44.7247° N, 73.9119° W

Where: Clinton County, New York
When: February 16-17
Why: Presidents' Day Weekend
What: Troy to Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh to Chazy Highlands. Skin to the summit of Lyon Mountain and ski down. Take the ferry to VT and head to Burlington. Ferry to Plattsburgh. Back to Lyon Mountain to explore glades seen from the last descent. Drive to Lake Placid to eat and explore. Plattsburgh for the night.

Conditions? See for yourself.

Skinning up the "Old Trail".

Knee deep at the summit.

 

Kyle scoping out his line through the trees.

First ever cliff drop, albeit small.

Face shots!

Double dropping the pillows.

Stuck in the powder, can't complain.

Finding Nemo

It's four in the morning.  It's illegal to drive on the roads in Massachusetts.  Good thing we are heading to Vermont.  We only pass two vehicles on the road the entire hour and a half drive from Troy to Stratton Mountain, not a huge surprise.  Arriving at the mountain, we find that the "members only" parking lot is not guarded and that the door to the lodge is open even though all the lights are off, great success.  Headlamp on, boots on, skis on, skins on; off we go.  

Untouched snow all around.

I called up Stratton last night to ask about their uphill travel and before/after hours skiing policy and there were no restrictions.  The lady on the phone did recommend a trail to skin up though.  If you know the mountain, then the trail is to the right of the gondola and goes up past the houses on the right and around to the backside of the mountain.  This is green all the way, but way long as it wraps around.  Instead of taking the long way we went up Flukey's Run and took a left on to White Birch, which connected to Lower Standard and Upper Standard under the gondola.

Skinning up under the gondola.  Luckily following snowmobile tracks part of the way up.

After about an hour and a half of skinning we were at the summit and ready to ski down.  A handful of ski patrol and medic staff skied past us, but there was still plenty of fresh powder to go around.  Only having skied once before, and not on powder, it took me a few turns to get the hang of it again.  Kyle cruised down with the goal of warming up after our cold stop to take off skins and transition to ski mode.

Powder 5" to knee deep in spots.

We weren't the only ones who figured there would be good snow today.  The lines grew and the slopes got crowded, partially thanks to the gondola never opening due to high winds.  Speaking of winds, the temperature at the summit was -25F and the base was -8F, including windchill.  This warrants a stop in the lodge to put on a couple extra layers and swap out gloves for a dry pair.

As the lines grew our patience did not.  Back to skinning to scope out a trail that only has a few tracks through it.  We make it up as high as possible before the snow was so blown that exposed roots and rocks were in the way.  It was a quick run, but some of the best snow of the day.  Time to let the quads rest up.  Skiing powder isn't easy, not that I'm complaining.

Rocks up ahead, time to ski down.

Mount Greylock, The Thunderbolt Ski Run

There is barely any snow on the ground as we leave New York and enter Massachusetts.  We can just go for a hike if the snow situation doesn't work out, Kyle and I agree.  Leaving the snowshoes in the car, we set off on foot from the parking area off of Gould Road at 8:35.  The goal of the day is to hike up to the summit of Mt. Greylock and ski/ride down The Thunderbolt Trail, which was cut in 1934 by the 107th Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Leaving the car and starting off on foot.

Getting hot, ditching layers.

Hiking up past The Steps we encounter two hikers with a dog and engage in conversation.  The guy tells us that he is sorry for the bad news, but we'll probably have to end up hiking down most of the trail due to the snow conditions.  We'll see about that.  Two skiers passed us just as we began hiking and said the snow at the bottom was the best on the entire run, and even that was marginal.

Looking down "The Steps".

A dozen wind turbines in the distance.

After two hours of consistent upwards movement we make it to the summit, home of The Thunderbolt Ski Shelter and The Veterans War Memorial Tower.  Stopping in the shelter, a surprisingly nice cabin with plenty of benches and four wood stoves, we are greeted by four other hikers and their dogs.  Drink coffee, eat turkey chili, off we go.  It started snowing and the wind picked up just as we entered the shelter.  Looks like the conditions are getting better.

Kyle dropping in The Big Bend.

More steep and rocky terrain on The Big Bend.

Instead of following The Thunderbolt the entire way down and dealing with some uphill sections that would not be pleasant on a snowboard or unwaxed skis, we use some beta given from the hikers on the way up and take a right at the "four corners" onto a trail marked for mountain bikes.  This is supposed to run parallel to The Thunderbolt while avoiding any need to go uphill.

Heading down, the trail narrows.

 

We take a break to explore the old lift towers from the failed attempt to establish a ski resort in the 1970s.  Signs point us in the direction towards Gould Road and I only need to unstrap my snowboard a couple times on long flat sections traversing back left across the mountain.

Checking out the lifts and stretching out our legs.

Part snow, part grass, part mud.

 

A little wet and muddy.

Following snowmobile tracks back to the road outlet.

Looking back up at the summit.

The conditions weren't ideal by any means, but we got a taste of The Thunderbolt and will definitely be back for more when there is enough snow to cover all the logs, rocks, and stumps.

Back at the car, packing up.

Whistler Select

The family took a quick four day ski trip, only two days of which were actually spent skiing. The rest of the time we were chasing storms and trying to avoid the Northwest's infamous rain. The first day was spent at White Pass. Despite its reputation as a small, easy mountain, we didn't find it to be the case. Yes, the runs are generally flat and wide open, but anyone who tells you it's not an expert mountain is either lying or they cannot ski trees and cliffs. to either side of the main lift are steep, densely treed areas which we found to be chock full of unskied powder. Midway through this section is a 15'-30' high cliff band, with few notches. A little creativity was needed to get through the band (hitting the cliffs is particularly risky due to the densely treed landings), but there are occasional chutes that can be down-climbed (or straight-lined if you're particularly brave). No useable pictures were taken this day.

The next two days were spent driving and resting in Whistler Village, an opportunity I have never previously been fortunate enough to have. We got up at 4:00 to be near the front of the line for Fresh Tracks tickets. Arriving at the Whistler Gondola at 5:10 A.M., we were 6th, 7th, and 8th in line.

Next a two and a half our wait.

The enormous line at 7:00 A.M.

Soon we were at the lodge up high on the mountain, shovelling in food as fast as possible. Fifteen minutes before the lines were set to drop we were standing outside, skis on and ready to go. When they released us, my brother skated ahead of everyone, getting first tracks at Whistler on a day with 50cm new snow. Not bad...until we skied the snow. It was deep, very deep, but also very heavy. We did laps on the flatter lift until Harmony Chair was opened.

The father skiing below the cliff band on near Harmony Chair.

Eyeing a narrow (5' wide) chute in the cliff band between Low Roll and Kaleidoscope from Harmony, we went to check it out. Finding the entrance from above, when it's hard to tell if you are standing on a cornice, a cliff, or just a really steep roll, is difficult, but after a little guesswork, we found the top. It had been bombed as was pretty hard, but skiable. It'd have to be a straightline to the wide bowl beneath.

Turning above the rock band while contemplating the large drop to the bowl below.

This run was pushing my abilities, I'll admit, but I had a plan. Turn down until on top of the rock band, jump off the 4' drop, make it down the chute and then carve a nice slash in the broad powder slope below. Making it to the top of the rock band was easy enough, and I knew that once I dropped in it would all happen quickly.

Dropping into the chute

The drop went well and I was on my feet. Having raced for quite some time, I have a good feel for speed. Thirty and forty mph passed before I setup for the turn. 

Dropping in for the turn at 45 mph.

That smooth powder slope turned out to be wind blow crust and at 45mph I was not breaking through. Anticipating soft snow I was in the back seat. Half a second later I was falling.

Mid fall and traveling fast.

I washed out completely, snow filling my jacket and my arms flailing. Right in front of the lift. I was fortunate enough that the fall ended without a yard sale and as my speed decreased, I rolled over to my feet, snow sifting out of my goggles and helmet. If you're not falling, you're not trying hard enough.

We skied Harmony until it was skied out and then moved to Symphony. The snow was still thick. At the end of the day, we headed up to the peak. One of my favorite runs on Whistler is The Couloir because of its challenging entry and easy, but great skiing, due to the fact that many people can't handle the entrance.

Signs at the beginning of the run. A little hyperbolic, perhaps.

The view from the top. Can you spot the two skiers?

The cornice drop for the very brave from the entrance. To the right is a very large cliff.

Standing at the entrance, a hidden ramp extends skier's left. The size of the cornice/cliff is more evident in this photo.

Midway down the chute in fresh powder.

Once through the entrance I spotted one other track. Either the snow had drifted in many tracks, or I was the second person to ski it that busy day. The powder was nearly untouched save for the avalanche line coming from the blasting location. A great end to the trip.