Mt Snow 2/8-9 Sugarbush 2/11 & Mad River Glen 2/12

BadDNA and I were talking about a ski trip to VT a couple months back, and decided to take a week off and hit the slopes.  The snow outlook has been pretty dismal this winter, but we really lucked out on this trip.  We started off by leaving Central MA just as we were about to get another 10" or so on top of the 10" we received last weekend.  It seemed pretty ironic that the further north we drove, the less snow was on the ground!  

We had ended up with a LivingSocial package deal at Mt. Snow Lodge about a month ago, kind of on a whim, so we used this to start out our trip.  We arrived at Mt. Snow around 9am.  

It was overcast and in the 20s, and we headed up the bubble chair to the summit.  We skied one run from the summit and then played around on the trails off the Sundance quad for a few runs while my legs warmed up.  After a while, we headed over to the Canyon Express and skied the trails off that side.  We headed in for lunch, and when we came back out, headed back up to the Canyon Express for a few more runs before heading back up to the summit to finish out our day. While we were skiing off the Canyon Express, it started to snow fairly steadily.



It was lying down a really nice, powdery blanket of snow by the time we finished up.



Tuesday morning, we woke up to a fresh coating of 4-6", and it was still snowing!  What a nice surprise!  The fresh snow was perfect powder, light and fluffy.  By 11am, it was starting to clear up and turn into a bluebird day.  It was a gorgeous day of skiing!  The only bummer was receiving an e-mail from Liftopia saying that they were crediting BadDNA's account for the lift tickets we'd bought to Mad River Glen on Thursday, seeing how they were closed from lack of snow.  





BadDNA and I took Wednesday off from skiing to rest our legs, and drove up to Killington to visit the BaseCamp Outfitters to get some advice on new tele gear.  We're both on 75mm duckbills and have been contemplating the switchover to NTN.  After discussing the various options, we left thinking we'll stick to the duckbills a while longer, though we're really interested in the new Meidjo bindings.  

Thursday morning, we headed up to Sugarbush.  Again, the snow seemed to be following us.  It was snowing like a mofo when we arrived, and as we were booting up in the lodge, we overheard someone telling another friend they'd gotten 8-13" at the summit.  Bonus!  



We started off by doing a few runs off the Gate House Express Quad, and then moved over to SuperBravo Quad.  These two photos come from Lower Jester.  The snow was heavier and more dense than the snow that had fallen at Mt. Snow earlier in the week, and after that run, my legs were done and I called it a day.  BadDNA went back out and did a couple more runs afterward.  While I was waiting for him inside, I read that Mad River Glen had also gotten the same heavy, localized lake effect snow that Sugarbush was getting, and it was going to open on Friday.  Hell yeah!



Friday morning we headed up to MRG.  Although the snow had stopped, the road up to the mountain was quite slippery.  There were two cars in the ditch and the truck delivering all the beer to MRG had gotten stuck less than 500 ft from the MRG parking lot.  Oh noes!!  (He eventually made it).  It was truly amazing how quickly the new snow got skied off at MRG.  It was a bit skied off when we arrived, probably around 10am, but after a couple runs, it was pretty flattened toward the base and on the more skied trails.  I stopped and watched skiers coming out of the glades and down the steeper, bumpier trails, and I was amazed at the skill of the skiers I saw up there.  I'm not sure I've ever seen so many talented skiers at once at a resort.  What a fantastic mountain.  We will most definitely be back, hopefully when they've gotten some more snow!  We only got the one pic below, as it was super cold yesterday.  Most people were coming into the lodge after just a couple runs to warm back up.  Even so, it was another amazing day, and a perfect end to our VT ski trip.  

Awesome trip. I was up there a couple weeks ago and agree about the quality of the MRG locals. Even the groms were intimidating.

Great report.  IMO, Mount Snow is the best ski area in southern Vermont.  One correction to make is that the Sundance lift is a triple.  You did not ski it because it doesn't spin midweek.  You're probably referring to the Sunbrook Quad which alternates with the Beartrap Double on what days it runs midweek.  The Canyon Express serves some great runs for high speed cruising and seldom has a line, since everyone wants to ride the bubble chair.

Great report! Looks like you hit it nicely.

Cool report. You're timing was impeccable for this season.  Mike from Base Camp is a good guy.  I got my boots and bindings from him last spring. My other buddy is very very happy with his M binding. He is in the midst of a few backcountry trips right now with them and I can report back how he liked them and how well they performed in the bc.  

Great one! Nice.

I too continually ponder NTN. It's more about he money than anything philosopical.

This year I'm content to enjoy my new t1s.

snowmonkey wrote

BadDNA went back out and did a couple more runs afterward.

This made me laugh. I always wonder if I might have some bad dna too!

Marcski, I'd love to hear how your friend likes the Meidjos after his bc trip.  We actually talked to a young woman with blue hair named Summer.  :)  She was quite helpful, and ultimately convinced us that if we were really eyeing the 22 Designs Outlaw or Meidjo, we should give them a couple more years to work out any kinks, especially if our current gear is serving us well.  Which it is.  I'm just having some hip mobility issues that I'm working on that make it really difficult for me to bend down and get the cable bindings attached to my boots, so the step in aspect of the NTN bindings is VERY appealing to me!! I am a little fearful of higher, stiffer boots, because I already can barely fit my calves into my Scarpa T2 Ecos, which are 3 buckles.  I don't know that I could fit them into a 4-buckle boot.  

 

Harvey wrote

This made me laugh. I always wonder if I might have some bad dna too!

  He's got a LOT of BadDNA....  lol!!