April powder brings May flowers

Grauple, it's like sand but its snow!

 Rumors of biking and hiking are running rampant these days as April hits the midway point. Still, it is hard to deny the fact that it is winter in the mountains - grauple has been sighted!

        

Don’t be alarmed, no need to call the news, grauple is actually just small beads of ice and snow. A more technical description from a local was “Man, this snow is really weird, like tons of super fast ball bearings!” Overall, the main consensus on the slopes was, yes, it has been weird snow but also very fun.

     

Friday morning brought us the beginning of this odd spring weather. After a brief period of freezing rain, sandy pits of grauple filled crevices between icy peaks. As more ball bearings fell, it turned the trails into sandboxes full of local kids out to play.

     

Clouds shift through Smugglers Notch, into Stowe, as seen from Hayride Saturday morning

With a couple of inches falling Friday night, the groomers Saturday morning were top notch.  Even with no edges, the soft corduroy and smooth, silent runs, pushed the most timid to mach speeds. The trees, on the other hand, gave the more adventurous a run for their money navigating the spaces in between.

With groomers at their finest, making lines was like making art

                                                         

With the Gondola closing last weekend, cutting across Rimrock to Perry Merrill and Gondolier was an escape from the more traditional quad routes available. With few riders making the trek, fresh lines of soft corduroy were up for grabs way beyond the noon hours.

If the snow wasn't in the pictures, this would be an iconic spring photo

    

Sunday morning brought more of the same fun snow. The denser layer of pow the mountains received was more than enough to make most of the glades super fun.  With more snow in the forecast later this week and the snow stake still at 75 inches, winter might never end.

Fresh lines of super soft corduroy on Gondolier for hours Saturday

I like gropple, slip sliding through the trees

Ice pellets coated trees and the trails

Surprise Pow!! in Stowe VT

With little snow forecast, Tuesdays Powder was a motivator for sure

                                                        Surprise Powder Day

     April Fools Day greeted riders with rain clouds and soggy weather on the mountain. Once most people had been tricked by Mother Nature, she turned on her snow guns. By Tuesday morning, a layer of boot deep dry powder covered the slopes of Mount Mansfield. With no warning of the storm, the usual powder-hungry crowds were non-existent, giving the day a relaxed vibe. This opposite of what a normal powder day feels like, with all the area powder hounds racing from one stash to the next. 
     Boot deep tracks lay fresh underneath the Forerunner quad through the noon hour. Woods that were normally tracked out by 10 am were offering up wind loaded knee deep pockets. It was one of those powder days where every turn was pure magic.
     With high winds Tuesday night, the snow seemed to have all but disappeared by Wednesday morning. Snowdrifts here and there told the tale of the snow that had been. There were a few pockets of powder left in the trees, if you knew where to go.

     Over all, the mountain is in amazing shape. With warmer temps in the forecast, ski bums will be trading memories of powder days for sunny spring corn.

     

Mount Mansfield Ski Patrolers open up Liftline, trail checking it for any unseen objects ;)

Aaron Lavallee floating through the trees

Along with seeing no crowds, boots seemed to have disappeared also

Adam and Aaron, double teaming the lookout chair lift

So much snow, you didn't even have to look were you were going

Adam loves winddrifts

Sun and pow in the Birthday Bowls

Dylan and Adam find the goods the day after the storm

Employee/Athlete Profile : Adam Argeropoulos

Adam Argeropoulos

Where are you from:  Manchester NH
  
What is your favorite color:  Blue

Do you ski or snowboard:  Ski

Where do you ski:  Mt. Mansfield

What type of riding would you say you do:  It doesn't matter, I just kill it.

What have you thought of this past winters conditions:  It's been an amazing winter... I think Stowe under reported snowfall all season... 

Gondi, Quad, Triple, Sensation or Sunny Spruce:  Start with the Quad, make your way over to Sensation after everything's destroyed

Whats your favorite section of the mountain:  Probably lookout and the trees off the sides of lookout. And everything that drops out into the notch too. And the rock garden. And toll road.

Whats your favorite ski movie:  G.N.A.R. !!!

Whats your secret to being the best skier on the mountain:  Well if I let the secret out, then someone else might try to be the best skier on the mountain... I'd say it has something to do with fluidity, focus, and fearlessness. You know, the three f's.

Whats your favorite ski and boot right now:  I really have been enjoying Line's Sir Francis Bacon and Dalbello's Ill Moro T

Did you lose a Go-Pro this year:  I did, and when i find it, I'm definitely going pro.

Mt. Mansfield avalanche

Dropping into the Rock Garden

Sugar Slalom 2013, Stowe VT

     The Annual Sugar Slalom took place this past weekend on the slopes of Spruce Peak. Hundreds of competitors from the region converged in Stowe to eat tons of a certain sugary treat, maple syrup on snow. Racers of all ages dueled it out for two days, energized by maple goodness. It was a festive weekend with warm temps and plenty of sun shine. There were plenty of Bunny Ears hopping about since day two of the race coincided with Easter. The sugar slalom was originally a celebration of Spring and the start of maple harvest season. Definitely a reason to party for all the maple syrup lovers in VT.