3-24-2014: Mt Mansfield in photos

Today was the start of a Vermont/Adk trip for me during spring break. Was an incredible day to be in the alpine, completely sunny and almost zero wind. Skinned up and did several laps on the upper region of the mountain before finishing with a long woods run all the way back down. Conditions are still great out there, looking forward to the next couple days. Here are a couple photos:

Very nice!!  Mt. Mansfield is on my bucket list.  Well... I've been there once already on the Teardrop Trail, but didn't get to explore nearly as much of the mountain as I want to.  It looks like you had a beautiful day for your adventure.  

well done, sir

Last two days have been great. Wednesday was spent touring in the north Vermont backcountry. The morning was spent skiing nice sun-warmed snow on eastern aspects while the afternoon was spent skiing powder on north aspects. Temps in the thirties and lower forties and sunshine.

Today I skied Mad River Glen. Saw forecasts calling for up to half an inch of rain even in the mountains, so my expectations were pretty low. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. The morning was cloudy but pleasant, with an inch of fresh snow up high. A bit before noon it began raining at lower elevations (below the mid-station of the single chair) but it was all snow up high. By the end of the day I would guess they picked up 2-3 inches up high, enough to improve conditions a fair bit. The trees got much better as the day went on. It was my first time skiing MRG, and it definitely lived up to the hype for me.

Here are a couple pics:
NVT










MRG

Nice pics.  What was your backcountry route like?  How many descents?  That snow looks pretty sweet!

Great NVT stoke JJ, keep the photos coming.

Wednesday I did three descents in total, I would estimate about 4000 ft of vertical in total. It was my first time in the area so I had to do a little exploring. Much easier than in the Adirondacks though, where my attempts to find glades usually results in hours of bushwhacking and little reward!

jjp24 wrote

Wednesday I did three descents in total, I would estimate about 4000 ft of vertical in total. It was my first time in the area so I had to do a little exploring. Much easier than in the Adirondacks though, where my attempts to find glades usually results in hours of bushwhacking and little reward!

Very nice. Do you route finding in the Daks in the summer. Log it and return in 6 months. It's a lot easier.

I do a little bit but usually I find it too hard to tear myself away from climbing during the warmer months. I guess I need to start doing more recon on rainy days...

jjp24 wrote

Wednesday I did three descents in total, I would estimate about 4000 ft of vertical in total. It was my first time in the area so I had to do a little exploring. Much easier than in the Adirondacks though, where my attempts to find glades usually results in hours of bushwhacking and little reward!

Everything I've read seems to indicate that is easier to find natural glades in VT than the Adk. Not sure why, but many seem to report this.

Maybe it has something to do with more natural snow.

Last nights storm, WF 5" Mansfield 2". They finally won haha

ADmiKe wrote

Last nights storm, WF 5" Mansfield 2". They finally won haha

It aint over yet. Looks on radar that it is still snowing in both places.