Stowe, VT 2/19/00

[John]

<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 2/22/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>My friend Wishbone and I survived a dozen or so truck-induced whiteouts on 91 Friday night before finally touching down in Bradford VT at about 7:30 p.m. Stepping off the snowmobile trail that leads to my buddy's hunting camp (aka the Palace in the Popple), we were astounded by the depth of the snow (3 plus feet with more in places). Snow fell all through the night and left a total accumulation of approx. 8-10 by morning. <BR> <BR>We were a little disappointed to find that someone had broken into the camp, but heartened to find that everything was in order and the intruders had left five bucks to cover the candles and propane they used during their stay. They made a journal entry stating that the weather was bad and they needed a place to dry out. Fair enough - no significant damage done. <BR> <BR>The camp is a real VT classic. Outside it's rough cut clapboard siding with the bark left on. Inside it's six bunks, a 30 year old deer head with a *massive* rack, and dozens of arrows, many of which are cedar shafted relics from an era long gone by. Quintessential VT. <BR> <BR>We made a plan for the morning. Stowe and early. Unfortunately the back roads over to Barre were still pretty rough at 6 and we didn't actually make the hill until around 8:15. Sadly the locals did not wait for us and tracks were everywhere. We immediately dove into the woods, hoping to find a few leftovers from the morning's frenzy. First run was the stuff to the skiers left of the Lookout chair. Just a few tracks at the top and magnificent thigh deep pow. I floundered and flailed it on my teles, but it was still a blast. More of the same in the Goat/Dive and Tres Amigos woods. Plenty of unsullied lines and lots of snow. Near the bottom, we got caught in a couple of low angle situations that required fairly lengthy, sweaty extrications because we really didn't know where we were going and we just couldn't get any momentum in the deep snow. <BR> <BR>The lines at the quad began to build and we headed for the gondola, where we rode singles. I absolutely loved Chin Clip and the adjacent woods. The bumps were fabulous, soft, and nicely spaced. The woods here were hit hard, but still nice. With the great snow and easy ride up the gondi, we ended up skiing this run a half dozen times or more. The sun came out at some point and the view of the summit and notch were magnificent. <BR> <BR>By three, we were absolutely flogged. Wishbone claimed he had no right turn anymore and he was wondering if there was a way down that would be only lefts Our last run was the green circle off the quad. The snow was great over here too. Even where the trail was scraped down, we never found ice. <BR> <BR>We limped back to the camp and ate a sumptuous dinner before collapsing in our bunks at an embarrassingly early hour. Going to Sugarloaf for a week in March. If it's half as good there as it was at Stowe on Sat., it will be epic.