Okemo VT 1/4 & Magic VT 1/5

[Talisman]

The drive north to VT on 1/3 was a slow drive with many accidents, poor visibility, snowy roads and examples of poor driving. I was on back roads for most of the drive which were pretty good and could do 40 to 45 MPH. The short stint on I-91 in VT was a nightmare; some drivers were going 20 MPH while others thought 60 MPH on sketchy roads was prudent. As the saying goes, Hell on the highway means heaven on the slopes. <BR> <BR>Okemo had at least 24 inches by may estimate, lots of people were champing at the bit at 8:00 for first tracks. I hit the glades early Double Diamond a couple of times, Forest Bump and Loose Spruce until the tighter lines weren't sweet. The powder quickly bumped up on virtually every trail from the skier traffic. I may have some hearing damage from hearing the high pitched whine about lack of grooming. <BR> <BR>Actually Okemo did groom most greens and blue slopes, but the throngs of skiers quickly made the corduroy bumps. I had a blast, but was a bit shocked how quickly the good stuff got tracked out. The Okemo trails were empty by noon as the powder bumps got the better of many skiers. <BR> <BR>I had briefly thought about hitting Stratton on 1/5 to take advantage of a CT Ski Council Day $27 lift ticket, but it would be more of the same. Magic was an obvious choice, may still have powder and lots of steeps, bumps and adventure there, so I coughed up the additonal $5 to ski Magic on Sunday instead of Stratton. <BR> <BR>Magic was an execllent choice. Lots of untracked powder on trail edges, everything was open with incredible cover. Master Magician and Red Line did get scraped off by the usual poor sliding techniques, but Witch, Lucifer, Sorcerer, Broom Stick, Talisman, Heart of the Magician and Slide of Hans were spectacular on the day after the day. I would typically ski a diamond or double diamond without seeing another skier or rider. <BR> <BR>I was skiing with a first year rookie skier who was at Magic for the first time and she had a blast too. The lack of a crowd compared to Okemo made her ski with great confidence and she enjoyed exploring the Intermediate, Novice and one Expert trail. <BR> <BR>There was a lift line at Magic as only the Red Chair ran on 1/5, but the lines were friendly and I hooked up with some good people during the wait. The Black Chair is supposed to run next weekend so this should help with ending any lift lines..