Jim Bauman
New member
Warm sun, good snow, decent cover. What's not to like? <BR> <BR>Parked at the top of the Gap about 2:30 and took an interesting route to the summit, following the LT until I saw signs for an MRG snowshoe trail (Bearpaw), which I followed to the top of the Birdland chair. Could have skied a short portion of Duck, but kept hiking on to Snail, under the double (which moved one chair length as I passed under; some sort of end of the season maint., no doubt), and then on to Broadway, mid-station, Catamount, and Catamount Bowl. The LT had some packed in snow, Birdland is pretty much done, Broadway and Snail have good cover, although the snow bridges are growing more precarious, and Catamount has excellent cover other than the completely bare headwall. The melt water rages around and beneath you at certain points, but it can be avoided. <BR> <BR>Three people signed the Stark's Nest log book yesterday, including yours truly, so at least a few folks enjoyed the blazing sun and corn snow. A young chap and his 4 month-old puppy greeted me at the top, and he soon set off down Chute. I lingered in and around the deck, enjoying the views and darkening the base coat a little more. The MRG patrollers had left plenty of H20 for hikers and skinners. Very thoughtful! It was great to just lounge about and remember the amazing season. <BR> <BR>Finally I pushed off down Chute after lightening the pack. It's still a very challenging trail, esp. with all the surprises now lurking in the troughs of the bumps. It kicked my butt and rubbery legs pretty good. The ledgy spot is pretty well melted out, but the jug handle is fine. Other than that its very skiable. <BR> <BR>Hiked back up the shadowy skier's left side of Chute, postholing through only a handful of times. Gathered up my stuff and skied down for what was quite possibly my last descent of Mt. Stark until the fall. I aimed for FallDice, but the incredibly dirty snow under the trees and lack of tracks was quite disorienting. Ended up just to skier's right of Paradise. The entrance to 'Dise is a little hairy, with all the previously snowed in trees now righting themselves and asserting their dominion over the mountain. Below this though, Paradise is in decent shape, though its a bit of a puzzle to avoid the melt out spots. Very fine snow, surprisingly not too gloppy. <BR> <BR>Bombed Broadway as far as I could and had to hike to get back to the top of Birdland. Believe it or not I pt the skis back on a few times on the LT as I headed back to the gap. Got a few scratches and twigs in interesting places, but if was fun to have done it. Back in the car by 6:30. <BR> <BR>This weekend at MRG I would guess only above mid-station will offer sustained, snow-surface skiing. Grass skiing will be mandatory below, but you know, Stark is a pretty grassy hill on many of the trails, so bring the rock/grass boards and enjoy.