Photo: IStock.comMarch 4, 2010
Mount Snow, VT
Ski Watch Reporter Todd

Ski Watch Reporter Todd skied at Mount Snow in Vermont on Thursday, March 4. Here's what Todd had to say about his ski day:

Snow Conditions: Mid-winter conditions today. 44% of the trails were groomed today which is probably less than on a weekend. The snow surface was crumbly girt, some soft and some a little harder, like bean curds, after the grooming wore off.

The North Face area (all expert trails but typically more intermediate really, although today  they were more expert) had a number of trails that were not groomed and as a result they were bumped up well, specifically Challenger, Free Fall, Plummet, Jaws and Ripcord. The young riders were enjoying those trails today.

A lot of snow on and around the bumps and a few hard spots here and there, but a little too difficult for intermediates. Fallen Timbers was free of bumps and only had a few hard sheets interspersed with crumbly snow here and there making for relatively easy turning on some snow.

The intermediate runs off the Canyon Express were well covered with course grained and then subtle snow making for easy skiing. But if you wanted a longer run, the place to be was the trails off the Grand Summit Express Quad to the top of the mountain. Long straight down runs off the top were excellent.

Exhibition was groomed last today, taking out the big moguls, and surprisingly not many people had skied it by 2:00. Most of the trails in this area of the Summit Quad are wide and long, particularly South Bend to South Bowl, Ridge and mid to lower Exhibition. Long John was the beginner way down from the top of this lift and that trail has some intermediate sections, a nice long run. The Carinthia Park had plenty of snow to go with all the features over there.

The packed powder was hard in places.

Lifts in operation include: Four main mountain lifts were open today: Tumbleweed Triple, Canyon Express Quad, Summit Express Quad and Challenger Triple. The latter two get you to the top of the mountain. Carinthia had the Nitro Express Quad which gets you to the top of that park and access to all trails in this park except one trail that was not open.
 
Lift information: Even though about half the lifts were not open, you could access the entire mountain from the open lifts and there were absolutely no lift lines.

Current and Upcoming Events or ticket deals:
St. Patrick’s Day will have $17 lift tickets. Cuzzins will open at 8am for Green Eggs and Kegs and Irish music by local legend – Tom White. Search for a pot of gold on the slopes, clues will be on the top of each hour at the electronic message boards. Find the pot of gold for a prize pack from the resort valued over $500. From 1PM – 4PM U2 tribute band – The Joshua Tree takes the stage on Cussin’s Deck for a special outdoor Bud Light Concert.
Connecticut Ski Council Winter Carnival, March 5-7th. 3 day event consisting of racing, fun games and a dinner/party at the hotel on Saturday night. Special CT Ski Council tickets will be available for purchase at any ticket window, bring your CSC member card with valid 2009-2010 CSC member sticker on it to receive a discounted rate ticket. Event headquarters at the Sundance Base Lodge. Friday March 5th: Super G race on South Bowl. Registration 7:30-9:30 am in Sundance Base Lodge, race starts at 11:30am. Race Clinic – Registration 12:30 pm in Sundance Base Lodge, clinic starts at 1:30pm. Saturday March 6th (all races on Ego Alley). Snowboard race – Registration 7:30am-9:30 am in Sundance, race starts at 9:30am. Junior A race – pre-registered event, starts at 10:00 am. Junior B race – pre-registered event starts at 10:30 am. Women’s race – pre-registered event, starts at 11:15am. Team race – pre-registered event starts at 12:45pm. Club race – pre-registered event starts at 1:30 pm. Dinner Banquet and party, GSH ballroom event, starts at 6:00 pm. Sunday March 7th: Cross Country race – registration 8:00am – 8:45 am on upper level of Timber Creek Welcome Center, race starts at 9:00 am. Also on March 7th the Jack Jump World Championships – Paul Holland Memorial will be held at Ergo Alley on Dual Panel SL on Charlie’s Chase. Registration from 11am-noon Main Base lodge by Bag Check. Practice 12pm-1pm, race 2pm, awards 4pm at Snow Barn. $30 per person or $25 if you have a season pass or lift ticket for that day. Jack jumps were used way back when as a way for mountain workers to get quickly down the hill. It’s a seat mounted to a ski. This dual slalom race will feature men, women, kids and first timer divisions.

Mountain amenities: The pizza for $5 a slice is a good deal, relatively large. If you want peace and quiet and Wifi go to the very top floor of the Main Base lodge.

Ski tips: The best run today with the best snow and no skier traffic was Lodge, it is a little narrow at the top so people probably avoid it but it opens up and the snow was in perfect condition side to side on the trail.

An overall subjective opinion:  Ok skiing today, not great and not bad. The snow was not in as good a condition as it would be on a weekend when more trails are groomed, but it was a normal winter day, with snow on all trails and not much ice, just regular winter snow, the snow felt a little old today.

 

-Ski Watch Reporter Todd