Okemo: Feb 25/26/27

Finally... a good (long) weekend of skiing that we have not enjoyed in Southern Vermont since Christmas time.

Saturday Feb 25: Conditions were powdery and clumpy with roughly 8" of snowfall during the day. The mountain was crowded and there was lots of sloshing around as the snow fell on loose granular top surface, leaving the weird feel of powder on ice. As the day went on this got pushed around the mountain into soft, malleable bumps. It's tiring to ski through this stuff, but fun.

Sunday Feb 26: By now the snow had stopped falling, and with 12"+ in the last 2 days, it was time for the groomers to get to work. Most of the the mountain was groomed but it was not a particulary well buffed job. Lots of fun never the less. This storm is polar driven (rather than a Nor'easter) so it was getting colder after the snowfall.

Monday Feb 27: Perfect conditions. By now the mountain was superbly well buffed and lots of seldom used trails were open to the public. I took shots down TripleSec, RumRun, and Searles which are runs which normally I only get access to a few times a year, after fresh natural snow. TripleSec and Searles were in glorious condition, the kind that makes you remember why they are special. The day was clear and sunny...but very cold. It was 5F in the morning and the base and didn't really warm up much til I left, when if was about 18F according to my car. The kind of day when you have to double up on socks and hats and shirts plus toe warmers! I'm glad I took a day off from work to enjoy these conditions.

We are going to have a back loaded winter, so the first half of March is looking good for Vermont skiiers.

The picture appended is from our wacky friend John Mardas, who some of you may remember came with us to SugarLoaf sometime in 97, 98 or 99. He has moved to Europe and was skiing recently in Switzerland.