Basin Brook 3-11

[William Blackmore]

Phil and I went in to Basin Brook on Tuesday. We started at the end of Smith Rd in Readsboro and followed a snowmobile trail for 2 miles or so and got close to the saddle that leads down into the bowl of Basin Brook. Lots of snow. I sunk my pole in all the way, although at an angle. About 3 feet. Very solid.  We did not sink at all even off trail in the woods. The high temperature was about 45 at that elevation. 2400 to 2800 feet. However it took longer than expected for things to soften up. Late morning, we found some very nice but short low angle lines just off the snowmobile trail that were right in the sun and were just soft enough for turning. We got into the bowl at about 1pm but things never really softened up. Former big lines had tightened up and conditions were much too fast for carefree turning. We did explore some. I love going to this place whether there are good turns or not. It is very wild and scenic. I have never seen evidence of another person in the 25 years Ive been going there, except for Andys tracks from last week.There appear to be some lines that could be fun in the right conditions. There is a lot of varied terrain to explore up high and down lower in the drainage toward Stamford VT