Peach Scone

After Monday, I had high hopes for Wednesday. I had a full day off, and Evan, Morgan, and I were planning on coming up and riding all day. Unfortunately Evan was feeling shitty, so it was just Morgan and me.

Genghis Khan ready to drop

We had no real plan for the day. We knew that it was going to be sunny and warm, so we figured it would be a good idea to hike up to the Chin at some point. When we arrived it was fairly cloudy, so we decided to hold off on the Chin and head down the Bruce. A few inches of fresh snow greeted us. The soft base underneath fulfilled our fantasies.

Morgan pops off of a short tree jib to a magical stick slide, bra

What sparked my interest in the Bruce in the first place was the sight of Double Barrel on the drive in, so we banged a Louie at the intersection and each chose a side. A magical skier swooped in and laid tracks back to the Bruce trail without us ever seeing him, which was great, as it has been a few years since I have been down ole' DB, and there is a distinct chance we may have lost our way and become another Mansfield statistic. Bruce is hardcore. Don't front.

Hangin' tough, with Double Barrel behind me.

After passing Jake's bungalow, we thumbed out for all of two minutes before getting picked up and catching a ride back to the parking lot. I guess Morgan is acceptable road meat.

Wanna smell my glove?

After a quick PBR and a scone, we decided to head up to the Chin. The weather had not cleared yet, but the sucker holes were really convincing us otherwise.

Morgan contemplating quantum physics
Keeping Grunge alive at 3200'

Once we arrived at the top, we checked out a few options and decided to head down North Ridge, which is the most obvious route, although it may not, in fact, have been obvious as to why we chose it. We dropped over the small cliff band and headed out towards Hellbrook.

Morgan at the top of North Ridge
Morgan, with North Ridge to his Port

I had not been up to Hellbrook all season. I had no idea what to expect. What we found was a well filled-in ditch running from the top of Mansfield down to 108. Easily some of the best snow of the season.

Looking down from close to the top
Heading towards the football fields

Heavy and awesome
A nice, mossy wallride










Part one of the awkward Mizu photo shoot

Re-gypsying at the truck

After Hellbrook, we decided to head up to the Rock Garden. Why not? It was sunny as shit.

On the way up

On the way up, Morgan spotted a sketchy line lookers left. He headed up to check it out.

Checking out the entrance

Close to the entrance from the top

View from the top
On the way to Rock Garden

With no real base, Morgan decided to bail on his line. We decided to head on, and arrived at the top of the Rock Garden to find no recent tracks, other than a few down Rock Garden Proper. We headed right. Correct.



After a surprisingly good run down Rock Garden, we jumped off the traverse to the Kitchen Wall and headed towards Gondolier. We headed as far left as we could and then hiked up to Chin Clip. We reached Chin Clip right above the boot pack out to the Notch. A quick run out to Angel Food had us back in the Notch and headed to the Crossover gondola.

Awkward Mizu shoot number 2: getting ready for Spruce

The plan was to take a quick run down the Buttcrack and then head back to Spruce to do the Birthday Bowls. After a bland conversation with Dick, we hopped on the crossover Gondola and headed for Spruce. It was 2:50.

Morgan on a log jib in the Buttcrack

The Buttcrack was still super filled in and full of great snow, although due to its lower altitude, the snow was a bit stickier than most of the snow we had seen in other areas during the day. We were back to the Crossover by 3:30 for another talk with Dick about weather, Joey's, and weather. We then headed over to Sensation for a late ride to the top of Spruce.

The snow in the Birthday Bowls was much better than we had hoped. It was towards the end of a sunny warm day, and we expected heavier chopped up snow than the soft untouched snow we found most of the way down.

At the top of Birthday Bowls

Fallplant on the natural quarter pipe
Tired and fulfilled back on 108

We made a quick, but somewhat conservative ride down to 108, and then started the hike back to Stowe, reaching my truck by about 4:45. We were both pretty exhausted and very pleased with what had turned out to be an amazing day. We missed ya Evan!










-Austin

The End is Near

Hoffman, the Mustache, and Ryan

With April fast approaching, the days are getting longer, sunnier, and warmer. Folks are starting to assume that the snow in the trees is bad. The truth of the matter is that last week was one of the most fun weeks of the year. The woods are filled in, the snow is still soft, and hiking/traversing is a breeze.

The weekend was plagued by cold and windy weather, but that didn't stop the sun from peeking out. Here are a few pictures from the last three days of riding:

Hoffman and Erin after a super fun run down the Buttcrack

Motown and E-train reppin' the Notch Projects newest housing development

Morgan elfing it up a slide path

I'm having a lot of fun with you guys

Real proud of ya, Morgan

-Austin

Sunny and Empty

Me, with the Rock Garden to my right

Today I almost didn't ride. I woke up and thought about doing stupid things like laundry and errands. Then I remembered that I had recently skipped a few days that turned out to be amazing to accomplish the same tasks, so I ate breakfast and headed out.

I met up with Matt and Jeff and a few others from work who were testing boards. I took a fun, fast run with them, but as they were somewhat limited in what they could do by the testing, I decided to head out solo towards the Bench and see how the snow was in the woods.

For the first time that I can remember this season the traverse out was well filled in and fast. It was a breeze getting out to Angel Food. The snow was perfect for quick laps The wet foot that fell on Monday bonded with the ice below it and created a very manageable base. The snow was so nice, and the traffic was so thin, I decided to start exploring around Angel Food instead of heading out to the Planets. I consistently found untouched lines all day.

I took a handful of solo runs until Evan showed up around noon. I showed him some of the spots that were new to me, and we continued to do laps until 2 or so. Lured by the blue sky and bright sun, we then decided to head up to the Rock Garden. Another excellent choice.

It was sunny, clear, and almost windless at the top. When we were strapping in, we were a bit skeptical of our choice. It looked as though the Rock Garden had seen some traffic, and the first hundred feet were pretty manked up. 1/4 of the way down, we made the correct directional course change and found ourselves bombing wide-open and completely fresh snow.

We followed the traverse at the bottom out to the Kitchen Wall and down through the woods to Cliff Trail. I have never been a big fan of the Kitchen Wall, and this experience did nothing to change my opinion. After a few laps on the Quad, we headed to Piecasso and called it a day.














-Austin

Joey Shot of the Year- So Far

While in Killington over the weekend, I happened to look out of the demo tent and see the King of the Wild Frontier, in person, on skis. I knew that I needed to capture this monumental occasion with with a picture, so I hastily drew my camera and fired off this shot. I was so focused on Mr. Crockett, I neglected to scan the scene for other famous historical figures.


A few hours later, I was milling about outside of the tent and noticed that Cookie Monster was on vacation in Vermont. Sporting his 501's and what can only be a backpack full of cookies, Mr. Monster seemed to be enjoying his day on the slopes.

It was not until later, when I was showing a friend the pictures of Mr. Monster and Mr. Crockett, that I noticed how spectacular my first picture was. Take another look:


Learn more about Cookie Monster here.

Check out this info on Davy C. on a website as old has he is.














- Austin

Burton Demo Stop: Killington

The calm before the storm

Last week Morgan presented me with the opportunity to work at the final Burton Super Demo in Killington, Vt over the weekend. I have been on the phone all season speaking with shops and reps, as well as customers. I had not had the opportunity to interact with with Burton customers on the snow this season, so this was a great chance to get out and see what people really wanted as well as to gauge their reactions to the products.

Morgan was pushing more Nugs than the creepy old guy with the "fresh baked" t-shirt

I left work on Friday and headed down to Killington with Billy J, who was headed down to work the Stash event on Saturday. I wasn't sure what the accommodations would be like, but when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised. Three of us split a nice sized condo with a great view of the mountain.

Sunny with a 100% chance of Joey

I missed the first day of the demo due to work, so when I arrived early Saturday morning everything was already setup and ready to go. It didn't take a college grad to figure out what to do: greet customers, figure out what type of riding they do, and help them choose a board to demo.

Das Boots

Both Saturday and Sunday were sunny, clear, and warm. We had a high volume of demo enthusiasts, keeping us busy for most of the day. Thanks to Morgan's persistence and logic, we were all able to sneak out for a run towards the end of the day. I took out a 50 Nug with some Cobrasharks. We took a super fun run through the Stash and then through the woods and into some other park with a fun jump line.

The happy crowd

Sunday was busy as well. Morgan and I had the opportunity to get out for a run. I tried the Nug 52 from 2012, and I was not as impressed. I preferred the twin shape of the 50 to the directional 52. The 52 will probably be better for me in the trees, but after a lap through the Stash, I preferred the shorter twin.

Trying to get cell Service

Sunday concluded with the coveted break-down, which involves deconstructing and removing 6 large inflatable tents, as well as all of the gear within them. The process went smoothly, and we were on our way home by 5:30. Well, not exactly on our way- we stopped for charred prehistoric wing-like food, lurked around the Darkside for a bit, and then headed out. The ride was pretty amusing. Good weekend.

Keeping it real in the back seat

-Austin

Bruhns Update

Waterbury Backcountry and Burga's Booter



Matt, solo, the morning of our biggest dump so far this year

Matt Bruhns has been snapping shots all season long. He was there shooting for most of the stories I have written about here. These are some shots from our suburban snowboard trip in Waterbury, as well as from a jump we built an an undisclosed location. Enjoy.

Jeff Burga looking the other way

Jeff

Me at a Power line trail in Waterbury

Check out more of Matt's photos on his website.

-Austin