# Mad River Glen, Valentine's Day (2/14/08)



## bvibert (Feb 14, 2008)

*Date(s) Skied: *2/14/08

*Resort or Ski Area: *Mad River Glen

*Conditions: *Powder, some wind-blown, some packed, some Fresh.  Some firmer stuff at lower elevations

*Trip Report: *After the rain killed plans for a SoVT trip I decided late Wednesday night to do a solo day trip to MRG the next day.  I had planned to leave by 4am so I could get there before the single started up at 9am, unfortunately I didn't get up until 4am.  After a few minutes of convincing myself that it was going to be worth it to drive a total of about 9 hours just to ski about 4-5 I was off.  Some roads were a bit slick in spots due to all the rain the day before followed by temperatures well below freezing.  I choose the wrong route to get over to 91 from my house and got stuck behind several people who apparently thought the roads were much worse than they were and/or didn't share my enthusiasm to get up north as quickly as possible.  Once on 91 things moved nicely and the roads were clear of any ice, at least in CT and MA.  Before I even got through MA I realized that I was having a little trouble keeping my eyes open.  I began second guessing my plan and started thinking that maybe I should switch back to the original target of Magic.  Luckily my better sense prevailed and I stuck with the plan, it sounds like Magic is in pretty rough shape.  I stopped in the VT welcome center and grabbed an over-priced bottle of Pepsi from the vending machine.  I'm not sure if the soda is what woke me up or not, but I think it was a combination of that, the sun coming up, and that 91 started getting icy in spots once I hit VT (particularly the left lane).  The roads got progressively worse the further I went, but I was still able to keep a pretty decent pace.  I did go through and entire tank of washer fluid though. 

OK enough of the driving, who cares about that!?!  Maybe next I'll tell you about what I had to eat (not much, bagel on the way up and a gel shot and granola bar on the lift..)  The end result is that I made it into the parking lot some time after 9am.

I picked up my $14 ticket on the way in (no kissing required), quickly got ready, and finally boarded the single at around 9:30... After waiting in a long line of about 4 people.  On the lift ride I took a few pics, things were looking sweet.







I briefly contemplated taking Upper Antelope to warm up, but quickly squashed that idea as I only had a short window to ski since I wanted to be back in CT relatively ealry to celebrate Valentines Day with my wonderful wife, who very selflessly stayed at home to watch the kids while I went skiing.  I hit Catamount Bowl first thing, which didn't suck even if my turns did.





*Another pic*

From there I took Antelope to Lynx to Beaver, missing the part where Beaver goes under the single for a brief time, to Bunny to Rockefellars.  

Lynx:




*Another pic*

Everything skied nice until I hit Rockefellars.  There was lots powder over some well established bumps (with occasional ice on the backsides) down to Bunny, then Bunny was nicely groomed, unfortunately Rockefellars was pretty firm and crusty, but still not terrible.

The next run started on Fall Line, which was sweet.  I think these pics are from there:





*Another pic*

From there I went to Creamery > Moody's > Ferret > Upper Glade > Lower Glade > Waterfall.  Conditions were excellent, as was the whole upper mountain, until the bumps on the corner where Lower Glade/Grand Canyon meet up with Easy Way.  More crunchiness to be found there.  Oddly I was able to ski those bumps and the bumps Waterfall better than the powder bumps on the rest of the mountain.  I think it's because they were more like what I was used to at my home mountain. 

The conditions stayed pretty much the same the whole time I was there, with a few more scratchy spots poking up here and there as the day wore on.  Lift lines were pretty much non-existent, the most I waited on the single was like 10 people or so.

I'm not going to do a complete play by play of every trail skied, but I skied non-stop until 2pm and was able to hit every un-groomed trail, except Lift Line, off of the single at least once.  I wanted to go sample some stuff off of the Double, but could never pry myself away from the single.

Grand Canyon had the best pow bumps on the mountain, with no scratchies to be found:





*Another pic*

Lower Antelope was a fun trail, with real good conditions on the upper 2/3rds or so, then the same crunchiness down below, which was a little tough on my legs by the time I got down there.





*Another pic*
*Another pic*

On my second to last run I finally sacked up and hit Paradise, I wish I had hit it sooner when my legs were fresher.  The conditions were pretty superb, the snow seemed deeper and more plentiful in there.  One interesting note was all the warnings about several lost skiers in the last week and not following tracks if you don't know where they go.  This included more signage than I remember seeing in a few spots, particularly on the traverse over to Paradise where there were several signs pointing which way the trail goes and two stating that the trail DOES NOT GO where I accidentally skied off last year (missing Paradise completely).. 





*Another pic*
*Another pic*

Here's a few from my last run, which was a replay of my first, except I managed to find all of Beaver this time.

Lynx:




*Another pic*
*Another pic*
*Another pic*
*Another pic*
*Another pic*

Some other highlights that I have no pictures of;  Chute was skiing as nice as the rest of the upper mountain, I just couldn't seem to make it work.  I seem to have a real problem skiing when I know people are watching, particularly from the lift.  Glade skied real nice, I only hit it once from the entrance off Broadway, but I got to a couple times from Ferret too.  It took me a few tries to find my way over to Grand Canyon since I had a tendency to take the first un-groomed trail I saw every time I got onto one of the groomers.  I'm glad I was determined to make it over there though, it was worth it.

The crowds were light, real light.  

The ride home was uneventful, somehow I managed to stay awake.  I guess it was a combo of being stoked from such a great day and all the sugar and caffeine that I pumped into my body on the way home...

I highly appreciated the awesome home cooked meal my wife had prepared when I got home since I hadn't eaten anything of substance the whole day. 

In summary; Easily worth the 9ish hours of driving to ski 4.5 hours!

Here's the gallery, but I think all the pics are in the thread:
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/851


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## TheBEast (Feb 15, 2008)

Looks like pure heaven!!

Nice photos.  I love how almost every photo shows no one on the trails....guess that's what a single person chair lift will do for you!!


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## Greg (Feb 15, 2008)

Wow. Almost a bluebird weekday at MRG with fresh snow? Can't beat that. Looking forward to your details. The Canyon bumps look effin rad.


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

TheBEast said:


> Looks like pure heaven!!
> 
> Nice photos.  I love how almost every photo shows no one on the trails....guess that's what a single person chair lift will do for you!!



A majority of my runs were mostly by myself or with one or two others.  Only a couple times did I large group roll through while I was on the trail.


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

Greg said:


> Wow. Almost a bluebird weekday at MRG with fresh snow? Can't beat that. Looking forward to your details. The Canyon bumps look effin rad.



It was mostly bluebird.  The clouds started rolling in later in the day though, making for some flat light skiing...

Canyon had some the best conditions I encountered, IMHO.  I suspect that's because it had been groomed at some point in the not too distant past, so there were no ice bumps underneath the fresh snow.


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## Greg (Feb 15, 2008)

bvibert said:


> Canyon had some the best conditions I encountered, IMHO.  I suspect that's because it had been groomed at some point in the not too distant past, so there were no ice bumps underneath the fresh snow.



Yep. I noticed the same last week, although they were only sort of bumplets at the time. Glad you had a great day and your timing was perfect. Looks like the MRV is not going to avoid rain on Monday. :angry:

Did you hit Fall Line? Apparently it looks like you took the Paradise "drop" this time.


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## andyzee (Feb 15, 2008)

Nice!


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## ALLSKIING (Feb 15, 2008)

Nice pics B.......Looks like it was worth the trip!!


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

I updated the original post with more details and pics.  I would have put more pics in the post, but I'm limited to 10... :roll:


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## Paul (Feb 15, 2008)

Jerk!


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## Greg (Feb 15, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I updated the original post with more details and pics.  I would have put more pics in the post, but I'm limited to 10... :roll:



Just add a reply....


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## cbcbd (Feb 15, 2008)

Sweet pics!!
And reverting to some other thread saying that you can't get that much vert or runs at MRG because of the single... the mountain is all bumps, I don't think I could endure more than 10 runs of that stuff in a day!


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## Grassi21 (Feb 15, 2008)

Awesome... and I only looked at the pics so far.    Glad you got some Bri.  You are a trooper.


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## ComeBackMudPuddles (Feb 15, 2008)

Nice collection of shots.  Thanks for posting all of them.


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## Greg (Feb 15, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> Awesome... and I only looked at the pics so far.    Glad you got some Bri.  You are a trooper.



Indeed. I just read the edited report. Sounds great. Strange to me that you were more sleepy on the way up than the way home. I'm usually just the opposite as I'm amped to get to the mountain. You need to start drinking coffee.  You're getting good at these MRG day trips. That's a lot of driving to do in one day, especially solo, for that short a window of skiing, but your pics confirm it must have been worth it. Glad you skied Paradise-proper finally. :lol: Very well done. You win the extreme day trip award so far this season. :dunce:


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## MRGisevil (Feb 15, 2008)

Nice, Brian- looks like it was an awesome day! I'm so jealous!


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## Grassi21 (Feb 15, 2008)

Greg said:


> Indeed. I just read the edited report. Sounds great. Strange to me that you were more sleepy on the way up than the way home. I'm usually just the opposite as I'm amped to get to the mountain. You need to start drinking coffee.  You're getting good at these MRG day trips. That's a lot of driving to do in one day, especially solo, for that short a window of skiing, but your pics confirm it must have been worth it. Glad you skied Paradise-proper finally. :lol: Very well done. You win the extreme day trip award so far this season. :dunce:



I just read this TR in its entirety.  Well done Bri.  My only question is, what was in the feed bag for the ride home?  ;-)


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

Greg said:


> Just add a reply....



I would have, but since I didn't start the text until after there were several replies it wouldn't have been continuous..


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## severine (Feb 15, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> My only question is, what was in the feed bag for the ride home?  ;-)


I told him he should have included that. :lol:

I'm extremely jealous.  But at least it was worth it.


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

cbcbd said:


> Sweet pics!!
> And reverting to some other thread saying that you can't get that much vert or runs at MRG because of the single... the mountain is all bumps, I don't think I could endure more than 10 runs of that stuff in a day!



I agree, I don't recall exactly, but I got in at least 7 runs in the 4.5 hours I was there and my legs were pretty effin shot by the time I was done.


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## Warp Daddy (Feb 15, 2008)

Very nice photos Brian . Great experience glad u got home ok those 4am  long roundtrip  days are TOUGH 

Makes me wish i could actually ski bumps but sadly  @ 64 those days are gone forever


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## Greg (Feb 15, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I would have, but since I didn't start the text until after there several replies it wouldn't have been continuous..



You could have editing in a "Continue Here" link using [post]... 



severine said:


> I'm extremely jealous.  But at least it was worth it.



You're a good woman.


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## severine (Feb 15, 2008)

Greg said:


> You're a good woman.


I'm just biding my time.  

Seriously, there are far worse things he could be out doing.


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> I just read this TR in its entirety.  Well done Bri.  My only question is, what was in the feed bag for the ride home?  ;-)





severine said:


> I told him he should have included that. :lol:



I knew you'd ask Chris.  I was actually going to include it in the report for you, but I didn't want to be accused of being like GSS.   When I filled up on the way out of town I picked up some goodies to not only fill my extremely empty stomach, but also help keep me awake...  A bottle of Gatorade, a bottle of water, a can of Red Bull, a small bag peperoni pizza Combos, a medium bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, and a four pack of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups.  I stopped once at a rest stop enroute to pee and picked up an additional can of Mountain Dew and a Hersey's Chocolate bar with almonds.   Oh yeah and I had 4 chocolate cigars that my wife had gotten me for Valentine's day too...


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## severine (Feb 15, 2008)

He eats like a champion.


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

Greg said:


> Indeed. I just read the edited report. Sounds great. Strange to me that you were more sleepy on the way up than the way home. I'm usually just the opposite as I'm amped to get to the mountain. You need to start drinking coffee.  You're getting good at these MRG day trips. That's a lot of driving to do in one day, especially solo, for that short a window of skiing, but your pics confirm it must have been worth it. Glad you skied Paradise-proper finally. :lol: Very well done. You win the extreme day trip award so far this season. :dunce:



Coffee smoffee.  The Pepsi seemed to help, as did the slick conditions which made me be on alert every time I had to pull into the left lane to pass some slow poke.  It was almost as if they didn't realize that I was going to be skiing Mad effin River Glen and that they should get the hell out of my effin way! :roll:  :lol:



Greg said:


> You could have editing in a "Continue Here" link using [post]...



Yeah yeah, my way was easier, you all will just have to suffer with clicking on the links.. 



Greg said:


> You're a good woman.



YES, she is!


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## Grassi21 (Feb 15, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I knew you'd ask Chris.  I was actually going to include it in the report for you, but I didn't want to be accused of being like GSS.   When I filled up on the way out of town I picked up some goodies to not only fill my extremely empty stomach, but also help keep me awake...  A bottle of Gatorade, a bottle of water, a can of Red Bull, a small bag peperoni pizza Combos, a medium bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, and a four pack of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups.  I stopped once at a rest stop enroute to pee and picked up an additional can of Mountain Dew and a Hersey's Chocolate bar with almonds.   Oh yeah and I had 4 chocolate cigars that my wife had gotten me for Valentine's day too...



Besides getting the award for most intense day-trip, you get my vote for most voracious eater.


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> Besides getting the award for most intense day-trip, you get my vote for most voracious eater.



Dude, don't forget I didn't stop for lunch.  All I had during the day was a DD Bagel w/ CC and OJ in CT on the way up, a Pepsi in SoVT, and a Clif Shot (Strawberry I think) and PB granola bar on the lift.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 15, 2008)

bvibert said:


> Dude, don't forget I didn't stop for lunch.  All I had during the day was a DD Bagel w/ CC and OJ in CT on the way up, a Pepsi in SoVT, and a Clif Shot (Strawberry I think) and PB granola bar on the lift.



Oh, it was a Strawberry Cliff Shot.  Then of course you could put down the rest of that feed bag.  ;-)  I have had instances where I could rival your eating habits.  They usually don't come after skiing but much later in the evening....

What time did you get back to Torrington?


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## Beetlenut (Feb 15, 2008)

Glad you had a great day Brian, and thanks for taking the time to stop and take all those great photos. I can't wait to get up there!


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> Oh, it was a Strawberry Cliff Shot.  Then of course you could put down the rest of that feed bag.  ;-)  I have had instances where I could rival your eating habits.  They usually don't come after skiing but much later in the evening....
> 
> What time did you get back to Torrington?



I got home just before 7pm and that included a stop by the liquor store to buy my wife some wine.


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

Beetlenut said:


> Glad you had a great day Brian, and thanks for taking the time to stop and take all those great photos. I can't wait to get up there!



Thanks.  Believe me, the picture taking was a convenient excuse to take a break.  Of course there were plenty of leg saving and breath catching stops that didn't include picture taking as well...


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## Grassi21 (Feb 15, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I got home just before 7pm and that included a stop by the liquor store to buy my wife some wine.



Son of a b*&^%!  I figured you would be getting home more in the 8:30/9:00 pm range.  If I knew you where aiming to be back around that time I would have went.  My loss.  :-(


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## bvibert (Feb 15, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> Son of a b*&^%!  I figured you would be getting home more in the 8:30/9:00 pm range.  If I knew you where aiming to be back around that time I would have went.  My loss.  :-(



Should have asked my man, I could have used the company too...  I believe I said that I'd be skiing till 1 or 2.  It's a long drive, but it doesn't take 7 hours to get home... 

Next time I do a MRG day trip you're welcome to join me (and there _will_ be a next time).  This makes two that worked out quite well.


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## Grassi21 (Feb 15, 2008)

bvibert said:


> Should have asked my man, I could have used the company too...  I believe I said that I'd be skiing till 1 or 2.  It's a long drive, but it doesn't take 7 hours to get home...
> 
> Next time I do a MRG day trip you're welcome to join me (and there _will_ be a next time).  This makes two that worked out quite well.



Yeah, I think it was when K-Mart was an option and someone said we'd be home after 8 or something.  As I said, my loss.


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