Day 3 - Mad River Glen's Old School Feeling is Incredibly Endearing and...

I now find Smugglers’ to be much less so. We took a hairpin mountain road up to the Mad River ski area and arrived as dark was setting in. We then decided to drive around, explore the surrounding landscape, and find a place to dine. After a good 45 minutes of this we settled on Hyde Away bar and lodge. A good meal and several beers later we headed back to the Mad River Glen lot to settle in for the night.

We made our inaugural run at sleeping in the van, MRG being the perfect place to park over night. We never worried about being asked to move, there was no presence of “No Overnight Camping” signs, and the few people in the lot when we awoke seemed to appreciate our lifestyle. After a breakfast of fruit, PB&J, and frozen orange juice, Nikki departed for a day of touring Burlington while Cody and I hopped on the single chair lift by 9am opening.

MRG is a throwback to North American skiing origins. There are three lifts that service massive amounts of terrain, none of which are highspeed and one is the single chair lift that I alluded to above. There is glade skiing everywhere, rock and waterfall drops galore, bumps on everything from green to black runs, and no snowmaking or grooming to be found anywhere. MRG is the opposite of Smugglers’, a true to the core skier’s mountain. Some 2000 shareholders own the mountain, and all upgrades or expansions demand voter approval. Certainly one of the most unique places I’ve had the honor of skiing. Cody and I were in agreement regarding how great the mountain was, especially for the $39 midweek lift ticket and pleasure of skiing with at most 100 other people on a sunny Monday.

We finished a hard day of ripping around 3pm and headed straight to the lodge bar. I sampled three local beers, one being Lawson’s Dunkleweissen. A high ABV dunkle-weisbeir mix concocted by a Mad River local, I was well on my way to a good night after that. Nikki met us part way through the festivities, but abstained from much of the drinking as she was well aware we were incapable of safe driving. We had an interesting conversation with a 60-some year old local shareholder named Charles, a man who referred to his offspring as “little bastards” because they distracted him from the massive storm that hit over a week ago. He most definitely provided for some interesting and insightful conversation, soon after which we departed for Stowe.