After a few last minute team changes, Will & I jumped in the ol' trusty Rav4 for our mission into the Great White North, ignoring the warnings of inclement weather, chasing the storm like those Bill Paxton wanna-be's on the Discovery Channel. The roads were fine until we got a bit past the Bear Mtn area and the rain we were experiencing earlier turned into always enjoyable white out conditions on the Thruway. Good thing were were the only select few tards on the roads aside from the maniacal truckers barreling through the snow at F1 speeds. Thanks for the tracks, boys.
After a quick coffee/ gas up, we recieved a call from the beloved owners of the Red Sled Motel. Unfortunately, the severe weather downed some lines and the hotel was now without power nor heat. Stoops.
A slight bit of panic set in as visions of Christopher and Paulie stuck in the Pine Barrens ran through our heads. But to shake off a turnaround, I assured Will that the room wouldn't be too cold since we called earlier and had them turn on the heat and it wasn't really that brutal out, perhaps only in the 30s. No problem.
We got to Manchester only about an hour off schedule. We were hyped to realize that there was already about a foot of snow on the ground and it wasn't stopping anytime soon. We pulled out some chairs from the room cracked a beer and sat and watched the snow fall. Then the weather turned a bit rough for our tailgaiting party so we finally set up shop in the room. Of course we tried to power on everything to no avail. Our McGuyver senses clicked on so we threw on our snow gear, dl'ed a light app onto my phone, borrowed the batteries out of the remote to power our cooler speakers and our dance party was on. We managed to survive a black out night at the Red Sled with the help of the Miller Brewing Company, Apple products, and the always entertaining dueling banjo fart battles. See you in the am.
The power and heat cranked on around 5am, so we managed a nice night of beauty rest thanks to the luxurious bedding at the Red Sled. No sarcasm. We launched out of the parking lot with a mattress of snow on top of the car only to find that the locals were recommending us to go back home since the access roads were "closed" due to many many accidents. Not to be deterred, we got on the access road passing squirreling cars like tourists on the BQE. After only a slight delay, we found out that the Bud Light truck was having minor climbing issues, but was able to park on the shoulder. So were able to make it up and park in the VIP upper lot with the participating On Snow-ers and VT ski bums hunting for first tracks still pumped from the few minutes of the Warren Miller flick on VHS they watched over coffee.
We were able to secure some passes (Thanks Andy!) and charged up the mountain. Sadly, the gondola was closed, but that only made for more fresh turns as we took the road less traveled and hiked out. There was a good two feet of snow on the ground. But with Stratton not as steep in parts and with minimum visibility the tendency for a nose dive was always present.
We took a little rest break so I could set-up a rocker board to stay on top of all the powder and we could meet up with Will's new buddy. A super nice guy hailing from 42*21′0″N, 71*4′0″W packed with the energy we needed to stay hyped. Big big thanks for the PB&J sandwiches and trail mix, which he affectionately called "gorp". Sorry son, never heard of that. They don't sell that shit labeled as so in the bodegas.
The snow kept falling, so headed out run after run adding a few more homies to each pass; finding some great tree runs and some super fun pillow sets. Super super fun.
However, the lower runs started to track out and what was once a cushy powder run felt more like riding whoop moto sections.
So after a rough scorpion fall run, we decided to chill and indulge in the culinary goodness that is the Partridge deli. We grabbed Andy from his vendor duties at the tent and proceeded to sandwich heaven.
Of course we ordered the always exquisite "Pilgrim" sandwich adorned with all that represents Thanksgiving. I forgot to order mine with extra cranberry as I always say I will. But eating the sandwich without spitting it all out watching Will test out his elephant man beer cozy took all the strength I could muster.
Lunch was a comedy show with discussions of bowel movement backside disasters. Great conversation for Whoopie Pie "breaking of the bread" with our new homey. Damn you Stratton and your Kraft Singles tp dispenser!
It was a nice closeout to another fun OnSnow @Stratton Mountain. It's always great to pop shit with my NE family: Andy, P.Tek, Guido, Rob, JAG etc. Thanks for another fun year. Big thanks to Mother Nature for dropping a bomb of snow on us, not sheets of rain like years previous.
As I made my WHTCN yellow calligraphy mark, we came to realization that it really had not stopped snowing since we crossed the Troy border the day before, so our mission home was going to be more Trecherous than Jersey City on a summer afternoon. Good Times.
