Day 74: Jan 31

It was cold and windy today, and I couldn't get motivated to tour Dewey as originally planned, so I went for a short ski tour to our timberframe sugarhouse. The snow was very different today, and it felt very sugary and dry and a little blown over. I didn't feel like getting cold fingers, so …

Day 73: Jan 30

Powder Day ! Smuggs reported 12", Jay 9" and Stowe 10". I decided to ski Smuggs today because that's where the best powder days happen and I scored a $45 ticket on Liftopia. I dropped off Hazel, drove to Smuggs and started skinning up a little after 7:30 am. There was about 20 cars in …

Day 72: Jan 29

John and I drove to Stowe behind all of the slow cars today... After that long drive, I needed to chill, and so I took off a layer... It was 15F in the parking lot at 8:30, but felt much colder due to the strong winds. There weren't many people today, and the conditions were …

Day 71: Jan 28

Powder Day ! Surprise ! After dropping off Hazel at the bus this morning, I made my way to Smuggs to skin over to Stowe. It was -3F at 7:15, with clear skies, a bright halfmoon, and a tiny whisper of wind. Right away, it was looking promising, as I started skinning on Jolly Roger, …

Day 70: Jan 27

John and I decided to go try out the randonnee trail at Mont Sutton today. You have to buy a $10 ticket to use the trail, and earn your turns. The trail starts from the base lodge at 400m and goes up to the Top Lodge at 850m. It's 2.66 miles long with 1450 ft …

Day 69: Jan 26

Another great day in the life of the ski bum! It was 8F at 6:45am in the upper lot at Smuggs, with only 2 other cars. I skinned up Jolly Roger to stay out of the wind and enjoy a leisurely stroll up the mountain. My new commute to work setup is 2 lbs heavier …

Day 68: Jan 25

Today turned out to be surprisingly good; the temps only went down to the low 20s (F) and it snowed off an on most of the night and day and we ended up with about 4" of new snow. The conditions were actually very soft and the skiing was great. I toured around my trail …

Rainy day: Jan 24

It's been raining since last night, and the temps have been in the low 40F but have now started to fall, and should be 15F tomorrow morning. This will turn skiable surface into skateable surface. Fun times ahead... Needless to say, I didn't go skiing today, and this was my first non ski day since …

Day 67: Jan 23

Today was a most excellent day ! It was much warmer, and I decided to go ski at Stowe like a tourist, and drove there in time for first chair. It was 17F, but it felt like 75F.. Since I was on my own, I lapped 8 runs on the Forerunner Quad, switched socks and …

Day 66: Jan 22

I almost turned back this morning when I saw the car display -23F (-30C). However, given that Nick and I had rendez-vous at Dewey, I figured it would only get warmer as the day progressed, and sure enough, by the time I reached the trailhead, 50 minutes later, it was a balmy -8F (-22C) - …

Day 65: Jan 21

After this latest winter storm, we now have 80" at the Mansfield snow stake, and bottomless powder where the wind doesn't blow... It was -9F at the Dewey trailhead this morning, with a windchill of -40F and what looked to be >20" of new snow. The ski bum saying is: there are no friends on …

Day 64: Jan 20

Powder day!!! At 9am we had 14" at the picnic table weather station, it was 5F and snowing 2"/hr. Covered in snow within 5 minutes while breaking trail in champagne powder. I decided to stay local and explore my trails and surrounding backcountry. Heaven

Day 63: Jan 19

Since it was going to be another cold morning today and my Epic pass is blacked out at Stowe due to numerous tourists coming up for MLK weekend, Snowboarder Steve and I planned to skin up Madonna prior to lifts running this morning. We met at the base of M1 at 6:50 and it was …

Day 62: Jan 18

Today was similar to yesterday: Hazel taking her AP English midterm while I went backcountry skiing at Dewey mountain. Who was going to have more fun? With all of this snow, I will definitively have more fun than Hazel today! It was 25F at the trailhead with big fat snowflakes twirling around... I was expecting a …

Day 61: Jan 17

Hazel has midterms this week, so today we all slept in (until 6:30 am !!!) and I dropped her off at EHS, and proceeded to Underhill State Park to ski the Teardrop trail, while she did her Chemistry exam. I think I got the most fun activity today, even if it was -3F at the …

Day 60: Jan 16

Another tourist day for John and me at Stowe today, but we decided to explore the woods to make it more interesting... and to see if we could find any powder stashes. Photo journal of the day: Why don't we ski the river bed since it's all frozen? - Manon Because I don't like water falls, and we could get wet …

Day 59: Jan 15

I can't be a tourist two days in a row if I want to reach my vertical skinning goal, and I wanted to skin up before skiing with the men at Stowe today. Finn doesn't have school on Tuesdays and Thursdays this session - so he is a college ski bum, and John and him …

Day 58: Jan 14

Today was a "tourist" ski day at Stowe. As John and I drove around, it was -18F near Morrisville, but in the parking lot it was -5F. The sunshine and lack of wind made it feel warmer - much warmer than the past few days. We got there early enough to rip the fresh groomers, …

Day 57: Jan 13

It was -9F at the house this am, so I decided that it was best to hide in the woods today. I coaxed John into bringing the chainsaw and we went on a trail maintenance mission on our land. He chainsawed and I skied: his and hers favorite activity... There were lots of deer tracks …

Day 56: Jan 12

I left the house at 6:00 am for a speedy morning mission since I needed to be back home before 10 am to be a mother instead of a ski bum... As I drove to Smuggs, the temperature was -21F in the low elevations. At the upper lot in Smuggs, it was -3F. Thanks to …

Day 55: Jan 11

Powder Day !!! Another 8" fell overnight and brought the total for this storm to 38" (nearly 1 meter). The wind was blowing from the NW at 30 knots, temps were in the negative realm and the windchill was -35degF, so it was better to be in the woods than on a chairlift. I headed …

Day 54: Jan 10

Powder Day !!! It's hard to keep track of the amount of snow we've been getting because it's being blown around by the strong NW winds, but Stowe reported 12" overnight, and Smuggs 10" which leaves 20" since yesterday morning and 26" in the past 3 days. As of this afternoon, it is still snowing …

Day 53: Jan 9

Snow fell all day and will keep falling until Friday. The bonus is that temps are falling as well, which will make the snow temperature gradient best for skiing: dense and sticky underneath to cover bears and provide support and light on top to make it fun! School was cancelled to everyone's relief and we …

Day 52: Jan 8

Today was turn around day... As I was driving Hazel to the bus on our usual route, the road was blocked by a fallen tree - knocked down by the powerful southerlies blowing since the night. After that detour, and making the bus just on time, my plan was to skin up at Smuggs and …

Day 51: Jan 7

Today, I really wanted to go back to Dewey Mountain to explore more untracked lines, but my plan had to be put on ice, along with my shoulder... Yesterday, I managed a face plant while trying to ski thru a depression in the snow and my outstretched arm took the brunt of the impact. My …

Day 50: Jan 6

Today marks 1/3 completion of my 150 ski days challenge! I'm a little behind on the uphill vertical challenge (150,000 ft of uphill skiing), as I reached 44,200 ft today. I should be at 50,000 ft. A few big days in the backcountry should put me back on track, and with the snow that is …

Day 49: Jan 5

I skinned up Smuggs, then made my way to Spruce peak before 8am this morning. The image below says it all... The groomers had just finished grooming Spruce peak and the corduroy was fresh and soft ! And since the lifts on Spruce don't start until 9am, it was all mine! The early bird gets …

Day 48: Jan 4

I twisted some arms today and got the men to accompany me to the mountain and we drove to Stowe, like all the other tourists. It was a warm bluebird day, and it was pretty crowded on the groomers - where the men like to ski - but i did manage to escape into the …

Day 47: Jan 3

Powder Day !!! My weather station, aka the picnic table, had about 5" of snow at 5:15 this morning and it was still snowing... I dropped off Hazel at the bus and headed to Smuggs to skin up and go over to Stowe to chase the Powder (it's a capital P when there is 6" …

Day 46: Jan 2

As predicted, today was quite cold (10F) but sunny, and due to the rapid freeze of yesterday, crunchy conditions were expected... Thaw/Freeze conditions occur frequently when skiing in the NorthEast, so ski bums on this side of the continental divide cannot be too choosy... Initially, we had planned to all go skiing at Stowe (except …

Day 45: Jan 1

Bonne Annee ! et on vous souhaite le paradis a la fin de vos jours. Je me souhaite de la neige avant la fin de mes jours.... It was 45F at 5:30am this morning when I woke up with a clear break on the radar image, so I decided to go see if the mountain …