Location

Its 45 degrees and the sun is shinning mid February, an unusual sight for locals in the Northern Vermont ski area of Stowe Mountain. Blue bird days out here are few and far between. But they must not be overlooked. We decide to take full advantage of the day. Getting to the mountain bright and early lends us with plenty of time to hike up and ski down the hell brook trail and get back to the resort with plenty of time to enjoy the afternoon. Also, the weather is usually best first thing in the morning, by noon or 1pm often the clouds will role in. The hike up the chin of Mount Mansfield is a very popular one, but should only be attempted on a clear day with relatively low winds. From the top the face is very exposed to all weather and winds and can be dangerous.

The day we decide to accent is a perfect one. We take the gondola up and head off towards the chin skiers left off the gondola platform. The trail is very steep at first, but being so popular it is often already boot packed and pretty clear as to where to go. The total hike up is only about 20-30 minutes offering great views along the way.

From the top there are many different places you can head down from. I always recommend going up there for your first time with people who’ve been up there more than a few times, as you can easily get “cliffed” out, off course or stuck in very dense un-ride-able trees and not make it back to the ski resort without a long hike or need to catch a lift back. (NOT FUN!)

My favorite way down is to continue on the trail as far skiers left as you can. You will walk along the “Chin” heading towards the “Adam’s Apple”. At points you can strap in and decent on your skis/snowboard, but will eventually wind up on a second catwalk taking you into the woods around the west face of the Adams Apple. We followed the cat walk as far as we could and it eventually dumped us into the upper woods of the Hell Brook Trail. There is a small chute you must decent into to get back on the catwalk. It’s about 15 feet wide and 60 feet long. Just take your time; it looks more intimidating than it really is.

One a side note, Hell Brook is a very popular hiking trail in the summer. The trail head is just past Stowe’s main parking lot on Route 108 on the way up the Smugglers Notch Road. The hike is 6.5 miles, of very steep and difficult terrain, but offers amazing views once you reach the top of the Chin. I prefer to hike up and snowboard down. But that’s just me! 

The hell brook trail is an awesome place to find some deep powder, but you must keep your wits about you as the trail narrows to a single river bed in some areas and turns to a waterfall about half way down where you must traverse out of the river bed skiers left to avoid a nasty unwanted fall. This waterfall usually flows all through the winter. After many fun pow-turns in a natural half pipe like terrain the trail turns into a fun woods run of windy lines down the last quarter of the trail, until you hit the main road of Route 108. This part of the road is closed all winter, so on skies you can just cruise down the road back to the resort. On a snowboard, you S.O.L. and usually have to hike back. To avoid a long hike back to the resort, after you get out of the river bed, cut as far skiers right as you can, which will put you out on the road closer to Stowe Resort. ENJOY!

These pictures are from our adventure mid February a few days after a big storm. Though the trails were not untouched powder, there was still much snow left to play in. I made some fun sequence shots with Photoshop I thought I’d share as well.