# Mad River Glen - 2/8/2008



## Greg (Feb 8, 2008)

*Date(s) Skied: *Friday, 2/8/2008, 9:20 am - 4:25 pm

*Resort or Ski Area: *Mad River Glen, Vermont

*Conditions: *Tracked up powder, powder bumps, some scratchy crust poking through here and there. No wind at all, mostly cloudy, temps in the high 20's

*Trip Report: *Goal today was to introduce ALLSKIING to MRG. We got to the mountain a few minutes before 9 am, but didn't actually load the single until almost 9:20. No matter. We got plenty of skiing in today. It always amazes me that only nine runs at MRG can feel like such a full day.

We stuck to on map stuff to show Dave the classics and we hit them all. Great powder/pow bumps all over the mountain. I think our runs went like this: Cat Bowl/Lynx/Beaver, U. Antelope/Glade, Fall Line/Canyon, Paradise/Canyon. Lunch. Then a few off the double - Giselle/Giselle glades, Partridge/Slolom, Upper and Lower Antelope. Dave officially cooked at this point so madskier6, Joe and I then hit Chute/Liftline and finished with a repeat on Fall Line/Canyon.

Great to ski with my friend Joe again (day one this season - at MRG :-o). Dave seemed to really enjoy the place. Great to ski with madskier6. Saw riverc0il and Dave saw roark in the morning, but unfortunately we weren't able to reconnect. Although we did see Steve in the bar, but couldn't flag him down. Next time, guys!

We stopped for a few beers and apps at the Hyde Away. Anyway, I'm beat. I just rolled in. I'll post more thoughts and a vid over the weekend.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 8, 2008)

Are you staying at KingM's place?


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## 2knees (Feb 8, 2008)

i'm flipping you the bird as i type this.  :smile:

glad you guys got after it, i know brian was dying today too.


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## madskier6 (Feb 9, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> Are you staying at KingM's place?



Yes we did stay at KingM's place Thurs night but we drove home Friday after skiing.  As usual, Michael & Melinda's hospitality was most appreciated.

What a great ski day!  This second half of winter is looking very promising IMHO.  Great to ski with Greg, ALLSKIING & Joe, as always.  We missed you 2knees but we'll be able to ski MRG together before this season ends.  Too bad we weren't able to ski any runs with roark or riverc0il.  Maybe next time!


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## KingM (Feb 9, 2008)

My leg muscles quiver thinking of all those trails. No warm-ups or cool downs for you guys.

Nice report, I look forward to the vid.


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## riverc0il (Feb 9, 2008)

Roark and I hooked up at the Single on our second runs and skied together for the day, which was sensational since Greg, madskier6, and ALLSKIING and I never connected later in the day as planned. Foiled by no cell reception. Sorry we didn't connect guys.

Since the trails did not have any left over untracked, I went straight for the remote off trail stuff and Roark was game when we met up which was super cool. There was still some untracked shots and slots in the morning, particularly in more remote locales. But everything was pretty worked over by noon time when we grabbed a quick break. Followed that break with some more powder snuffing followed by Paradise. I was rather amused at where I led Roark before finding out he had never even skied Paradise before :lol: so I figured we had to do that one. Hit the bar around 3:20pm or so where I finally saw Greg, but he was boarding the Single so I couldn't flag him down.

Rather satisfying day and I am glad I took the day off yesterday rather than fight the masses today. Not too mention there is hardly a line of untracked any where left on the mountain after Friday. Hurts pretty good today, that is for sure. Staying put today, then powder day at Jay tomorrow, and racing at Pat's on Monday for the long weekend trifecta. Wish I could have done four in a row, but damn, am I sore.


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## roark (Feb 9, 2008)

Glad to hear you're as sore as I am Steve. I just dragged my butt out of bed. Slowly.
It was great to meet up with you, I had a blast getting the guided tour. Always better skiing with a friend. I'm gaining confidence in the trees and appreciated your patience.

It was a shame we never caught the other group, but then again the only place we could have was the chair  Next time I hope.


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## Greg (Feb 9, 2008)

*Videos!*

The ridiculously sized (138 MB :-o) high resolution version is here:

*MRG - 2/8/08*

YouTubage:



The high res needs another 8 minutes to finish uploading and YouTube is still cooking. Enjoy.


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## 2knees (Feb 9, 2008)

unreal.  Nice skiiing guys, madskier lookin real smooth.

Allskiing, i thought for a second you were gonna huck that waterfall.   Nice bump form too greg, lookin better on much steeper stuff.


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## KingM (Feb 9, 2008)

Nice.


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## MRGisevil (Feb 9, 2008)

Glad you guys had a great time. Were on our way back from MRG right now. Phenomenal day. I'll post picks if we happen to make it back to Westfield before midnight......


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## bvibert (Feb 9, 2008)

Looks like it sucked...

PS, I hate you guys...


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## bvibert (Feb 9, 2008)

MRGisevil said:


> Glad you guys had a great time. Were on our way back from MRG right now. Phenomenal day. I'll post picks if we happen to make it back to Westfield before midnight......



A MRG day trip?  That's pretty cool! 

PS; I also hate you guys...


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## MR. evil (Feb 9, 2008)

bvibert said:


> A MRG day trip?  That's pretty cool!
> 
> PS; I also hate you guys...



We actually drove up on Friday and stayed over night at a really nice B&B, The Yellow Farm House Inn which was about 5 minutes from MRG. We were on the hill for 8:30 am. It was an awsome day, loads of great skiing! I felt like a kid in a candy store!


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## ALLSKIING (Feb 9, 2008)

What a day!!Great to see Joe again and ski with Greg and Jeff. That place kicked my butt...What a mountain..unreal. After skiing a pow day at Killington on Thursday, then the Glen on Friday and skied at Killington on Sat, then a 6 hr drive home today.... I feel like i was in a huge car reck. Some pics...


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## ALLSKIING (Feb 9, 2008)




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## roark (Feb 9, 2008)

riverc0il wasn't thrilled with his attempt at lower liftline, but at least he went for it. Here's a short sequence:


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## billski (Feb 9, 2008)

Nice jump river..



> That place kicked my butt


I have heard this said more about MRG than any other place in the northeast.  I've even said it.  Sweet stuff.


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## riverc0il (Feb 9, 2008)

billski said:


> Nice jump river..


It was definitely not a thing of beauty, that is for sure. Second picture in the actual 'sequence' after the first few shots is when I realized "hmmm, I am on my left ski..... I never hit big drops off my left ski!" Never realized I always take the bigger drops popping off my right until that moment of indecision, thus the last minute correction, bad setup, and ugly landing. That was off the easier side too. But by the second to last run of the day, I was getting sloppy.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 9, 2008)

Question?

Am I crazy or did that big yellow barn next to the single not used to be there?  It's been a good 8 years since I last went.


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## Greg (Feb 9, 2008)

madskier6 said:


> Yes we did stay at KingM's place Thurs night but we drove home Friday after skiing.  As usual, Michael & Melinda's hospitality was most appreciated.



Agreed! Thanks again for your hospitality, Michael and Melinda! If anyone needs a bed in the MRV, *check them out*.



madskier6 said:


> What a great ski day!  This second half of winter is looking very promising IMHO.



Agreed. I think we're on to a solid rest of the season.



roark said:


> Glad to hear you're as sore as I am Steve. I just dragged my butt out of bed. Slowly.



Yep. Tired today too. Looking forward to crashing in a few minutes. I spoke with Joe briefly today. Poor guy. First time skiing since last April at MRG. He struggled getting out of bed too.



2knees said:


> unreal.  Nice skiiing guys, madskier lookin real smooth.
> 
> Allskiing, i thought for a second you were gonna huck that waterfall.   Nice bump form too greg, lookin better on much steeper stuff.



Yep. Jeff is always smooth, yet also always right on the edge. Great combo.  I think we had Dave psyched out for the Paradise "drop". There really isn't one right now. It's always tough to approach technical terrain like that for the first time; not knowing what to expect.

I was coming off an 11 day hiatus from skiing so I was just psyched to be out. Had a strong second wind shortly after lunch. I'm happy to have progressed to the point with my skiing where I can thoroughly enjoy most of the on map stuff at MRG.



ALLSKIING said:


> What a day!!Great to see Joe again and ski with Greg and Jeff. That place kicked my butt...What a mountain..unreal.



I'm glad you enjoyed MRG, Dave. I think your above pic of Jeff sums up the day perfectly. All smiles.



roark said:


>



:-o Nice, Steve. You got more of a sack than me, that's for sure.

MRG rules it!


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## SkiingInABlueDream (Feb 10, 2008)

Awesome pics & vid guys!  Your trip report reads a lot like mine would have been - I too was showing a first-timer around the Glen (tho ive only been there ~5 times myself so im hardly a veteran).  My friend left watertown at 4:30 to meet me in westford at 5:15. Got to the parking lot at 8:40, on the single at 9:15.  Skied until ~3:40 with 20 min breaks at 11 & 1.  9 exhausting runs. I was initially a bit disappointed that the 12" from Thurs had been chewed as much as it had but we quickly realized there was better snow & less ice to be found away from the obvious trails.  I took the same drop as riverc0il (maybe exact same line) and also soiled the landing.  i thought i was going off the far (skiers) left end where it's the least drop so i just let myself carry a bit of momentum over it, but then as i spotted the landing i realized i was going, umm, a bit bigger than i intended.  So being too late to abort I instinctiely gave the "oh-sh!t call", got balanced, braced and proceeded to land ungracefully.  [i had a tan softshell, black pants and blue dynastar skis in case anyone saw it and can agree with the sloppiness :lol: ]
all in all, it was definetely worth the vacation day.  Was also thrilled that much of a wait never developed at the single. 

would love to join up with an AZ group some day!
cheers,
SF


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## bvibert (Feb 10, 2008)

Nice work on the video Greg, I've watched it a few too many times.  I seriously think I'm slipping into a state of depression, I haven't been out on skis in a week and I likely won't be out again until Wednesday or Thursday... 



MR. evil said:


> We actually drove up on Friday and stayed over night at a really nice B&B, The Yellow Farm House Inn which was about 5 minutes from MRG. We were on the hill for 8:30 am. It was an awsome day, loads of great skiing! I felt like a kid in a candy store!



Cool, I'm glad you guys were able to find lodging.


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## kcyanks1 (Feb 10, 2008)

Great video and pics.  I had my turn at the ungraceful landings off the lower-Liftline cliffs today   I also do the jump and pray routine, not having much of a feeling of how to properly land.  Soft snow makes it all irrelevant.  Though I'm still somewhat scared each time.


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## awf170 (Feb 12, 2008)

roark said:


>



Hahahaha!!!!11!!!1!11!!!

Sweet air...:lol:

I would say that puts up some competition for my burke airs.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 12, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> Question?
> 
> Am I crazy or did that big yellow barn next to the single not used to be there?  It's been a good 8 years since I last went.



anyone?


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## bvibert (Feb 12, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> Question?
> 
> Am I crazy or did that big yellow barn next to the single not used to be there?  It's been a good 8 years since I last went.





deadheadskier said:


> anyone?



The building that houses the ticket office, ski shop, and rental shop to name a few in this pic?






It was there when I first visited 4 years ago.  Or are you talking about something else??


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## Greg (Feb 12, 2008)

I can't tell for sure, but I think that guy on the Single has a huge grin on his face...


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## bvibert (Feb 12, 2008)

Greg said:


> I can't tell for sure, but I think that guy on the Single has a huge grin on his face...



Looks like a grumpy SOB to me..


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## deadheadskier (Feb 12, 2008)

The giant yellow barn.  I haven't skied MRG since January of 2001.  For whatever reason I don't recall a massive yellow barn at the base.  If it was, perhaps it was a different color?


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## MRGisevil (Feb 12, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> The giant yellow barn.  I haven't skied MRG since January of 2001.  For whatever reason I don't recall a massive yellow barn at the base.  If it was, perhaps it was a different color?



I'm pretty sure the base box hasn't been added to since the 60's, but they may have re-painted since you were there last.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 12, 2008)

Yeah, the lodge to the left looking down from the chair looks familiar, it's just the yellow barn sticks out for some reason.  Perhaps it was brown years back.


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## Greg (Feb 12, 2008)

I think the basebox used to be red at one time, right? The ticket office/rental building is no doubt newer than the basebox, but it was there when I first visited in 2005 FWIW....


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## deadheadskier (Feb 12, 2008)

....hmmm maybe ski resort observer could clarify or someone else who's been in that area for a long time.


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