Onesie!

I just received a Cozone onesie the other day! It is the most comfortable thing in my closet and with exam studying I have barely changed out of it. Wearing it for some home DIY, powder skiing, and even woodsman’s practice!

Where am I?

Since winter carnival the snow hasn’t been exactly non-stop, but it hasn’t melted at all. Hanover has been transformed to a winter wonderland. Some of these pictures remind me of Steamboat!

Pond Party!

Every year the Colliers end one of their pond hockey games with a barbeque and hanging out. I had been a regular to Fri, Sat, and Sun hockey all winter. Since starting hockey last year, I have really had a great time learning more every time I step (or slip) onto the ice. From catching passes to making tight turns to where to be on the ice, the learning curve has been steep, exhausting and fun. This year’s party was in the middle of another snowstorm (more snow!). Eating baked beans, looking at the piles of snow from the latest storm was an awe-inspiring sight.

Oak Hill Night Laps

I had a problem set, a midterm and my room was a mess. I really should have been studying. Or maybe I should have thrown in a load of laundry. BUT.

It was a full moon. There was fresh snow on the ground. Heather and Carolyn wanted to go do night laps on oak hill. You all know which option I took. My socks really don’t stink that bad anyway.

MRG

It snowed last week and that was weird. Then it started dumping yesterday, and I started wondering what state I was in. I was studying in a problem set session for one of my engineering classes, so I figured that I was still in Hanover. I quickly turned to my friend Tats.

Powder day tomorrow? I asked.

Skipping school? She asked.

It is dumping on TOP of last week’s dump. I pointed out.

OK. She said

I decided that we were going to press the glass at Mad River Glen on a powder day in New England. Heather and Carolyn joined us, so the next morning after making breakfast bagels at 5:30, digging cars out at 7:00 and finally getting on the road at 7:30, we got to the lift just in time for opening. It was NE epic: tight trees and enough pow to make you forget the scraping noise of your skis on geologic formations. At MRG there are few lift options: the lift with a 30 min line and 2 people at a time or the single lift with a 30 min line. On the single chair, which is the last single chair at a ski area and the fastest single chair in the world for its era, you get ten minutes of you, the howling wind, your thoughts, your numbing feet, and the view of the ground under your swinging feet. By the time you get to the top, you are either shaking from the sky high experience, or from the cold. 

Thankfully there were some serious adventure to be had that could keep us sufficiently breathless and smiling. The terrain was so bare other than the past two storms that every terrain feature was fully exposed. Small drops were around every turn, and streambeds became small powder divots that if you weren’t prepared sent you over the front end without a second thought. We skied until we could no longer keep our balance and were hangry, then skied some more. The lift line smiles were infectious and the powder turns were enough to keep the angry in hangry at bay. After taking our last run, we made the comical drive back out of the mountains past stranded Prius’s sans snow tires and made one pitstop to eat every sandwich at the to go counter of a gas station. 

Mousilake Skin

After the struggle-bus that was yesterday’s Whaleback skin, I figured that redemption was in order; so I rallied two friends, Carolyn and Heather, to skin up Mt Mousilake. We arrived at the trailhead at noon and sunset was 5:00, so the clock was ticking. Heather has a huge stride so in no time at all it was clear that with my flu, I was going to be the slowest of the group. Despite the hacking cough I developed over the course of the 6 mile skin, it was a bucket of fun. From the looks of the track on the way up, we were only the third or fourth to go down and the cold weather was keeping the snow fresh and our pace up. At the top, the clouds parted for a view and I don’t think I could have asked for a better group of girls to rip down the mountain with.