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Anonymous
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New Year's Eve Day saw me sitting around the house nursing a wrenched back; one of those ones that make it so you can't put on your pants without wincing and sniveling. It started with the big MRG day, then got worse the next day when I tried to clear a tree on the Lower TD. So I sat around, reading Jay reports and watching the spot out my window where Mount Mansfield usually is be consumed by snow clouds all day. <BR> <BR>I was so grumpy that my wife let me get out today with a 12:00 noon deadline and a promise to be careful. Against my better judgement, this "kitchen Pass" was enough time to test my back out with buddy Scott on a Ski and Skin mission up the Teardrop. <BR> <BR>At the winter parking lot we four-wheeled past the cars, then drove through six inches of fresh fluff to the bottom of the trail. It was still snowing lightly as we headed up. There were no tracks except some fairly faint snowshoe tracks, so we congratulated ourselves for getting first tracks on a big powder day. Right after we had done our mutual back-slapping, a snowboarder blew by us on his way down. So that was who had snowshoed up... <BR> <BR>The trail is looking good, but as others have commented, this latest snow is light, and sits on top of only a foot deep base. So we stuck to the trail, thanked the Almighty for our "Magic Carpet" G-3 skins, and made it up to the jump pitch in an hour and a half. Which isn't bad considering I was so hurting yesterday... <BR>Up where we de-skinned, I measured the snow a few times, and estimate about two feet total snow on the west side of the hill, on average. About eight inches is what fell over the last day or so, and that combined with the nice base layers made for fun turns. <BR> <BR>Going easy on my back was balanced by the pleasure of watching snow cascade away from my shins, skis and thighs on each turn. The trail is lumpy and hazardous in spots due to "what lies beneath" but all in all a rollercoaster of pow was the net effect. <BR> <BR>Made it down to the truck, laid on my side to reach my buckles and not geek my back, and let a few flakes fall in my mouth. Sweet taste of winter. Go Ski.