Mad River Glen, VT 3/15/00

[Dave]

<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 3/17/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>Skied MRG yesterday for only the 2nd time this season. While it wasn't the natural snow paradise I found on President's Day, it was still a lot of fun. (Being a new - and now broke - homeowner, I bought one of ORDA's $350 non-holiday season passes to Gore and Whiteface. While I've had fun at Gore, after 12 ski days there I've gotten a little bored with skiing the same trails all the time. They seem way too eager to close the woods and groom everything else in sight.) <BR> <BR>From the Single (the only lift running) things looked pretty white on much of the mountain, thanks to the recent snow/crust event. Relatively mild temps (50 at the base) made the crust a non-factor, turning much of the ungroomed/untracked into cream of wheat. Chute and Fall Line featured good cover and firm bumps, with an edgeable surface. Antelope was groomed, with decent cover. Below the mid station, things got softer, and there were lots of bare spots on lower Porcupine, the Chipmunk Bowl and Waterfall. We did manage to get a few woods runs in, where the cover was generally good. However, the wet snow sometimes offered the weird sensation of skiing in slow motion. <BR> <BR>While we generally got skunked by the weather last weekend, we have to stay positive. After all, after 34 years of living in upstate NY, I've never seen the weather warm up in February and stay springlike all the way through March. We're due for some cold and snow. If MRG keeps the closed trails closed until the cold and snow arrives, there should be a good base under whatever snow we get. With enough new snow, it could be a great weekend.