We had a mini SkiVT get together today on the Teardrop Trail off
Mt. Mansfield.  The plan was initiated by Jim Bauman, and with the
addition of other SkiVTers including myself, Denis Bogan, Jerm, and two
of my roommates:  James (A.K.A. "Bennett") and Martin (A.K.A. "Dolph"),
we had a happy group of six, ready to earn turns.  Our hike began at
around 9:30?,  with excellent mild temperatures around 25-30 degrees,
and no wind.  Where we parked the cars at Underhill State Park, we found
about 1/4 inch of snow on top of the old crust, which grew to around 3
inches or so nearer the summit..  We had the snow tools well
represented, with two telemarkers, three alpiners, and one snowboarder.
        My altimeter read approximately 1300' where we parked the car,
and we found both breakable / unbreakable crust, as well as somewhat
packed conditions on the trail in areas.  We took the hike at a nice
moderate pace, and found ourselves near the Nose at around noonish.  My
altimeter read 4050' (not sure if the pressure was dropping due to the
impending storm), and we were somewhere below the radio towers on what I
believe was the Toll Road.  After a brief break (In which I finally got
to sample "Nutella", yum!"; compliments of Jerm) we began our descent.
        Jeremy had anticipated some potential pileups in the narrow
upper section, but we appeared to be far enough apart that all of our
crashes were individual in nature ;).  The upper flat section of the
trail had various ice encrusted conifers bent down on the path, blocking
our path on the way up.  Jim and Bennett made some nice commando
maneuvers (hands and knees) with skis on their backs going up, and I was
fearful of what the trees would be like going down.  As we all agreed,
the trees presented little problem, a dodge here, a duck there, and I
don't even remember most of them.
        Then next section of the trail got a bit steeper (mostly bluish
I'd guess with a few sections of black) , and widened out a bit.  This
is where the turns were the most fun, and three inches of powder on top
of a relatively unbreakable crust / packed surface made for a sweet
ride.  Jerm ventured off into some glades, and we followed, finding a
smoother surface for the most part compared to the trail, which varied
with a few snowshoe / post hole tracks in places.  We all had some nice
crashes, and Bennett just had to hit a tree to make things complete ;)
Dolph had skipped the upper and middle sections on his board (we
couldn't figure out why), but it turns out he was having fun riding his
snowshoes down (he must wish he was a skier or somethin' ;).  Denis had
also ventured off earlier on a different route, partly CCC road, and it
sounded nice.
        The final section of the trail was again flatter, although much
wider than the top; about a car's width or more in most places.  The
snow was a little sticky on my unwaxed bases here, but I found that
straight running it was a lot of fun.  I loved the last section, which
joined in with the road (CCC road?).  It was a tuck fest with Bennett on
my heels, and in the last section it was jumping in and out of truck
ruts and coming to a skidding stop on the ice in the parking lot.  We
were worried about Dolph on his board, but he managed to hold speed and
make it most of the way.  Vertical counter said the run was 2740', not
bad for a morning's hike :)  I took about a dozen pictures, so hopefully
I can scan them and get them on the SkiVT site eventually.  Thanks again
to Jim for getting us together, and it was nice meet everyone, whether
again, or for the first time.

J.Spin