Tag Archives: alpine skiing

Reprise

Ol’ Man Winter looks like he’s coming back for round two in the Rocky Mountains! With snow in the forecast practically every day of this week, we shot up to A-Basin for a quick refresher over the weekend.  Even after enduring a largely dry February and March, a 4″ reload did wonders for the slopes. The whole place was skiing better than we’d imagined.

Soft laps and clear skies at #abasin

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#cornicerun laps at #abasin with @kellyahowie

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As an added bonus, I mustered the fortitude to tag my first East Wall run.  For one reason or another I always found a reason not to bother, but with clear skies and fresh snow, I was all out of excuses.

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The slow plod upward.

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Patrol at A-Basin rips.

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View of Loveland Pass and the Divide.

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Peeking out of my nest toward the top of the resort.

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It seemed like more vert. on the way up…

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S-turns!

#eastwall #abasin #powder

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Big Jay Slay

And now for a quick trip to midwinter.  Late March brought fairly epic conditions to the North country  so I took the opportunity to show Kelly that the powder in VT is every bit as good as that in Utah.  Unconvinced?  See for yourself…

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A quick warm-up lap in The Orchard.

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Kelly descends into the saddle on the way to Big Jay.

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Surveying the wintry landscape…

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Gearing up!

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Gettin’ after it!

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Some deep slashing…

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Hard not to smile!

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Raging the pow!

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Face shots – just like they have in Utah…

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Angulation, baby.

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Point ’em and pray!

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Comin’ in hot!

Alright, idunno if it was quite as good as Utah, but we didn’t complain either.  Till next year, Big Jay…

…To Those Who Wait

While many New Englanders hunkered down and prepared for the worst, there were those among us who geared up and prepared for the best…

…well at least the best we’ve had in a while.  All the hype surrounding Nemo gave us hope that at least the resort skiing scene would get back on track, and in many ways it did.  The storm tracked further south than would have been preferred by some skiers, but pockets of the North received a healthy dose of our favorite natural resource.  Determined not to miss a single ounce of the precious stuff, and not to be marooned in the soon to be paralyzed Boston, we hit the road at the crack of dawn Friday morning.

The Clipper components  of the storm arrived over Northern VT early on Friday, delivering a good refresher dose to the ailing snowpack.  We skied Jay for the day and then followed the weather southeast toward the center of the storm.  For the arrival of the Nor’easter we wagered that Wildcat would have the best ratio of slope-angle to snow.  We hit the jackpot and were greeted by upwards of two feet of dense snow which filled in  all but the largest nooks and crannies in the Northern Whites.  For day one, we hit the slopes armed with insulating layers and GoPros.  Stay tuned for some highlights!  Day two brought a spectacular blue-bird day with temps mercifully approaching the 20s and almost no wind.  We decided to take advantage of the  great conditions and pull out the point-and-shoots, just so we’d have evidence of the shredding that was perpetrated once winter finally returned…

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Thusly rejuvenated, we returned to Boston to get back to work so we’d be ready for the next time Old Man Winter decided to come out of hiding.