The Snow started around midnight. My sister, her friend Jen and I were out at the Matterhorn, a local bar in Stowe close to the mountain. All day you could feel the anticipation of the whole town. Everyone was psyched for this storm. It started dumping snow earlier than we initially thought. The drive home was sketchy but we made it OK. I even stopped in town to snap a few pics.
Today I decided to brave the elements and see if I could get a little uphill skiing in to Smuggler's Notch. The roads were better than expected, but then again this is a ski town and making sure people can get to the mountain is a huge priority. On the way up I saw a snowboarder walking on the side of the road in the direction of the mountain. I slowed down and asked if he needed a lift. He quickly threw his snowboard in the back and hopped in. Nice to know that hitch-hiking around here from town to the mountain and also down to Waterbury or vice-versa is pretty common and no big deal. I've done it a few times and have always been extremely grateful.
So I ended up skinning up to Smuggler's Notch and the. Headed down the other side to Smuggs Resort. About halfway down I decided to go up into the woods on the right and get in a run. I slapped my climbing bails into place (it was steep and they help with that) and worked my back about 300 yds or so. A nice little technical run. After that I headed back up the mountain and down the other side to my car, just a bit before nightfall.
That one run showed me a couple things. First, my uphill skiing techniques have improved. I worked on those a lot towards the end of last year and it didn't take long for me to feel 100% solid doing kick-turns. Second, skiing in the trees, especially skiing tele in the trees, is always a whole other challenge from just an open slope. It's always heads-up skiing...complete focus required.
It's still snowing, albeit fairly lightly. All told we easily got 12" and probably a decent amount more. Tomorrow it should still be snowing in the AM before finally quitting around mid-day. I'm definitely looking forward to skiing somewhere with my sister tomorrow and then probably at Mad River on Saturday...psyched for good powder!
Hey Ive climbed that ice before...
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