|   The first Mt Snow post? | Twilight Error®
Oct 7, 2002 5:37 AM | | When I left work on Friday afternoon, things weren't looking too good. It had been raining all day long up in Vermont and I really don't like riding in the rain. BUT I did pay for a place to sleep at the Mt Snow Rathole and two lift tickets - even if I make one run it would have been worth it. The threatening rain in Ct gave way to spitting rain in Mass and pouring rain in Vt, just as the weatherman had predicted. Why did he have to get this one right out of all the other forcasts... Saturday night I attempt to find a place to park among the Ducatis and Triumphs, in the end I may as well have stayed in Pawcatuck because then the walk to the hotel would have been shorter. Unload the truck, retire to the room, pop open a Fat Angel and wait for the morning and fun to begin.
Saturday, as promised, was partly cloudy and windy. The lifts were infected by parasitic leefpeepers and ran, painfully at times, slow. Making the most of it, Chef, REV and I strike out on the first run of the day. This is the first time I've descended from the summit so I really don't know the trails up there. We settle on a quick blast down #4 to #1 and out to the usual runs at the lower chairlift. The Stinky is an amazing downhill bike, it allows a crippled, no-talent hoser such as myself to easily outpace both Chef and REV (who were on modified XC bikes) in every section.
Trail One deserves a special note: Its sloppy like a pigsty without the stink. The mud isn't thick - its actually rather thin - but it is sticky. And slick. One has a long traverse section across a ski trail, the perfect place to install an impassable bog. Think off camber, slimy and deep. If that isn't hard enough, throw in the exposed (also off-camber AND angled to the trail) water pipes that have only *slightly* less traction than your standard sheet of ice and its a great time for anyone. Once through the bog, everything else is rather easy:
The wheel sucking pits on the NCS course
Flying babyheads kicked up by the rider ahead on trail 12
Pucker Alley - mostly closed and rerouted through a (you guessed it, off camber) root cellar
Waterbars so small they're impossible to get any air off but deep enough to really f*ck you if taken wrong
Fallen leaves on #12 so vibrant the trail looks like its carpeted with fire
Riding a 5/4" XC bike on Sunday morning after spending all Saturday on the Kona is a great reminder of how much skill I don't have
Taking the last run of the weekend with Chef and the events that transpired up on #1...
The absolutely fearless (and amazingly stupid) line on #12 during that final run where I rode the highside of a moss-covered and rutted granite ledge at dumb speed. I bottomed my fork for the first time in that section.
Cheese and Whine up in BeeTea's room. I doubt more people could have fit into that shoebox even with the help of a crowbar. The beverages weren't bad either. Just stay away from the WoopWoop, I think I've still got a headache from that stuff.
All the kids running about the place - two years ago there weren't any at all... Is this the start of an MTBR babyboom?
BSing with Pete and Jive at the hotel until the sun went behind the mountain.
Leaving the mountain and taking a line Pete couldn't in his little rental ford. I've got to remember to clean the sod off the transmission before going into work this morning.
Thanks to everyone I rode with for a great time this weekend, it will be far too long until the next chance.
*yes, those are all the pictures I took this weekend the reason being my camera was exactly where I put it so's I'd not forget it - on the shelf right next to the front door. |
| hehe. . . | Stick
Oct 7, 2002 6:47 AM | | Nathan = ShaunTheSheep, not Jive. It's an easy enough mistake to make though. Both from UK, both have sick livestock fetish. Anywho...
Thanks again for letting me borrow the Stinky. Watching Felicia on her first-ever downhill run was great. The smile on her face after going over the bars on 18 was absolutely priceless and was probably the highlight of my weekend. Trooper that she is, she got right up, dusted herself off and rode Pucker Alley like an old pro. So cool.
Thanks for making that possible.
We got in a little after 11:00 last night and I'm still kind of wiped out. More thoghts later after I get some more coffee in me. |
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