| One of the defining rituals of skiing and snowboarding is the ôPowder
Morningö at Stowe, where theyÆve been refining the art of powder mornings since
1939.
All it takes is a few inches û or, better yet, a few feet -- of fluff falling
overnight to set enthusiasts on edge. Normally mellow folks get restless,
foregoing a second cup of coffee to arrive at the hill long before the lifts
open.
Normally gregarious and considerate folks suddenly will not allow anyone to
stand between them and their goal. If youÆre late, you get left behind. ThereÆs
an old saying on the slopes: ôThere are no friends on powder mornings.ö
ItÆs understandable. ThereÆs nothing in the world quite like laying the first
tracks through untouched snow. When itÆs deep enough the experience is almost
silent. Your boards make a soft hiss in the snow, not unlike the rush of blood
in your own ears you hear in a seashell. ItÆs almost a religious experience.
If youÆre the first off the lift, you have total choice of where you want to
go. You just canÆt dilly-dally or the folks on the second chair will poach the
run you wanted. Snooze and you lose.
Last winter, I spent a long weekend in Stowe, and had fresh powder û a few
inches to nearly a foot û on all three mornings, thanks to a big storm and
persistent follow-up flurries. You donÆt get that lucky very often.
At Stowe, the Forerunner high-speed quad, turns, officially, at 7:30 a.m. on
weekends and holidays, 8 on weekdays. Sometimes itÆs a little earlier if thereÆs
fresh powder and the lifties and the ski patrol are feeling magnanimous.
Especially on a Saturday or a Sunday with fresh snow, there might be a hundred
or more enthusiasts chomping at the bit to make tracks in the untracked powder.
On a late-December morning in the mountains, sunrise is technically around
7:25 or so but on a cloudy, snowy day itÆs still very dusky at 7:30. The light
can seem almost magical, especially if the mountain is creating itÆs own
snowstorm and the skies out over the valley are clear.
Once you get to the top, you canÆt waste a single second or youÆll get
snaked. The hardest of the hard-core will immediately head for the fabled Front
Four: Goat, Starr, National, and Liftline.
These double-black-diamond trails are famous throughout snowdom, and attract
both the best and the wannabees. ThereÆs a secret here, though. These steep and
often bumpy trails will never be easier to ski than they are with deep fresh
snow to smooth out the rough edges.
Slightly saner souls opt for StoweÆs great black diamonds like Nosedive and
Hayride. Others will go for the blue squares like Lord, North Slope, Gulch and
Standard (ThatÆs where youÆre most likely to find me, though I did make
almost-first tracks down Liftline (which had been groomed before the powder
fell.)
The other lifts at Stowe will start turning a little later. If you time it
right you can catch first tracks off the quad, the Gondola and, maybe, first
tracks on the brand new Sensation high-speed quad on Spruce Mountain all in one
morning.
Spruce used to be my Powder Morning Private Heaven. IÆd ride the old, slow
Big Pig lift and savor freshies all morning while everyone else duked it out in
the woods off the Gondola for freshies that quickly turned to Chowder. The new
lift has changed all that, but Stowe is still one of THE places to be on a
powder morning. | 
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