THUNDER CAT & LITTLE RAIL AND THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE

This past weekend Nathan and I decided to venture beyond our state borders for a romantic getaway in Vermont. Vermont, the green mountain state, is the second least populated state in our nation (only second to Wyoming) and home of Ben & Jerry's, Vermont teddy bears, maple syrup and all things moose. There are actually moose crossing signs on most of the major roads.

We left Manhattan around 5:00 pm on Friday prepared for the 4 hour plus drive ahead of us. We headed North on the New York State Thruway and past some exciting points of interest including Saratoga, NY, where the there was a major American victory in the Revolutionary War and even towns called Sicksville and Coxsackie, which we found to be hilarious (Always nice to know that our 8th grade sense of humor is still in tact). By the time we hit Albany we were experiencing some major weather. Snow was falling, and falling fast. Albany was a ghost town with an eerie green/grey light cast over the city and Gothic looking chapels mixed in amongst a smattering of sky-scrapers. We were tempted to take a picture but were scared to pull over for fear that Gotham City vampires would claim us as their own. Scary!

We continued on, crossing the border into Vermont where we were overcome by a serendipitous feeling of peace. Snow silently fell onto fields and rooftops of quaint houses spaced widely apart along the road. Each house emitted a warm glow from within, illuminating the windows and the icicles hanging down from the front porches. Vermont is truly the kind of place pictured on decorative plates, calendars and place mats depicting winter scenes in the country. We followed a slow train of careful drivers along the 2-lane road until we reached the turn off for Stratton - our ultimate destination. We didn't stop for dinner, for fear the roads would close from too much snow. All in all the drive took us 5 hours - not too shabby considering the elements. We arrived hungry, but happy.



Nathan booked us a package deal at the Lift Line Lodge which included 4 lift tickets and a two-nights-stay at what must have been "the original motel of Stratton." From the outside it had that alpine-Swiss look much like the Mammoth Mountain Inn that I remember staying at as a kid. From this inside it looked like the Copper Penny Motel in Fresno, where the fam stayed for one of Adrienne's cross country meets. Minimal, a little on the gross side, but with clean-sheets and a hot shower. Sort of like camping, but with a heater and hot water. For the price, though, it was just right.



We unloaded and headed out for pizza in Stratton Village where we listened to the jammings of "DJ Joe Bell spinning every Friday in the bar." With our bellies full of pizza we slept well, excited for a full day of snowboarding the next day. We awoke Saturday morning to even more snow. It had not let up in over 12 hours! We got in gear early and made our way to the mountain where we met up with our snowboarding alter egos: Thunder Cat and Little Rail Ellis. In the lift line we heard rumors of it being a "powder day." And that it was. We spent the morning charging the eastside of the mountain. We found a fun little run that was nicely groomed and fairly uncrowded. We lapped the same run up and down until our stomachs growled and we headed in for cold beers and chili bowls.

With our bellies full we tried the west side of the mountain where we truly saw what they meant by "powder day." I guess when it is a "powder day" they do not groom the snow. The run we had lapped all morning was apparently one of the only ones they did groom. Hmmm. This made for a very frustrated Thunder Cat. I found myself struggling between humongous moguls that my dad would have called "Volkswagens," falling left and right into huge poofs of powder. My legs ached and all I could think about was going one-turn-at-a-time to make my way to the bottom of the tracked-out powder pits. Nate patiently watched offering words of encouragement. That is until he said, "Better get some speed, it looks like there's a long flat at the bottom!"

Little Rail whizzed by me and out of sight. Finally out of the moguls, I too, gained some good speed. I was flying down the flats when a fellow boarder slammed into me from the side. Ouchhh... I brushed myself off, told him to watch it in a not-so-nice tone, at which point he asked me for my phone number. Jerk. Nice pick-up manuever. I scooted my way through the flats, until I eventually found Little Rail at the lift line. The after lunch run was a confidence killer and we decided to call it a day. It was then that I decided tht Thunder Cat is a snowboarding princess who only likes to snowboard on groomed snow - who knew?

The next day groomed snow is exactly what we got. The entire mountain had gone to the groomers and Stratton was ours for the taking. The locals were saying it was the best snow Stratton had seen in five years, and it was sensational. So much fun. We boarded until about 1:00 then packed up for a long drive back to the city. We hope to get in one more shredding adventure before the season ends. Till next time. - Thunder Cat & Little Rail Ellis signing off.