Now HERE'S an honest snow report.

[ski diva]

Honest snow reports are few and far between. Here's a beaut by Mad River Glen that was posted on Instagram:


I love them.

 

[ilovepugs]

Yes! Read this one this morning and cracked up. Love it.

 

[Christy]

Would you guys ski it? How off-putting is too off-putting for Vermont skiers?

 

[MissySki]

No thanks, I like my skis too much! Lol I’ll ski some questionable stuff, and vegetation is fine but all of that? Nah. For now I’ll stick with the fake snow covering the nasties where I am. Haven’t had to do rock skis in weeks now, thank goodness.

 

[contesstant]

Much better than what we get locally, which is overpromise and underdeliver.

 

[newboots]

Would you guys ski it? How off-putting is too off-putting for Vermont skiers?

I've never skied MRG (I think it might be above my pay grade still), but they are famous for their honest snow reports. Sure, it's a bit of a schtick, but it is actually honest, so no complaints!

If you never heard it, their motto was (is?) "Ski it if you can!"

 

[ilovepugs]

Would you guys ski it? How off-putting is too off-putting for Vermont skiers?

I think Dr Pugs was excited to see the snow report but I’m not sure he has any plans to ski it this week. Unless we get more snow…

I've never skied MRG (I think it might be above my pay grade still)

No way! You should come up and ski when more of the mountain is open!! There’s a ton of terrain that is beginner friendly and you’re certainly more advanced than a beginner. I’ve been flexing my schedule this dead week and getting runs in off their limited groomed open terrain which consists almost exclusively of their blue slope race hill.

Dr Pugs totally fell in love last year and having gone a handful of times I understand the appeal!

“Ski it if you can” just means get after it when there’s something to be got after!

 

[Christy]

vegetation is fine

Lol!!

 

[Iwannaski]

OMG, that report is FANTASTIC. That place would be my location of choice just for their sass and honesty.

 

[Tennessee]

Even back in 1979 when I worked at Sugarbush, MRG was the “cool” place. Mad River Barn was a great bar and also a very “cool” place. What was that woman’s name that owned and ran the Mad River Barn??? She was an institution and also “cool”. Can you still ski from MRG to Mad River Barn on a trail through the woods??? Ahhhh, those were the days.

 

[marzNC]

Even back in 1979 when I worked at Sugarbush, MRG was the “cool” place. Mad River Barn was a great bar and also a very “cool” place. What was that woman’s name that owned and ran the Mad River Barn??? She was an institution and also “cool”. Can you still ski from MRG to Mad River Barn on a trail through the woods??? Ahhhh, those were the days.

The Mad River Barn was owned by the woman who owned Mad River Glen. It was sold to a couple who have updated it and have made it into a successful B&B lodge. I stayed there several years ago during a Vermont ski safari. That was when renovations for the main building had recently been finished. The decor is fascinating and unique. The bar was busy with locals at dinner time, including plenty of families with kids who enjoyed the games. The food for the included breakfast was wonderful.

From Yelp by the current co-owner:

History [of Mad River Barn]​

Established in 1940.
We've been told it began its commercial operation as a bunk house for the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. It was converted to an Inn in late 1940s or early 1950s by Les and Alice Billings, before it was acquired by the founders of Mad River Glen in the late 1970s. Betsy Pratt took over operations of the Barn following her husband's passing, and ran it until December 31st, 2012, when she sold it to Andrew and Heather Lynds. The Barn is an amazing place, with a great vibe, but it was in rough shape. The renovations affected every aspect of the Barn and were conducted with extreme care to maintain the history and character. What they took out, they saved and put back in, sometimes in novel ways. They replaced electrical wiring, heating system, plumbing system, new insulation, new windows, structural supports and upgraded the guest rooms to a more modern standard of living. They also completely renovated the commercial kitchen, in order to facilitate operation of a restaurant.

Originally from Kansas and Michigan respectively, Andrew and Heather met in Michigan, moved to New Jersey, then to a different town in New Jersey, then Illinois, Connecticut, Brazil, Michigan, California, Kansas, Connecticut again, until finally landing in beautiful north west Vermont.

They had been planning for some time to purchase an inn. The last move to Connecticut was to accommodate a new position Heather accepted with Oracle Corporation in Stamford. Andrew took that opportunity to complete a culinary training program at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York City, as preparation for managing an Inn. While living in Connecticut, Heather was surfing the web and stumbled upon an article in the New York Times describing the Mad River Valley, and in particular, the Mad River Barn. It sounded amazing. They scheduled a trip in October 2012, had an accepted offer December 12th, and closed December 31st. Then the real work began on renovating it to today's splendor.

 

[BackCountryGirl]

Stayed there once while doing a level 3 prep clinic in 2008 or 9. Betsy was a stitch. She had me in the kitchen baking with her family one night.

 

[jthree]

Love this!

Never skied MRG either. It is on the list... if only the darn working life didn't get in the way!

 

[ilovepugs]

Today’s Mad River Glen report: “Least open terrain in the east.” (After claiming most open over the weekend!)

It’s because they’re closed until Thursday for resurfacing and grooming.

 

[MissySki]

Yeahhhhh, they have an interesting interpretation of “open” for some trails lol. I’m pretty liberal with my definition early and late season, but at this point not so much. I don’t want to be on rock skis now. I’m not sure I’d even want to bring my rock skis onto some of that

 

[ilovepugs]

Yeahhhhh, they have an interesting interpretation of “open” for some trails lol. I’m pretty liberal with my definition early and late season, but at this point not so much. I don’t want to be on rock skis now. I’m not sure I’d even want to bring my rock skis onto some of that

I mean that’s why their slogan is “ski it if you can”… right?

 

[MissySki]

I take that slogan as being “less manicured”, not necessarily just without snow. I mean, some people ski just wet grass and leaves too. To each their own though. Lol

 

[newboots]

I've always understood "Ski it if you can!" to be a challenge.

 

[marzNC]

I've always understood "Ski it if you can!" to be a challenge.

It is a challenge but on more than one level. For someone who isn't local, figuring out a way to ski MRG in good snow conditions ia a serious challenge. With relatively snowmaking there are probably more days in a season that a traveler would be better off at Loon than MRG, regardless of skiing ability.

There are some really fun northeastern blues at MRG. That's essentially mostly what I ended up skiing the one day I skied MRG with someone who was an MRG local. Although snow conditions were quite good it wasn't a day to explore in the trees. Besides neither he nor I were good enough to enjoy tight and steep Vermont tree terrain. I picked the midweek date well in advance as part of a short ski safari when I had other reasons to be driving to New England.

The greens and easier blues at MRG are great terrain for the kids who learn to ski there. Fair to say they move on to the harder trails fairly quickly. That's true of other old school ski areas in the northeast. The easiest trail on the school ski hill I learned on in middle school in the NY Adirondacks is far steeper than most blues in the mid-Atlantic. Wildcat greens are pretty steep too.