Busy Day in Mt. Mansfield State Forest

Yesterday, the boys were eager to hit the slopes, first chair. We arrived in the lodge before 7am. They were in line by 7:20, yes there was already a line. I watched them take their inaugural run down Liftline, with Ben doing the last big drop head first. The trail was just groomed so he couldn't stop. He was flying on his back! I left them and skated from the Stowe Touring Center over to Trapps. I had hoped for some better skating on the upper loops over there. The conditions were starting to get really soft as is warmed. Due to the warmth and early hour, not much was groomed, so skating was so so. I stopped at the cabin to take a call from the boys. They had had a great morning of skiing all that was open on Mansfield, but were done for the day due to the long holiday lines. The skate back to the Touring Center was nice (thank you for grooming the ranch connector!). I brought the boys home late morning and then headed back to the Touring center. As I skied the backcountry section of the Burt Trail, the sun came out and it was just beautiful on the Skytop Ridge. I ran out of time and had to head home. After having done 4 tours in 2 days, I was definitely tired! Happy New Year!

Burling Trail to Beaver Meadow

Bob, Mike, Ben, Gianni, Boo, Ramble and I skied up to Beaver Meadow Pond today. It was a spectacular day, all sunshine and perfect temps. About 3/4 of the way up we were in an area of the woods that was just incredible. To the north, Whiteface was bright in the sun, but looking back at the ridge the woods turned blue. It was an odd phenomena, which none of us had seen before. Mike tried to capture it in a picture. Looking up the north side of the ridge, the woods truly looked completely blue. Strange, but fun. After lunch at the cabin, the chill set in on us so we moved quickly back up to the ridge, which warmed us. This picture is just before we dropped in for our exciting decent. Consensus was that it was an fabulous day.

More Early Season Skiing

We enjoyed a nice weekend up in Stowe, again. On Saturday, Gianni did some training at Mt. Snow with the Yawgoo kids, no gates, just free skiing. Afterwards, we drove up to Patti and Mike's. Of course chef Mike was hard at work (thank you!). On Sunday I took the boys up to the SMR Touring Center for a couple of skate loops. In the pm we met up with the rest of the group and did the Main Loop. Cover was thin and it was a bit bumpy for skating, but it was a beautiful day and of course, just nice to be out there!

Early Season Ski

Gianni and I enjoyed a nice morning of skate skiing at Bretton Woods on Sunday. The woods were fun, but the field windy and cold! We were both happy we remembered how to ski.

Hell Brook in the Snow

Mike and I climbed Hell Brook on Saturday. The trail was icy from
recent rains. To add to the excitement it snowed the whole day. So at
first it was slippery because we couldn't see the ice, but as the snow
accumulated footing improved, as we were just walking in snow. The
snow never really accumulated enough to make hiking too difficult,
maybe 6 inches over all for the day (more up top). Speaking of the
top, our summit was really exciting. The wind was blowing really hard,
40+. It was very difficult to stand. Originally, we had hoped to cross
the ridge, but the wind was just too much. We dropped down the long
trail to the Taft Cabin for a sandwich, before finishing out the
mellow decent to the Notch.

Sebastian Sunrise Surf

Enjoyed a nice dawn surf this morning. There were fish everywhere! The wind was calm. It was just beautiful. Wish the waves were a bit bigger, but I can't complain. The weather is beautiful and the ocean is still 78 degrees!

Special Day on Mansfield

This was my home for the day. Climbing Hell Brook early was magical. I love Smuggler's Notch. Made it to the top early before everyone else. After enjoying the summit I crossed the ridge as slow as possible. Napping on the Nose now. Do I have to come down?