# Middlebury College Snow Bowl:  February 10, 2007 (PICS Included!)



## thetrailboss (Feb 11, 2007)

*Date(s) Skied: *  February 10, 2007

*Resort or Ski Area: *  Middlebury College Snow Bowl, Hancock, VT

*Conditions: * MG/P

*Weather:*  Partly cloudy, some light snow, light winds and temps in the 20's.  

*2006-2007 Report # :*  31

*Trip Report: *  I skied Middlebury for the first time almost seven years ago to the day.  Then, I was a 19-year old incoming Feb who had skied throughout Vermont.  My season passes had been at the Lyndon Outing Club, all 400 feet of vert.  

On that day, the mountain was wide open and I skied with the 115 other new students....checking out the Bailey Falls and Worth Mountain areas.  The terrain was entertaining and I decided to get a pass....although the rest of that season was a bust.  

The last time I skied the Snow Bowl was during the legendary winter of 2000-2001.  Then I was an orientation leader and took time to show the new students around.  

It had been too long.  So when the opportunity came up to get some cheap tix through Vermont Law School, I jumped.  Since 2001 my alma mater has repainted the chairs, enlarged the lodge, and this past summer spent $450,000 regrading Allen and Ross and installing new snowmaking.  We went up for the day to check out the terrain.  

We pulled in the driveway and found it pretty empty.  The lodge is very old school and homy.  The changes made in 2004-2005 involved some new lighting, a new deck, an enlarged floor plan, some new tables, and a new cafeteria. The concrete floor is a bit of a surprise though.  After getting the tix, we headed out and headed right for the Worth Mountain Double:  







We spent the first hour or so doing laps on Allen and Ross.  These were the only runs off the top open...with four trails off the Sheehan Double.  

Allen was first...it is Middlebury's most infamous trail....or at least at one time was nastier.  It has a double fall line on the top half and some ledges on far skier's right.  This is one of the two main racing trails and was well groomed and manicured.  Some dramatic terrain for a ski area of this size...stuff to be taken seriously:  






Taking a break on Upper Allen.  That is the Breadloaf Range behind her:






Midd has a nice wild feel to it...no condos or neon signs.  Some nice views of the GMNF and the Breadloaf Area.  The 'dacks are on the horizon as well.  

We really liked Ross, which she thought was tougher.  Both Allen and Ross are reminiscent of Burke's Dippers....especially with the sheer drop offs.  The opening drop off on Ross almost caught her off guard!  Ross has a drop off on the top and meanders down to a second drop off....which appears as if it is going to throw you onto Route 125!  It gives you the same feeling as skiing on Cannon's Front Five.  Anyway, some shots of Ross:











After about four or five runs up here, we did some runs on the Sheehan Double.  Cameron and Lang were in great shape.  Most of the skiers were on Lang....morning lessons and families.  Upper Kelton was ice and dirt, but the lower section was nice.  Many folks were cutting over from Cameron, but this side-trail was very thin and required care.  Hadley was OK, but had thin natural snow.  Some folks were trying to hit the trees...still early.  

After a break, we headed back out for some more runs on the main mountain.  Before and after lunch I hit the natural bumps and pow on the side of the trails....including some gnarly stuff on the double fall line of Allen.  It was hairy...one wrong turn and you were on the ledges.  This section is (or at least once was) where the Ski Patrol trained.  The Upper part was covered in soft pow bumps.  The head wall was soft snow that led to a chute between the ledges.  You had to be careful because the packed down snow gave way to tthe deep pow, which threw you.  The lower head wall was really tricky...with a chute on far right and a very steep double fall line further left.  CT did this with me as well--twice!  The second run she fell twice and got a little vertigo on the upper drop.  Some pics:  












The Upper Ledges:






Lower Ledges:






Ross had some great pow on the lower pitch.  The upper pitch got skied off quickly.  Both runs had great MG for most of the day and some great rolls that made each run great!  Like Burke, you had to ski the stuff really fast.  

At about 1:30 or so the 95 or so new Febs arrived for their ski day and the lines began to back up.  The snow began to get skied off and the sun set.  CT quit at about 2:45 after a couple runs on Allen and then on the Sheehan side.  I did a couple more on each side....and even got to see one of my orientation students from 2003!!

It was a bummer to see that the Bailey Fall's Area was not open....there appeared to be enough cover.  The Triple is where the good skiing is at.  This was pretty much the weekend we had set aside to ski it....and we had a good time.  Well worth the visit:







And for those interested, *HERE* are my pics and *HERE is the Snow Bowl's Website.*

Midweek skiing at the Snow Bowl is $25 for adults and weekends/holidays are $35 I believe.  Alum and students are $28 for weekend/holiday.


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## thetrailboss (Feb 11, 2007)

And who can forget that incredible lift ride up the Double?  Yep, the lift goes right up over that cliff:






Calling Glen Plake....some extreme stuff there....

:wink:


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## from_the_NEK (Feb 13, 2007)

I have to try out the Snow Bowl one of these days


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## Newpylong (Feb 13, 2007)

Awesome place, do they still have the midstation?


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## thetrailboss (Feb 14, 2007)

Newpylong said:


> Awesome place, do they still have the midstation?



Yes they do.  I think it is only used for races and Feb graduation.  You can see where the old trails to the ski jumps are....to the left as you ride up.


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## thetrailboss (Feb 15, 2007)

The Rutland Herald just ran *THIS* article on the Snow Bowl today!  A good read by Diane Lorentz.


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## wintersyndrome (Feb 15, 2007)

Had I known this when searching for colleges 15 years ago I probably would have put down the hashpipe and left long island


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## thetrailboss (Feb 15, 2007)

Yeah...the Snow Bowl is a nice bonus.  $125 for a season pass and now they run free shuttles from Campus.  Not a bad deal at all.


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## JohnL (Feb 21, 2007)

Great pictures. Brings back some memories. I graduated from Middlebury in 1984; a bit before you.    In addition to skiing the Bowl in College, my family spent annual winter vacations there. To make myself feel really old, I can remember when the Snow Bowl had no charlifts; just pomas. (Though I never took it, the poma ran up the far right side of the Allen Slope. Learning to ski having to use the Lang poma was a real pain in the &**%^%$@!^.)

I've been meaning to ski a day at the Snow Bowl for years now; I haven't skied there since I graduated. I'm curious to see how it skis now compared to my memories (and on modern equipment.) If the College spent $450,000 regrading Allen and Ross, I'm also curious how much those trails have changed. (Looks like they cut down some trees at the bottom of Allen and maybe filled in the large hollow.) Upper Ross used to have a classic old-style New England trail entrance. It could get very bumped up. Hopefully it hasn't been altered too much...

(I guessing a lot of the regrading was for ski races.)

I may actually make it back up there in early March.


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## thetrailboss (Feb 21, 2007)

Allen: the upper part was regraded and some of the double fall line is gone.  It is a bit wider in places.  The lower part is wider too.  They took out one of the knolls at the bottom.  Ross:  the entrance is the same IIRC and it is a bit wider the rest of the way.  The lower part is wider and a nit easier to ski than before.


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## KingM (Feb 28, 2008)

Yes, you did post a report, and great pics, too. Can you ski that liftline you can see by the cliff? I saw one pair of tracks but there was an easier part to the left in that picture.


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## hrstrat57 (Feb 28, 2008)

Nice.

Add one more hill to the must do list....

Thanks for the report:flag:


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## thetrailboss (Feb 28, 2008)

KingM said:


> Yes, you did post a report, and great pics, too. Can you ski that liftline you can see by the cliff? I saw one pair of tracks but there was an easier part to the left in that picture.



Ski Patrol does...but not officially :wink:


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