Mad River Glen Midweek Pow Day

Mad River Glen Single ChairHow many phenomenal ski days do you get in a year? Maybe you’re saying something like “every day is a phenomenal day”, and that’s a nice attitude, but you have to agree that some days are better than others.

I’m talking about the special days, the ones that you remember for years. The ones with all the ingredients. Snow. Lots of snow. Fresh, open fields of powder. No lift lines. Nothing to do but ski.

I got to Mad River Glen a bit before 10am on Wednesday and found about 50 cars in the parking lot. I bought a “Mad Pass” with 3 transferrable lift tickets (might have to come back this weekend), and jumped on the single chair.

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November Magic!

It was called “White Saturday.” With the early season snow, Magic Mountain in Southern Vermont chose to spin the legendary Red Chair for one day only. The unprecedented event would be news for beating last year’s opening. Even bigger, it was still only November.

Prime Friday

Friday night is Prime at the Black Line Tavern, and we grabbed some of Vermont’s finest nourishment in preparation for the next morning.

On that day after Thanksgiving, we were thankful to have many Magic families show up for the occasion, including, of course, the family of our leader.

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Black Friday at Greek Peak

This past week snow riders gave thanks. It’s not often lifts in New York spin in mid-November. I got some early season action at Gore last weekend and this weekend hit Greek Peak on opening day too. It felt right to be back at Greek after closing them out on ski-for-free day. On April 15 2018, only a single white ribbon remained. This year, on Black Friday, I found a lot more.

Cats and snowmobiles

I woke from my long Thanksgiving nap shortly before 6am. With a -6f temp reading outside, it felt more like February than November. I loaded my gear and drove from the Finger Lakes to Greek Peak. The only cloud in sight was steam rising off Seneca and Cayuga Lakes.

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