Jul 10

Photo of the Week: July Snow in Vermont!

Early last week, Scott Braaten, the snow reporter for Vermont’sStowe Mountain Resort spotted this lonesome chunk of snow in Vermont’s Green Mountains. It was likely one of the very last remnants of the incredible winter of 2010-11. Unlike the deep ravines of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range, Vermont’s mountains rarely harbor snow into July. And given the location of this chunk of snow, it’s likely that it was comprised primarily of natural snow. If there is ever a sign that last winter was a good one, this was it.

Here’s what Scott had to share about his find:

You know it was a good winter when you come across a patch of snow in the woods on July 4th. This photo was taken on Mount Mansfield/Stowe Mountain Resort at an elevation around 3,600ft. The patch of snow was located in the start zone of the popular “Tomba Chutes,” an off-the-map local’s shot near the top terminal of Stowe’s gondola. This depression had been wind-loaded all winter long and built up enough snow to last into July.

From November 1st through April 18th, my colleague and I measured 332 inches of snow at our snow study plot located at roughly 3,000ft (2/3rds of the way up the mountain). Snowfall higher up between 3,500-4,000ft was likely more than the recorded 332″. This also does not include the 34 inches that fell in October (or the May snowfall) at the fabled Mount Mansfield stake which is independently measured at 3,700ft. And for those who are curious, our base area snow study plot at an elevation of 1,550ft, located at the eastern entrance into Smuggler’s Notch, saw roughly 225 inches during the season. Needless to say, it was a solid, snowy winter with a distinct lack of serious thaws which allowed the snowpack to reach just shy of 9 feet by April on the upper mountain. Hopefully next winter will be just as good– keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks for sharing this Scott! We are looking forward to tuning into your snow reports for Mount Mansfield/Stowe next season.

(Please click on the smaller image below to enlarge.)
Have a great week!


Jul 05

Photo of the Week: The Big Red Ski Sled

It’s not like we are relying on our trusty 16′ canoe for any long distance load hauling into the backcountry of Quebec’s Gaspe or Maine’s Baxter Park, but there’s no doubt that Big Red comes in handy now and then as a sled. It also gives us incredible floating access to some of our favorite riverside ski runs close to home in Vermont… (click on the thumbnail below to enlarge).

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Jun 26

Photo of the Week: Skiing Rime

Anyone who has spent time high up in the mountains during winter has probably curiously admired the beautiful, delicate and feather-like formations of rime on trees, chairlift towers, signs and rocks. (The second photo below is an example of some rather thick and icy rime.) According to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary, rime is “an accumulation of granular ice tufts on the windward sides of exposed objects that is formed from supercooled fog or cloud and built out directly against the wind.”

Ice tufts…cool.

While it’s always a treat to get up above tree line and spot the unique and delicate formations that rime creates, there’s nothing quite like encountering an entire slope plastered with a particularly soft and feathery coat of “ice tufts”.

Sometimes, as was the case this past March in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, these rime-coated slopes can be the only edgable slopes around – with the rime’s delicate structure offering a nice, carveable texture (See first photo – Skier: Ian Forgays). Most slopes on other aspects that day were essentially bullet-proof and simply too firm for safe skiing on slopes steeper than approx. 25 degrees. That day, we also discovered that the delicate rime from the adjacent rock face (at right of skier in first photo) had crumbled and piled up two to three inches deep along the left side of the slope. It wasn’t knee deep, but it was untracked…

Fresh rime.

The third photo depicts a ski descent we made from the top of a volcanic plug in the Arctic a couple of years back, through boot-deep rime. Rime feathers on that mountain piled up to 6″ tall in places and made for some of the most unique ski/snow conditions we’ve ever experienced.

-Brian and Emily

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Jun 20

Photo of the Week: Skiing on the Solstice

With our skiing options rather limited in the northeast, we headed north on June 20th a few years back to research a story about Iceland’s emerging backcountry skiing industry and explore a range of wild mountains towering over the Greenland Sea. Close to midnight on June 21, we shouldered our packs and set off into the mountains for the first of four ski-camps we would enjoy over the next month. A fresh 4-8″ of snow blanketed the world around us. A deep mountain snow pack lingered. As we climbed, the roar of the sea filled the air. We were definitely not in Kansas, anymore.

Happy summer solstice!
-Brian and Emily

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Jun 10

Photo of the Week: Summer “Skiing”

“Hey, it’s pretty thin, but I think there’s a little snow over this way…”
-Brian

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