Our first 4 runs were on Gore's famed Front 4 - Twister, Showcase, Sleighride, and Quicksilver. They were midwinter groomed with some sweet corduroy. Skiing was fast and empty. There was a huge uphill wind on all sides of Gore. I hit Chatiemac and it was still all cord.
Next stop the Darkside. Lower Stielhang, Hullabaloo, and Lower Darby were in excellent shape and had not been skied off. The bottom of the High Peaks Chair was one of the few places on the hill where the wind was quiet.
On the Straightbrook side, Lies was junky at the top. We hit Hawkeye twice. It was skied off with a coating of chalk.
Into the Saddle Lodge at 11am for a Clif bar and some water. I was back out in 15 and pounded the lower mountain until 2pm. The lower 1/3 was starting to soften.
There were a lot of kids on Wildair, and there was a photographer with some strobes shooting the jibbers.
I took my last run down Topridge and it still was firm. The temp was 24 degrees and windy. Today wasn't as good as yesterday, but all-in-all a good weekend.
I guess I'd rather ski frozen granular than stay home.
4 Comments:
Photographer was Ian Parker from Ballston Spa.
www.iparkerphotography.tumblr.com
None of the photos are up on his site yet though.
"Gore's famed Front Four" - I love that! What would Lower Stielang, Hulaballoo, DS Glades and Lower Darby be, the "Funky Four?" I think I remember Jmokes referring to those trails by some such name.
I'm always kind of amazed at how the grooming crew can turn trails that have been hit hard, like Wild Air at the end of the day Saturday, back into "midwinter groomed sweet corduroy" for the next morning, but it sounds like that's exactly what they did. I guess that's a tribute to steel, diesel and skill.
Hey Xman ...
The Famed Front Four!
Is Sleighride really in a the same league with Twister and Showcase? ;)
Way to get it. Thanks for the report.
Jeff - I would agree that the Darkside has the Funky Four. The king funkster is L Steilhang. The widening of Hulabaloo a few years ago mellowed it somewhat, although it still retains icy funk at the left bend on most days.
Harv - I think Sleighride qualifies now that there are no jumps and hits on it. The Gore Famed Front Four are blue for the masses unlike the Stowe Front Four. Thanks for making the TR presentable and dropping in the nice photo.
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