On Saturday, with Big Pass Defunct I considered going to Mad 
River for a half day.  When I called and asked about the snow conditions 
and price, the conditions sounded pretty good, something about a slight 
crust, but nothing that really affected snow quality.  When I found out 
that the half day was $30, I decided against it.  I'm thinking about 
waiting in the single lift line on a holiday weekend and it just didin't 
quite compute.  I was hoping for more of the $20 range.  So instead, I 
decided to buzz off to Mt. Philo and do some real local turns.  I arrived 
around dusk to a sudden squal and a flurry of activity consisting of 
snowmobilers, sledders and a couple of snowboarders.  Within a few 
minutes as the light stated to fade, people began to leave and I 
snowshoed up a ways with skis on pack.  It was a quiet scene except for 
the occasional skidoo buzzing by.  I can't really complain though, the 
skidoos did a nice job packing down the road and VAST does a lot of work 
in general in keepng trails open in the winter.  The snow in the woods 
was pretty heavy (altitiudes here are only 200-1000') but even with a 
headlamp, the trees were too tight to ski in the dark.  Descended down 
the "groomed" slope which provided enough speed for some nice turns.

Sunday it was time for some Jay Peak action with $16 Buzz coupons.  Great 
snow to the right of Timbuktoo.  Although the new snow wasn't quite as 
deep as my last visit during Xmas, base depth is awesome and everything 
is open.  Kitz woods were mostly tracked out and bumped up but the lines 
in there really got me groovin.  A mass assault on Vortex revealed some 
huge air by a certain employee that made my jaw drop.  Imagine watching 
one of those guys from Warren Miller do a big drop, then imagine throwing 
trees right in the landing area that you had to negotiate.  Now that's 
cool.  The snow in the woods was awesome as well as the face.  It felt 
great to be on some real steep open terrain where every turn meant a big 
vertical drop.  Can't wait for Tuck's this spring.  We had a bit of a 
scare on the final run down Green Beret when James injured himself.  
Turns out he did a hip splat onto a 5 inch stump cut at an angle.  His 
diagnosis later in the car was a bit of shock and a serious bruising of 
his left leg from knee to hip.  Thanks especially to wunderski for his 
attentiveness to the situation.  And thanks to the ski patrol (sort of) 
for their assistance.  The patroller did seem a bit annoyed that someone 
would have the gaul to injure themself on the last run.  I also got the 
impression that he really wanted us to rush down the mountain and get out 
of there.  A little weird.  All in all though, it was great skiing with 
the big pack; it must have been a spectacle to see from the lift.


							J. Spin