VTah Part IV — The Most Surprising Snow on Earth!

February 6, 2010


Every winter in New England there is at least one weather event that truly tests the sanity of The East Coast Skier. Although The East Coast Skier’s mountains are quite far north in comparison to resorts in the western United States, they are relatively low elevation, and are close to a warm ocean. Because of this, sometimes there are days in New England when it’s going to rain. Monday January 25th was one of those days. With a brisk wind out of the south-east, temperatures rose into the mid 40s at all elevations, and a soaking rain–heavy at times–doused the heart of The East Coast Skier. In that dark moment the East Coast Skier undoubtedly looked west, and considered a life without soul searching rainy days in January (and delicious real beer) in exchange for a life with reliable, predictable, and great snow (and 3.2% beer).

As we have documented before however (see parts one, two or three), VTah is a surprising place. While one day can truly decimate the resolve of even it’s hardiest gravity enthusiasts, the next can truly lift them to great heights. On Wednesday January 27th our own Scott Braaten wrote the following which sums up what occured less than 48 hours after a devastating rain storm slammed the region:

“Its alllllll good. Just got home after what was quite possibly the best powder morning of the season…following what was quite possibly the worst ski day of the season (yesterday).

I definitely under-reported with 6-8″ this morning… there’s a solid foot across the top half of the mountain. Skied everything and it was all blower. Streams and creeks were open and are now filled with 10-12″ of
snow… as long as you are cautious, its game-on again.

Today was the best of days… un-forecasted powder day with the majority falling after the skiers/riders had left yesterday and even with only 2-3″ down in the town of Stowe, no one had any idea it would be face-shot heaven up there.”

To the East Coast Skier’s chagrin, the surprises have continued right up to this very moment. Almost every night since January 27th, the Green Mountains have managed to find moisture hidden in the stiff Arctic breeze, and wring it out in the form of pure VTah blower. While the valleys received nearly no snow whatsoever, the mountains became buried by round after round of “nickle and dime”–or “magic snow” storms as our own Lionel Hutz likes to say… and of course we decided to go skiing. While other skiers resigned themselves to the groomers for fear of hitting the dangerous ice crust buried beneath the surface, we went out in search of the deepest, softest, and most surprising snow on earth… here’s a pictoral record of what we were surprised to find in VTah.

The first day Greg got out with a friend he hadn’t skied with in a long time, and both were surprised by the quality and quantity!

After a few tentative turns before the surprise wore off, we decided it was time to rip.

…and then get deep.

About 28 seconds after the above photo was snapped, Greg sent Ben a text message simply saying: “Waist deep easy.” Since the moment of that text message that’s been the name of the game. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before Ben left the confines of his academic endeavours and joined the party.

Continue Reading: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next »

Read about the author:   The F.I.S.
Enjoy this TR? Read another: TR: VTah Part II – February 2009 Storms

Related Stuff:

  1. TR: VTah Part IV – The Most Surprising Snow on Earth!
  2. TR: VTah Part V — The Most Accurately Predicted Over-the-Top Snow on Earth!
  3. TR: VTah Part VI — The Most Highly Anticipated Snow on Earth!
  4. TR: VTah Part III – The Most Unreliable Great Snow on Earth!
  5. POV from VTah Part III: The Most Unreliable Great Snow on Earth
  6. VTah Part V — The Most Accurately Predicted Over-the-Top Snow on Earth!

9 Comments

  1. powhounddd
    wrote on February 6th, 2010 at 1:34 pm  
    1

    heck yes!
    I love Vermont. Thanks for sharing the stoke!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  2. jumpin jimmy
    wrote on February 6th, 2010 at 8:31 pm  
    2

    Sweet photos!
    We hit it right friday…today was a bit skied out on HB though.
    Here is one from friday–you can see matty B’s board, but that’s it
    http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd44/jumpturn3/IMG_0611.jpg

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  3. Adrian
    wrote on February 6th, 2010 at 8:38 pm  
    3

    Wow some amazing shots. Very impressive.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  4. Lionel Hutz
    wrote on February 7th, 2010 at 8:15 am  
  5. jumpin jimmy
    wrote on February 7th, 2010 at 11:25 am  
    5

    Had to re-read this TR. Great snow for pictures!

    My faves are the one of KC waist deep with the chin behind, and of Ben amazed at the snow

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  6. Ben L.
    wrote on February 7th, 2010 at 6:16 pm  
    6

    nice work fellas. Looks sick. Similar conditions up on big jay the last few days. Keep the stoke coming. Although I have 4 classes tomorrow, I’m sure you guys will be back in VTah. more pics please.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  7. chris
    wrote on February 8th, 2010 at 4:27 pm  
    7

    Nice but I beat you to this “upper chin clip twice Friday”. It filled in overnight?

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  8. JToots212
    wrote on February 8th, 2010 at 6:33 pm  
    8

    mind blowing pics – so much energy and depth. i’ve looked through these so many times… thanks for the stoke!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  9. Micky O
    wrote on February 9th, 2010 at 5:43 am  
    9

    6 am and finishing up a lab report… this site is keeping me going haha!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
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