fine cognac while this was more like a <BR>good hearty ale. <BR> Sunday - man was I fried. Somehow, I had run out of gas overnight. Of course, I was assigned to trail check Paradise on my first <BR>run where I strained and groaned. I did a few Catamount Bowl runs and assisted an injury at the intersection of Robin and Wren. I performed sweep <BR>duties on Gazelle where I found the best snow of the day.