Feb 25
Although the backcountry and nordic crust-cruising has been in its element recently, today’s snow was a welcome treat from our good friend Old Man Winter. A good 6-8″ of fresh snow has piled up across the north country as we write this on Friday evening, and it looks like several more should be awaiting us by sunrise on Saturday. Here are a couple of shots of Andy Weis, one of the coaches of Mad River Glen’s Freeride Team, hard at work.
-Brian
Feb 25
The legendary Stowe Derby downhill cross-country ski race is this Sunday February 27th. Now in its 66th year, the race starts at the top of Stowe Resort and winds its way 20km down toward the village of Stowe, VT. Skiers are allow to use only one pair of skis for the entire course. A short, 6km, flat course along the Stowe Recreation Path is also an fun option for families and those who prefer to avoid the descent. Plentiful snow combined with trail improvement and grooming of the Stowe Recreation Path should make for ideal skiing conditions this year.
This unique event attracts hundreds of skiers of all levels to the area. It’s a community event supported by many local businesses and organizations, loads of volunteers and Vermont’s Catamount Trail Association. A celebration, prize ceremony and raffle will follow the race at the Rusty Nail.
Read a great story about the race, by Kirk Kardashian, in the Janaury issue of Vermont Sports.
NOTE: Online Registration closes Friday, Feb 25th 11:59pm. There is no race day registration. For more info, got to www.StoweDerby.com
Feb 22
Thanks to several inches of snow falling in the mountains over the last several days, there’s been some nice fresh valium online ireland snow to be skied on wind-sheltered, snow-catching aspects. And where the wind is blowing, beauty abounds. The mountains caught fire on Tuesday as fresh snow clinging to the upper elevation canopy was stirred by steady gusts of wind and set aglow by the setting sun. We’ve rarely seen such an amazing display of snow-fire… (Click on the thumbnail below for a larger view. Thx!)
– Brian
Feb 20
Update 1/21am: Head to this link for some highlights from the final day at the event.
Brothers Lars and Silas Chickering-Ayers, who were raised skiing Vermont’s Mad River Glen, skied away with first and third place finishes, respectively, at this year’s US Freeskiing Extremes in Crested Butte this past weekend. Their wins follow Lars’ first place finish at the Canadian Freeskiing Championships at Revelstoke, B.C. in January, and make it increasingly clear that these boys are a growing force in the world of skiing.
Another Vermont and Mad River Glen-bred skier, Tom Runcie, who now lives and works in Crested Butte, skied beautifully and joined the Chickering-Ayers brothers on the podium with an impressive second place finish. And Vermont and MRG-bred Dylan Crossman, a five time Crested Butte Telemark Freeskiing champion who won the North American Freeskiing Championships in Kirkwood last winter, also finished in the top ten this weekend with a solid ninth place finish. Finally, on the ladies side, Ashley Maxfield, who grew up skiing Vermont’s Jay Peak, scored third.
Way to represent Vermont and the northeast guys!
You can keep tabs on Lars, Silas and the Green Mountain Freeride crew via their website. And stay tuned to the Freeskiing World Tour website for results and updated video from the event.
Feb 18
As much as it is always a wee-bit sad to see our deep and powder-coated snow pack at the mercy of the warm air upon the northeast right now, we have much to celebrate. First, leading up to this 36-hour warm up, conditions off-piste and in the backountry, especially in sheltered higher elevation zones, have been nothing shy of dreamy for 45 days. What an unforgettable stretch! Second, it will be cold and snowy again by Saturday morning, and our substantial base will set up nicely for some adventurous low-med angle cruising and exploring, right down to river level elevations, for many days ahead. This crust will also make for some fast and fun nordic trail skiing. And third, with some luck, the inevitable crust will soon be coated with yet another layer of powder snow. While conditions may be more like dust-on-crust in the short term, conditions in the high country should soften up nicely in the days to come. Check out the forecast for the coming days for central Vermont, below. And last…boy does this warm air and sunshine feel nice! – Brian
