PowderBeard

I owned a 2006 S40 T5 until a UMass plow totaled it in 2017 with 187k on it. It was great to drive but after 150k miles I found myself spending about ~$1500 a year on repairs/maintenance. My brother-in-law has owned at least 5 of them dating back to the 240. After 80k miles or so you definitely want to have a local mechanic who specializes in Volvo. My brother-in-law drives 90-minutes to a specific garage in CT and I would drive 50-minutes to a specialist for mine. Really learned the hard way about needing a specialist because Volvo electrical systems are pretty advanced. For example, It took me hours of research and then taking it to three other mechanics, before the specialist figured out why I had no A/C in my T5. Ended up being if the outside temp sensor is bad it will not allow the A/C compressor to kick on to avoid damaging the compressor if run in cold temps. That occurred on mine at around 110k miles. The preventative maintenance/repair costs do add up because parts are not cheap (e.g., a new alternator in a newer Volvo is usually $450-650 vs. $150-$250 for a GM or $250-$350 in a Subaru) and they are a pain to work on since they cram a lot in small spaces, so more money in labor charges. My brother-in-law's v60 is at about 160k miles and is usually in a shop 3-4 times per year for minor stuff that ends up being a good sized bill each time. They are safe, comfortable, fun to drive, and pretty reliable. That said, for me it is just not a long term vehicle due to the cost to keep up with it. if I were to ever get another Volvo I would get rid of it before 100k. Edit: I always get the XC and V models mixed up.

Noticed some play in the heel piece of a binding on my mogul/hard pack skis, damn bolt is backing right out. First issue I have had with Markers, these are about 8 year old Schizos.

Any updates from Attitash? Looks like pitchforks are coming out on their FB page. Apparently only the Summit Triple yesterday, hour wait in line, then it broke down and people were stuck on it for another 30-45 minutes.

Pines are starting to sag. Deck, driveway, and roads are in rough shape. Went out about 2 hours ago and would rather drive on roads with a few inches of snow.

25* and rain.

Good day. Tomorrow seems interesting. Currently a couple degrees lower than modeled on the HRRR or NAM.

The pictures I see in reports from Pat's always show some nice looking bump runs for southern New England and a short drive. Been wanting to check it out for years.

Berkshire East had a pretty fantastic offering for only really blowing about 48 hours. Lower Cloud was starting to be fun between bumps, thin cover, and whales. Did two laps with the little one from Outback - War Dance - Mohawk. Mostly just working on sliding and leaning forward. Of course at one point she saw snowboarder jump and started trying to leave her feet. Big Chief and Upper Cloud should be open after a few more hours of guns and pushing piles around.

Agreed. The only consistent problem spots for them in terms of ice are the Links to Cannonball and then Gremlin/Spookie. The Front 5 and Hardscarabble areas are always lots of fun. Even though they massacred Mittersill there are still lots of fun rabbit holes and areas to explore when natural is around.

Wild week for birds in Mass. Last week there was a Snowy Owl in Lowe's in Hadley. https://www.westernmassnews.com/news/snowl-owl-rescued-from-hadley-lowes/article_15d17908-5e6e-11ec-81b5-ebd9eefcfc07.html?block_id=994434

Yea, think I will take kiddo to the carpet tomorrow since I got final grades submitted finally.

Was a pretty sweet AVAX dip to buy on last week. I have most of my Polygon staked but was happy to see it hold well last week.

Loaded up on SPELL last week for a short-term swing. Still holding my others of course. After JPM's releases last week along with all the ETF and leap exposure coming up next month I can see another January to remember for meme stocks.

The way the past six-months have gone that means SPY will reach a new ATH lol

I do love that mountains can have their own microclimates. It's a strange axis in southern VT. For correlations I have found if Stratton and Killington do well terms in upslope/wrap-around or mixed-events, Mount Snow, Bromley, Okemo, Magic will get significantly less and or get more freezing rain in those mixed events. Probably because Stratton and K are similar in higher elevation? Whereas for lows moving around/off SNE, if Mount Snow does well then so will Magic, and K-Stratton-Okemo-Bromley will get less, sometimes a lot less. I thought I was nuts when I started noticed this only to find out it is well known "local knowledge" at those southern VT areas. Anecdotally, Pico does much better than K when there is a N/NW flow, seems to act like a wall and blocks out K. https://en-us.topographic-map.com/maps/enhv/Killington/ I'm sure the NVT guys know more about this but I would imagine if MRG was closer in elevation to Mount Ellen there would be a similar effect, although there is a difference in orientation. I'd imagine there must be some events when Bolton or Smuggs get the goods over Stowe? @[email protected]

Checking who got what this morning and K is either having a rare year or are measuring in centimeters. I've noticed a few times early in the season when the cams and chairs would show an inch or two and they reported 5 or 6". Season totals thus far: Jay: 63" K: 61" Smuggs: 60" Stowe: 60" Sugarbush: 39" Cannon: 36" MRG: 20-32" Burke: 21" Okemo: 21" Stratton: 19" Mount Snow: 16" Magic: 11" Wildcat: 11"

Zeke said he plans on making some yellow patches on it this weekend.

He was/is absolutely correct. A local Fox station (KTVI) ran a story last night about Larry Virden who died in the Amazon facility.

Wild day. Low 30s and rain/freezing rain to start. 60 and winds. Now a severe thunderstorm warning.

What a difference just being a little SE of you. We were sitting in the upper 30s around 3pm and its now 57* and the wind is picking up here.

Seriously. They won't have an extended window to make snow until next Sunday.

36* with thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. Interesting.

Just over 2". The best snow was when there was hardly anything on radar between 10-11pm.

1.5" on 11/16 2" on 12/8-12/9