Pico VT 4-8-07

Vital Stats
Peak:	Pico
Peak altitude:	3954'
Base altitude:	2150'
Difference from base:	1804'
Cumulative gain:	1820'
Total time (Approx):	3:00
Total vertical gain:	1830'
Total distance:	5.8 miles
Trip Difficulty	S3D3V3(15) Hard

 

Trail(s) Taken

Sherburne Pass tr

Well, I chose the easy way up Pico. Sherburne Pass trail is nothing much in the difficulty dept. In fact, I would say its one of the easiest trails I have hiked in a long time. The tricky part is when you get to the ski slopes. Then it becomes very steep. I have no idea if I actually followed the trail to the summit or if I just winged the ski trails.

It is important to realize that the ski area was closed (and has been for about a week or so now). The ski trails were filled with 6-8" of powdery snow. The trails were completely ungroomed, but you could see several people had skied down the trails through the powder leaving squiggly lines along the trail. Upon reaching the small warming hut at the summit it was apparent that there were several skiers inside. I tagged the summit then returned to the warming hut.

Inside was a group of about 8 Skiers all getting ready to make a run. I talked to a few of them and they raved about the powder conditions and how "unseasonable" they were. They described to me that they would ski down, hike back up and repeat all day. I got the impression that their master plan was to ski down the connector trail to Killington at the end of the day.

After spending some time in the cozy warm building I was ready to start my descent. This was the moment I had been waiting for. The fluffy snow was ideal for sliding down on my snowshoes. I was able to go from 5-10 feet each step! I blasted down the slopes at a mind boggling (for snowshoes) speed. I wished that I had ascended via the slopes so I could have gone down that way. I would have made it to the base in an absurdly short time! As I descended I saw a few skiers slashing down the slopes looking like they were having a blast!

I reached my car after 50 minutes (it took about 1:45 to climb) this was yet another hike which took less than half as long to descend as ascend!

Click Here for the Hike Map

---

 

P4080112.JPG 76.86 KB

P4080113.JPG 90.47 KB

P4080114.JPG 110.92 KB

P4080115.JPG 78.96 KB