Report from Sunday, February 16, 2025

It was a fight up to Stratton, Vermont, on Saturday. I hoped to catch the forecasted 18 inches of fresh snow, but I left too late. It was absolutely dumping before we even got north of I-84. I even came up on two spinouts, which is a pretty rare sight in this part of the country.

I woke up early on Sunday, and I was pretty tired. I looked at the report and sighed. With only five inches, the storm was under-performing and had switched to sleet, which felt pretty on brand. In my head, I was cursing OpenSnow’s unrealistic optimism. Regardless, I got out quickly and went right to the top.

Conditions were surprisingly good. The snow was a bit wet and cream cheese-y, perhaps due to the sleet, but it was skiing well. The woods were skiing quite well, with excellent coverage. The lines were tough, though. Three lifts were on ice hold all day, leaving Sunrise and Ursa as the only 1000+ vertical chairlifts open. The sleet eventually turned into a nasty freezing rain that stuck to your jacket and goggles.

Around noon, Sunrise went on ice hold, which, with one major lift left open, looked like the beginning of the end but was a blessing in disguise. Half an hour later, it reopened, but everyone else had left for Ursa, so we quickly skied and banged out three laps and began to feel much better. Snow conditions improved rapidly, and the freezing rain stopped, freeing our jackets and goggles from the ice layer. They were only loading two out of four chairs due to icing, but the line had reduced at this point, so it was only around 10 minutes per lap.

By 4 p.m., 2-3 more inches of snow fell! Conditions on Sunbeam and Supertrail were excellent, with great quality snow on top of a fairly soft base. Despite the sleet and freezing rain, it seems that Southern Vermont escaped a thaw, which is a miracle.

We woke up on Monday with hopes of skiing and looked out the window to see 70mph wind gusts. Every lift south of Killington was on wind hold, and we didn’t have time to get there. You win some, you lose some, and that’s just skiing, particularly in Vermont.

The circumstances were strange this weekend, but I had a great deal of fun.

Conditions

Forecast