Smuggs 2006.10.21
Route 108 is closed over the notch, as usually happens around this time of year. Just in front of the road block, I helped a Canadian hiker find his way around the mountain to Stowe. He considered attempting 108 in his VW Golf because he had snow tires. I told him it was probably not the best idea, even though there were plenty of tire-tracks indicating that the road was manageable.
Back at the Madonna base lodge, the Ski Patrol members were gathering for, I assume, training and other season prep. There was one set of prints going up and one set of tracks going down. I followed them up Liftline to the start of the Fun race. At this point, the previous skier turned around and skied down. I ventured a bit higher only to find that Chilcoot got pretty thin. I bet it was nice up high, but I opted to make some turns down from here. The snow was heavy, but provided pretty good protection from the lurking rocks. I think I still have all four of my edges.
At the lodge once again, I encountered 2 more folks headed up. I decided to hike up into the Notch and take some photos of taking a second run:
