Ski Day 19: It snowed lightly all night. I couldn’t figure out how it was snowing, as the stars were out, but it did. We got another two inches; Gore called it an inch. Now, I’ve seen this at 7:45:

…and I’ve seen this at 7:50:

But I’ve never seen this at 7:55:

That’s the Gondi…with the light green and no one in line. It took me 5 mins to get ready…I was the first one on, all by myself. Completely alone for two runs at the bottom. Everything was groomed out and again the wind was loading up the sides of the lower mountain trails with anywhere from 2 – 6″ of windblown snow. Aside from the occasional trek from one side of a trail to the other….conditions were carvy.

Across the entire summit, bump troughs were loaded with dense but skiable snow. The lone tracks are mine:

When the sun was out it was a pleasure. When the light went flat…the sledding was tougher. Groomers at the summit were like those on the lower mountain…with a nice layer on top.

I stayed in the trees as much as possible. On the Monday after President’s Week, you’d expect less skier traffic. But this was insane. I was first in Straightbrook, Double Barrel, Chatiemac, Dark Side and KHS. If anyone is wondering where all the snow from the Hullabaloo Headwall went…I found it in the Dark Side where it had blown in thigh deep.

On my last run….I hit Twister and hugged the rolled-up racing fencing along the side. There was untracked left from Thursday and it was the best groomer run of the day.

Extremely grateful to be back on skis. Even if just for a few days.

Ski Day 18: It started snowing around midnight last night. Two inches fell overnight, and it snowed all day. As of now, 4pm, Gore’s posting 7″ – I’ll use that as my number. Still snowing although the radar seems to be showing the end of it. NWS is still calling for 2-4 more.

It was warmer this morning, in the 20s. I left the cabin even earlier as the Gondi went live yesterday at 8:05. Today it went even earlier… at 7:50. Soft snow and no skiers. My second Gondi run at 8:15 I was all alone in the cabin. It was the cabin that claims Gore had the first ski patrol in the US.

Glades were great. Same as yesterday. I was first in Straightbrook trees again, second in Chatiemac.

Dark Side Liftline was primo:

Lower Steilhang…

…to the trees…

The whole day was snowy and sweet.

Ski Day 17

Woke up to a Winter Storm Watch for all of the North Country starting early am tomorrow and going into Monday. As for long range forecasting…I took Monday off over a week ago, based on a few comments from Henry at Accuweather.

Maybe an inch overnight and enough wind to load it into certain spots without blowing it away. It wasn’t the pukefest going on over in the Greens, but I’ll take it. Conditions this morning were significantly better than end of day yesterday. It’s amazing what a few inches can do for early am surfaces.

Gondi went green again at 8:05. I was still booting up so I skipped breakfast.

The Bottom was WAY better than yesterday. Foxlair, Sunway, Fairview and Twister were all in great shape. A Mach 1 run through the Slow Zone on Sunway. You can get away with that for one run first thing in the morning, when it’s deserted.

Pine Knot and Uncas were getting snowmaking. I got first tracks on Chatiemac, Straightbrook trees, and under the SB chair. And good stuff in Chatiemac Glade.

Today was a better for skiing that it was for picture taking. For some reason, half of all my photos were washed out. I can’t explain it. The best photos of the day were the above runs and they were a bust.

I got one pic of KHS which was again sweet:

I went into Tahawas trees after a quick lunch in the Saddle. Snow was much softer and quieter than yesterday. And the troops were hammering it. I saw more skiers on Tahawas on my first run than I have seen all season. There must have been 15 skiers come through in direct succession.

The only death run of the day was the bump field on Lower Steilhang:

With the snow predicted for tomorrow and Monday, and some plumbing to figure out, I wanted to keep it short. I headed over to Burnt Ridge to close out the day. Sagamore is one long hard run when…you’re tired, you’re on teles, and the whole darn thing is bumped up. It whipped me.

BUT..I must say…for the first time in my career…I actually zippered about 7 bumps in a row. Not my usual schmere..where I take one line of bumps and go over each bump.

This was taking a line in between two rows and slapping my skis on alternating bumps. Joe the Bumper woulda been proud I think. I took wise advice and headed out through Hedges for one last shot at Tahawas and back home on Quicksilver.

I’m going to light a fire, drink a beer, read about all the skiing in VT and wait for some snow. Nice day.