mcglups

Wow, that is a big $ss event for Colebrook, I can't imagine that many people in that town. In terms of the path of totality, referencing the above chart at the start of the thread, is it anywhere between the red lines, or is there a good reason to get as close to the blue line? I'm in Berlin and planning to drive into Canada, but if I head towards Wentworth's Location that is a much easier experience. Even if it is snowing, to have it go dark in a snow storm mid-day would be equally awesome Already have the 8th off from work

Driving across Pittsburg crossing and heading to megantic national par in canada. I have no idea if anything is planned and the weather is a long shot, but I'll see what happens!

Agreed. I have a 250 mile drive to my place up north (which I enjoy the travel) but to plan to just get at-best 6 runs each day that lessen in quality to the point of the final run being on the verge of dangerous, is a tough sell. A couple of weeks ago I was halfway down a run and looked around and saw high school kids tearing it up with fearless courage, middle-age folks like myself with wild ranges of skill and risk taking, and then people learning to ski (because there is just one run down) and just decided to hold off until conditions improve. Then, the next weekend the devastation hit! --- I will probably venture back up just to check-in, but I agree wholeheartedly that we had a magnificent start and now we need a full reload.

I have not seen (or heard of elsewhere) of helmets being mandatory. I was on the tram at Cannon about 12 years ago, looked around, and it was just me without a helmet, so I've worn one ever since (including a helmet when biking around town). Last season I caught a rail, couldn't control my speed and fell to the side (ski's stayed on) but my left hip bumped the earth with some force and my left side of the helmet has a tiny scratch on it from hitting the surface. However, statistics from resorts on accidents would be way more definitive to aide in decision making. Of immediate awareness, most places have a frozen foundation, even more so this season right now.

A friend shared this map on social media and it even further tells the story of the lack of snow coverage. I believe VT has 5,000 miles of snowmobile trails, and there are 0 miles open. https://vtvast.org/trails.html

A wild ride to watch the devastation and recovery underway up north. Despite my interest to enjoy more days on the slopes, the combination of the holiday uptick of people and the limited/recovered terrain, and health issues that don't have any capacity for injury, I'm playing it safe and resuming weekend trips on January 5th. If the 7-day forecast holds for a warm system to drop rain, that is unfortunate to say the least. ... As time marches into the decades ahead, warm systems with copious amount of rain (in very short time periods) will occur every month of the year, but timing is everything and I am sure we will all squeak out lots of awesome days.

Agreed that the significant wave heights with the 2023 system (calling it Vince just in case NHC reclassifies it) was right up there with the wave heights from 2012 (Sandy). With many similarities such as surf way up the River (which is a site to see!) Sandy scored a more impactful score in the duration of a sustained sea state over 5 meters and a greater amount of time of longer period swell already in the waters prior to the max event. 2023 did have a high wave energy at time of peak impact with the 9 meters at 17 seconds while 2012 had 9.5 meters at 14 seconds. Either way you slice it, weather in western boundary mountains in Maine or the shoreline of Rhode Island, the impacts of more heat and moisture in the atmosphere is a reality that we need to develop residential and political will to think long term for adaptation to the new normal, resiliency for extreme events, and sustainability to make every day decisions that protect our quality of life, for future generations, and making sure the most disadvantaged communities are prioritized first.

what an amazing storm as it comes to be! that 'red' shading is appearing here.

Day 04 & 05 at Wildcat on Friday and Saturday and conditions were very good with groomers in mid-winter form and ungroomed trails with plenty of snow and manageable. I think the recent round of a foot or so wet-snow boded well for adding to the base and covering up the surface, often times that dry snow just blows around and never sticks. Saturday skied better than Friday, but the crowds did show up, and while I can ski in comfort with other people, my interest in navigating diverse skill sets (people learning, race team practicing) is fading with age! Overall, very enjoyable.

Looks great. Just arrived up north and its a winter wonderland and ready to get some runs Friday and Saturday before the rain.

Have fun! There is a Mexican restaurant called "la casita" in Berlin that is very good

Day 03 at Wildcat this morning and conditions were groomed and packed powder, very surprised (and welcome) not to make any hard scratches, so in general the conditions were much better. This is partially attributed to the summit quad now running so a complete 2,100 vertical feet. Very impressive to see the amount of natural snow at 3,000 feet upwards, looks like 12" plus. Crowds for the 1st day of December were minimal. Very apparent temperature inversion with my drive through Gorham registering a low of 30 and at my place it was 47 and the base of Wildcat was 42. | We are all very fortunate at the start of December to be enjoying these conditions across the greater ski country of the northeast!

Day 02 at Wildcat this morning and conditions were just a bit better than yesterday where it seems the grooming was a bit better. Quite a few more people had shown up by the time I had left, looking ahead I've heard they are putting a cap on lift ticket sales, but I'd be curious on any given day to know how many people are actually buying lift tickets versus pass holders. Daily tickets are right now at $103 and peak season it will be $129, meanwhile you can get an epic northeast pass (unlimited, no restrictions) for $555 so it just hard to imagine that anyone is buying daily tickets. Onward and looking forward to expanded terrain in the weeks to come!

Season officially underway for me with a few runs at Wildcat this morning. The old school Tomcat Triple Chair up about 1,400 vertical feet with a run on "cat walk" then "middle wildcat" then "bobcat". Conditions were firm yet fun, and crowds were minimal. A fair amount of natural snow about 2,500 feet, I could see a 12+ storm allowing for terrain expansion.

Yes. Last year at start of season they went all-in on 2,100 vertical feet, but the summit lift can be struck with wind-hold and resulted in closure for hours. So, this approach builds the foundation of skiable options, but hopefully they can get the quad going soon. Riding the old/slow lifts makes me feel like I'm at MRG, which is a good feeling too!

Solid SE surf this morning from the storm that started off the Florida coast on Friday and travelled northward around 68 longitude. Light NW winds with temperatures in the 30's. Clear skies all day. | Meanwhile, snow guns blazing up north with reasonable outlook of natural snow opportunities for the mountains, all equates to skiing next weekend. | Good to get out there and enjoy what mother nature dishes out!

Indeed! Seen a few piles built up, I am sure they cured well in the recent days and the trail is ready to go. SL is such a great mountain, but far from my reach in accessibility. Even with a place up north, it is still 100 miles to SL. Hopefully all the mountains score some natural wet snow for a solid base on Wednesday and a few days afterwards of cold and snowmaking, should create a reasonable foundation for the season.

Winter feel today with new employee orientation at wildcat giving the impression of opening day

Agreed. This multi day window will be the confidence factor for Thanksgiving openings. Bring it!

Looks like the man-made snow making efforts can resume tonight and last for many days, perhaps taking a break during peak solar times of the day, but the multi-day stretch has the opportunity for most places to put down a coat that provides greater confidence of projected opening dates.

That is pretty cool that opening day is Friday! My recollection is that this will be about 800 vertical feet in the 2800 to 3800 ASL range? I think Sunday River also have the options for this type of upper level short-run experience. Looking forward to the season getting underway, but honestly my opening day won't be until 11/23 but that will be here soon enough!

Good to see the snowmaking underway. With low temperatures in the teens for a couple of nights, one could imagine that productivity will be high. Now thinking good thoughts to be able to ski on this initial base thru April!

As of 945am, there are a a few snow flakes in the air in North Berlin!

Hurricane Otis - On Wednesday the U.S Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is hosting a hearing on the "The Science of Extreme Event Attribution: How Climate Change Is Fueling Severe Weather Events" and it will be interesting if the spin-up of Otis comes up in conversation. Dr. Wehner may provide some insight on his thoughts. What I like about these hearings is they usually ask the panel "what is the most important thing we do next to address this topic?" https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/11/the-science-of-extreme-event-attribution-how-climate-change-is-fueling-severe-weather-events

looks like the helicopter is moving on as well.