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Anonymous
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Emergency! Emergency! The summit snow depth at Mount Mansfield had dipped below average. Record warm temperatures were predicted for northern Vermont. We scrambled and called a special early <BR>Tuesday meeting of Friday SKi Club to discuss the situation. It was deemed necessary to travel to Vermont's highest peak and ski it top to bottom repeatedly until the lifts shut down for the day. <BR> <BR>Our mission was successful. <BR> <BR>The usual cast of characters was there. Boston Bob was sighted, and what a sight he was. Shorts, and later bare chested. Saw him on Hayride: short 30 foot stretch of 8 foot wide snow and three massive moguls on the steepest pitch, we actually saw him come to a complete stop and contemplate his next turn for a full second or two. <BR> <BR>Skied a small bit of woods of the side of Sunrise first run. Snow level seems to have dropped to that heinous ice layer laid down in early February: it was icy crust, inch and a half thick. I fell and broke through making a foot deep divot with my butt and thrusting a foot long death cookie into the back of my thigh, apparently pulled a small bit of thigh muscle in the process. So it goes. <BR> <BR>Just the quad was running, and after some sweet soft bumps on Liftline and Hayride, we just about ran out of fun on the main mountain. So we ate a modest lunch -- victuals in the Octogon were limited to chips, cookies, and Gatoraide -- and eyed the terrain above the Cliff House. Snow looked pretty hammered and route choice seemed slim, with our eyes continually returning to the Climbng Gully. So a plan sort of hatched organically from the path of least resistance. <BR> <BR>We skied down Nosedive to Upper Rimrock, skated/skied up Rimrock to CLiff Trail. In a role switch, Alpine guy me slapped on cheap plastic skins and Telemark guy Roger strapped boards to pack and we headed on up to the Cliff House and beyond. <BR> <BR>While in the Climbing Gully I remarked that the surface was textbook corn: smooth, slightly undulating terrain with an inch of sluff on a solid base. A little narrow through the midway throat section, but still mighty inviting. But Roger would have none of that, and based on a skin up last Friday, suggested that we at least look at Profanity. <BR> <BR>We looked, and it looked OK. One 10 foot section of rock that we took off our skis to shimmy over, then some really sweet corn, then shadows and crust and snow made rough and uneven by considerable boot packing. It was challenging, especially since we did the first half before realizing that neither of us had reset our boots from "climb" to "descend." <BR> <BR>Still, we reached the Taft Lodge all too soon. Took some time to hang and admire the view and the serenity of 3650', then onto the Long Trail, which proved to be a mostly miserable bobsled track. Luckily, it wasn't long before we hit a familiar gully, crossed it, scampered along a long tree traverse, and were back on Chin Clip right about where the "Reserved" rope hangs. <BR> <BR>A bit of Chin Clip, then onto the best corn of the day down Switchback, Gonadlier, and Perry Merrill. <BR> <BR>We had time for two more cruisers on a now deserted mountain, gaining the last chairs at around 3:55. <BR> <BR>Came home and my "wife was not interested in a turn by turn description, so I continued my memoir on-line" (this is a direct quote from her as I write this) and share it with all of you. Enjoy. <BR> <BR>This could be it for me: we are off to Whistler this weekend, and my Mom wants me to go out to lunch with her Friday. Oh, the pain, oh the sorrow.