Mount Snow 2/27 and 2/28

[Mess]

Drove up on Wednesday after work. Took about 7 hours. Smooth ride until we got into the Green Mountain National Forrest after Bennington. I was cruising aound 50 mph going down a steep decline and realized I was on snow. It was a little scary navigating the curves with snow on the road. Arrived at the Austrian Haus Lodge at 11:30.

2/27

We woke up early on Thursday had a continental breakfast and headed to Mount Snow(4 miles from lodge). It was cold but not unbearable. The weather conditons varied throughout the day. It was cloudy and cold, then a snow squaw put a fresh inch on the mountain, it cleared up for a while and then got real cloudy and cold.

 

We used the Bluebird express for our first few runs. First run was Ridge. It is a really fun trail. I was the only person on the trail and had great views of the surrounding mountains. I convinced my 63 year old dad that he could handle the trail and he loved it on the next run. Next we went to the Canyon quad and took two runs on snowdance. Another fun trail that was perfectly groomed. My dad took a break and then I took a run on Exhibition. It has two steep headwalls but is a fairly nice groomer run.

We took a coffee break and went back out for another run on Ridge but my fathers leg was starting to hurt so he stayed on Long John trail. I could see he was struggling so he called it a day. I decided to head to the North Face. I took the Canyon quad to River Run and then Jumped on the North Face lift. My first run was on Fallen Timbers and then I took a run on Chute. They were the only groomed Black Diamonds. Both trails are fun but there is not a steep headwall at the top. Kind of remind me of cliffhanger at Camelback but abut 4 times longer. They are real fun trails with great views. It was fun to watch people skiing the moguls on free fall. It made the long lift ride up bearable. We went to cuzzins for lunch. It has a pretty cool atmosphere and the food was good and fairly priced. After Lunch I took a run on Uncles to ridge. Uncles was a natural trail. It was a little bumpy and crunchy but a real fun trail and a challenge. I took a run on exhibition to Ego alley and 1 run down south bowl then went back for another run on fallen timbers. My last run of the day was cascade to canyon. What an awesome day. My quads were starting to die and I new it was time to relax.

 

We went back to the Austrian Haus and got in the heated pool to relax the muscles. Took a nap then headed out to dinner at The Last Chair. Food was good and drank some Long Trail with a salad and pizza. Our ride home was crazy. It was snowing and the winds were whipping. It was a total whiteout for about 40 seconds.

 

2/28

It was freezing when we woke up. The temp was 4 degrees with a windchill of -14. We Went to Dot's of Dover for breakfast and got a short stack of mixed berry pancakes. Unfortunately my dad could not ski since his knee was swollen. I got on the Bluebird express and took my first run down Exhibition. I took the bluebird express up and for my second run I decided to head to the sunbrook area. I took a great run down Thanks Walt. I took the beartrap double to Carinthia. Carinthia is a huge park area but I went on Fools Gold which is labeled as a natural park. It was fresh powder and I was the second person to go down the trail. It is strange skiing powder when you are not used to it. It is so much fun but a harder workout. I took the quad to the top of carinthia and the took Milky way back to bear trap. From bear trap I took Long John to ridge where I attempted to navigate the moguls on the right of the trail. By this point my toes were freezing. I went back to the lodge, took off my boots and but my feet in front of the fire. It took a good half hour to thaw my feet and get ready to go back out.

 

The blubird lift lines were ridiculous as ever wanted to use the bubble chairs to fight the win so I headed to the Canyon lift that reminded me of Montage since I never waited in line. I took a run down Canyon first. Then I went down the overbrook trail. Overbrook was an ungroomed natural trail with soft moguls spread throughout the trail. It was alot of fun but a real quad burner. The next run was One More Time and it was also an ungroomed natural trail. The trail had alot of varying terrain and was pretty narrow with nice turns throughout. I saw a group head into the trees to the left but I was not comfortable following. Towards the end of the trail was a small mogul field that was very icy. I stayed along the treeline to avoid the ice. I went back to North Face for one more run on Fallen Timbers. I think it is my favorite trail at Mount Snow but Ridge is a close second. Ridge reminds me of a steeper/longer version of Pocono Raceway where you can pick up great speed but is so wide so you can carve awesome curves. My last run was Drifter to canyon. A great run to end my time at mount Snow.

 

I enjoyed my trip to Mount Snow but plan on trying Okemo next time I go to Vermont.

 

I will post pictures soon.

 

 

 

 

[Ride Delaware ?]

Glad to hear you enjoyed Mount Snow. I was driving up to Sugarbush Thursday and the roads were wild. 100 north of Killington was completely snow covered.

 

Mount Snow and Okemo have similar pitch. Okemo can be just as crowded, but they have more terrain to spread people out. If the season has been good for snow, Magic is an excellent place to avoid the crowds.

 

There aren't too many VT areas that disappoint.

[toast21602]

pics?

[Mess]

I can not figure out how to attach my pictures. Where is the attachment icon?

Thanks

[toast21602]

Tapatalk app

[Mess]

They are pictures from the first day. Second day was more of a Bluebird day

 

[Ride Delaware ?]

Day 2 was gorgeous. Thanks for taking the time to take and post those.