Mad River Glen Expert Skiing
Mad River Glen’s expert skiing is the most challenging in New England. The resort’s famous “Mad River Glen – Ski It If You Can” bumper stickers are a testament to the difficulty of the terrain. The resort boasts some of the most challenging black diamond trails in all of New England.
Photo Credit: Mad River Glen
Every corner of the world has its ski resorts that attract expert skiers like a magnet: places like Chamonix, St. Anton, Jackson Hole, Taos, Squaw Valley, and Kirkwood just to name a few. Great skiers are drawn to great terrain. In New England that place is Mad River Glen.
At Mad River Glen where the expert and advanced slopes have no snowmaking, the experience is entirely dependent on the weather. When the snow is good, the conditions at Mad River Glen are much better than its competitors. When Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, the ski resort can quite literally be closed even in mid-winter.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for East Coast skiers to understand the difference between natural snow and manmade snow as more and more resorts expand their snowmaking coverage. Natural snow-only areas are a novelty whereas 20 years ago it was quite the opposite. The result has been more consistent conditions throughout the winter (hardly a bad thing!). However, the downside to all that snowmaking is that when great natural snow does fall, it falls on a layer of hardpack that is unreceptive to bonding to it. In a sense, powder days have been spoiled by better snowmaking. As a result, now more than ever, skiing Mad River Glen on a good day is a real treat for skiers able to handle it.
If beginner and intermediate skiers find that the trails at Mad River Glen are a half step up in difficulty, then experts will find Mad River Glen’s black diamond terrain a full step up. There are no double black diamond runs at Mad River Glen, but compared to other New England Resorts, all of Mad River Glen’s runs are double black diamonds. This is particularly true when conditions are marginal.
Skiers should expect to encounter p-tex chomping rocks, cliffs, ledges, waterfalls (some frozen, some unfrozen), trees, stumps and ungroomed terrain. It is as if the waiver on the back of every resort’s lift tickets were written with Mad River Glen in mind. Mad River Glen skiers take the mountain as they find it. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes it’s not. When it’s really not good, the five minute drive to Sugarbush is an option worth considering.
The best expert terrain at Mad River Glen is found off the Single Chair. The vaunted Paradise run (the steepest in New England) is the most challenging marked run. Lower Antelope is another black diamond run that should top the list of must-ski runs. Another great run off the Single Chair is Chute/Liftline. Directly below the Single Chair these two runs combine for an excellent top-to-bottom 2,037′ mogul examination under the watchful eye of Mad River Glen’s vocal community of excellent skiers. Don’t fall.
The Sunnyside Double attracts fewer good skiers because of it has a shorter vertical drop and fewer black trails. However, the lift line is usually far shorter and there are some good expert runs off the top, most notably Gazelle Glades.