Memories of snows past, skiers clamor for some action

Interestingly enough, there were staggering numbers of people willing to do just that. By early April, with the snowpack in terrific shape, it was easy enough to forget just how good the winter had been before the forces of COVID-19 brought it all to a screeching halt.

Weekends were a zoo. It wasn’t long before rumblings of discontent swept over the hikers and skiers. People were starting to try to figure out how this mask and social distancing thing was meant to work. Some spats over social spacing were taking place on the hill, but the parking lot scene was as lively as ever. In fact, more than a few carloads were on hand simply to party.

By May, however, warmer weather began to take its toll on the snowpack and by then much of the focus had moved onto the world of biking. Some diehards were not to be denied —– does the name Bruce Cassler ring a bell — and the last solitary runs were recorded after Memorial Day weekend.

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Now it is stick season, and once again opening day in Stowe is nigh. Some things never change as Thanksgiving annually marks the beginning of the winter ski season. Same old, same old, one might say, but not this time.

Sure, there has already been a tantalizing early season storm — lots of folks saw a video of Pascale Savard making effortless turns down a fully covered trail leaving her tracks in the powder. Carol Van Dyke was out on her cross-country gear, enjoying a first day of Nordic fun. Really, would you have expected anything else?

But then the temperatures rose dramatically and the 6 inches of snow in your scribe’s yard melted rapidly away over a couple of Indian summer days. Snowmaking operations at the resort came to an immediate halt and there was nothing left for skiers and snowboarders to do but await the opportunities to book their Epic Pass reservations once the window of opportunity opened.

Perhaps in your bubble you don’t know about this reservation requirement. Here is a capsule summary. Before Dec. 7, only Epic Pass holders can ski in Stowe and it will be by reservation only.

After that, tickets can be purchased online by non-passholders. To get a reservation you have to get into a online queue, and the first opening for this was Nov. 6. Your scribe dutifully followed the instructions and quickly learned that there were only approximately 120,000 people ahead of him.

OK, that does seem like a big number but there were a couple of tempering factors — one was that this booking process encompassed the entire mega-world of Vail Resort’s empire. Second, Epic Pass powers-that-be indicated they could process 50,000 requests an hour.

In the end, it worked pretty well. The wait wasn’t all that long and once The Scribe figured out that he couldn’t yet book opening day — turns out you could only book dates after Dec. 6, he was able to make seven reservations taking him through mid-December.

So, what about opening day, you ask? Well turns out that period became available as of Nov. 18.

Having again gained admission to the proper spot on the Epic Pass website, reservations for opening day and a couple of other days over the Thanksgiving weekend were secured. For your Scribe, the tradition of opening day runs has been enabled — weather, of course, permitting.

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What will opening day be like? Chances are it won’t be as crazy as it has been in some recent years. It appears that the snowmakers have gotten a fair amount done despite only modest cooperation from Mother Nature. It would seem unlikely, however, that last year’s opening day treat — Liftline top to bottom — is on the open terrain list in 2020.

For certain, you can count on that old reliable top to bottom route of Panic Alley to Skimeister to North Slope, which one patroller derisively referred to it as the “Ribbon of Death,” to be open. Chances are good that Fifth Avenue and Standard down to Crossover will be open as well. Perhaps Sunrise, too.

Barring a totally unexpected storm you can forget about the poaching that took place last season on day 1.

Restaurant and warming lodge options by all accounts, to say nothing of the Gov. Phil Scott’s most recent edicts, will be limited at best. There have been rumors of port-o-lets being out there to help with the limited indoor sanitary options.

If, in fact, these stories are true, The Scribe imagines that those should be really popular on a brisk, 10-degree day, in December.

By all indications there are going to be a lot of folks headed up for a couple of quick runs and then back into the car and down the road. Down the road for many is going to be finding one’s way to a nearby Nordic center. Never has your Scribe heard more discussion in the fall about the merits of cross-country skiing. Here’s hoping for some early season snowfall and cold weather to give Trapp’s and Stowe Nordic Center a solid start.

There is also going to be a considerable amount of backcountry skiing and snowboarding this year. Interest has risen dramatically in this area over the last couple of seasons and given the daunting reality of the dangers of overexposure to strangers, expect a whole lot of locals to spend more time skinning uphill than ever before. Of course, finding solitary routes to climb and ski may not be as easy as people would like.

But enough. Today is opening day and your Scribe would be very surprised if most of the usual suspects are not on hand. There will certainly be a lot of “out of state locals” on hand as well. As more than a few ski area spokesmen have observed, it is not likely that avid skiers and snowboarders are all going to observe the state’s rules on quarantining.

It seems unlikely that certain members of the ski world who lamentably have been known to duck the occasional rope, drive over the speed limit and perhaps spend a little too long on a barstool, will be inclined to pass up a perfect day on the hill.

Kim Brown, a ski bum by winter and a hacker by summer, lives in Waterbury Center with his very understanding family. Email letters to news@stowereporter.com.