Went to Stowe last week, skied 5 days. Found lots of stuff to sharpen my skills on. Nothing outrageous but a few inches of fresh powder every morning but one. Found lots of opportunity to learn about skiing in powder and practice bump skiing. Pics:
Gondola Summit: Some leg burners off of here. See Ibotta's video skiing down Perry Merrill. Steeper than it looks.
Near top of Perry Merrill. Weather pattern held all week: Snow overnight, sunshine in morning with clear skies, clouding up in afternoon.
This is Switchback off of Gondola also...powder is cutup but still soft and you can ski plenty of it on the sides. A fun trail.
This is Gulch...off of Mansfield. A Blue mogul run. It was great practice for skiing moguls without getting insane.
Obligatory shot from Mansfield...it was below zero so this was taken from the inside of the Octagon. Think that might be Mt. Washington (New Hampshire) in the left center distance. Hell, told all my relatives it was. They believed me.
Stayed at the Inn at the Mountain. Decent deal for a slopeside. Though it is more practically a ski-in rather than a ski-out. The issue is the adjacent lift does not open until 9 so you are missing early runs off the quad. There is no real food service during the week either but I liked the place and will stay again. If you can get by on a light breakfast and get a ride to Mansfield base you can get your early runs, grab some grub mid-morning and get on a decent schedule. You can then ski back to your room at night via the gentle winding Toll Road through the woods.
Restaurant review section:
Spruce Base Camp: In the upper tier of ski-lodge food. Pricey too but good. Grabbed a quick breakfast each morning right at 8 when they open. Good.
Gracie's: Very hands on service and great food. Favorite.
Piecasso: Pizza place but my wife judged the Filet Mignon superior and I liked everything they threw at me. Good kids place but not kid-centric. Some over the top desserts.
