The Mountain Road in Stowe is well known for its après ski establishments. A skiing buddy of mine, the late John Fox, had been on the ski patrol at Glen Ellen before joining the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol. He always said his wife couldn’t understand why it took him longer to get back to his home in South Burlington from Stowe than it had from Glen Ellen!
Last week, the skiers and riders of Stowe had some significant things happen, which could constitute items of note to be added to the season’s memory bank. Earthquakes, major snowfall and a total solar eclipse.
This ski season is going out with a bang!
The star of this week’s tale has to be Mother Earth, which delivered 23 inches of snow, an earthquake and a total eclipse of the sun.
This week I’m continuing to use the 1960 American International Ski Races program as an inspiration. Before I get started, I did receive other correct answers to my Sans Souci trivia question.
Really another storm? Now it’s April, the male cardinals are singing love songs in the Scribe Tribe’s hedge and do the weathermen have nothing better to do than tell the good folk of northern Vermont another storm is headed this way?
Frank Springer lent me a copy of the program for the 1960 American International Alpine Ski Races held in Stowe. The program was designed and edited by his grandfather, Frank Springer-Miller.
The March Miracle continues. It is quite remarkable to think that this season has gone from one that seemed destined for the scrap heap of memories of disappointing years to one delivering the best spring skiing seen in quite a while. These waves of snowfall that have rolled through northern Vermont have been game changers, dropping two stunning bluebird days on Sunday and Monday.
I have found a new pet peeve this season.
Two weeks ago, it was nothing short of brutal on the slopes of Mansfield. Rain arrived at the worst of times and any hopes for a good season of spring skiing and riding was seemingly left in tatters. The snowpack, which slowly inched up to a fraction more than normal, took a big hit, dropping down to barely 40 inches.
What a difference a week can make. Last week it was all doom and gloom as temperatures soared and precipitation arrived in its dreaded form — begins with an “R” — and the outlook for reaching April with white stuff still on the hill was grim.
A couple of weeks ago a news story caught my attention about the Mahre brothers winning gold and silver in the slalom at the 1984 Olympics. Actually, the story was about the celebration of the 40th anniversary of that event held at White Pass ski area in Washington.
At least once every ski season when I’m skiing the gondola, I hear somebody say, “Let’s take Perry Merrill, whoever that was?”
Commented