October 14, 2009, Mad River Glen VT
10/14/09
3697
8
The PNW content here is very disappointing these days, so I'll have to interject another east coast TR...
So yesterday (Thursday) I went hiking on Mt Greylock with a friend who is hiking the AT started off as a somewhat pure thru hike, but hes section hiking now, so we started at the Thunderbolt parking lot, then did a loop up the Thunderbolt, then up and over the summit on the AT, then down the Cheshire Harbor Trail. Temps were in the 30s at the base, definitely below freezing at the summit, with some frosted-over trees.
Why, if this keeps up, soon well be skiing in northern New England!
Oh, wait a minute . . .
So the prior day (Wednesday) I met up with my friend Bob and his friend Ian (MRG local), along with a surprise from MRG patroller Brennan Severance. Well, okay, maybe Brennans presence there is not a surprise, but then again he seemed surprised to see me there, greeting me with a Duuuooouuude that would put Spicoli to shame, followed by a similarly intoned I thought were you in Kathmandu, apparently (so far as I can interpret Brennans thinking) confusing me with Dave Watson (another originally New England based patroller, who made ski mountaineering extreme-o history this summer by being the first to ever ski K2's Bottleneck).
The three of them headed up, and then after I made use of the open base lodge (indoor flush toilets are so very welcome after a 2:50 drive to northern VT from western Mass), I was joined by Sam and we headed up a bit past 10:00, skinning after only a very short hike.
As shown in this picture, I started off super tentative, but the skiing was great. Plus Sams outstanding photography compensates for my early-season backseat driving!
Why, Sam is such an avid skier and skilled photographer, he should start a website that combines those two passions . . . oh, right:
http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/profiles/sam/
We started off with two runs on Quacky > Bunny > Grand Canyon. Heres Bobs friend Ian.
And Ian again:
Sam (with his dog Chester barely visible in the background):
Sam again:
Unfortunately, after these two runs, everyone else had to take off for various obligations. I decided to check out the summit.
Obligatory summit photo of iconic single chair:
Unfortunately, although the snow was about the same up there (around half a foot), but the terrain is somewhat less suitable for early season skiing. I took Catamount Bowl > Antelope > Moodys > Upper Canyon > Grand Canyon, which was okay for one run, but I wanted to ensure my Dynafit Manaslu skis didnt take any casualties. (Happy to report that despite some occasional scraping sounds, the bases took no hits, and the edges after some filing are still quite sharp.)
After the summit run, I skinned back up to the double, then for a lower-angle combo skied Quacky > Easy Way > Loon to the base of Birdland. I then took two more runs off the double for Quacky > Porcupine, which did not seem to have been skied yet. I would have loved to take more runs on the nearly pristine Porcupine, but unfortunately I needed to hustle back to Amherst for what turned out to be a 90-minute televised presentation to the Warrant Review Meeting.
You can read all about these exciting zoning issues here:
http://www.amherstma.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2691
Ah, New England Town Meeting participatory democracy - but why couldnt the Town Planning Board Chair get someone else to do this? Oh, I am the Chair. Well, at least I got in my 7,050 vertical for the day (minus the final 350' downhike at the end to save my precious Manaslu skis), so still a worthy outing overall, albeit a bit short at only five-and-a-half hours.
So yesterday (Thursday) I went hiking on Mt Greylock with a friend who is hiking the AT started off as a somewhat pure thru hike, but hes section hiking now, so we started at the Thunderbolt parking lot, then did a loop up the Thunderbolt, then up and over the summit on the AT, then down the Cheshire Harbor Trail. Temps were in the 30s at the base, definitely below freezing at the summit, with some frosted-over trees.
Why, if this keeps up, soon well be skiing in northern New England!
Oh, wait a minute . . .
So the prior day (Wednesday) I met up with my friend Bob and his friend Ian (MRG local), along with a surprise from MRG patroller Brennan Severance. Well, okay, maybe Brennans presence there is not a surprise, but then again he seemed surprised to see me there, greeting me with a Duuuooouuude that would put Spicoli to shame, followed by a similarly intoned I thought were you in Kathmandu, apparently (so far as I can interpret Brennans thinking) confusing me with Dave Watson (another originally New England based patroller, who made ski mountaineering extreme-o history this summer by being the first to ever ski K2's Bottleneck).
The three of them headed up, and then after I made use of the open base lodge (indoor flush toilets are so very welcome after a 2:50 drive to northern VT from western Mass), I was joined by Sam and we headed up a bit past 10:00, skinning after only a very short hike.
As shown in this picture, I started off super tentative, but the skiing was great. Plus Sams outstanding photography compensates for my early-season backseat driving!
Why, Sam is such an avid skier and skilled photographer, he should start a website that combines those two passions . . . oh, right:
http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/profiles/sam/
We started off with two runs on Quacky > Bunny > Grand Canyon. Heres Bobs friend Ian.
And Ian again:
Sam (with his dog Chester barely visible in the background):
Sam again:
Unfortunately, after these two runs, everyone else had to take off for various obligations. I decided to check out the summit.
Obligatory summit photo of iconic single chair:
Unfortunately, although the snow was about the same up there (around half a foot), but the terrain is somewhat less suitable for early season skiing. I took Catamount Bowl > Antelope > Moodys > Upper Canyon > Grand Canyon, which was okay for one run, but I wanted to ensure my Dynafit Manaslu skis didnt take any casualties. (Happy to report that despite some occasional scraping sounds, the bases took no hits, and the edges after some filing are still quite sharp.)
After the summit run, I skinned back up to the double, then for a lower-angle combo skied Quacky > Easy Way > Loon to the base of Birdland. I then took two more runs off the double for Quacky > Porcupine, which did not seem to have been skied yet. I would have loved to take more runs on the nearly pristine Porcupine, but unfortunately I needed to hustle back to Amherst for what turned out to be a 90-minute televised presentation to the Warrant Review Meeting.
You can read all about these exciting zoning issues here:
http://www.amherstma.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2691
Ah, New England Town Meeting participatory democracy - but why couldnt the Town Planning Board Chair get someone else to do this? Oh, I am the Chair. Well, at least I got in my 7,050 vertical for the day (minus the final 350' downhike at the end to save my precious Manaslu skis), so still a worthy outing overall, albeit a bit short at only five-and-a-half hours.
Great reports from Vermont, JS. Great.
Indeed, season started for me here in Colorado October 10th - very fine for so early.
Let's hope CO and NE fare well with El Nino this year. Looks like you've got a good pattern forming but November can be a killer for snow in NE...fingers crossed.
Indeed, season started for me here in Colorado October 10th - very fine for so early.
Let's hope CO and NE fare well with El Nino this year. Looks like you've got a good pattern forming but November can be a killer for snow in NE...fingers crossed.
"Ski it if you can" eh?
Ski it if you can . . . get yourself up to the top without a chairlift!
I counted at least nine skiers there that day (a midweek), and probably were even more I didn't see. A couple trails were even pretty tracked out by the end of the day! MRG skiers definitely live up to their hardcore image.
I counted at least nine skiers there that day (a midweek), and probably were even more I didn't see. A couple trails were even pretty tracked out by the end of the day! MRG skiers definitely live up to their hardcore image.
Thanks for these posts, Jonathan. Brings back fond memories of floating through six inches of powder for six turns before suddenly driving my tips into an unseen rock or root at Bolton or Mansfield in October or November.
Skiing MRG in Oct? Hopefully this bodes well for the '09/'01 Winter. Give my best to Andrew Rorabach. Most of my skis became 'rock skis' on Paradise. I can also say that the single chair is not that much faster than skinning up...and a whole lot colder - blanket or not. Love the early season report.
you say that like october turns at the river are uncommon. that's the beauty of new england early season, a heavy frost and the fast grass is ready to go...
The pioneer of fast grass himself, my former English Teacher, Justin Trees:
StoweFastGrass
StoweFastGrass
Great video cityhick! That is hilarious he can ski on that. I'm gonna show a few people that for sure.
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