Spring skiing? Still winter on mountain

Now, it is true that grumbling is emerging from different corners about this lingering cold weather, but most of that is coming from the people who are not on the hill.

So look at the bright side of this. On Tuesday afternoon, The Scribe was ripping down a perfectly groomed Hayride in bright sunshine on a surface so good that you would have to really work to lose your edge. The message is simple. Be patient; spring will get here when Mother Nature says, “It is time.”

The “big storm” has still not arrived and, with April and Easter just around the corner, the killer dump may prove to be the only thing missing from what has been a truly outstanding season. That Christmas Week with a couple of drizzly days sure seems a long time ago. In fact, if your Scribe’s memory is the least bit accurate, we’ve had about 12 weeks now of uninterrupted winter weather.

But for all of you aficionados of spring rituals, note that, with the sun staying far longer on the hill, the decks around the mountain are starting to get populated. The food service people haven’t been inclined yet to transplant their purveying efforts to the great outdoors, but some hardier consumers of those foods and beverages can now occasionally be seen huddled at the picnic tables of the Octagon and the Midway. Weather be damned; it is spring, and picnic season has begun!

Age 15, going 60

Tuesday at Spruce was sensational. The Mount Mansfield Ski Club is in the second of three weeks of hosting major alpine championship events and, for the Canadian and American kids gathered on Main Street for a super-G race that opened the three-day series, it was hard to picture a better day for a speed race down the fast track offered on Main Street.

Subzero nights may take their toll on the psyche, but they sure are good for the hill. Big Spruce is helped out even more by the southern aspect of the trail, which leads to perfect visibility.

When you are 15 years old and flying a hundred feet off the Horse Barn Pitch at 60 mph, sunlight is a good thing. Most of the kids survived it and the grins were ear-to-ear in the finish area.

There was one other good thing for these visiting racers. The race day ended early on the hill and most of them, with coaches and parents in tow, headed on across the street to enjoy stellar cruising on Mansfield’s rugged face. Imagine this: It is 3 p.m. AND Hayride and National are still in full sun.

For The Scribe there was even one more bonus – taking a trio of runs with old friend John Teague, in town with the Atlantic Division Canadian skiers. Teague was a great racer at UVM and on the national stage and later, as a coach, helped lead the UVM Catamounts to their first NCAA ski title. Now he is down from New Brunswick with his son Walter and a posse of other fast kids and coaches.

Dustin Martin again

All of this race activity — for the Mount Mansfield Ski Club and The Scribe, nine more races in the next 12 days — forced The Scribe to miss the final regular season ski bum race, but the rest of the gang seemed to do quite nicely despite his absence.

The year’s best racer, Dustin Martin of The Whitetails, extended his winning streak to eight victories, racing to a margin of just over three-tenths against Josh Dillon of Race Stock. The next three spots on the finish list belonged to Trapp Lager’s Sam von Trapp, Dillon’s Race Stock teammate Ryan Daniel, and Stephen Brown of A.J.’s

Sixth place went to still another Race Stock racer, this week’s fastest woman, Katy Kirkpatrick. Hot on her heels were an interesting quartet, as Brooke Lindsay of Stoweflake finished seventh, Stephen Brown’s brother Spencer was eighth, while Jamie O’Brien of Sugarman and Kristi Brown of Miso Fast completed the top 10 list. Three women in the top 10 slots — good stuff!

Pete Hussey of Rim Rocks again captured the top spot for those on telemark gear, besting Tim Griffin of Trapp Lager, and Oliver Fosterfell of Metropolitan Music completed a very good season on his snowboard with yet another win.

Plenty of skiing in the sunshine followed, but all trails eventually led to a great gathering up at Trapps. It was the final post-race party of the regular season, with only the traditional banquet at Town and Country still on the calendar. As always, Trapps laid out a great spread. From soup to dessert with plenty of Trapps Lager on tap, virtually every one of the bums could be found in the bar or on the deck. The Von Trapps make great hosts but the afternoon in the end belonged to Race Stock, which captured the Smuggler’s Bowl with outstanding performances from Josh Dillon, Ryan Daniel, Katy Kirkpatrick and Teo Calcagni.

It was a good day for fast teams as A.J.’s, led by the Brown brothers Stephen and Spencer, along with Alison Brown and Grady Vigneau, wound up as the runner-up squad. Edgewise — Thaddeus McDougal, KC Chambers and Bill Chilton — finished third, just ahead of Trapp Lager — Sam von Trapp, Mike Manley, Cody Spencer and Tim Griffin.

Next week brings the ski bum season to its climax, with 20 teams moving on into the championship race. Friends of the Devil, The Scribe’s squad, will not be in the field, lamentably, but in this game you are what your record says you are, and it was not a good year for Friends of the Devil.

While the team’s results may have been lacking, most Friends’ squad members have been regular participants in the after-race skiing, which has been consistently rewarding.

For The Scribe, the next week and a half will be spent largely on Big Spruce while the rest of the local ski bum community takes full advantage of the 7-foot snowpack remaining on the upper reaches of Mansfield. Ski and ride on!

Kim Brown, a ski bum by winter and a hacker by summer, lives in Waterbury Center with his very understanding family. Comment on this article here, or email letters to news@stowereporter.com.