Mark Renson
New member
On Saturday morning, we were informed that Dylan won the Vertical Challenge and the <BR>Triple Crown for the second year in a row. Oh, and during the V.C., he did do his trademark <BR>helis-on-tellys - I don't think that Olympian Doug Lewis did that when he won the V.C. a few years ago. Since the VC was on Friday, Dylan was too exhausted to report in on Saturday. Craig <BR>Barnard (his trademark is the front flip on telemark gear) came in a close second and did indeed report into work at the Ski School and to ensure that the cooler had snow in it. <BR> On Saturday morning, I was thrilled to see that the mountain looked more like a January 23 day and NOT a March 23 day or a Death Crust day. I loaded The Single and was assigned to check the Cat-Lynx-Beaver combo. In Cat Bowl, I occaisionally hit some hardpack but found mostly packed powder and great bumps. Ditto for Lynx! The contrast in condtions relative to the prior 7 weeks was astounding - it was actually skiable rather than just survivable! I opened 2 connectors on Beaver and then cheated a bit by taking on a woods shot and whaddya' know, I <BR>bagged some knee deep untracked !! <BR> Afterwards, demons inside of me got the best of me. I couldn't control myself and I sinned. Oh man, it was good. I went into <BR>Denis' playground for a peek and the next thing ya' know, I was enjoying my best East ski run of the year, making deliberate tight turns down a line that I think I had never been in before <BR>and getting some great untracked boot top. A great line straight down the fall line on the left side was had that was all direct except for a minor little jam that a casual kick turn <BR>remedied. After that, it was a short traverse on-piste and down into the unmapped and then when I intersected another on-piste, I pointed 'em uphill a bit and gently cruised to the entrance of <BR>a line some of us had worked so hard on last Fall that I wanted to do so badly all Winter long. Initially, I was not sure that I was at that particular line, but once inside the gut of it, I <BR>recognized the fauna and pitch and realized that I had found it. I was not disappointed as the snow was great and it skied every bit as good as we had intended it to! After some great turns <BR>that brought me back onto a mapped trail, I took the snap, dropped into a pocket and threaded the needle one more time. A rewarding ski run straight down the heart of Stark Mountain! <BR> Down lower, I went for another shot and got tripped up on a stump which reminded me that the lower mountain still has a shallow snowpack, despite the recent snows. <BR> Great packed powder skiing was found all over the mountain. <BR> For sweep, I took on Fall Line and found great skiing on Moody's and sweet bumps on Canyon. <BR> This morning, an inch of dust touched up the surfaces. I drew Paradise for trail check which I was initially skeptical of. I had a nice run down Paradise, finding great packed all the way down with just an occaisional patch of crust. <BR> Later on, I had to do some _T_errain k_N_owledge and _F_amiliarization but before I did that, I took a little side trip and discovered a new line with great fluff. At my intended target, I ran into Susan who has skied at MRG for years, and had her join me which was a treat for her as she was unaware of this line which is my favorite. Conditions were not so hot as I found a few scratchy spots. <BR> After a stint, I hit another spot we had worked on last Fall and then down into another one we hacked out on a cold rainy November day a few years ago. This one did not ski too well as <BR>this spot is lower on the mountain and not too well covered. <BR> This also has the same aspect as an aforementioned line which seems to tell a story about the nature of the mountain. <BR> Many snow squalls hit Stark Mountain during the day until skies cleared for good later in the day. <BR> Tremendous packed powder conditions were found on not-brutally groomed trails like Porcupine, Broadway, Chipmunk, Birdland,etc. <BR> At the day end, I was assigned Antelope for sweep. I had to go coast-to-coast and after leaving the upper part, I was by myself under clear afternoon skies with great skiing. Nice way to end the weekend. <BR> Great weekend! I finally got the off-piste skiing that I was starved for all season long. The Snow Gawds have rewarded the loyal soldiers who have endured the rough yet charcater building conditions.