Catamount Trail 2/17, 2/20

[Tramper Al]

So,

I made two day skis with the Catamount Trail Association this past week, first a 12.5 mile section from Greendale Road to Healdville, then about a 5 mile descent down Honey Hollow from the shoulder of Camel's Hump in Huntington.

If you are not aware, these CTA skis have an experienced leader, sweep, and we all work together to work out the car spotting. The only cost ever involved is if the tour that day goes through a XC ski center, as maybe about 1/4 of all day sections do.

Even in southern VT, the ski conditions were pretty nice. At Camel's Hump, however, the snow was awesome. I saw my first 'bear's nest' and got a chance to work on my tele turns in nice soft powder all the way down to Duxbury Road (on the mighty Winooski). After the group broke up at Camel's Hump XC ($5 donation), I headed back into this center's network to pick up a couple more miles on the trail. It was a really nice mix of tracks and some completely unbroken trail.

I tell you, you guys don't know what you are missing.

 

[AMF]

Re: Catamount Trail

My jealousy knows no bounds! My last day on skis this year was the Catamount out of Landgrove on MLK weekend with my daughter. Stunning trip, but a little more than she had anticipated... she made up for it the next day by making me try snowboarding - one MRI later, I find I have "microfractures of the tibial plateau" (fortunately, no ligament damage) - only now transitioning off crutches. Arrgh!!

 

[weatherman]

Yes we do

Al, we sure do know what we are missing. Sounds like nirvana (wasn't there a song by that name??? ...no, that was a different Al.
Got to get out there now that there is good snow cover! We're headed to Windblown this weekend with the kids if they can get over the flu by then.

and do microfractures on a plateau lead to avalanches? Never mind.

 

[SherpaKroto]

...and do microfractures on a plateau lead to avalanches? Never mind.

In a way, I suppose nearly. We were standing near the top of South Branch Mountain at a viewpoint when "whoompf" and we slipped about a foot. We left quickly...
So Al, we definitely know what we are missing while we are doing what you are missing (same thing, different state). I'm really starting to like this BC ski stuff a lot more than I remembered. In a word, I am hooked. Hope to get out there with you!