Upon the conclusion of my riding yesterday, I checked the schedule to see where I would be assigned to for my Monday, which is actually Thursday. “CASTLEROCK”, the schedule said. Wow – could my legs handle the terrain at the ‘Rock after 2 days of riding hard in powder conditions?
My run to the ‘Rock from the top of Super Bravo took me down Downspout, which was covered in about 3” or so of fresh snow on top of a groomed surface. It was a really nice run… one where I felt like I was floating but using minimal effort. I took the connector, stopped briefly at the bottom to take care of clearances, then headed up.
As I made my first descent from the top of Castlerock Peak, any fears of a rough day were soon put to rest. The bumps only existed on the upper half of Castlerock Run, and I had a great time enjoying the rest of that run, plus Hi & Lo Road, and Cotillion. I did stop very briefly a few times to rest my legs – after all, Castlerock is not my regular assignment and the terrain there is much different than other trails at Sugarbush.
Throughout the day, I alternated shifts at the bottom and the top of Castlerock with my co-workers for the day, Kyle and Cloe. My second run down the ‘Rock took me down Castlerock Run to Lower Castlerock Run. Again, very nice, especially the lower half, and I was able to cut my descent time almost in half. Next came Castlerock Run to Cotillion to Lower Lift Line. Every run was a powder run, and I had no fear as I shredded the powder underneath the liftline. Finally, just after 2pm, I descended down Castlerock Run to Troll Road to Middle Earth. I decided to not do Middle Earth in its entirety today, as that is a LONG run and can take me quite a while to get down. On that last run, I felt my legs getting more tired. I decided I would "quit while I was ahead” and let my coworkers take runs while I remained at the bottom of the ‘Rock for the last hour of the day.
This was my third visit to Castlerock for the season. My first day working this lift EVER was the end of January, and on February 2 I ended up getting a few runs up there on another epic powder day. Today’s conditions, however, were a shocker. Forecasts originally called for a changeover from snow to rain by noon – it was 4pm and it was still solid snow at the base. The snow made for some great carving on trails which had largely not become bumped-up. It was a great day, and I hope to get back up to the ‘Rock again before the season is out… whether it be an assigned work shift or my day off.
PS – no day at Castlerock is complete without visiting the Castlerock Pub after work. Long Trail Ale never tasted sooo good, and perfect to wash down a delicious Mountain Burger!
Posted by Jay at 6:11 PM 0 comments
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