<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 3/14/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>OK, so after being teased mercilessly for being a wooly-knickered-leather- <BR>boot telemarker on another forum last week, I dragged out the wool pants, <BR>the antique Bonnas, some foam-core no-wax edgeless Rossis, and my cushy <BR>Fabiano lo-leathers and headed up to Prospect (must east of of Bennington) <BR>to see if I still had it in me... <BR> <BR>The drive-by on Saturday wasn't promising- the grassy slopes of the alpine <BR>trails left over from an age when the lift still ran shone brown through <BR>the light drizzle, and although the groomed XC was running, it hardly seemed <BR>worth the trouble. Damn! Missed it ! <BR> <BR>Then, Saturday PM, a squall, then another of sleet/rain/graupel decended <BR>upon the misty southern hills. Time to take another look! <BR> <BR>By noon Sunday the mountain was stuck in a persistent fog, with occasional <BR>light flurrys of sleet & snow. In the gaps in the fog it was possible to <BR>see the bottom of the all-white alpine slopes from the lodge. The buddy <BR>in the rental shop claimed they were 100% open, but advised against skiing <BR>the alpine slopes: "There ain't much cover, and there's a crust on top of <BR>everything from that rain early this morning." That was all the invitation <BR>I needed... <BR> <BR>A few test yo-yos on 150' vertical feet of the intermediate hills determined <BR>that the woodies weren't gonna be glidey enough in that crust (and the rocks <BR>were bound to make them even less so), thus the toy-du-jour was going to <BR>be the waxless foam cores. After kick'n'gliding a bit to take the first 200' <BR>or so via groomed XC trails it was clear that it'd be quicker & easier to <BR>take the summit via the alpine trail system. Truth in advertizing, there <BR>was indeed a tasty li'l rain crust atop 4-5" of graupely grunge, with no <BR>base to speak of below. The crust got crunchier as the altitude increased, <BR>to the point of needing a bit of push or slap to break it. <BR> <BR>Taking the top 5-600' with zig-zag traverses up the expert hills (measuring <BR>in the mid-20s of degrees) I decided it was too thin to grin on the steeper <BR>stuff and resolved to take the safer routes down the greens & blues. The <BR>summit was slightly windy, with very bright fog above, but no patches of <BR>blue were to be seen. The brightess was a bit disorienting, since visiblity <BR>remained below 300', but had warmed the crust to a breakable state on the <BR>more open slopes. <BR> <BR>The glide was slow, breaking crust the entire way, and turning difficult. <BR>But on the low-angle slopes hard turns weren't necessary, and only the <BR>occasional hop'n'stop was required to avoid the random creek crossing or <BR>blowdown. Switching back where the trail crossed my ascent track I took <BR>another 300' or so to explore one of the steeper blue trails. Wide & open <BR>at first, it eventually narrowed & steepened into a brushy 50' wide section <BR>where linking turns on the edgless gear was hopeless. Dropping 100' with <BR>kick turn/traverse/repeat, the trail crossed the top of the groomed XC. <BR> <BR>Taking a short tour on the XC trail to an easier blue, the bottom 200' was <BR>taken in easy telemarks down to the lodge. OK- I guess this aging hippie <BR>still has the touch! 
<BR> <BR>Prospect is a neat place to ski though- with 1600' of vertical on a west- <BR>facing aspect it's a natural snow pocket reaping the benefits of the clouds <BR>rising from the vale bewteen the Taconics and the Greens. It's been more <BR>than a decade since the lifts have run, but the alpine trails are maintained, <BR>and never groomed! The lodge is rustic & very low key- this isn't the <BR>haven for spandex skater-jock-wannabes, but more of a local XC hill. It's <BR>a great place for beginning telemarkers to test their skills on wild snow, <BR>since the alpine runs are steep enough to count, open enough to have bail- <BR>out room, and don't get enough traffic to get packed down. Abutting the <BR>Aiken Wilderness, it's got access to fun fire-road tours too. Check it <BR>out sometime!
<BR> <BR>Prospect is a neat place to ski though- with 1600' of vertical on a west- <BR>facing aspect it's a natural snow pocket reaping the benefits of the clouds <BR>rising from the vale bewteen the Taconics and the Greens. It's been more <BR>than a decade since the lifts have run, but the alpine trails are maintained, <BR>and never groomed! The lodge is rustic & very low key- this isn't the <BR>haven for spandex skater-jock-wannabes, but more of a local XC hill. It's <BR>a great place for beginning telemarkers to test their skills on wild snow, <BR>since the alpine runs are steep enough to count, open enough to have bail- <BR>out room, and don't get enough traffic to get packed down. Abutting the <BR>Aiken Wilderness, it's got access to fun fire-road tours too. Check it <BR>out sometime!