Stowe April 28th, 2010 — 20 to 30″

April 30, 2010


This was a great winter. Sam and Allen skied and worked all fall, then spent three months traveling in India. They saw amazing things, skied great snow, long lines, and mind bogglingly large mountains. Greg and Ben spent the bulk of the season back east continuing their education, though they did manage to get away to Utah and Rogers Pass respectively. Despite New England’s strange weather this winter, they still found some of the best snow imaginable, and skied in places they had always dreamed about. Despite all the fun we have had skiing great snow around the world, something was missing. Sam, Allen, Greg and Ben hadn’t had a really good powder day at Stowe; the place that they all met, the place where the idea of this website was formed, and the mountain on which they all began their journey from backcountry wannabes, to backcountry wannabees with a website. In a way, Stowe has become “home,” and we were all hoping for one more chance to ski there together this season.

By the time Sam and Allen had returned however, winter seemed to be on its deathbed, and we had all pretty much given up on skiing powder on the East Coast. It was almost May after all, and it would have been naive to believe it could still happen. Beyond most–but not all–expectations though, a major storm came in on April 28th, 2010 and to make sure we could do this storm justice, we cleared our schedules, got to bed early, and promised ourselves that we would ski until our legs didn’t work.

At this point, we will let the pictures do the talking. We could spew about the vert hiked, the views, the lines skied and whatever, but the point is, we had a great time out there and so did lots of other skiers who hadn’t yet given up on the season. It was the kind of day that many of us dream about: the lifts were closed, but there was 20-30″ on the ground, and everything was skiable. It was great to see so many others enjoying the snow as well. Whether we skied a run with you, or just saw your tracks, we were all psyched to see so many people out there skiing hard this late in the season. We hope you enjoy:

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Read about the author:   The F.I.S.
Enjoy this TR? Read another: TR: Slackfest 2009 with M.W. Otto Rhode

Related Stuff:

  1. TR: Stowe April 28th, 2010 – 20 to 30 inches
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  3. TR: Unofficial Opening Weekend at Stowe 2009-2010 (UPDATED)
  4. Mount Washington Powder Harvest VIDEO — April 2010
  5. October 16, 2010–Stowe Schuss
  6. April is the New April

21 Comments

  1. peter
    wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 9:13 am  
    1

    Stuck behind a desk in NYC. Damn you, Famous Internet Skiers!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 7:29 pm  
      2

      Dang Peter… sorry about that! I hope you could enjoy it through the pictures. hopefully you can get up here this weekend?!

  2. K_C
    wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 9:30 am  
    3

    Kate leading the skin track charge – heck yeah! Nice shots of the tulips, i hope they survived the snow.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Sam
      wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 11:52 am  
      4

      I thought that was funny too. Bunch of lazy guys hanging back while Kate breaks that heinous skin track for us.

    • Greg
      wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 3:51 pm  
      5

      It’s an FIS tradition… you should know by now.

  3. Lionel Hutz
    wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 9:41 am  
    • Greg
      wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 3:38 pm  
      7

      TOUCHE GOOD SIR! Touche… sorry about the snafu on our part. You are indeed right. We were more using that term as a figure of speech. Good catch though :D

  4. powhounddd
    wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 9:58 am  
    8

    So Good! I am still stoked from Wednesday turns. And when it dumps like that again in OCTOBER (or May, maybe!!), whoever missed this storm, get in your car at 4 in the morning and head to the hills. You won’t be disappointed. Well, you might. But adventure is like that.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 3:53 pm  
      9

      I couldn’t agree with you more D.

  5. Could Be Buggy
    wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 10:13 am  
    10

    Woot. Beautiful parting shot.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  6. Porter Haney
    wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 12:04 pm  
    11

    Great shot of the lake. And great shot of Pow Turns shredding on his snowboard!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • christian
      wrote on April 30th, 2010 at 5:24 pm  
      12

      the one of me drowning in a tree well? :P gape-ril has taken a toll on me. nice compilation, dudes. what a day!!

    • Greg
      wrote on May 2nd, 2010 at 8:15 am  
      13

      we only provide full coverage of events that transpire.

  7. Subzero83
    wrote on May 1st, 2010 at 11:50 pm  
    14

    I too was @ Stowe Wednesday, what a day! 14 inches of snow to provide the base, with drifts abound too. My focus was on the Havride trail. Great powder skiing, but would be nice if we had gotten more storms in traditional winter season.

    Stay tune till November/December 2010!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on May 2nd, 2010 at 8:19 am  
      15

      Hey Subzero. Thanks for checking in, and thanks for the comment! I have to take issue with your snow total though, and set the record straight here ;)

      According to professional record weather keeping (not a ski area “snow report”) , near the nose of Mount Mansfield 21″ fell from the sky over the course of the event: 6″ on Tuesday, and 15″ on Wednesday. And these are measurements that are taken at 24 hour intervals, so don’t account for snow compactification between readings–which I personally think was significant given the weight of the snow late on Wednesday. That information, along with our on-hill “observations” are where we got our estimate of 20-30″. I know we got a LOT more than 14″ at the very least. I had the pleasure of breaking a skin track with 4 other folks in way more than 14″.

    • Subzero83
      wrote on May 2nd, 2010 at 9:33 pm  
      16

      Again understood, my reference number was just for the Wednesday (as a day) total, not for the preceding snow fall that came Tuesday. Right Right Greg, definitely a total of more than 14” (as a total snow drop from Tuesday through Wednesday).

      At the end of the day the snow was welcomed, and could have been even more. But alas, it was not.

  8. Subzero83
    wrote on May 2nd, 2010 at 12:32 am  
    17

    Ah yes Greg.

    Had friends @ Jay-peak that day, likewise with the Stowe punch off of (varying degrees of snow mounds of 14-20 plus inches) they had reports of solid 18 inches plus in that neck of the woods. If only the day was long enough to trek to all three important stops of the northern VT triangle of jay, Stowe, Smuggs.

    Duly noted on the events that transpire. Maybe VT will get more magic this next late fall/winter. In review those mid-Atlantic moisture pushes would have been a real blast if they had been more northerly in February (2010).

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Subzero83
      wrote on May 2nd, 2010 at 10:49 pm  
      18

      News Channel 5 on the snow fall totals, right on Greg. Jericho (west side / valley ) of Mt. Mansfield… 20 inches in Jericho, 20 inches Underhill, VT.

      Know of anyone that hiked / skinned up from Smuggs side, anyone?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I5nlRbaP24

    • Greg
      wrote on May 3rd, 2010 at 2:05 pm  
      19

      we made some skiing on the west side. It was insane!

  9. Butch Chamberlain
    wrote on May 4th, 2010 at 8:32 am  
    20

    Guys, Guys, You just have to keep the faith. Vermont won’t let you down, ya just have to be REAL patient. The last storm was a last of the season taste, so you will come back again next season. Our mountains are not as big as some of the Presi’s or the Daks, but I believe for what we have, we have some of the most interesting terrain one needs to have a grand time. By looking at those great pics, I’d say you guys found that grand time, one more time! Keep having fun.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on May 6th, 2010 at 5:43 pm  
      21

      sounds like vermont is about to not let us down again this weekend! game on!

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