Got a marker | Poaching Mad River
When:
Sun, 02/28/2010
Where:
Mad River Glen, VT
State / Province:
Vermont
Who:
VTCarrieBeck, J-Mac (both 7YW'ers
Temperature:
32F
Conditions:
Chowder, packed chowder, lots of snow on the trees, lots of snow down my back
If we don't learn from history, we are bound to repeat it.
Just about a year ago, I wandered around above Mad River Glen trying to find the Long Trail while knocking every last bit of snow off the trees and down my back (original post here). Today, I trudged around looking for little white dashes of paint on trees while knocking every last bit of snow down my back, pants, neck, arms, hat.
[caption]
Carrie with some of the snow that wasn't on my back[/caption]The hike took forever due to the expanses of snow beneath our snowshoes and clinging to the trees. Vermont had the brilliant idea to use white blazes to mark the Long Trail. Most of the day was spent yelling back and forth through the snow-covered pines, "Any marks?" In addition to this exciting and time consuming activity, I spent a lot of time trailing way behind the others, talking to myself. Between huffs for oxygen, I invented a new word for 4 feet of powder falling from a tree onto your head, snowked. We were so snowked that we had to pull up early and drop in just to the left of the double chair.
[caption]
J-Mac starting the descent[/caption]After post holing through more powder than I have ever seen on the East Coast, we were greeted by scoured glades void of any freshness. We were all pretty bummed about the lack of slashable snow. Like any respectable chowder ferret, we popped onto the trail and immediately found some killer bank slashes. The Mad River locals greeted us by drenching Carrie with a wall of snow. The guilty party was skiing with his son and both could be heard laughing as they skied off to find some icy bumps to pencil it out. The joke was on them as we proceeded to track the remaining powder on the hill.
[caption]
Hanging with MRG's finest[/caption]Once we reached the base, the locals that don't suck emerged and started inquiring about our day. Among the greeters was Eric, the head of MRG marketing. He was really excited to see us and we ended up talking for awhile. At one point, the head of the ski patrol stopped by for a photo opp. One thing was evident, Mad River does have the low-key community atmosphere that I would love. It is unfortunate that the community does not include me or my fellow snowboarders.
I carried my DSLR in a fanny pack-like camera bag, conveniently strapped to my belt, banging about, looking ultra lame. As a result, there are some great photos from today, plus your latest "30 secs on the snow" vid.
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