My newest winter pastime is freesledding.
Horn Pond Mountain is a short walk from my house. After a recent snowstorm I put in some new lines down Electric Avenue and Rehab Trail, and hucked the Reservoir Boulders. Caution: Hyperbole is to freesledding what oxygen is to life.
Here's how the pros do it:
http://teamsleds.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=44
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfoFFNb6d34
Here's how we do it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTZHWOhC2Ps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKPvCEAeVVo
http://picasaweb.google.com/phillip.stern/HornPondMtnBestLines?authkey=MUFl-9dk7xA#
Pack Monadnock and Temple Mountain adventure
On the way home, we hit black ice at 50 mph. We fishtailed across the road into the oncoming traffic lane, but managed to avoid the cars coming at us and the other cars that hit the ice and were stopped on both shoulders. We did a 180 and stopped inches from the snow bank on our side of the road.
The 180 was definitely the most memorable event of the day, but the sledding was a lot of fun too and, at the time, seemed more risky than driving to and from the mountain. We got to Pack Monadnock about 8:30 and geared up in the 3 degree F parking lot. Fingers numb with cold we began hiking up the summer toll road, now buried by a couple feet of snow. Soon we were sweating and peeled off our coats and hung them from our packs. At the top, we climbed the lookout tower and inspected the trails at Temple Mountain across the highway; we were going there after lunch. Then we unstrapped our sleds and headed down.
The trail was boot packed and not steep enough to be fun on our sleds, so we found short shots through the powder and very dense trees off the side of the trail. Unfortunately, the trail didn't switchback, so after every little run, we had to climb back up to the trail. But we had fun going off some little rocks covered in snow. Back in parking lot, another hiker told us we picked the "bad" trail. The other trail stays in the fall line and is more fun for hiking and, presumably, sledding.
At the Temple Mountain parking lot we ate a quick lunch and queried other hikers/skiers/snowboarders about the trails. Temple Mountain was a ski resort that closed in 1991.
At the top we met more snowboarders and found a short open run with a couple of drops. The boarders and sledders took turns watching each other get some air. I went off a big round boulder with about an 8-foot drop to the powder below. Then we split up and took different routes to the bottom. It was fun to have longer runs than at Pack Monadnock, but the trails just weren't steep enough. First tracks often meant using your hands to push along the flat spots.
From the picnic area at the bottom, we hiked straight up a ski slope, and it would have been tough going without snowshoes. The climb had me huffing and puffing, but it let us scout out a great second run. At the top we met the snowboarders again and took a video of them getting air off a 10-foot rock. I took my sled down the side of the same rock, in a series of 3 step-like drops. I climbed back up and launched off the other side of the rock landing in a tiny clearing between a boulder and a downed tree. These jumps were all seemed pretty scary while sitting at the top trying to get up the nerve to push off, but the snow was so deep and soft that the reality of the jump was a bit anti-climatic. Still, I did get a little rush each time. After playing around up top for awhile, we headed back down to the base. We followed a trail put in by a snowboarder sometime in the past week. On flatter sections we stayed on the packed trail to keep our speed up. On the steeper pitches, we shot into the powder next to the track and carved some turns. It was almost a top to bottom run, prevented only by a couple of wipeouts.
Horn Pond Mountain is a short walk from my house. After a recent snowstorm I put in some new lines down Electric Avenue and Rehab Trail, and hucked the Reservoir Boulders. Caution: Hyperbole is to freesledding what oxygen is to life.
Here's how the pros do it:
http://teamsleds.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=44
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfoFFNb6d34
Here's how we do it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTZHWOhC2Ps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKPvCEAeVVo
http://picasaweb.google.com/phillip.stern/HornPondMtnBestLines?authkey=MUFl-9dk7xA#
Pack Monadnock and Temple Mountain adventure
On the way home, we hit black ice at 50 mph. We fishtailed across the road into the oncoming traffic lane, but managed to avoid the cars coming at us and the other cars that hit the ice and were stopped on both shoulders. We did a 180 and stopped inches from the snow bank on our side of the road.
The 180 was definitely the most memorable event of the day, but the sledding was a lot of fun too and, at the time, seemed more risky than driving to and from the mountain. We got to Pack Monadnock about 8:30 and geared up in the 3 degree F parking lot. Fingers numb with cold we began hiking up the summer toll road, now buried by a couple feet of snow. Soon we were sweating and peeled off our coats and hung them from our packs. At the top, we climbed the lookout tower and inspected the trails at Temple Mountain across the highway; we were going there after lunch. Then we unstrapped our sleds and headed down.
The trail was boot packed and not steep enough to be fun on our sleds, so we found short shots through the powder and very dense trees off the side of the trail. Unfortunately, the trail didn't switchback, so after every little run, we had to climb back up to the trail. But we had fun going off some little rocks covered in snow. Back in parking lot, another hiker told us we picked the "bad" trail. The other trail stays in the fall line and is more fun for hiking and, presumably, sledding.
At the Temple Mountain parking lot we ate a quick lunch and queried other hikers/skiers/snowboarders about the trails. Temple Mountain was a ski resort that closed in 1991.
At the top we met more snowboarders and found a short open run with a couple of drops. The boarders and sledders took turns watching each other get some air. I went off a big round boulder with about an 8-foot drop to the powder below. Then we split up and took different routes to the bottom. It was fun to have longer runs than at Pack Monadnock, but the trails just weren't steep enough. First tracks often meant using your hands to push along the flat spots.
From the picnic area at the bottom, we hiked straight up a ski slope, and it would have been tough going without snowshoes. The climb had me huffing and puffing, but it let us scout out a great second run. At the top we met the snowboarders again and took a video of them getting air off a 10-foot rock. I took my sled down the side of the same rock, in a series of 3 step-like drops. I climbed back up and launched off the other side of the rock landing in a tiny clearing between a boulder and a downed tree. These jumps were all seemed pretty scary while sitting at the top trying to get up the nerve to push off, but the snow was so deep and soft that the reality of the jump was a bit anti-climatic. Still, I did get a little rush each time. After playing around up top for awhile, we headed back down to the base. We followed a trail put in by a snowboarder sometime in the past week. On flatter sections we stayed on the packed trail to keep our speed up. On the steeper pitches, we shot into the powder next to the track and carved some turns. It was almost a top to bottom run, prevented only by a couple of wipeouts.
Phillip and John toast the good runs at Temple Mountain
Phillip climbing Mt Cardigan with his Mad River Rocket
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