Main content

Soft, natural snow on the trails of Mad River Glen today

Posted Wednesday, January 14, 2015
— Alpine / downhill skiing, Mad River Glen, Food, coffee & après ski

Sunny, snowy turns at Mad River Glen today.

Dropping a knee on Fall Line.

The Lynx trail.

Catamount Bowl.

A look over to Canyon.

The music master at the Single Chair Midstation.

Riding the Single Chair.

An explosion of snow.

Midweek skiing is the way to go when you can make it happen! We enjoyed a half day of broken powder, bumps, powder, and groomed packed powder at Mad River Glen today. There were no lines at all and the trails were ours for the choosing!

Mad River is one of the Vermont ski areas that has been accumulating some snow lately — most recently a reported eight or more inches on Monday. The cold has kept traffic light during this midweek but today the temperatures, sunshine and lack of wind made things quite comfortable. In fact, even though it was probably in the teens on the mountain, I found out I was overdressed when I started hitting the powdery bumps on Catamount Bowl! Woo-hoo!

On the expert trails, we skied a lot of bumps that had powdery tops and scratched off areas as well. You had to watch for rocks and hardpacked snow that got exposed. Luckily, the new snow was not super-light and it's sticking pretty well to the trails. Natural snowfall is key to MRG's operations, as they really don't do snowmaking.

In addition to Catamount Bowl, we enjoyed snowy, bumpy trails such as Lynx, Beaver, Moody's, Ferret, Upper and Lower Glades, Fall Line and Creamery. These are accessed from MRG's famous Single Chair.

In the afternoon during this time of year, the sun ducks behind the mountain so we chased the sunshine over to the more mellow Sunnyside Double. We enjoyed both ungroomed and groomed turns on trails such as Quacky, Snail, Periwinkle and Loon.

We sought out fresh tracks wherever possible — including in the trees and at the sides of trails. It was great to get some powder turns in!

Mad River Glen is such a laid-back ski area. We really enjoy going there during the week when there has been some fresh snow. And their old-school base lodge is complete with a comfortable bar with Vermont brews (and rootbeer on tap!), a fireplace, big windows and tasty food that is not overpriced.

Tip: Share the sandwiches that you order in General Stark's Pub. They are generous!

Mad River Glen, Vermont, At a Glance

Reminder: Mad River Glen does not allow snowboarding.

Location: Waitsfield, Vermont

Vertical Drop: 2,037 feet

Summit: 3,637 feet

Trails: 45

Easy: 8

Intermediate: 16

Advanced/Expert: 21

Glades: Lots of gladed areas

Lifts: 5

1 Surface

1 Single

3 Doubles

Acreage: 120 skiable acres

Snowmaking: 15%

Share This Blog Post

 

Post a Comment

No Account Needed! To post a comment without any kind of account, you can type in a name, nickname or trail name and an email (which we do not collect or use) then select "I'd rather post as guest." We'd love to hear from you!

Link to get a Protect Our Winters membership

 


Skier makes turn in snowy woods

A snowy February in Vermont

Posted 2/7/25

In Vermont we've been enjoying rather consistent snowfalls — not always big, but they add up! Our downhill, backcountry and cross-country ski outings have been fun! Here are two shots from this week…

Sunsine + snow = a great day to be skiing!

Posted 1/26/25

There wasn't a huge base of snow to cross-country ski on for Saturday, but the conditions were darn good. Blue skies and warm sunshine made it all the better! We ventured out to Nordic ski in the Mad…

Skiing into 2025

Posted 1/6/25

After a meltdown, we've been enjoying colder temperatures and steady upslope snowfall in the northern Green Mountains. At higher elevations, the snow has been adding up! Meanwhile, in places like the…