Stephanie Abrell makes Ski Bum history

This was the most interesting development for many locals, but it was only one piece of an entertaining week on the hill. First and foremost, it has continued to snow. Whether it was the result of Larry the Lizard’s recent ski sacrifice to the snow gods is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is the reading at the WCAX snow stake has now hit a season high of 42 inches, within a hand’s breadth of normal for a late January snowpack.

This is good. Good for locals finally starting to poke about in the woods. Good for those who enjoy natural bump skiing on the Front Four and trails like Waterfall and Chin Clip. The snow has arrived with an inch here, a couple of more there, and a couple of 3- to 6-inch snowfalls that have added up to an accumulated depth of nearly a foot and a half in just better than a week.

The wind has blown plenty, adding both to the density of the base and the amount of snow to be found in the woods. Perhaps now it will be time to open that delightful old novice trail Sterling, currently sporting about two miles of mostly untracked snow.

Tuesday, in addition to being Ski Bum race day, remains a popular day on the hill for many locals. This week was perfect. It was pretty darn cold — nothing unusual there — but the sun was shining and the winds of the previous couple of days had abated somewhat. Everything that had been groomed out was good fun, but nothing could top skiing under the guns on Hayride, Sunrise and T-Line. Fresh powder atop a perfect groomed base while the sun was shining — how much better can it get?

Well, OK, 12 to 16 inches of fresh would be well received, but given the circumstances this made for a fun day on skis. One local said, “The snowmaking here is starting to approach the legendary status of Sun Valley.”

Before moving back to the bum races, a couple of quick notes. From Feb. 3-6, the NorAm series comes to Main Street and some great alpine racers will be on the hill.

Congratulations to young snowboard slopestyle star Ty Walker on being named to the U.S. Olympic squad. She takes with her to Sochi a long tradition of Stowe-based athletes competing in the Winter Games.

Unfortunately, to the consternation of many local alpine cognoscenti, Robbie Kelley of the Cochran’s clan was left off the GS roster. By all accounts, he seemed to have met the qualifying criteria and it is rumored a GS slot remains unfilled. There is an arbitration procedure.

Ski Bum race

Now on to the day at the Slalom Hill. There were other winners in Tuesday racing, though none more joyous than Ms. Abrell of Race Stock. Her sizzling run held off other luminaries like Garret Lasher of Poachers and her teammate Ryan Daniel, who took the other podium slots. Kurt Pearson of Town and Country, Spencer Brown of Sugarman and Dave Dodge of Dodge Boots finished 3-6.

There were some other great runs by women. Finishing among the top 25 overall were LeeLee Goodson of Sick Puppies in 14th, Lindsay Brooke of Stoweflake in 16th Pascale Savard of Miso Fast in 18th, and Sarah Wilde of Local Crop in 23rd. Matt Kasvinsky of Cold Rain and Snow was this week’s fastest telemark skier, while Ollie Fosterfell of Metropolitan Music again was the quickest rider on a snowboard.

This week, the Town and Country hosted yet another awesome party complete with video of the day’s race. For the second week in a row, the Smuggler’s Bowl went to team WoW — Mary Wylde, Carrie Damp, Dorrit Edwards and Jenny Meigs. Shananigans — Matt Britain, Ian Higgins, Charlie Voight and Elisabeth Fenn — were runners-up in the team competition. Third place belonged to Cold Rain and Snow, including Seth Morse, Matt Kasvinsky, Rory Burke and Karalyn Parzych.

Due to conflicts with NorAm training at the Slalom Hill, next week’s Ski Bum race will be run at the Exhibition Hill at the Gondola.

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 on stowereporter.com, or email letters to news@stowereporter.com.