When All Else Fails, Hike the Rails

Sometimes, after an ice storm puts the screws to the snowpack, the best thing to do is stick to something you can rely on: rails. They're weather-proof, they're always there and they ski the same in soft snow and hard.

There were a good handful of all-weather skiers and snowboarders at Stowe on Sunday. And with icy surfaces covering the mountain, many of them decided to stick to the terrain park.

However, the surface was forgiving enough to sink an edge into. Stowe's groomers did a great job and the beginner and intermediate trails were classic loose granular. We even found a snowboarder with a racing setup willing to lay down some great carves for the camera.

Snow fell heavy throughout the day, and a good 4 inches covered the crust on the ungroomed trails. It'll take some serious melting, serious grooming or serious snowfall to soften surfaces. Now that daylight savings is here, it might be time to start thinking about melting. The snowpack is still deep (this was one of the top ten snowiest winters in history after all), so there is a lot of spring skiing to look forward to.

Enjoy ...