EAST COAST ROLL CALL #8 14/15 A NEW HOPE

[Jonathan S.]

Two buds cancelled when the temps remained polar this morning.

Your Sun Mountain started off Saturday morning as anything but sunny ...
As I was walking up to the lodge I had to step over a water hose connected to a fire hydrant - huh?
Oh, right, pond skimming today for “spring”!

Flagging the course down Sunder and Pabst Panic was very rough first thing in the morning.
As was our first descent for the race.
And second descent.
Fortunately the sun finally came out for the third descent so conditions improved, or at least got less bad.
Fourth full descent from the summit was skipped this year b/c of the possibility of rain later in the morning for the slower competitors, but of course the weather only got nicer instead, whoops.

The winner (on left in this picture, with me on the right) skinned for three-and-a-half laps of ~3,570' vertical in 1:02:07 with the fourth-place finisher only 52 seconds out:

6.8` bob -5` summit, down from yesterdays 41` / 30` spring like temps. windy with a few lifts on windhold.

The extended traverse from MRG to SBN yesterday morning was absolutely brutal, especially since the trees provided just enough cover to keep us in the shade, yet not enough cover to block the wind.
(Big thanks to all the volunteers for staffing their stations despite the unseasonable weather.)

Plus was hard to go fast and generate much body heat on the SBN half of the Long Trail, which was both a literal and figurative slap in the face as nobody from SB could be bothered to trim back any of the branches.

The MRG part of the course though was well-organized.
Here’s a snippet of the scene at the mass start, although out of view are about another dozen lycra-clad French-speaking Dynafit snow leopards:






Winner George Visser (left, former pro cyclist) and Jan Wellford (runner-up, and sole American podium’er) topping out at MRG and about to enter the Long Trail:






Here I am about to do the same, although the field was so strong this year that I wasn’t even close to cracking the top ten despite having won the race in 2011 and 2012:

Around 7/8" of new snow, might be snowing now, might be wind transport?

Kinda...
Upper FIS was a confusing mix of scoured ice and windslab.
Added some challenge though to what otherwise consisted of an easy ~2,000' vertical descent and then, well, although my altimeter watch recorded ~5,000' vertical ascent, I feel like someone still owes me another ~2,000'+ vertical descent.
(Most egregious was the new loop this year within Slidebrook that was essentially a beginner-rated trail: by the standards of *nordic* skiing. Our five-year-old daughter skis up and down steeper hills at the local nordic center on edgeless xc skis – seriously. And then the long skate up the very flat beginner trail at SBS, only to reach an long cat track to the finish. What an utter waste of the skiing potential at three different mountains.)

Here’s the Upper FIS bootpack:

[mtl_ripper]

ISBD posted a TR in some Sub forum Dunfee created.

This is worth the read. Kickass.

[vt_ski]

From Friday, the last official day of winter. :-)

[strawjack]

powbumps killin it on lift line! where the hell was fuzzy?


more snowboard shenanigans this weekend in our mtn bike zone.

[retirwntm]

Your Sun Mountain started off Saturday morning as anything but sunny ...
As I was walking up to the lodge I had to step over a water hose connected to a fire hydrant - huh?
Oh, right, pond skimming today for “spring”!

Flagging the course down Sunder and Pabst Panic was very rough first thing in the morning.
As was our first descent for the race.
And second descent.
Fortunately the sun finally came out for the third descent so conditions improved, or at least got less bad.
Fourth full descent from the summit was skipped this year b/c of the possibility of rain later in the morning for the slower competitors, but of course the weather only got nicer instead, whoops.

The winner (on left in this picture, with me on the right) skinned for three-and-a-half laps of ~3,570' vertical in 1:02:07 with the fourth-place finisher only 52 seconds out:








The extended traverse from MRG to SBN yesterday morning was absolutely brutal, especially since the trees provided just enough cover to keep us in the shade, yet not enough cover to block the wind.
(Big thanks to all the volunteers for staffing their stations despite the unseasonable weather.)

Plus was hard to go fast and generate much body heat on the SBN half of the Long Trail, which was both a literal and figurative slap in the face as nobody from SB could be bothered to trim back any of the branches.

The MRG part of the course though was well-organized.
Here’s a snippet of the scene at the mass start, although out of view are about another dozen lycra-clad French-speaking Dynafit snow leopards:






Winner George Visser (left, former pro cyclist) and Jan Wellford (runner-up, and sole American podium’er) topping out at MRG and about to enter the Long Trail:






Here I am about to do the same, although the field was so strong this year that I wasn’t even close to cracking the top ten despite having won the race in 2011 and 2012:








Kinda...
Upper FIS was a confusing mix of scoured ice and windslab.
Added some challenge though to what otherwise consisted of an easy ~2,000' vertical descent and then, well, although my altimeter watch recorded ~5,000' vertical ascent, I feel like someone still owes me another ~2,000'+ vertical descent.
(Most egregious was the new loop this year within Slidebrook that was essentially a beginner-rated trail: by the standards of *nordic* skiing. Our five-year-old daughter skis up and down steeper hills at the local nordic center on edgeless xc skis – seriously. And then the long skate up the very flat beginner trail at SBS, only to reach an long cat track to the finish. What an utter waste of the skiing potential at three different mountains.)

Here’s the Upper FIS bootpack:

That guy must be a real animal to beat Jan!

[Jonathan S.]

That guy must be a real animal to beat Jan!

Former pro mtn biker.
(And boots that weigh just over two pounds per pair probably don't hurt either.)

He's on the right in this picture:




Yes, they all shop together, assisted by the Quebec Dynafit rep, Jeff Rivest:




At least a sixth guy had that same race suit at Jay, which makes the jockeying for position especially confusing.
("Hey, didn't I just pass this same guy?!?")

Nationality and geographical analysis of top 25:




(Cyclocross racer Tim Johnson is originally from MA but apparently spends most of his time training in Quebec with his wife, former Canadian Olympic cyclist Lyne Bessette -- not shown here b/c she DNF'ed from a recurrent dislocated shoulder.)

[danmelon]

powbumps killin it on lift line! where the hell was fuzzy?


more snowboard shenanigans this weekend in our mtn bike zone.

Love the shenanigan stoke SJ. Last post was also bomb!!

[Peruvian]

Your Sun Mountain started off Saturday morning as anything but sunny ...
As I was walking up to the lodge I had to step over a water hose connected to a fire hydrant - huh?
Oh, right, pond skimming today for “spring”!

Flagging the course down Sunder and Pabst Panic was very rough first thing in the morning.
As was our first descent for the race.
And second descent.
Fortunately the sun finally came out for the third descent so conditions improved, or at least got less bad.
Fourth full descent from the summit was skipped this year b/c of the possibility of rain later in the morning for the slower competitors, but of course the weather only got nicer instead, whoops.

I'm sure the weather was due to our patron saint rejecting the whole concept of locking your heel down upon reaching the top.



Once you heathens thinned out, he parted the clouds for a nice sunny day!

[MrsG]

Have two 50% off midweek, or 25% off weekend vouchers for Killington - need to be used by March 31st - we have great conditions, and, it's warming up in the next few days - tons of snow at Killington Let me know!

[FussyDutchman]

powbumps killin it on lift line! where the hell was fuzzy?

more snowboard shenanigans this weekend in our mtn bike zone.

Bball tourney season, weekends are rough for the next 6-7 weeks...not that I would ever attempt to keep up with him anyway, even on my home hill, he's a freaking animal!

Love the board playground shots,the beer in hand shot is perfect..hope it was a swish

VTF - Thanks for the detailed report yesterday, much appreciated. Taco beers on me next time I'm down.

[Brock Landers]

Anyone thinking of hitting jay this weekend? Making the trek

[Vt-Freeheel]

9.9` bob -4` summit with clear skies. New for today is it's calm, yesterday wind kept the upper mountain lifts closed.

No tunz at the top, only dudez in spandex.

Biscuits are so on right now, Gutwillig is playing tight, bump to 47. April 25 at UVM, Sun, Coeds, X marks the spot.

[t-the-east]

9.9` bob -4` summit with clear skies. New for today is it's calm, yesterday wind kept the upper mountain lifts closed.

I'm hoping there are some deep drifts around first thing.... Should be a beautiful day!

[thin cover]

Digging the back yard stoke also SJ!

Powbmps- sorry I missed you up here, you must have million dollar knees ripping Madonna like that, nice work bud

Nice to catch last chair after work on Friday and have plenty of light left to get on a fun one.

The mellow forest gives way to no fall zone exposure and a line I have never seen this filled in and with some pretty perfect cream corn pow:

[reganized]

Long shot her but can anyone recommend a baby sitter around Stowe? She's not walking yet so skiing isn't gonna happen this trip

[therudeness]

nice pics TC and yeah, powbumps video is inspiring. we got liftline in pow earlier this season, and i've been bugging by buddy to show me the gopro video.. but I know it'll be a beater-fest compared to that one

hoping for a changeover thursday night.. this has gotta be the first r**n in NVT since... early january?

edit: and cool to see Jeff Rivest on the ECRC! Good guy and a beast on the uphill. Followed him (or tried to..) for a few laps near Mont St Pierre a few years ago

[neufox47]

Photo from a few weeks ago. I may be up at Jay, weather depending.

[Harvey44]

Nice one TC!

To counterbalance the Slides spam, thought I would post a few pics.

After crashing at midnight at the cabin, I woke up at 4am and couldn't fall back asleep.



Had breakfast at Cafe Sarah in NC and headed to Whiteface.

The River Lot was almost full and cars were lined up the access road. There was a buzz in the air. At least one, maybe more.



By and by we arrived at the Summit Chair. Our groups was all locals, cept me.

It was snowing at a decent clip. We climbed up to the top of Slide 1. Avy class was in session lookin for layers.


Seshin'


Slide 1


Patrol drops in


HPDrifter


Bottom of 2B(?)


Hard to keep it all straight when it's nuking and your heart is pounding for a few hours.


Local ripper


He said it in French: "So welcooooome, to the machiiiiine..."


Noted Local Ripper

Sweet steepness everywhere.


FKNA


Ten minute break


Phast Phil


So. much. fun.


TJ on Four

After Slides closed we found a few tree shots. While not super fat, they were almost cheater easy fun.


Rands

Heading into the bar around 3pm. I was spent.


Escape from Sugar Valley

Huge day. Three days later and I am still jazzed.

[powbmps]

Good variety of stoke on this page!

Those slides look pretty serious.

[savemeasammy]

Are the slides typically open during spring conditions, or is it still hit-or-miss?

[nfaust]

Anyone know if there are any ticket deals to Loon? Or are online prices pretty much the best I'm going to find?

[Harvey44]

Are the slides typically open during spring conditions, or is it still hit-or-miss?

Not much is typical. It's hard to figure it all out, but targeting for a warm sunny day is often a good bet.

This year there isn't that much snow so not sure how long they will last once it gets warm.

[neufox47]

Anyone know if there are any ticket deals to Loon? Or are online prices pretty much the best I'm going to find?

The best deal is to keep driving north.

[nfaust]

The best deal is to keep driving north.

Not an option, unfortunately. Family member has an event there this weekend.

[From_the_NEK]

From yesterday afternoon. I was feeling sick at work (chills, stuffy head, etc). So I decided to do a tour and sweat it out. Really nice evening. To bad I couldn't have stayed up there for sunset. Found some nice wind effected powder in a really nice north facing glade.



Full Pano:


From the drive home: