This is coming in a little late, but before we turn over to a new page for April wanted to give a brief rundown of the 'second wind' that (literally) befell Mt. Snow a week ago: <BR> <BR>Mon 3/18: Snow was coming down when I awoke so I made the drive during the precip. A bit hairy on the barely-treated back roads but I was rewarded with a good 4-6 inches and counting on the mt. The only caveat is that it was falling on hardpack and boilerplate, so under those nice powder turns lurked some serious scraping! Still nice, tho. <BR> <BR>Tues 3/19: Beautiful sunny day with the fruits of Mondays storm plus a little more overnight. As the day wore on, temps rose just enough to let the new stuff settle onto the base for a much more reliable edging underneath the fluff. Drank deep from all parts of the mt. <BR> <BR>Wed 3/20: Skipped this day as the snow didn't start falling until midday and I didn't feel like fighting the road conditions for only a couple of inches (jeez, now he's getting picky...)... <BR> <BR>Thurs 3/21:...and the waiting was amply rewarded by one of the best ski days in memory, good snow year or bad! Dragged ass outta bed way early, collected a buddy, and we were there within 15m of lift openings (no mean feat for me!). The storm had cleared out after leaving a good foot on top of the 6-8" from the previous days, It was a gorgeous sunny day with, oddly, none of the high wind that so typically chases a storm out. Stone perfect powder everywhere, calf deep with deeper easily found depending on lay of the land. Just as a recent post mentioned, this is where having a familiar 'home base' area comes in handy, knowing just what lines to hit in what order. I laid down first (sometimes second, third) tracks on each and every item on my checklist, and some that weren't on the list at all! Best day of the season so far, save maybe Stowe at New Years. <BR> <BR>Fri 3/22: No new snow overnight, but plenty of leftover freshies and wind fill. Wind much higher and north face closed but still plenty to be hounded. South face (Sunbrook), which had been inexplicably closed the day before (except to hikers 
) yielded deep wet snow in the sunshine, very dense but once one had a good speed/rhythm going it was every bit as fun as the fluff! <BR> <BR>Mon 3/25: After letting the weekenders have theirs, went up to find plenty of fun still lurking around, with a coupla inches on top to boot. Powder from the previous week still nice and dry on the north side and freshies were still possible throughout the place. <BR> <BR>Rain came Tues and I had to skip the rest of this week for weather and other reasons. I see that some rain/thaw/freezes apparently made things pretty crusty later in the week, and wiped out the super dry pow, but warmer daytime temps have softened it in most reports I've see. Sure, we can go back to 'spring' mode, no prob! Without the 2 ft tranfusion, I would not have put any money on Mt. Snow being open after Easter, but now they have made it past same with no mention of closing, which is a cool thing (we're still smarting from the premature closing of last year). I imagine they'll be good for another week or two, and hope springs eternal for beyond. Will be trying to squeeze in as many days as poss before resigning to the doubled drive time to Kmart. <BR> <BR> Even if we don't see another flake this season, this last run at least will provide a nice footnote to a below average season. We certainly deserved it!
) yielded deep wet snow in the sunshine, very dense but once one had a good speed/rhythm going it was every bit as fun as the fluff! <BR> <BR>Mon 3/25: After letting the weekenders have theirs, went up to find plenty of fun still lurking around, with a coupla inches on top to boot. Powder from the previous week still nice and dry on the north side and freshies were still possible throughout the place. <BR> <BR>Rain came Tues and I had to skip the rest of this week for weather and other reasons. I see that some rain/thaw/freezes apparently made things pretty crusty later in the week, and wiped out the super dry pow, but warmer daytime temps have softened it in most reports I've see. Sure, we can go back to 'spring' mode, no prob! Without the 2 ft tranfusion, I would not have put any money on Mt. Snow being open after Easter, but now they have made it past same with no mention of closing, which is a cool thing (we're still smarting from the premature closing of last year). I imagine they'll be good for another week or two, and hope springs eternal for beyond. Will be trying to squeeze in as many days as poss before resigning to the doubled drive time to Kmart. <BR> <BR> Even if we don't see another flake this season, this last run at least will provide a nice footnote to a below average season. We certainly deserved it!