Mohawk: Don’t Try This at Home

By one in the afternoon, we’d already ditched every layer we could and we were still pretty hot. We were having a great day and it wasn’t over yet. Even as the racers’ families were packing up their cars, we were headed back up the lift sans coats. By then it was close to sixty degrees.

It was a far cry from my first run of the morning. With my son sleeping soundly down in the parking lot and the temps still hovering around freezing, I’d ridden up one of Mohawk Mountain’s several triple chairs. It was my third visit to the cool little family hill in Connecticut, and I knew where I wanted to start, all the way over to skiers’ right.

Continue reading

Snow Ridge: A Day at The Beach

This year I’ve really come to appreciate Snow Ridge. I was already a big fan, but this year I really got to know the hill. I’ve been fortunate over the years to ride with some well versed locals and even Nick Mir himself, but this year I explored on my own.

I went deeper into the Snow Pocket than ever before and like Thoreau on a snowboard, came out a new man. All that sweet powder I rode earlier in the season was now part of a deep base. When Snow Ridge announced its pond skim for Sunday, I called Alex and he grabbed his towel. With temperatures in the upper 50’s we headed to the beach. The sun was already blistering when we were gearing up in the lot.

Continue reading

Swain Mountain Jamming

There’s always this looming feeling of dread for skiers and riders as we enter the month of March. The sun may be shining and the weather warmer but that means the snow will soon melt and our season will be over. You want to make every weekend count.

Swain base area

Swain hosted its spring carnival last Saturday but it could have easily been mistaken for a mid-winter day. A bit of lake effect dusted the mountain the night before and the temperatures were in the mid teens. Swain is one of the mountains I grew up riding so I was excited to get back and see what was new.

Continue reading