Uber-rare Maryland TR

[Big E]

Everyone knows the EC has had a fairly miserable season, even by EC standards. The mid-Atlantic region has been generally forgettable. A cold week in mid-December saw the local spots go from dirt to open in a matter of 4-5 days, skiing on a 1’ base. Sometimes. Three days before Christmas, temps peaked over 70 in DC and stayed in the 60s for weeks. Most of the local hills were shuttered. Whitetail was closed until Jan. 20-something.

And we won’t relive heading out to UT in early Feb. for 8 days and not seeing a single snowflake. Or that the storms came in the day after I arrived home, a fact I learned in between quad-hourly trips to the bathroom, that damn Alta brownie-brick getting the last laugh.

So it is against all of that I bring you a rare Maryland TR. We got maybe an inch here in DC last Wednesday. Whitetail reported 4”. Reliable sources indicated that 10-12” fell out west. Work would keep me home until Thursday afternoon, and expectations were low – warm weather looked to be moving in for Friday, and even with the usually small mid-week crowds, not much other than some nice groomed stuff was likely to survive.

Friday dawned crisp and cold. Bluebird. A beautiful day to be outside, regardless, and a rare occasion to spend a day on the slopes w/ my old man. Dad doesn’t ski as much as he used to, and having picked it up the same time as I did, he’s still stuck at the terminal intermediate level. But he still has fun, and just loves being outside on a nice cold winter day. Even if the skiing had sucked, it would have been great just to spend the day with him. But, as it turned out, the skiing didn’t suck.

Skiing partner (and photog) for the day


The target


After skiing the above for a while, we ventured over to the other side. Mostly beginner stuff, but we hoped the shade would mean better snow. As we skied down (more like across) the groomer to get to the other chair, I couldn’t help but notice the sidehill between the runs actually looked pretty good. Hmm. A test run confirmed my suspicions – a cold, dry 10” or so on top of, well, whatever that slope is in the summer. Which is mostly grass. And rocks. Whatever. It was the only fresh snow I’d seen all winter. The bases would have to make a sacrifice.

Better than working




Much to my utter confusion and glee, I did not see a single person ski anything off this ridge the entire day. Only a few had even gone in since the snow came 2 days before. Just like Alta. Probably 75% of the tracks in this shot are mine.



As we skied down to where I dropped in, I noticed some nice lines above the groomer. It seemed like a nice day for a little hike, so off I went. Dad skied down the groomer to where I’d come out to shoot some pics. A quick 5 minute “skin” and I was at the top. I named this line “Attention Getter” because by the time I appeared at the top and got the wave from Dad, about 5-6 people had gathered at the bottom to watch. Pops said later that a few asked him “is he going to ski that?” I’m already in talks w/ TGR for the footage of this, so don’t bother asking



This shot actually came out kinda nice.


The end.

(Saturday, it was 45 when I woke up. Saturday afternoon it rained. Hard.)

[Harv]

right on. way to get some when you can. is that WISP?

[mdskier]

Whitetail's actually in Pennsylvania but it's only a mile or 2 from the
Maryland border.

[Big E]

Whitetail's actually in Pennsylvania but it's only a mile or 2 from the
Maryland border.

Thanks.

[funkendrenchman]

Nice work... that's some of the deepest powder I have even seen on Pennsylvania ski slopes.

[AdironRider]

Good thing you guys were wearing helmets.

Stoke is stoke, glad to see your out there getting some!

[VTskibum]

Nice TR, glad you finally got some. I tried on twice to pick a good day to play hooky and when I finally did the predicted 6" turned out to be 2". Oh well, next year.

[Tippster]

Whitetail's actually in Pennsylvania but it's only a mile or 2 from the
Maryland border.

If you think that hill is in PA you need to change your name.

Looks great, BigE. Sorry I couldn't join you guys.

[SKISC]

Nice TR. I went to NC for probably the last time this year. Despite temps near 60 the conditions were good.

[The General]

Woot! Way to get after it E!

[ArmadaBC]

Nice ! Whitetail isn't the worst mountain and we do occasionally get snow in Pa

[H-man]

That is pretty dam nice. Way to get it where "it" is.

[jibco]

Haha, I don't think that is whitetail. I have fond memeories of going over there and ripping Main street over and over for $8 on tuesday nights when I was in Motown.

The snow looks fun in those trees.

[Tippster]

Nice ! Whitetail isn't the worst mountain and we do occasionally get snow in Pa

Pssst - that's not WhiteTail.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

Nice TR, Wisp is one of the places I learned to ski. But we rarely found powder like that.

[ArmadaBC]

Pssst - that's not WhiteTail.

Ah my public school reading comprehension skills come into play again.

Can one JONG themselves?

[cdlv]

nice Appalachian stoke.
my buddy in Fairfax did Cannan & Timberline last week and said it was equally as good and unskied for 2 days.

[snow_slider]

Can one JONG themselves?

Give it a try and see.


Nice TR BigE. I haven't skied Wisp in like 10 years. How are the new runs they put in?

[SteelPSUer]

nice! I am still waiting for a good 7 springs TR.

[mrkristofo]

Glad to see you're able to get some out east!

And we won’t relive heading out to UT in early Feb. for 8 days and not seeing a single snowflake.

Sounds like a lesson learned. Tell your friends, Utah sucks.

[road trip]

Sweet! MidAtlantic TR! An instant classic!

[SteelPSUer]

Glad to see you're able to get some out east!




Sounds like a lesson learned. Tell your friends, Utah sucks.

nothing to see here folks. keep on driving to reno.