Skiing Middlebury Snowbowl
Saturday, February 8th, 2025
Runs: 9
Distance: 7.56 miles
Elevation: 6,493 feet
Max Speed: 24.9 mph
Avg. Speed: 12.4 mph
Moving Time: 39 minutes, 26 seconds
Total Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes, 34 seconds
This was going to be the beginning of a great weekend of skiing! Vermont had gotten a ton of snow the past couple of weeks, which meant I was about to get a lot more comfortable with natural terrain and bumpy runs, whether I wanted to or not! I didn't do my usual long-distance-relationship commute to Emma's Friday night because my friend and I blocked Friday off to go out dancing and see a drag show (worth it), so I planned to head up Saturday morning and hit somewhere on the way up. Since I'd only be skiing a couple of hours I went with Middlebury Snowbowl, since it's on the smaller side. I had a very nice, sunny, scenic drive (scenic at least one off of I-89) up and landed around 11:15am to a VERY full parking lot - cars were even parked on the main road. Thankfully, I wasn able to find a spot not too far away, and to my delight, a full parking lot does NOT equal lift lines or busy trails - I have no idea where everyone was, but it was great! I started by walking into the small/adorable lodge to get my pass for the day (not a true sticker/wicket, but a plackard and zip tie - still more fun than a $5 RFID) and then back to my car to boot up. It was partly cloudy in the upper 20s with no wind, and it felt great!
Conditions
The trail conditions up here are amazing. Bailey Falls lift and trails open!
20 open trails; 4 open lifts.
Run 1
Run 1: Worth Mtn. Chair - Voter
[1.07 mi; 5:19; 886 ft; 19.6 mph max; 12.0 mph avg]
My first run of the day was an excellent preview of what's to come. I hopped on the Worth Mtn. Chair - a triple - which drops off just below the summit. The ride was quite beautiful with views behind toward Breadloaf Mountain and distant views into the Champlain Valley and the Adirondacks. As per usual, my goal was to follow the easiest way down just to get my legs warmed up. To get to the green run "Voter," I had to do a quick skate uphill and then start my trip down, which I soon learned had not been groomed in at least a few days - since before the last snowfall - oh boy! The snow was soft and forgiving, and it made me use my brain more than I had been recently. It had a really nice balance of flats and smaller, steeper pitches that required some quicker turns. Voter emptied out near the Sheehan Chair, which I hopped in line for to avoid skating back to the Worth Mtn. Chair.
Runs 2-4
Run 2: Sheehan Chair - Lang
[0.45 mi; 1:51; 446 ft; 24.4 mph max; 14.5 mph avg]
Run 3: Sheehan Chair - Cameron
[0.35 mi; 1:50; 446 ft; 24.0 mph max; 11.6 mph avg]
Run 4: Sheehan Chair - Kelton
[0.41 mi; 1:47; 443 ft; 24.4 mph max; 13.8 mph avg]
My next three runs were off the Sheehan Chair - a quad. These runs were their pod of groomed and night skiing runs (plus a few more that were labeled in the trail report as "moguls" - I was fine with ungroomed but didn't need to mess with moguls on this day). First up was Lang, a nice, wide green groomer that swings around the edge. Run #3 was down a black run, Cameron, which wasn't too steep and just a little icy. Run #4 followed Kelton, which required a narrow natural cut-through to the wide trail, which was a nice small challenge leading into a nice run. I chatted with a dad from Montclair, NJ who moved up to Vermont on this lift ride and he mentioned the Bailey Falls side has "killer snow" right now - so I planned to head over there next.
Runs 5-6
Run 5: Sheehan Chair - Wissler
[0.89; 3:27; 594 ft; 21.8 mph max; 15.4 mph avg]
Run 6: Bailey Falls Chair - Voter - Meredith
[1.21 mi; 5:40; 1,033 ft; 23.3 mph max; 12.8 mph avg]
Back on the Sheehan Chair one last time and then over onto Wissler, an ungroomed green run that was actually pretty fun that led to the Bailey Falls Chair. I had to think more than usual for a generally flat run. This was actually a great time to practice turning around bumps and being comfortable getting a little bit of air (and not locking my knees upon impact). Once I got to the Bailey Falls Chair - another triple - the lifty asked me if I'd hit "any sick lines" so far, which I giggled and said "hell yeah the snows amazing today" - implying that I had done anything remotely impressive. I bet it was my new purple ski pants that made me seem legit!
The Bailey Falls Chair drops you off just a bit higher up than the Worth Mtn. Chair. The plan was to follow the green runs Voter and Meredith back to the base of the chair, and as expcected, they were relatively flat but ungroomed. It was on Meredith where I texted Emma "I fear I am beginning to like natural runs." Again, conditions were excellent with soft snow and minimal true moguls, but I kind of enjoyed the "game" of having to actually decide where I'm going and how to maneuver it. Also, fresh snow is just so nice to ski on.
Runs 7-8
Run 7: Bailey Falls Chair - Proctor
[1.24 mi; 6:54; 886 ft; 18.8 mph max; 10.8 mph avg]
Run 8: Worth Mtn. Chair - Proctor - Upper Loop - Proctor - Waterfall - Proctor
[1.12 mi; 8:43; 863 ft; 16.4 mph max; 7.7 mph avg]
Back on the Bailey Falls Chair, I planned to make my way back to the Worth Mtn. side of things. I shared the chair with a Middlebury College freshman who gave me the whole lay of the land. Freshmen get a free season pass, there's a free shuttle to and from the college that run all day, and for upperclassmen its $200 for the season - not a bad deal! The chair went up and over a cliff area and he told me about how he wanted to hit that line last year but he dad wouldn't let him - bummer. We parted ways up top and I wiggled down toward Proctor, which was another natural trail, but instead of a green run it was blue - I was leveling up! Proctor was actually very fun and again, felt kind of like a game. Only complaint was how the run bottoms out at the end, requiring some skating to get back in line.
There was the smallest line at this point for the Worth Mtn. Chair, so I hopped in the single rider lane and did the friendly thing, asking "can I join you?" to a trio, forgetting the lift was a triple not a quad - humiliating. I did get a ride by myself, though, so I guess that's fine. Feeling adveterous, I hit some off-shoots from Proctor this time. First was Upper Loop, which was basically the same but less-traveled, which led to softer snow and 5% more challenge. Futher town, I followed Waterfall (a black "run" labeled as "moguls" - I'd learn that after the fact) which I made it down fine, but it was not graceful. It was maybe a ~50ft bumpy headwall. Nothing too bad at all. I'd follow up with Emma about my lack of grace later on. After Waterfall it was smooth sailing out.
Run 9
Run 9: Worth Mtn. Chair - Allen
[0.82 mi; 3:54; 892 ft; 24.9 mph max; 12.7 mph avg]
And for the final run of the day I was back on the Worth Mtn. Chair. I could have skied a bunch more, but I wanted to get up to Emma's earlier rather than later because we needed to get dinner in Burlington and attend the Banff Film Festival (which was AMAZING), and I simply did not want to drive, so I wanted to get to her house first so she could be in charge. I decided this run was going to be my "two more skip the last" or "three more skip the last" depending on how it went. I took "Allen" down, their groomed black race run. There was one steep spot from the lift I was worried about, but the rest I felt good. If the run went well, I'd call it then, and if it went poorly, I'd repeat something easier. To my delight, the run went great! It was a little nice to ski on a steep, scraped-off groomer after my day with soft ungroomed snow. From here I packed up, used the bathroom, and finished the BEAUTIFUL drive up to Emma's (I particularly loved it becuase I got to see Mt. Abraham, Mt. Ellen, Camel's Hump, and Mt. Mansfield all on my drive, and all where glowing white with blue skies behind). Back to Jay Peak tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment