Had a near perfect day at Mad River on Sat. Dec. 22. There was great coverage, characteristic of mid - late Feb. Everything open. The trails were skier packed natural snow and the woods were deep cold powder. All the skiing family were there, son, daughter, 3 grandsons, and son-in-law. I am a shareholder and have been going there for 25 years. The thought occurs, usually at the first trip of the season, that I must be crazy to be doing this stuff at my age. Launching off rock ledges, occasionally covered with ice, sometimes bare rock, dropping 5 feet to a hole in the woods with a mandatory landing spot barely bigger than a welcome mat to make a quick edge set and find the line through the next dozen turns in tight trees. It requires telling the rational part of the brain, 'shut up. I've been doing this for years'. If my great good fortune continues, I'll be doing it into my 70s at least.

The next day, Sun., was predicted to warm dramatically with wind & rain. Son-in-law and I had planned a trip in the Stowe wilderness trails. It started just fine, then the front hit. Wind on the ridgeline topped 90 mph. Here are 2 links to the trip report,
http://list.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0712D&L=SKIVT-L&D=1&T=0&O=D&P=5400
http://list.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0712D&L=SKIVT-L&D=1&T=0&O=D&P=8041

I have heard the NE is having their best December in years. Sounds like those rumors are true.

I hope your posting into your 80's!.1200 mg's of fish oil 2 times a day...+ your daily Vitamin & all that skiing should do it!..+ a beer or three after every ski session...

I'll follow on your footsteps and will be at Stowe in early Feb. This is my New England year.

Nice report Denis! I would be glad to ski with that level of confidence as I wind out my 30s, never mind heading into my 70s. Keep up the gnarly skiing, you give me hope!

I am looking forward to Sugarbush and MRG sometime in Jan; I hope they get a bunch of natural snow and the conditions recover to their mid-December glory.

Cool. Of Course my grandmother always said it was ok to talk to yourself, it is just when your start answering yourself that you have problems. As far as age, when I ski at smuggs there is a genleman there that is somewhere between 80-90 years old. He stays mostly on grooms, says his two fake knees can't take the bumps. He skis with just a few inches between his skis and makes great turns all the way down. So backcounry at 70 sounds perfect to me.

Great report to hear, I am going to Mt Snow, VT in a week for four days of snowboarding!

We just arrived up here in VT after a long drive from VA. Debating between Stowe, MRG, and Smuggs for tomorrow. Will let you know what we choose and how it goes!

Would you please quit posting. VT right now, PNW in a couple weeks. You make me sick!!! I'm only kidding. Tear it up!!!!

Thanks for the VT report, Denis!

My son and I skied Okemo VT yesterday (Friday). Nearly all runs were open...something like 104 of 109. Lines weren't bad if you followed the bus host's recommendation to avoid the main (North Star Express) lift. We rode most of the lifts over the course of the day, skiing mostly blues. Rain fell Thurdsay, but that night brought 3-4" of snow that spruced things up nicely. The crowds scraped many areas down to the consolidated base which, fortunately, was soft enough to dig edges into. Mostly cloudy with some sun, temps in the low 30s. Great day for skiing! My first visit to Okemo since riding all their Poma lifts in 1968. The high-speed lifts and 2K vertical were a hit with my teenaged son.

We're heading to Jiminy Peak MA tomorrow afternoon.

Woody

Skied Stowe today (Saturday, 12/29) with my wife. She's coming off a non-skiing related knee injury, so had to take it pretty slow. Thus, I got minimal bumps and trees in, as we stuck mainly to groomers. Still, I was very pleased with the snow quality and quantity. Only downside would be the visibility due to poor light and fog. It lifted in the afternoon and made for some excellent skiing after lunch.

We'll be here through Tuesday, and friends are joining us tomorrow, so I'm optimistic I'll get to spend some quality time on the front four in the days ahead...

Skied Mad River Fri. & Sat. Both days were great but totally different character. 6-8" of powder fell on Thurs evening and the entire mountain, woods & all, skied great all day Fri. There was a big crowd but uncut snow remained at the edges most of the day and lightly cut was everywhere. Snow depth in the woods was amazing for Dec. Sat. as I drove up from Waitsfield the car thermometer rose from 32 to 36, not promising. 4-6" of heavy wet snow had fallen overnight. It skied like cream cheese, fun but you had to be on your game or get railed. I mostly stayed out of the woods. As temps dropped in the final hour it started to crust up. Overall a fine day, without a little challenge now and then what fun would skiing be? A Sr. shareholder's ticket is $34 any day of the season.