I haven't seen one of Marc Renson's great MRG snow reports in a while, so I'll do a report: <BR> <BR>Went to MRG for the weekend (I ski there a lot, but the last time was three weeks ago). The conditions were fantastic all over -- really unbelievable. Great cover -- even some of the places that are always rocky weren't bad at all. Great snow -- nice reasonably light packed powder. Lots of untracked lines in the trees -- though this was heavy and just slightly crusty. Three weeks ago the conditions were good but there were certainly rocks to avoid. I expected it to be worse now given the relatively scarcity of snow over the past few weeks, but it was actually much better. Not that there weren't rocks, but they were not so prevalent as to seriously interrupt your line. And the cold temperatures seem to have kept the snow in great shape -- perfect packed powder. <BR> <BR>Started on Saturday with warm-up on Catamount Bowl to Glade. Cat Bowl was actually kind of nasty. I was surprised to see an "advanced skiers only" sign at the top of it, but it was really icy and skied a lot harder than it normally does. Glade was just slightly rocky but better than I've seen it since '00-'01. Skied Fall Line, which was really nice, Grand Canyon, which had the most even bumps on the mountain. Did a run down 20th hole to the bottom of lower Antelope -- stuck to the better-tracked areas and had some great tight turns. Skied a little on the double -- Partridge and Slalom Hill were nice and took a run on Fox/Vixen to practice carving before hitting a tree shot down below. Finished the day with Paradise, which I hadn't skied in ages but was about as gnarly as I remember. Took a jump off that little ledge right at the bottom of the single and my ski somehow popped off as I hit the ground -- so I crashed spectacularly in front of everyone to end the day. <BR> <BR>Sunday decided to hit a few more trees -- started up with Chute which was great (for some reason this weekend nobody seemed to be skiing it, and those few that did were generally skiing it badly). Hit 20th again and then the trees between Chute and Fall Line, down to trees between Grand Canyon and Glade (dropping right through the Ferret). Very nice. Then some runs on the double -- the bumps right under the double were beautiful and even, and then I hit some short tree shots between there and Slalom Hill. Back to the single, where I got another run on Fall Line and then explored the woods between Fall Line and Paradise -- these were great -- steep and tight and nice! <BR> <BR>A fabulous weekend! The only drawback were lift lines -- though these were less bad than I had feared. Got to be as much as 20-25 minutes during the worst times Saturday early afternoon, but most of the time it was under 15. Well worth it though.
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Mad River Glen, VT 2/8-2/9
- Thread starter BD
- Start date
Mark Renson
New member
OK, here's 12/30/02: <BR> <BR>Up The Double we went under clear skies! Another BIG Mad River day! I drew Quacky for a check and I was a bit weary on the headwall. But the fine packed powder inspired me and I became alive. The groomers were great. Even better was the worked over fluff on top of the firm edgeable surface. Upper Panther and the middle part of Gazelle had that kind of surface and was outstanding. <BR> Other places had some hardpack, but nothing to really whine too much about. <BR> Meanwhile, news reporters from the mighty media center of Burlington descended on MRG to get the details of the prior night's rescue. <BR> After doing a stint on the top of The Double, I took a cruise down to the bottom of Slalom Hill. The radio crackled about an incident in P-Bowl and I announced that I was ready. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sled cache and I stood by it awaiting the word. After a minute or 2, I pulled out a batmobile from its cave and was on my way to some action. <BR> Sweep was down Upper Panther for me. I found the best snow of the day in "Powder Bowl" and let out the last of many whoops for the trip. Per some mentoring that was given to me last Spring, I was very thorough and given the <BR>prior nights events, I was even more deliberate than I had been this year. <BR> <BR> Just think, it's still only December !!!!!!!
Mark Renson
New member
Mad River Glen, 1/3-1/5: <BR> <BR> I figured I'd beat the storm and enjoy some light snow forecasted for during the day, Friday. Well, all day long we got teased by <BR>light snow - too light. It only teased us as it fell at a rate of 1/128" per hour. On top of all of this, I was assigned to do trail check on Cat Bowl. It was Gawd awful boiler plate and I was <BR>the only known one to descend it all day long (yeah, I'm sure someone musta' gone for it somewhere along the way). Oh puhleeeeeeze bring on the BRUTALLY GROOMED slopes I thought to <BR>myself as I traversed nervously from side to side. <BR> The rest of the day was dull and spent on the frozen granular. <BR> That is until the radio crackled for me to apprehend a poacher. It had come time for me to play "Ski Narc". But on the way, I found a gentleman hurt on Broadway. He was complaining of a hurt ankle, but insisted on getting up and going for it. It was his 2nd day on skis. A pro patroller joined me in the drama and we led him all the way to the bottom after numerous nasty spills. We cheered him and encouraged him and gave him tips and our new ski adventurer showed tremendous courage and determination on his <BR>descent. At the bottom, he thanked us profusely and we saluted him for showing such a great effort. <BR> Overnight, I prayed that the storm would not fizzle and next morning, whaddya' know!! A foot of l i g h t f l u f f. But we were also concerned about the underlying boilerplate. These fears became a reality as we neared the top of The Double and discovered nasty winds scouring on Upper Gazelle. We assigned Tiger to do the sampling and he deemed it acceptable. We dropped <BR>the rope and I checked Upper Panther. I found some underlying ironclad bumps but also some great fluff especially in Powder Bowl. We tentatively opened some steep stuff on the upper Single terrain, but kept 'dise and Fall Line closed. Fortunately, our other fears of snow being scraped off did not materialize and <BR>instead the conditions improved as the day wore on and more snow accumulated. We later opened Fall Line and Paradise via the Chute entrance. <BR> The woods skiing was fantastic. I was able to sample some great stuff I had worked on in the Fall including this: <BR><A HREF="http://www.treeskier.com/volunteer/images/20021019/markrenson.html" TARGET="_top">http://www.treeskier.com/volunteer/images/20021019/markrenson.html</A> . Upper Glade and Liftline below the Tower 10 headwall had great snow. <BR> After I performed a stint on top of the Double, I was observed by our former Patrol Director (Steve Pardy, now a civilian) from a <BR>chairlift from above. "You look light there, Renson" he blurted out. I did not know what he was talking about until it dawned on me that I left my first aid belt at the top of the Double. This illicited howls of laughter from patroller Tiger who was on the lift with him and Steve calmly uttered "Remember, I'm always on patrol". Later, he stopped me and offered some kind advice to me. <BR> Sweep was down through Gazelle Woods. Great stuff! I found knee deep untracked and chowder all day long. <BR> On Sunday, my bones ached. But the skiing was great and ya' gotta' go for it. We fully opened Paradise and Fall Line and the <BR>skiing on FL was great! There was an undercast which left the Stark Mountain-Mount Ellen-Lincoln Peak backbone above the clouds as well as the Big NH Kahunas to the east and of course, The Camels <BR>Rump. At the end of the day, sun shone brilliantly on the Starks Nest while a light snow fell on the lower slopes. <BR> <BR> Is it really still only early season? Can you believe this?
You-Know-Who by now
New member
Mad River Glen, 1/20, 1/25-1/26: <BR> <BR> After an exhausting week at SME, I stopped at MRG to squeeze in a day. <BR> Coverage was great on Monday the 20th. But, I was sluggish and a bit sore. I tended to an incident at the bottom of the upper Antelope headwall. As the day progressed, I got slower. It also got much colder. By sweep, the old fashion cold New England January chill was inescapable no matter how I tucked my layers in. <BR> The next day, I was back in Massachusetts nursing a nasty stomach virus (this explains the prior day sluggishness). This caused me to decorate my bathroom while finding out what Frank Zappa was referring to when he sang about how "The Wine-O Man" was "losing control of his bodily functions" on the Zoot Allures album. <BR> By the end of the week, I finally survived my virus. I headed up north on Friday evening and on the Everett Turnpike between that <BR>grotesque 8 - 10 lane section and Manchester it all hit me about how I only barely did not wind up in the exact group at SME that got blasted by The White Death on January 20th. Those 3 beers (2 LTAs and a Stovepipe) I had at The Hyde Away in Fayston were needed. <BR> The lodge was dark and asleep when I arrived. I was sooooo glad just to be in a real live Vermont ski house. It felt sooooo good just to be there with the lights out just staring out the window at the snow and forest. I then had <BR>trouble falling asleep and the following morning, I had a nasty nightmare but fortunately was able to wake up just as I was going over the edge and plunging into oblivion. Psychologists must be having a field day reading this. <BR> As I strolled over to the patrol shack, I started feeling very "alive". On the mountain, the snow seemed especially fresh and the forest, the valley views seemed very beautiful to me. Skiing was especially fun! <BR> I was given Panther as a trail check and there were some slick spots due to some high winds during the mid week. There was also a lot of chalky wind packed which made for a fun skiing surface. The winds also made many natural <BR>hoo-haas and rolls which all made for interesting and enjoyable skiing. The groomers felt especially nice. Ferret-Upper/Lower Glade skied especially well. With the exception of a small sheet of glare ice which resembled a pane of <BR>glass with some rocks poking through, Fall Line was outstanding. Everything was so lucid and had so much clarity and beauty to me. Skiing felt so <BR>effortless to me and was as much fun as any other activity that I had ever performed. <BR> The woods had some very tricky windpacked and were not a good choice. <BR> The next morning, I was disappointed to see that only a dusting of snow had fell as I expected some overnight accumulation. But, on the ride up The Single, the snow gun - ya' know, that big one over our heads - was turned on <BR>and it snowed all day long. Nice fluffy stuff. I drew Cat Bowl and Liftline for trail check. <BR> Liftline was outstanding and I often overlook this trail but when I ski it, I am reminded of how cool of a roller coaster ride that is with those ledges and rolls. <BR> The woods came alive. <BR> I had a Birdland stint and in the afternoon, we did some toboggan training on Fall Line-Creamery-Canyon which was difficult due to the accumulating powder which poured into the sled and also made sideslipping difficult. <BR> For sweep, I coyly worked my way into my favorite sweep run - Cat->Lynx->Beaver. I enjoy that because it is more isolated than many of the <BR>others and is a source of solitude at the end of the day. I found great chowder that was up to my knees in some spots. <BR> <BR> Vermont RULES!
Mark Renson
New member
Mad River Glen, 1/30/03 <BR> <BR> Today I checked in to pitch in my 2 cents for Greenwood Week. Skies were incredibly <BR>beautiful - a deep cold blue. I checked Fall Line and then upper/lower Glade, snitching a tree shot in the process and finding very light dry untracked. <BR> Afterwards, I joined up with the Greenwood Week kids. By this time in the week, they were up & running, but still needed guidance. It ain't easy when it's your first <BR>week, ever. Practice Slope and Fox/Vixen to Easy Way/Birdland were the picks and the packed powder was outstanding. I guided one 17 year old to her first bump run, ever - Periwinkle Bowl and she handled it with much courage and was very happy to have tried it. <BR> That afternoon, it was getting close to the time for the 2PM race. The kids thundered <BR>down Fox in wedge turns. As I rounded a turn into the Fox-Broadway intersection, that same 17 year old was in a heap by a tree - OH SH*T. The fact that she was bawling was a good thing - that meant that she was at least alive which is a major victory considering the way things have been going for me over the last few months. I called in some heavy artillery and was shocked at how quickly it arrived. Oh well, it turned out that she was more frightened than anything else (geez, do ya' blame her?) and we taxied her downhill so that she could recover from her bumps 'n bruises. <BR> I later closed off Ferret, had a great run down the lower part of Liftline and then drew <BR>Chute for sweep. I was a bit lackadaisical in the bumps and Christian told me that I gotta' keep practicing 'em for Senior S&T testing. Thinking of this, I became much more aggressive in P-Bowl and had a fine sweep run there. <BR> There is a very deep snowpack in Vermont and lines are starting to show up that one <BR>normally doesn't see. Just think, it's all gonna' get deeper!
Mark Renson
New member
1 Mo' .... Mad River Glen, 2/3/03 <BR> <BR> The prior day storm left some nice wind packed to be enjoyed under clear skies. The <BR>conditions were PPP - Perfect Packed Powder. The best skiing was to be found in the troughs of bumps. The snow was windpacked that wasn't too tricky but just challenging enough to keep one entertained. My usual check run of Panther was very sweet and I found great skiing in Birdland, Quacky, Ferret and in the Glades-Liftline neighborhood. <BR> Skiing in the woods was very easy and forgiving off of the Double and I skied in a place <BR>I worked on but hadn't skied in a few years. <BR> I was only one of 2 volunteers on duty for the day, so I was kept busy supporting the <BR>Pro Patrollers. It's a little more fun when you have less, though. <BR> A bit of a crowd showed up as the day wore on, probably in anticipation of some iffy <BR>weather forecasted for the next day - ski it before Mother Nature craps all over the PPP. (NOTE: we dodged a bullet the following day; se my separate 2/8-2/9 posting). <BR> I got in several ski runs and was a bit worn out at the end of the day - a great day of <BR>classic Vermont skiing!