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Deerfield Valley Marathon Report(s)?
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Written on: Mon Mar 2, '09 1:13 pm
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WaldenRun
Topic creator
registered since: 12.01.2009
Posts: 5
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I don't have one cuz I was too wimpy to make the attempt. I am wondering if they made it out of the woods YET. I pretended to be a real skier like them this morning by breaking trail for a few miles down here in RI. If you are ever looking for a Catamount type experience in the Ocean State, I recommed this little gem of an area: www.asri.org/refuges/fort-nature-refuge.html Can't wait to see folks on the Six(uh, seven)-day-tour. -Geofff |
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Written on: Mon Mar 2, '09 1:43 pm
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WaldenRun
Topic creator
registered since: 12.01.2009
Posts: 5
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Found this in my email: Here's a quick Deerfield Valley Marathon Report. Today five of us skied all of Sec 3 &4 and parts of 1 and 2. The flats were lovely, crunchy but fast. The uphills were pretty managable. Some folks found the crunchy downhills to be tough (I don't recommend counting your falls). There were a few bare spots and some big wet spots and lots of deep but firm drifts. 5"- 12" is coming tomorrow, no warm until Sat, no rain! |
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Written on: Mon Mar 2, '09 9:49 pm
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sambartlett
registered since: 11.11.2007
Posts: 68
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This year we tried (Hobson's choice) to do the Marathon without a shuttle driver. This meant some folks had to give up the 'opportunity' to ski the whole dam (sic) thing. We had pre-spotted one vehicle at Rt 9 (half-way point) the day before when Pete and I pre-broke trail on Sec 3 and part of 4. Sunday Mar 1 five of us left Kelly Stand/Grout Pond at 615am, headed south. Ferd was a no show, we couldn't wait. The crunchy crust was a skills challenge on the downhills but not a deterent for straight-ahead skiing. Trail-breaking was pretty minimal, the legendary Somerset Reservoir drifts were firm and not too high. Along the reservoir, we saw fresh ski tracks come up from the lake, ski the trail a bit, then go back to the lake several times. Couldn't figure out whose. Made it to the first dam (sic) by 930 (?), doing 7.8 rolly backcountry miles in about three hours. Way ahead of last year's drift busting epic, and feeling strong! The mystery skier, on racing skis, had headed down Sec 3 ahead of us. We flew or struggled, depending on ability, down into the woods of Sec 3. The gulch, as always, was a challenge, more so with a tree down in the middle. Most found a good bushwack off to the east; the mystery skier had followed my track from the day before, across a one-log 'bridge' and down the gulch under the tree. After negotiating the streambed and it's many stream crossings we hit the gentle railroad bed down grade and all flew, the waxers finally glad to have some speed. At Searsburg Dam (sic) the tricky descent led to some crotch-deep postholing down the bank. Made Rt 9 at 1230, met by a friend with hot tea and food. We couldn't leave water overnight with the pre-spotted car in March in VT, so the tea was great. 15 miles down, 18 to go (the new guidebook makes these four sections total 33.1 miles, I'm sure it used to be 35). At this point the mystery skier revealed himself, as it said "Ferd 10:45" on the dust on my truck. About an hour and a half ahead of us! We still didn't know where he had started, did he have a driver? By plan, one skier passed up his chance at glory and drove the vehicle around to Harriman Dam (sic) and met us there. The 'new' part of the trail, from Rt 9 to Medburyville South, was the deepest drifts we had encoutered yet, not sure why. The leg to the dam was straight-forward and quick, part SM trail, part unbroken BC, except for those racing ski tracks. Except for nearly losing one skier who took a wrong turn ("Downhill, looks good to me!") in a bonked haze, we made the dam (sic) with the sun still up. Our skier/shuttler put his skis back on (actually someone else's, detail) to do the next three beautiful downgrade miles, while two others foresook their chances at glory and drove back up to KS to get the morning's van. Three skiers did those three miles in 35 minutes. Next was the Rt 100 roadwalk to Readsboro, where a car stopped, with Ferd, hitching (I think) back to his car at KS. He had gotten to KS late, yet finished 3 hours ahead of us, and skied back up to Readsboro! Somehow he had bypassed us on the Reservoir, and then just kept going. Quite a performance, backcountry solo over 35 miles in 9 hours on racing skis. Rt 100 at mile 29 was enough for one of us, he waited at the Readsboro Inn for the drivers to return, while two headed south in the gloom for the roadwalk/ski to the Mass line, the whole dam (sic) thing. Some of the best snow all trip was right there in the last 1.5 miles of roadbed to the line and back. We met the shuttled the cars by 630pm, twelve hours and many calories after our start. Some of these (fool)hardy folks have already signed up for next year's Deerfield Valley Marathon, aka The Dam Long Tour! |
