MRVexpat

On 4/25/2024 at 12:36 PM, NW_of_GYX said:

Yes. Get there early 

Showed up at 730 and snagged a roadside spot right next to the Pinkham entrance. Was certainly busy but I've seen much larger crowds there in years past. Eastern snowfields skied great this year and Right gully was just OK. Can't beat the afternoon lap of Hillmans to avoid walking down from the bowl. Sherb is getting thin and only open about halfway down as of Saturday. 

On 4/23/2024 at 8:33 PM, NW_of_GYX said:

Tucks and Boot Spur gullies still loaded up as of today. Incredible weather today and no crowds. I’m sure this weekend will be the gong show Tucks is famous for.




.

I'll be up there Saturday! Certainly anticipating it being a crazy day. 

1 hour ago, mreaves said:

Random question for you ski people.  This is a State of Vermont Microsoft Teams background.  I can't figure out which ski area it is.  Sugarbush maybe? 

Smuggs!

....until an unplanned early morning Sherbie lap on Sunday proved to be the final hurrah. Somehow the warmth hadn't affected the upper 2/3 of the trail and managed to ski 2-3" of medium density snow atop packed powder. Hopefully the screamer later this week doesn't completely damage what is a pretty impressive snowpack this time of year, all things considered. 

Had to get my skis in on the last of the powder party this past weekend. While it was a weird/record warm year, I really appreciate these late season storms which we seem to be making a habit of the last few years. Bolton BC delivered once again first thing Friday AM. By the end of our last run the snow was already beginning to compact quite a bit and I was sure those would be my last powder turns of the year....

Not the least bit exciting in the Boston area. Hope those further north got the full experience. 

9 minutes ago, psuhoffman said:

Absolutely insulting decision by sugarbush to close half of Lincoln peak April 1st to install a new summit quad. Not announcing it until now and not keeping Ellen open as an alternative make this unforgivable.  Also the idiotic decision to prioritize opening on time v ending the season early when the better skiing is almost always Spring!  
 

I hate to say it but after 30 years enjoying sugarbush I think I’m done with them forever after this.  Unless they change their mind and fix this somehow I’ll probably never ski there again. 
 

If you agree please call and send them an email letting them know how horribly they’ve screwed up. 

The disappointment is for sure understandable and they could have handled the communication of it better, but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye here. First and foremost as it relates to permitting for this type of work and them being on state land. 

18 hours ago, Angus said:

Skied today at Cannon. It was a zoo getting into the parking lot. They announced they sold out. The line of cars at the exit to Loon was more than 1/2 mile down 93... Basically, Cannon was one big bump run at the end of day. Ton of fun but exhausting skiing like that on back-to-back days. They opened everything including DJs - which IMO is nuts. After two days of skiing this stuff, I'm whipped. 

Can confirm Cannon was amazing yesterday. Made the prudent decision to get there before 8 yesterday and snagged a spot in the front lot. Don't know the resort terrain all that well but managed to snag 3 great runs prior to going off to check out Tucker Brook and some other side country. Bummed to have missed the opportunity to ski the tramline, but it was hard to complain after what was the day of the year. 

HRRR looking at least slightly intriguing for a light refresh in the northern Greens tomorrow. Here's to hoping!

Ski areas rooting for GFS

10 minutes ago, AstronomyEnjoyer said:

Lake Sunapee in the foreground and Killington 44.3 miles distant. Was hoping for better clarity today although it wasn't bad by any means. Did notice clouds off to the north. I suspected you guys up there were busy getting fake snow again. I waltz in here and my suspicions are confirmed.

Sweet vantage. Is that bear peak and south ridge chair?

19 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Just keeps fluffing out.

Absolutely love it for the resorts and local communities. Personally, I'll be sticking to the BC this weekend and next. Hopefully next Friday delivers. 

46 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

What a morning.  It’s still snowing nicely too.

Fuck ya. More fake snow plz. 

Seeing some flakes finally in Cambridgeport. At this point rooting for a coating that melts away ASAP. 

5 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

Ain't raining in Maine. More likely they get smoked.

If he can't snow, nobody can. 

Got out into the Bolton BC on Saturday for my first tour ever in that area. Lots of terrain to be had! We skinned up to Stowe View and then dropped into the Cotton Brook area via Paradise Descent. More of a cut trail than a glade run for the first several hundred vertical feet before it opened up more as the terrain first steepened, then mellowed out. The real fun was had on the south facing aspect of the ridge that separates the Cotton Brook basin from Nebraska Valley. Lots of great ski terrain there that wasn't too steep and the 2-3" that J Spin mentioned skied well on top of a light crust. We were tempted to drop the other side of the ridge into Nebraska Valley for a nice long descent but were running out of time. After skiing the southern aspect back down to the Cotton Brook basin we skinned up to the Catamount trail and made our way back to the Bolton base area via some glades off of Gardiner's Lane. All in all a great day! 

3 hours ago, Sugarloaf1989 said:

I skied at Ski Sundown last night for my adaptive skiing lesson.  At first I tried a mono ski.  But I couldn't balance myself with my arms and kept falling over. So we switched over to there brand new Rossignol Snow Cart.

This cart let's me lye down and control the ski's with poles.  I can snowplow,  turn and brake to control my speed.  Unfortunately I can't use it solo as the base is spring loaded for boarding a chairlift.  The chairlift has to be stopped for loading. 

We took 3 Runs down from the summit.  Tom's Treat, Canyon and Nor'Easter. It felt good to ski these trails again. I got some speed on these trails. There a nice group of people.  Very friendly and Patient.  My next lesson is on February 7th. 

 

So awesome, that's what its all about. I miss Sundown, some really fun trails there for a small hill. 

On 1/29/2024 at 1:22 PM, MRVexpat said:

I'll be up this weekend and have a cool tour planned in the Bolton/Nebraska area. The base certainly seems to be substantial enough for good skiing, so here's to hoping we get the LE to at least make most pitches enjoyable. 

Welp, that didn't progress as planned...

29 minutes ago, J.Spin said:

Yeah, I’d noticed that for a few runs. About 48 hours back, the modeling suggested the possibility of the low pressure hanging up in Northern Maine and the Canadian Maritimes for a bit, and we of course know what potential that holds for the Northern Greens, but that isn’t prominent in the more recent runs. You’ll see that right now that the BTV NWS forecast discussion mentions the shortwave that pivots through the region Thursday into Friday. Even if it just pivots through though, the current GFS modeling suggests a half inch or so of liquid equivalent, which is a decent resurfacing for the low and moderate angle slopes, although it’s not going to cut it for the steeper pitches. It could be double digit snowfall depending on the ratios, but it’s really the liquid that matters for the resurfacing. None of the other models are as robust with the moisture as the GFS, so it can’t be taken more seriously until other models start to bump up the QPF. The BTV NWS will be all over it in their discussion if the QPF starts to increase in the next couple of days.

I do find that the GFS is excellent in general when it comes to typical northern stream systems interacting with the Northern Greens in the medium range, actually the best overall from years of casual observation.  When it comes to our bread and butter type systems, all I find I typically have to do is quickly run through what the GFS shows for roughly the next week out, and you’ll pretty much have an idea of what’s going to happen up here. Phasing systems and all that are an entirely different beast, but whatever coding and algorithms they have in the GFS, it seems primed to show what’s going to happen in the Northern Greens for our bread and butter systems better than any of the other medium range models.

I'll be up this weekend and have a cool tour planned in the Bolton/Nebraska area. The base certainly seems to be substantial enough for good skiing, so here's to hoping we get the LE to at least make most pitches enjoyable. 

Looks to be coming down hard on the Sugarbush webcams but radar imagine is inconspicuous. Is there a correlation between the type of radar tilt utilized and what can be displayed from a particular pulse of moisture?

44 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Had 7” on the ground at the base of the mountain.  Grooming said 8-9” at midnight but 7” was the morning observation.  Seemed pretty similar in town but more like 6.5” at 4:30am.  Peaked at like 7.5”.

These storms aren't exactly an ideal scenario for immediate skiing enjoyment but do wonders for the base/tree skiing as we head into the meat of the season. Looking forward to a carbon copy this weekend. Throw some orographic snow on top and we're in business. 

Mt Watatic ended up with close to a settled foot by the time I got there yesterday AM. Just about the bare minimum there. Thankfully it isn't too steep and 108 underfoot helped. Not sure there will be anything left after these next two...

11 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Looks like it’s through davis Sq down through Watertown eastern Newton and than bends back a little southwest toward Needham

Just came thru Cambridgeport. Ground white in minutes. Dumping. 

0.0" in Cambridgeport. Starting to rip fatties at times and coating up mulch beds etc. We'll see what today brings. 

What does timing look like for this? Have tentative dinner plans in New Haven at 5 and then driving back to Boston right afterwards. Have snow tires and AWD but just wondering when peak intensity may hit along 91/84/pike?