powderfreak

lol whaaat?! 8”+ at Okemo so far?

22F currently. From no freeze to big freeze.

Finally feels like legit winter. 28/23 at 6:30pm. METAR KMVL 312230Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR M02/M05 A3007

Cold day to end October. First high in the 30s and currently 33F. Went from shorts to needing hat and gloves outside.

I’m starting to wonder if MVL is warm. Came in at 29F but every single PWS bottomed out 25-28F around here. This was 3:13am and MVL was 34F at the RT 100 marker. Only spot above freezing.

28F with clouds and a breeze. She done finally.

Also noticed today’s 1.05” of rain put us just over 6” on the month for October. Up the road the ski area base saw 0.95” today for 8” on the month for October. Feels like every month features excessive precipitation these days somewhere in New England. We dried out a bit locally in September but the water returned in October.

Also had some mangled wet flakes here in residual light shower activity. 35F. MVL codes it unknown precip at times, still waiting for the -SN code . Saw much better flakeage on the office cam and 34F up there at 1500ft.

No chance anyone could draw lines that crisp on a map while drunk. That’s like amphetamines.

And around we go again. I’ll ride in the carriage this time.

Getting some mangled flakes at the end here. 37F. MVL at least showing unknown precip. METAR KMVL 302150Z AUTO 35008KT 10SM UP OVC013 03/01 A2981 RMK P0001

Yeah that’s what I’ve been saying all along, but I just cannot get worked up over people saying we need to ban snowmaking either. I live in the real world and it’s just not going to happen, so I can’t bring myself to expend much energy on that aspect of it. What many seem to be alluding to and describing would be a “moderate” approach… what happened to just being moderate and modest and not swinging for the fences on either side of any topic, ha.

I love the cordial discussions because we should be adult human beings and hopefully act as civilized as our progress has been throughout history. Personally, regardless of the temperatures, I lean heavily towards Dendrite’s line of thinking and he’s mentioned it for years in passing discussions… we can just be better for the planet (I’m no environmentalist though). Even if it was cooling towards an ice age. Even small steps, nowadays we tend to at least have the planet in mind as a stakeholder in discussions. Could be as simple as back in the day when cars were becoming popular, mechanics/people would dump used motor oil out back in the woods. Now we don’t. Plenty of examples of things we don’t even think about today but that were done in the past that are kind of mind-blowing. Small step but seems prudent enough. We should always strive to make changes where we can. Along with getting rid of the idea that if someone else is doing it, then we should be able to as well. Just because a ski area in China dumps used hydraulic fluid into a pond regularly, doesn’t mean we should here in the US. And once again, consider all stakeholders. Communities, economies, the planet, etc.

Wolfie visiting Mass huh.

12z GFS looks reasonable for the first half of November. Can always adjust upward from there if needed through November 15th.

Ha, still haven’t froze up here.

It’s not a complete shitshow, to be honest. This is one of the more reasonable discussions about environmental change, and the New England forum can do it. Why is everything in life nowadays so black and white? That’s what bothers me personally. We can take the time to understand everyone’s viewpoints… be empathetic and not always go immediately on the defensive. My livelihood and my wife’s are solely resting on tourism, in this industry that relies on snowmaking (the topic at hand) to entice people to drive or fly (more carbon footprint) here and spend money. We cannot live the comfortable life we do without people getting in their cars or on an airplane. However, we also don’t need to become defensive about it. Just realistic. Temperatures are warming up over time, it’s accepted. Irrefutable. To me the ski industry acknowledges that progress can continue to be made, even small steps, and it doesn’t need to be this abrasive discussion. It can be honest and open to all stakeholders. Every discussion in life can be honest and open to all stakeholders, if you allow it to be.

Ha, Forky is talking about the real fake snow. Not the fake fake snow. Decode that.

Best thread title in a while.

Yeah that’s why they move away from that stuff… but still have diesel backups for power on lifts (ie power outage with people on chairs, need a way to move them). Ski areas have come a long way since the 1990s, but then again maybe not as that’s all in the eye of the beholder. Sort of like has humanity come a long way since the 1990s? Maybe in some respects, and not in others?

Yeah that should be the goal of all industries for sure.

Yup, with snowmaking it’s the baby steps of buying Low-E, tower, and efficient guns. Many places have completely turned over their fleets. It’s also economical… initial investment heavy but then if you are using 40% less energy (saves 40% $$ too) than the old ground based air hogs. You need to make snow at slightly colder wet bulbs but it’s a cleaner step. Maybe in another 15 years we are cutting another 25% off. The notion of killing industries outright is likely not the answer either, just baby steps. Not grounding all airplanes and cruises, but maybe they develop better technologies as well… and it’s usually economical, use less energy/fuel and it costs less. Thats why many have mini splits now and heat pumps, etc.

It’s definitely something the industry wrestles with. More and more money goes into low-e guns, fan guns and other lower energy infrastructure. I’m not going to sit here and tell anyone it’s the best way to do things, but humans do a lot of things that aren’t ideal. The energy usage is the nut to crack… the water just melts and goes back into the same reservoir it came out of. Plus it rains enough in winter to refill it on the go. One can really go down the rabbit hole of golf courses too. The pros of snowmaking are that it literally drives whole economies in many places of the world that would have zero economy too. The downstream effect of no snowmaking would close the industry and be akin to manufacturing cities and towns when the plants shut down. Its definitely not an easy discussion.

Think of it like a ski area is just irrigating their trails like a golf course or millions of American yards all summer. Ski areas just do their irrigation when it’s cold, ha. Although one could easily argue against watering grass too.

What if they need to make snow inside at a mall in New Jersey? God forbid people have fun, ha.