Skiing Cochran's Ski Area
Friday, February 21st, 2025
Runs: 10
Distance: 3.11 miles
Elevation: 3,176 feet
Max Speed: 26.1 mph
Avg. Speed: 10.1 mph
Moving Time: 18 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes, 53 seconds
After a lovely late lunch at the Stone Corral Brewery in Richmond, VT, Emma and I said goodbye to our friends and drove up to Cochran's Ski Area, which was buzzing and alive! We parked way down by the entrance and enjoyed an avant-ski beverage while we partially waited for Elizabeth, Snowboard Emma, and Rachel. Elizabeth was going to bring Emma snow pants, becuase Emma forgot all of her clothes. They were running behind schedule, so Emma ultimately decided to wear some of my hiking clothes, which was VERY funny. Eventually, we booted up and walked up the parking lot to the ski area! We first went into the lodge to get our tickets, but they said as long as we ordered online (which we did), we're good! This was nice becuase it was easy, but we were both a little bummed because we wanted wicket tickets! The ski area had a busy T-Bar, the world's fastest rope toe, and a smaller rope tow with handles in the learning area. The lights were on, but the sun was still partly up.
Runs 1-2
Run 1: T-Bar - Alison's Alley - The Elbow - Ginny's Way
[0.57 mi; 3:19; 423 ft; 22.3 mph max; 10.3 mph avg]
Run 2: T-Bar - Alison's Alley - The Face
[0.23 mi; 1:13; 423 ft; 19.5 mph max; 11.5 mph avg]
Emma and I got right to business and hopped in the line for the T-Bar! The line was visually long, but we never waited more than a few minutes to get on. The T-Bar paralleled the rope tow, where people were ZOOMING up on. Our first run was on the right side of the map - the widest run we could do. We chose to do this first becuase the outer reaches weren't lighted, so we wanted to get it in before it was dark/dangerous. Ironically enough, I took out a young snowboarder who FLEW across the trail (she said sorry and I made sure she was okay - all good!). The snow was actually fantastic! Our second run was up the T-Bar and down The Face, which had a short but fun headwall with some man-made moguls.
Runs 3-4
Run 3: Mighty Mite Tow - Mighty Mite
[0.07 mi; 0:50; 33 ft; 13.5 mph max; 4.5 mph avg]
Run 4: Mighty Mite Tow - Mighty Mite
[0.07 mi; 0:50; 33 ft; 13.5 mph max; 4.5 mph avg]
After our first two runs we had to PEE, so we took shifts using the porta potties. While Emma was doing her business, I found team snowboard! Rachel was going to use Snowboard Emma's board while Elizabeth used hers. We started at the Mighty Mite Tow, one to hang with them for a little but also because I had never used a rope tow before! The mighty mite moved slowly and had heavy metal handles. The slope was a standard, short learning slope. The tow was so heavy and slow that our arms were HURTING. We had a couple of nice laps, but Elizabeth was giving Rachel a real lesson, so Emma and I went back over to the T-Bar.
Runs 5-7
Run 5: T-Bar - The Race Trail
[0.42 mi; 1:50; 410 ft; 24.8 mph max; 13.5 mph avg]
Run 6: Rope Tow - The Race Trail
[0.25 mi; 1:05; 305 ft; 26.1 mph max; 14.0 mph avg]
Run 7: Rope Tow - The Race Trail]
[0.27 mi; 2:02; 318 ft; 21.0 mph max; 8.0 mph avg]
It was time to get ready for the FAST tow. Run #5 was down the race trail, which had some slalom gates up. It was listed as a black, but really didn't feel that steep. From there, we dropped our poles and braved the world's fastest rope tow! My god, it was fast and terrifying. I got up and close to it, grabbed on with my mittens, it shredded my mittens, and then I BLASTED OFF. Emma was right behind me. Eyes were watering, it was ridiculous. It was fun for the first half, but my arms got TIRED by the end (plus, I think I hurt my elbow getting yanked up). We did a second lap of this to get a video of the slingshot, and Emma gave me a quick edging lesson on the way down.
After this run our arms were TIRED, so it was time to head up to the lodge and get some mac and cheese! For $12, we could get a plate of mac and cheese, a salad, and a cookie. Sadly, the salads were out (not actually that sad) so they gave us extra mac and cheese (actually a great outcome). Snowboard Emma met us inside. Emma and I were warm and sweaty at this point of the night, so we shed some layers and went back out for a few last runs on the T-Bar.
Runs 8-10
Run 8: T-Bar - I-89
[0.39 mi; 2:46; 397 ft; 23.6 mph max; 8.5 mph avg]
Run 9: T-Bar - Alison's Alley - The Face
[0.40 mi; 2:14; 420 ft; 22.5 mph max; 10.9 mph avg]
Run 10: T-Bar - Alison's Alley - The Face
[0.45 mi; 1:48; 417 ft; 23.1 mph max; 14.9 mph avg]
We were blessed to come outside and see Elizabeth attempting the tope tow on her snowboard and HURLING her body forward, fully eating it. She then joined us on the T-Bar. The three of us went up and followed I-89 down, which had more fantastic snow. Elizabeth tried some tricks off the race ramps, but didn't have enough speed to really take off.
After, team snowboard started to wrap up and Emma and I planned to get a couple mor ein before they closed. Our last two laps were down Alison's Alley and the Face again. I did make a half-assed attempt at the man-made moguls, but the divots were fully skied off and it was NOT necessary. I did have fun making some wide turns through the soft, choppy snow, though!
The whole time we were at Cochran's we kept saying how much fun we were having - it was such a fun way to spend a Friday night! A little busy when we got there, but the T-Bar was ski-on for the last hour. I would DEFINITELY come back!
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