Stowe

[Gadwood74]

Anyone riding Stowe this weekend? Last time I’ve been there was in 1988, the only year I skied in my life. No souvenirs at all, I guess I’m ready to build new good ones with all the new snow and the colder temps forecast this we. Bringing my 4WD and the Nirvana Energy.

[lonbordin]

I'll be at Stowe from Dec. 28th- Jan 4th.  I'll be juggling work and boarding.  Hope to make some turns with fellow carvers!

[lonbordin]

Well I had a day I could take off and the kids wanted to try Stowe... So we went...

Fun times.

Not really crowded but far more people than we've seen anywhere else.

We started at Gondola then worked our way left... Later took a break then went over to Spruce Peak.  Conditions we much nicer over there. 

For whatever reason the fences were down on slalom hill for a bit, then competition hill.  Oh... I took advantage of that . They put the fences back up... Those might be some of the best runs I've ever had, period. Smooth surface, fast and grippy. 

Due to the blackout periods on their student Epic passes and my work schedule I won't be back until the 29th. But I will be back!

Oh, and I hit 100k of Epic vert today. I've got a lot more than that in total but a great start to the season.

Edited December 24, 2019 by lonbordin

[Gremlin]

I'm around Stowe and would be happy to meet up. With the local I'm blacked out till the 1st.

You're not kidding about the hordes. The acquisition has been atrocious for quantity and average quality of skiers and riders.

[lonbordin]

We're heading to Stowe tomorrow. Won't have a chance to get out tomorrow.

I'll be there until the fourth when we start our drive back.

Orange Jacket on a Donek... Most likely on Easy Street making turns for the adoring fans on the Meadows quad.

Most days I'll be early and leave early.  I'm not a fan of crowds and I still have to work.

[lonbordin]

Let's see Sunday.

Was there 07:35 Sunday... Rode until 09:00. REALLY thin cover on some runs... Dust on ICE.  Heavy crowds... Skied off before I left. smh

Today there 07:20. Left at 10:00.  New snow/sleet mix. A few inches across the resort.  For some reason people weren't doing T-bar (probably lost in the very poor visibility up top). I had three runs where the tracks were almost all mine.  Fourth time I arrived it had been obliterated by the masses. Perry and Gondolier were obliterated in ~ten minutes. I was in a Gondola at 8:40!  Went over to Spruce had a couple of good laps before that was push piles everywhere as well. Went back to the condo and spent the rest of the day walking the rec trail with my spouse stopping for libidations.

I think tomorrow I'll go snowshoeing with my spouse up at the Trapp place.  Hopefully more snow will continue to fall... Stowe really needs it.  Attitash has more snow than Stowe, a lot more!  So many people and so little acreage open makes for a difficult experience. It's pretty and an upscale resort but who cares if you can't find decent runs to ride!

 

[lonbordin]

Stowe needs to understand climate change and get with the times.

Seriously how is it that resorts much further south and at much lower elevations have so much more snow?  Because they blow snow every chance they get, Stowe... not so much.

After this morning due to the crowds, the lack of open terrain, and my spouse feeling ill we pulled up stakes and are headed home. 

We've never cut a vacation short and we've been together ~30 years.  She saw I wasn't having fun and I saw she was getting worse.

See ya next time!

PS- How is it fun when there are so many people and the groom is gone in under an hour? Crazy!

 

 

 

[Gremlin]

Sorry to hear that you called it. Knowing when to bail is a vital Stail skill though. Hope to see you around again later this winter when it's good out. Keep in mind that you were here during the Christmas blackout, and our weather has been warm and rain then just below freezing for the last three weeks. Not a stellar showing.

 

The acquisition has really hurt the mountain in a variety of ways. They're understaffed for a variety of reasons like pay, location/housing, and a loss of a dedicated contingent that left in the transition.

The accessibility to the masses with the epic pass has been painful. There used to be fewer than around twenty days a year where the line for the gondola would fill the barn, and extend six to eight abreast the whole way out along that treeline to the corner by the zipline base. Now it's usually two or three days a week on non-holidays.

I don't know why they aren't blowing as much. I suspect the staffing has something to do with it generally, as they seem to less even when they can. Recently I don't think they've even been able to much at all with the weather. On a larger trend, we also seem to sit in a weird band that misses the coastal stuff further south and the stuff coming out of the north that hits Jay.

 

As to the groom, see hordes. It's a classic NE mountain with skinny windy runs. A big part of why I like when it's consistently -10 or lower is that the casuals won't brave it and the firm chalky groom stays good all day.

[dhamann]

Preaching to the choir probably. This place sucks for carving. Tried like hell on liftline, lookout and nosedive. Sunny spruce lift had some ok carving but short sections. Everything is narrow skiing. Conditions are heavy and soft chunk Right now. Tough to cut/bump through. It’s an Alta. Keep er movin. Grooming had ridges at every pass.