A Day at Castlerock

Day 3; November 18, 2007; Castlerock at Lincoln Peak

I went to Sugarbush with Kristian. We took the Heaven's Gate chair to the top of Lincoln Peak, and then hopped on the Long Trail. We hiked about a mile over to Castlerock where the lifts weren't turning and the turns were fresh.

We rode Middle Earth down to Troll Road and hiked back up. Nobody had gone down Middle Earth after us, so we hit it again. Then we made a couple of lift serve runs since we had the pass...a fast cruiser down Jester and a bump run down Organgrinder to get to some poachable powder on Spillsville.

Apre was well earned.

Poetry of Hiking Solo

Day 2; November 17, 2007; Bolton Valley

8:30am…I hiked solo. I think I’m the first to summit the quad today. There’s 8 inches to a foot and a half of nicely wind-packed powder. It’s windy at the top…howling!


Wandering upon wind carved ridges and valleys
Silent-only the rhythm of walking
Plant, step, plant step
Steeper
Plant, plant, step, step
Looking back I notice my single track boot pack
It’s a nice line
Now though…
I’m loving the sofa in the ski patrol summit shack.

Earning the Early Turns

Day 1, 6:30am, November 10, 2007, Sterling Mountain

Ah…The first day of a new season. It’s like a rebirth...a renaissance.

I was so psyched that I had trouble getting to sleep. I was late to bed anyway because somehow over the summer I forgot how to pack my winter pack. I laid in bed with visions of deep pow dancing in my head.

Of course, I knew the turns weren’t going to be epic. It was the first day…thin pickin’s. Plus I was coming off an injury, a badly sprained ankle acquired while mountain biking over the summer. I hiked slowly, but made it to the top by 9:00. We hung out in Top Notch, snacked, geared up and headed out to ride Smuggler’s Alley, a steep diamond all the way to skier’s right.

How was it? There were 8 inches to a foot at the top. The first ten turns were creamy and smooth as butter. Then I continued my descent amidst rocks, sticks, grass, and ice and loved every minute of it. At one point there were these crazy ice stalagmites rising from the trail in front of me. Art…ice sculptures. Finally I made my way to some nicer snow to conclude my first run of the season. I found my center beneath the heavy pack, got my tired legs firmly under me, and carved those last ten turns into extremely edgeable hard pack. (Thank you to my friend, Tim, who hooked up my edges at the end of last winter.) It was a solid finish.

Soaking wet from the snow guns and running late for physical therapy, I slapped the boys five for a good day on the hill, the first of many.

Gear Up, Girls!

There’s a handful of us out there. We do not often cross paths. Though we usually don’t run into anyone where we play. We will go to great lengths for first tracks and fresh, fluffy turns. We are more at home in the middle of the wilderness than in a shopping mall. Most of our friends are guys because they, too, prefer mountains to makeup and, well…let’s face it, most of the other women just don’t keep up.

That’s right, sistas, you know who you are. We’re typically small in stature, but mighty in spirit. We come from a variety of backgrounds and all have a different story. Some of us grew up in the mountains skiing, hiking, or climbing. Others never slid on waxed boards until adulthood. Some of us are native Vermonters. Others hail from far away, of maybe just a couple of hours. Some of us have kids and a family. Others fly solo. Whatever your deal is, we all have two things in common. We’ll gladly earn our turns. We’d also all like to see better representation of the female athletes in our sports of choice.

So here is a call to all you hardcore women out there. If you prefer to see the sunrise on the weekend than to sleep until it warms up a little outside…If you think an hour in the pow is worth donning a headlamp for a 6 am start time on a two hour hike…If you are more comfortable humping a pack around than a purse…Let’s get together. Women of Wilderness (WOW!) let’s get it on up in the hills. It’s time we made ourselves known (if only to each other) as a formidable force rather than the exception to the rule. Ready for adventure?