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Anonymous
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Powder! Finally something good happened this winter! <BR> <BR>Executive summary: Brilliant sunshine, cold temperatures, first tracks and repeated freshies in dry, fluffy powder. Yes, it was that good. <BR> <BR>Late yesterday we got an unexpected 2" of very light fluff in the Middlebury area, so accepting that as a good omen, I checked my calendar for work the next day. Hmmm, nothing important until 3:30. The car was packed and ready to go. <BR> <BR>This morning's e-mail from the Snow Bowl reported 6-8" of new snow. If anything, that may have been an understatement. There was at least 8" of fresh, untracked, and oh-so-fluffy powder at the summit. <BR> <BR>I arrived just before 9:00, followed the Ski Patrol guy up the lift, asked him which rope he would be dropping first (Youngman), and followed him to the rope. Sweet shin-deep first tracks greeted me, with occasional dips of knee-deep freshies. Did laps on Youngman, Lift Line, and Laforce, with one detour down the front side to the lodge to make a couple phone calls and make sure things weren't falling apart at work. (See, I'm not *completely* irresponsible.) <BR> <BR>The front side was all groomed, (which would normally be considered a crime on a day like this, but they're preparing for races this weekend) so it was off to the back side again. By this time (10:15 or so), Youngman and Lift Line were getting pretty tracked out, so I headed over to Laforce, which tends to get ignored more often ('cause it dumps onto an easy green trail). It was a good choice, as I finished the morning with more laps through shin-to-knee-deep freshies. It wasn't bottomless, but it was very very nice. <BR> <BR>All morning long I had a Steve Goodman song running through my brain: <BR> <BR>"You better get it while you can, you better get it while you can <BR>If you wait too long, it'll all be gone, and you'll be sorry then... <BR> <BR>"...From the cradle to the crypt is a mighty short trip <BR>So you better get it while you can."