Wow.
East Coast Maggot Summits don't happen, per se. They occur and are ultimately granted Summit status retroactively. This is pretty much how Saturday went to the super-secret Summit committee and they confirmed that we did indeed reach a quorum. It was official.
Driving up on Friday night, my original plans were to get my ass up to Stowe so I could be clear of any potential freezing rain... but after 9 hours, I was still driving through Troy, NY.
Thankfully, Mr. Aldo was granted a hall pass for the weekend and was ~40 miles ahead of me the whole trip and so graciously offered me accomodations in not-quite Southern Vermont. It wasn't the Ritz, but it worked for me.
After a solid 3 1/2 hours of sleep, Aldo and I departed into the vortex. Ah, vision is so over rated when you're driving.
How I wasn't able to predict the wonder glaze and 2 inch crust is beyond me..
So, I hadn't had any food since about 11:30 on Friday so when Aldo pulled into a stellar VT roadside restaurant, I was quite excited.
And our incredibly happy server...
The amazing thing about Saturday was that the place was Maggot infested. Seriously, I would randomly see some dude (as PearlJam09 could confirm) come off a chair and I'd just say, "hey, got change for a nickel?" "Actually, I do.." he replies.
And our crew grew...
And his lady friend who thought nothing odd of these internet friends!
I don't quite know we "officially" got to know that Buckethead was, well, Buckethead.. but I think it had something to do with shouting on the chairlift.
I still have yet to properly mimic the Buckethead shout. I think he was happy to have driven from Smallbany that AM.
Aldo and I have been sharing our Jersey Pride for a few years, but this was the first I got to ski with him. Glad he bailed me out on Friday night and even happier that I got to ski with him.
I started to bust on Aldo for having a pair of unmounted Bros sitting in his trunk... but he would have ripped the sh---t out of the mountain on a pair of 2x4s
And he was even willing to take the camera from me!
Glowing contrails...
Peekaboo!
Oh, and that first pic was indeed a shameful hoax. This is Buckethead's friend Adam when he isn't falling down!
Or needing to hop over strategically placed snowmaking pipes.
Great day... no pics of Schuss, Franz Klammer, or his Jersey-raised buddy.. but it was great meeting you guys and sharing a beer at the end of the day.
Following the great day at Magic, I drove north and ultimately made it to my original destination of Stowe.. and my intention to drive north to avoid the potential freezing rain proved validated when folks said that they got no freezing death mist.
The next day, I skied Stowe for as long as my legs could take it. The snow was blower and the wind kept refilling the nooks and cranies.
365 mile drove home I may as well have been on auto pilot. But the view of the Adirondacks on the horizon made for a nice send-off.
In a word, work today S U C K E D .
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