We dodged a bullet last night, as the upper elevations received 1” of new snow last night.  It was dense and stuck to everything, which is exactly what we needed.  Middle elevations received a mix of snow and freezing rain, with the lower elevations receiving freezing rain and just plain old rain, but it was not a long duration event.  With that being said, conditions continue to be variable from top to bottom.  The upper reaches are providing pockets of nice dense powder turns, with some wind loading from over the weekend, wind scouring and crusty sections.  As you proceed to work your way lower down to lower elevations, it turns to all crust and windblown.  This type of skiing calls for you to pull all of your bag of tricks for turns and techniques.  The jump turn was well needed today.

On another note, thanks to all who came out for our weekly Rise and Grind community skin up Nosedive this morning.  The inch of new snow really provided nice grip all the way up, even on the challenging turns up top.  We will continue to do this each and every Wednesday for the rest of the season, so please come on out and join us for a prompt 6am start time at the Mountain Ops van in the upper Midway parking lot at Stowe.  Next weeks demo will be provided by Black Diamond, with a special guest appearance from US Skimo Team Manger Milan Kubala, also known in these parts as the “Denim Ghost.”   This event should certainly be checked off on your calendars as a can’t miss event.