MRVexpat

3k NAM holding steady with a general 3-6" in C/NNH and NW ME. Skiing South Baldface Saturday and curious when the precip sets in? GYX seems to think mid morning while the models are showing an afternoon affair. Timing will likely determine whether I head up into the alpine or ski the glades.

March is #1 for skiing in my book. You've got a deep pack and then it either dumps or is sunny and warm. Can't beat it. Edit: obviously there are exceptions, its New England after all. But your odds are as good as they're gonna get!

Thanks for the detailed description! Yeah I think we've had similar experiences. If your objective is to ski as much powder as possible, the effort to vertical ratio just isn't there above 3k if you're going straight up the face of Big Jay. The trees are plenty steep in that 2400-3000' range anyways to make a lap or two super rewarding. A friend of mine actually booted up the last 700' or so just a few days before you did and said it was really slow going, for the reasons you described. That top part is sweet on alpine gear, but probably not worth it unless you're coming from the ski area. The bolded part is what I'm really interested in. I wonder how much progress could be made by zigging and zagging up the south facing ridgeline that separates the Big and Little Jay basins. Will have to find out someday...

How high up on Big Jay were you able to get? In my experience the going gets really tough up above about 2800-3000 feet and to summit I'd guess you'd have to boot pack? I've also never skinned the ridge between Big and Little Jay basins so that may be the way to go. Its why I almost prefer Little Jay if coming from 242. You get nearly to the summit without much hassle and its a shorter approach as well.

S+ on the Stratton cams. Radar returns are "only" 20-25 dbz.

Ain't that the truth! 14-15 was my first winter at the Bush and I was like oh, 250" a year is average, this is how it always is. Great! So yeah the following year did some bad things to my psyche haha.

dang! that is cool to see

Coming down nicely here in Cambridgeport. Decent growth. Eyeballing 1.5" or so.

We went off of northway. It was pretty damn obvious where to go but the key is definitely to keep heading skiers right where possible once you drop in because it can be a long slog out of the bottom drainage to the road if you go too far; the boarder in our group definitely struggled and we were still conscious of this. Little Jay is a more accessible and fun skin from 242, some awesome lines in there.

Spent 4 days skiing Jay and touring the surrounding area last week. Pretty incredible snow given the complete lack of thaws the past month or so. Definitely had that bottomless feel that you crave. First time skiing Big Jay from the top as well. That and the Mansfield chin are truly the definition of "steep and deep" in the region.

Sweet! Seems as if the mesos bump QPF up even more along the spine...as expected. It seems they do this no matter if orographic enhancement is in play or not (I realize it often is)

Sweet! Yeah I'm really looking forward to it. Have skied Jay about 10 times over the years so I'm somewhat familiar with the terrain. My deepest east coast day to date was/is still my sophomore year of high school (March 06 I think?) where I learned in Beaver Pond that the "need a snorkel" joke wasn't a joke after all haha.

Got a place just south of Jay Pass for the week, right where Big/Little Jay dump out. Looking forward to touring in the backyard and getting some midweek days in at the resort! Looks like tomorrow will bring yet another refresh to the area, otherwise what are thoughts on bread and butter related chances throughout the week?

That's solid! I'm running 5 right now but the GS skis and powder boards (also 115 underfoot) rarely get used. My SL skis and all mountain skis (Line Supernatural, 86 underfoot) are good early/mid season and then I have my touring skis (4FRNT Raven, 104 underfoot, full rocker, 29 m radius)....so they're slightly flawed but ski a lot more reasonably than the #s suggest. Next year I'm looking to maybe ditch the pow boards and GS skis for another touring setup, something mid 90s and with a bit of camber to push into. Sorry if OT, but this thread and the ski thread sometimes seem like one in the same

Yup that's basically the norm these days. Makes sense out West and in the kind of pattern we've been in recently but all too often I'll roll up to the hill in November and see hordes of people with these all mountain/powder skis strapped to their feet just lapping firm groomers. I guess that's why its best to have a quiver!

Yeah I was real bummed to hear about it. Didn't know him well at all but the definition of a local legend.

For me the frequency with which I tune is a feel thing and vary ski to ski. Like if my slalom skis stop gripping on glare ice then we have a problem haha. Otherwise a classic rule of thumb for me is I wax about every 5 outings on a particular pair, edges every 10-15 or so and besides that fix core shots and edge burrs as needed.

There's not a lot to it if you want to do it yourself. You'll need a work bench with vices, file, diamond stones, bevel angle/file guide for base and side edges, wax, iron, wax scraper, ptex sticks. Watch a few youtube videos and its quite easy to catch on. I typically only bring my skis into the shop when they need a base grind, otherwise the self tune has always worked fine. It probably won't be as precise as a shop tune, but there's just something about working on your own gear with a beer in hand and the smell of wax in the air.

Very cool. The road leading up to the cabin is one of the steeper class 3 roads I've had the pleasure of driving. Going to be a good test for AWD and snow tires

Nice! I was up on Tracy Hill in Roxbury for the week just down the road from Northfield, leaving tomorrow. Snow starting to pick up ever so slightly here. Should be a fun afternoon! Blocked the afternoon off for important "meetings" at Sugarbush.

For real. Was on Camel's Hump and you could basically make out the Cog on Washington and Superstar at Killington could be seen clear as day. Low 20s and not a breath of wind on the summit while it was 5 below in the lot while we were booting up lol.

Chick Corea! Totally makes sense now, that's the one.

Dude!!! So rad. What is the name of the tune that is currently being played??? (If you see this in time). I've seen Club D'elf cover it a good amount of times at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge where they have their residency.

Was back at my old haunts yesterday for my first midweek day on the hill since being an employee three years ago. Sick snow globe feel and nobody around yielded around 3" by last chair. Visited some old favorites and while soft turns were had, we could use another 1-2' of consolidated base before the real fun starts.

Went up to Brandon Gap for the day Saturday and found excellent ski conditions! Depth checks revealed about 20-24" @ 1800' and about 30" at 2900'.