Stowe, Thursday, January 29, 2026
After breakfast at our place, the Hafetz / Jennings branch headed for Spruce Peak for a day of downhill skiing. Spruce Peak is the smaller mountain across the road from Mount Mansfield; it has gentler runs better suited to new skiers like our girls…and their mother!
Reports at the end of the day were very good! Viv is already doing some parallel turns and she and her dad went down a blue trail. Ingrid is also ahead of her mom, who was on downhill skis for just the second time, but both of then apparently did fabulously.
I rented some waxless skis that I really liked: Atomic Savors, a skinny, rather short ski with pretty aggressive scales. I was able to climb well and the glide was much better than I’d anticipated. The transition from my waxed skis was painless and, truth to tell, waxless skis are just fine for the current state of my knees. We did our usual loop, with Sue finishing on Russell Knoll while I worked on my snowplow on Fox Track.
Dinner was at the Bierhall, in an annual tradition. We had a table in the glassed-in space that runs around one side of the hall. And the chow was as usual: pretzels with cheese sauce, and variations on Chicken Schnitzel with Rotkohl, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut. The kids love it there, which makes everyone like it even more.
Back at the ranch, we finished up the chocolate cake that Connie had made for Sue’s birthday.