Tag: mount snow

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Pico Pleasures

I had the pleasure of attending the dealer 2020 On Snow demo convened at Pico Mountain in Vermont this past week. This consists of two days of trying out the new ski and ride gear that will hit the market next season. And an opportunity to familiarize oneself with existing product.

The bottom line is that we get to give you first-hand experience using the product, for real, on the snow. This includes boots, skis and snowboards, goggles, poles, helmets and other stuff. Despite being an awful lot of fun, it is a very educational experience.

What’s Trending?

For next season don’t expect to see any massive upheavals in the realm of skis and ski boots. Certainly there are a few new models that will hit the shelves and racks, and there will be some reconfiguration of existing skis and boots; and a few known models will be retired. Pretty much a typical new season in the Land of Ski Gear.

The Ski Boots

In the world of ski boots, expect to see a continuation of the trend in making ski boots better fitting. Also expect to see a continuation of the trend in providing more responsive boots that provide better control over the skis across all boot widths. Gone—thankfully—are the days when it was difficult to find performance-oriented ski boots for those with wider feet.

Do expect to find that traditional 4-buckle boots actually allow easier entry and exit of your foot. This year I am sliding my feet into the newly redesigned Dalbello DS 110 ski boot. I can honestly say that my feet slide into these boots—redesigned with a new opening that actually does work to facilitate ease-of-entry—about as easily as they did into my previous 3-buckle Cabrio-style boots. This is a definite win for all feet!!

And do expect to continue to see ski boots that are lighter. Rapidly receding are the days when ski boots literally felt like lead weights. Newer boots are phenomenally light in weight. Again, a win for all. Toss in GripWalk so that you can pretty much walk normally in ski boots, and life on the slopes and in the lodge is looking pretty darn good.

The Skis

As with boots, don’t expect any sweeping changes in the world of skis. Some ski series will disappear, and a few new ones will be birthed. There is a trend towards seeing previously defined all-mountain skis take on many attributes of race skis. And there is a trend for making freestyle skis able to carve turns more easily. This is a good thing for those that love to sink a ski into carves all the way down the slope.

There also seems to be a trend towards redefining side cut, which determines turning radius and turning behavior of the ski. The trend is seeing side cut redefined in a way such that skis can readily take on a long, sweeping carve, then hop right to into a series of shorter, quicker turns. Sure, you can make any ski do this. But the new side cut technology facilitates the change so it is easier and more natural.

The Skiing

Conditions are actually pretty good up north. Granted, there isn’t an awful lot of snow in the woods, and not all trails are open due to thin cover where snow-making is minimal or not at all. Most trails have pretty good cover and are pretty much typical of New England ski slopes. Packed powder and loose granular surfaces with an occasional patch of glacier ice peeking through in heavily trafficked areas.

Fortunately that nasty, predicted precipitation beginning with “r” didn’t occur over this past weekend. A bit of mixed up weather passed through, but left temperatures cold enough to freshen things up with man-made snow. And continued flurries keep adding some natural fresh stuff, an inch or two at a time.

So get out and hit the slopes. The weather has been seasonal up to the north, though a bit on the warmer end of the scale. No bone-rattling cold like last January. So enjoy the somewhat moderate weather while you can. It’s New England. You know it won’t last.

In fact, threats of a Nor’easter are in the air for the coming weekend. I say bring it on, as long the type of precipitation does not contain the letter “r” I will be happy.

Super Bowl Sunday at Mount Snow

Just a reminder that if you want to get out on the slopes on Super Bowl Sunday—that’s this Sunday, February 2nd—then sign up for the Avie’s Ski & Ride trip headed to Mount Snow. Super Bowl Sunday is historically less crowded than your average Sunday on the slopes. And by early afternoon the crowd is so thin you might think it’s a weekday.

Get out and enjoy the slopes!!

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More Snow for Mount Snow

Clouds are scudding into Vermont from upstate New York. Pretty, fluffy, white flakes are trickling down from them. By the time dawn approaches tomorrow there will be another 8 to 10-inches of fluffy white powder gracing ski slopes in Vermont.

Add this to the several inches of snow received over the weekend, and things are looking pretty sweet in the mountains to our north. Such a nice recovery from the nasty rain only a week ago.

All this means some pretty good conditions at Mount Snow in Vermont. And that’s where the Avie’s Ski / Sports trip is heading this Sunday, February 3rd. You could have the view in the image above, taken on the Bluebird Express to the summit at Mount Snow.

Sure, it’s Super Bowl Sunday. And yes, the Patriots are playing. The lure to be there in front of the TV watching Tom Brady and the rest of that fabulous team work their magic is strong.

Game time isn’t until 6:30PM. The Avie’s Ski / Sport bus will leave Mount Snow at 4:30PM. Almost sure to be back to Westerly by 8:00PM. Still plenty of game time left to go. Most if not all of the second half of the game will await your viewing pleasure. If you are one of the skiers or riders being dropped off in Waterford, you certainly will catch the second half of the game.

Be realistic. The Patriots have a history of having these big events turn into nail-biters decided in the final moments of the game. Maybe even in overtime. My playbook says this:

  • Get in a great day of skiing and riding in the great conditions at Mount Snow
  • Chill on the bus on the way home and stay abreast of the game on your phone
  • Arrive home around game half-time and watch the most exciting part of the game

Why waste your entire Super Bowl Sunday sitting around doing nothing WAITING for the game to start?

Go skiing and riding. Get yourself to Mount Snow on the Avie’s Ski / Sports bus trip and make your Super Bowl Sunday a fun-filled, action packed, back-to-back thrills day.

I have had the pleasure of being on several Avie’s Ski / Sports bus trips to Mount Snow on Super Bowl Sunday in the past. And here is what happens:

  • It’s a typical Sunday morning on the mountain, though maybe a bit less busy than usual
  • Late morning sees a mass exodus of skiers and riders rushing elsewhere to make chili
  • After a lunch break there are no lines at the lifts and few skiers and riders on the slopes
  • By late afternoon it’s so quite on the slopes you think its your private ski mountain
  • The big smile won’t leave your face on the bus ride back home
  • You try to focus on the second half of the Super Bowl, but can’t get the memories of such a great day of skiing and riding out of your head.

Get signed up for this incredible trip to Mount Snow by end of the day this Thursday. $99.95 is a great price for a great day of skiing and riding. Followed by an evening watching the New England Patriots vie for yet another Super Bowl title.

Hope to see you Sunday morning for the trip north.

AlanD
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Skier Rewind

They remembered! The muscles. The legs. The arms. The torso. They all remembered how to get down the slope intact. Gracefully. I had a Skier Rewind, and it was a good one.

I returned to Mount Snow today for that second round of “muscle torture.” Last week at Mount Snow, my first time out for the season, they didn’t remember how to ski very well. While not performing quite as bad as a rank beginner, it felt like it after darting down the slopes on race skis at the end of last season.

It was 3 degrees at the base when I arrived at 8:30 AM. And there was a thermal inversion. That means the summit was clear but the base was choked in a cloud. It was a fluffy cloud. So it was okay. Just weird. But there wasn’t a hint of wind and not a cloud to be seen. Except that one snuggled up at the base.

In other words, it was a near perfect ski day

All the new snow has been man made. At 3 degrees that snow was hard and fast. And it stayed that way. Maybe that was the queue my skier muscles needed. 

After the first run, I could just feel that it was right. 100% correct. An A Plus. And because everything else clicked into place, the Volkl skis thought they were race skis. They cornered sharp and didn’t let go. I had a blast all morning long. 

While there was still limited terrain available, there was quite a bit to pick from. There were snow guns firing on a couple of trails. After one run through them that iced over the goggles I stayed on those without. I liked the hard and fast corduroy. It was too sweet to ignore. 

I could only stay for a long morning. Which was probably enough because I was beginning to feel the adrenaline ebb and the muscle fatigue ramp up. If I had all day I probably would have taken a breather then hit the snow again. And it probably wouldn’t have been as phenomenal as the morning.

I left on a high note. A really high, high note. Which of course makes me want to do it all again tomorrow. Despite the fact that I absolutely know that I can’t. But I still want to. Skiing sometimes makes me revert to an impudent 8 year old that wants what he wants, and wants it right now!

As a grown up, there are realities to deal with

Today however, was a banner day. It was a day as great as the late season days last year when I professed my love to a pair of race skis. Today, I have what I call the “skiing duck” feeling. Anything bad coming along is going to roll off me like water off a duck. Bliss. Euphoria. Cloud Nine. Rapture. Ecstasy. Take your pick. They all describe the feeling left behind after my day on the slopes at Mount Snow.

So do yourself a favor. Cheat and ditch work. Or whatever responsibilities you have. Let someone else deal with them for a day. Steal yourself away to slopes covered in snow. Rejoice in the click and clack of skis running over the hard and fast snow. Laugh at the “Whoops” that you hear from those sliding down below the chair as you return to the summit. Breath in deep of the crisp, cleansing air of the high New England peaks. 

Because if you do this, the following day you will meet all those pesky responsibilities with a huge smile plastered on your face. And that can never, ever, be a bad thing.

For me? The following day? I wanna go back. With the race skis…

AlanD
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Mount Snow Debut

The urge to ski has been powerful this late fall. The ton of snow that fell in Vermont and New Hampshire in late November made that urge, well, more urgent. 

But life got in the way until this past Thursday, December 6th. I left the house at 5:15 AM and was on the slopes at Mount Snow in Vermont at 9:00 AM when they started sending eager skiers and riders to the summit. 

I won’t sugar coat the conditions. They were not great. But then again they weren’t horrible either. It was early season ski conditions in New England. 

Talking to many of the regular “geezer squad,” as they tended to call themselves, I heard a lot of “You shoulda been here last week.” And while I “shoulda,” I unfortunately “couldn’ta.”

What I can say, is that it felt absolutely wonderful to be out on the mountain feeling the force of gravity yank me downhill on a pair of skis. The top half of the mountain was under blizzard conditions. Snow guns were roaring full blast everywhere you looked. And it was snowing. And it was windy. Visibility at ground level was challenging at times. Snow “whales” materialized from the swirling white chaos here, there, and everywhere. 

I lapped “Ridge” multiple times, stretching out the quads and waiting for muscle memory to kick in and take better control of the skis. They didn’t seem to be remembering much.

In the swirling blizzard at the summit I took a wrong turn onto an ungroomed trail. Which I quickly regretted. But I survived the frozen lumps and bumps and spots of wind blow barren ice. All good, but more tiring.

As my legs were feeling the sting, it being first time out for the season, I figured I better dial it back a bit and relax. So I started lapping “Long John,” just letting the quads cool down and letting the muscles do what they know how to do if left to their own devices. And they began to remember what to do.

No, I never went to see what was open on the North Face. My legs weren’t quite ready for that adventure. It’s early in the season. No sense getting stupid and pushing the boundaries. No yet anyway. Later in the season that will happen.

While conditions for my seasonal debut on the slopes were less than ideal, it was great to be back on a chair lift chatting with like minded folk out playing in the snow. It was great to hear the click and swish of skis riding over snow, crust, and ice. And it was great to see the landscape covered in white once again.

It was less than great when I got out of bed Friday morning. My quads quickly and forcefully reminded me of what I did the day before. But that’s the price that must  be paid. And I gladly pay it each and every season. That pain is the gateway to a season of fun in the snow.

Next time, “the day after” muscle burn will be a bit less. And by mid-January that won’t even be a memory. Except on those days when the boundaries get pushed. 

For me, the 2019 ski season is now in play. I hope to make my next “muscle torture” event this coming week. Before the muscle recovers too much. That just extends the break in period.

I hope your ski and ride season has started as well. If not, the slopes are ready for you. Judging by the extent of snowmaking going on, and the number of whales ready to spread across the slopes, things should be in good shape for the weekend. And beyond.

We have some consistent cold in the forecast, with a bit of snow here and there along the way. Get your gear together. Stop in at Avie’s Ski / Sports to pick up what you need to get you going. Then go. 

Hope to see you on the slopes.

AlanD
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The Roar of Snow Guns

I just got back from a trip into the northern realms of Vermont for a bit of skiing. While riding the lifts and enjoying the tug of gravity on the way back down, a few things gelled in my mind that I would like to pass along for you to contemplate.

First, it seems that the ski areas in lower Vermont, meaning Killington and south, actually have a bigger base than up north. Or maybe it’s just a different kind of base. But my observations suggest that there is more skiable snow on the trails in lower Vermont. 

Second,  …more

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A Super Sunday at Mount Snow

A group of skiers and riders from Avie’s Ski / Sport made their way to Mount Snow on Super Bowl Sunday. It was indeed a Super Sunday on the slopes.

Cloud free skies, temperatures moving into the mid to upper 30s, and a zephyr of a breeze made for incredible conditions. Fast and firm in the morning, soft in the afternoon and even a bit buttery on the south facing trails late in the day. It was beyond picture perfect. …more