Day 129: March 31

The sun and the birds woke us up this morning and after breakfast on the porch (where at 7am it was 55F and sunny), we decided to head to Smuggs to take a few dry runs before the rain started. Temperatures were predicted to drop throughout the day, and the rain was going to change …

Day 128: March 30

Since it was raining this morning, I had very little incentive to go skinning in the rain for the second day in a row, so I slept in. It was 50F this afternoon when I skied to the sugar shack and the snow was nice and corny in our woods. We've lost a bunch of …

Day 127: March 29

It was 39F this morning at 7am in the upper lot at Smuggs, and I saw a couple other dawn patrollers skiing down while I was making my way up Sterling. Conditions were relatively soft and very humid, since it was raining, but the rain stopped once I made it to the top. I did …

Day 126: March 28

John stayed home to collect sap and boil the sweet stuff today and therefore, I decided to go on a bumpfest mission. When I got to the mountain, it was 35F in the upper lot at Smuggs. The runs at Smuggs were a little hard early in the morning, so after a few runs, I …

Day 125: March 27

To celebrate another milestone day, and because the conditions were perfect, John and I decided to go skin the Mansfield ridge and ski down one of the chutes near the Chin. We parked in the upper lot at Smuggs just before 9am, and it was 23F, but quickly warming in the spring sun. After making …

Day 124: March 26

It was an invigorating 10F this morning at 7am in the upper lot at Smuggs, and I decided to skin up Snake Bite and its moguls to keep warm. I did use my lighter skis to make it easier. There were 2 other cars in the lot when I started skinning, but I didn't see …

Day 123: March 25

Even if there was 2" of new snow this morning, we took a break from dawn patrol and we let it warm up a little before heading to Smuggs. It was 23F when we arrived in the upper lot at 10am. We had to put up with a blue sky, plenty of sunshine and virtually …

Day 122: March 24

John and I arrived at the Smuggs upper lot at 6:50 and it was 23F, a nicer number than what it had been in Bakersfield: 11F. We skied down to the M1 base, installed our skins and proceeded to Shakedown via Link and Drifter. We were going to cash in on some fresh powder since …

Day 121: March 23

Powder Day !!! today is Saturday and it should have been a Thursday for reduced liftlines... Smuggs reports 23" in the past two days (feels like it too ! ), and I've measured 14" on the picnic table at 800ft elevation. We got an early start for John to plow the driveway, but we still …

Day 120: March 21

Here's to another milestone day! To celebrate, I decided to skin up Madonna and because I saw that Shuttle had been groomed last night, I decided to switch things up a bit and go up from the upper lot using Treasure, Shuttle, and Drifter. Most often when I go up Madonna, I use Chilcoot (on …

Day 119: March 20

Another awesome bluebird day today... it was 12F in the upper lot of Smuggs at 7am, but the temperature quickly went up with the sun, and by lunchtime, it was already 40F, and the snow was getting corny.... Skinning up under the quiet lift... I skinned up Treasure today to change things up, and it …

Day 118: March 19

Another gorgeous bluebird ski day, albeit still on the cold side... Since it was too cold for maple sugaring, John decided to join me today and we skied at Smuggs and Stowe. At 8:30am, it was only 14F at the Smuggs upper lot, but by 1:30pm, the lot was getting pretty muddy due to solar …

Day 117: March 18

We now have more than 12 hrs of daylight and we are gaining 3 minutes every day ! but it didn't feel like spring this morning, because it was only 10F when I pulled into the upper lot at Smuggs at 7am. Gorgeous morning, but a little crisp... I skinned up Jolly Roger and because …

Day 116: March 17

John wanted to skin up today so we stayed in bed this morning and decided to go for a sunset tour instead. However, when I checked the resort update this morning, they reported 4" of new snow. I was a bit peeved about missing out on fresh powder turns, and I suppose that was my …

Day 115: March 16

We have officially seen it all this week: hurricane winds, sleet, styrosnow, powder, mush, corn, water and now icy crust with 3 new snowflakes. And with yesterday's 50F temp at the top of Mansfield, the snowpack lost 10" in one day, and was at 107" yesterday afternoon. The temps are dropping and tomorrow, we'll have …

Day 114: March 15

Today's expedition was on our land to help out with collecting sap and the sugaring process... and obviously, I'm doing this on skis! The skiing was actually better than expected (most places), and I got to water ski as well, which was interesting... Check out today's skiing conditions here Water skiing counts too. I usually …

Day 113: March 14

I was lazy this morning and didn't get to my ski destination until 8:30am. I was contemplating skiing the north side of a new zone near Smuggs today, but since it's not a highly traveled BC zone, I thought I might have to break trail in 10" of heavy snow, and I ended up at …

Day 112: March 13

Today was a mother-son ski day with Finn since he's on march break from UVM, and we drove to Stowe by the long and windy road... I hadn't driven to Stowe in a month, and I have to say that I don't miss this slow drive around. Skinning over the Notch is just as fast, …

Day 111: March 12

Powder Day !!! The cloud got stuck on the mountains, and we ended up with 6-8" of new snow on top of yesterday's 3-5", and with the wind pushing everything around, I found anywhere from 0" to 24" ! I've added a couple of movies on Instagram, so click the link if you want to …

Day 110: March 11

I had to drop off Chickadee at the school this morning, so I decided to return to Dewey and check what yesterday's snow and wind produced. It was 33F at the trailhead at 7:15am and there were no other cars, no tracks and the wind and snow had made a thorough refresh of the area. …

March 10

I get an A+ for effort today, but an F for skiing... I met Steve at the Dewey trailhead this morning at the new 9am, it was 25F, the wind was gusting to hurricane force, a ton of branches had fallen on the road, and the trees were swaying wildly. We discussed that even if …

Day 109: March 9

Saturday... sunny... sweet... 5F at 7am in the upper lot... I met up with Steve, and then we met up with a young guy from CT (Bobby) going for a second lap (he slept in his car, so got going early cause he was cold) and we skinned up Sterling via Jolly Roger and took …

Day 108: March 8

Women's day. To celebrate, I went skiing. It was 1F in the upper lot at Smuggs and there was a gigantic wombat eating little green children, and I skinned up Pipeline for a change. A skinner on his way down stopped next to me to ask who I was since he kept seeing me every …

Day 107: March 7

It was cold again today with more frigid wind, so I decided to check the conditions around Fairfield. I found the most deer tracks I've ever seen and also, more crust... Another crusty day Vermont skiing Winter fur Well executed bushwhacking mission.

Day 106: March 6

Another cold day in ski bum country... 5F with a brisk westerly this morning. I dropped Finn off at the GMT bus and headed to Dewey to hide in the trees. There were 2 cars in the lot and I followed the two tracks up, and saw one of the two skiers ski out as …

Day 105: March 5

I dropped off the Chickadee to her 7am Jazz band practice at EHS this morning, and made my way to Underhill State Park to skin up the Teardrop trail. At 7:15 am, it was a brisk -1F at the trailhead parking without any wind, even though the forecast called for 20 mph westerlies. It's cold …

Day 104: March 4

Hazel went back to school today, and after I dropped her off, I headed for the Smuggs upper lot, where it was 20F at 7:15am, with about 1-2" of new snow. Definitely not the 3" that both Stowe and Smuggs reported. But we'll take every snowflake we can get. Even if it is a thin …

Day 103: March 3

23F... cloudy...sunny... a little bit of wind... a little bit of snow... I commuted to Stowe via Sterling Pond today, to make a few chairlift laps before the Sunday tourists showed up. I followed some skin tracks up Smuggs, and then I saw a couple of guys dropping into the geriatric traverse for a run …

Day 102: March 2

30F... sunny... Bushwhacking time... looking for tracks, weird trees, furry animals with sharp teeth, and Bunny Foofoo. The sun is showing me the trail... or I could just follow the deer tracks Bushwhacking partner for today.... "Milking" the trees... Can you spot the grouse? Cattails: sturdy little things Lynx tracks... it's a big one too ( skis are 135 mm wide at the shovel )

Day 101: March 1

We finished vacation week with a great bluebird girls only skiing day at Smuggs with Hazel's best friend and her mom. I also went bushwhacking in search of fresh powder while Hazel and friend went to the pool. Happy to be here! Hazel slaying the bumps in the woods... Girly ski day Mansfield viewed from …