uncletim

OK, if you want to give downhill a try, here's my advice, which others I'm sure can add to. Don't go out west just to try to ski. It's pricey, to say the least, and you may find you really don't like it. Maybe the first thing you should do is - find someone to go with. Not many people just make a decision on their own to go by themselves and start skiing - most have friends or family and it's a lot more fun. The other person or people don't even have to be skiers, which might be even better because you're all in the same boat trying something new. It may seem obvious, but take a lesson. Ski resorts have instructors that specialize in "never-evers" of all ages. The first time, it's probably best to just go locally to Liberty, Roundtop or Whitetail. You absolutely do not have to make a major trip to a "big resort". If you have flexibility, try to pick a sunny but cold, calm day. Unfortunately, as we have all discussed here ad nauseam, these are getting rarer and rarer around here. You don't need to buy any equipment or even clothing in advance, everything you need can be rented at the slopes in a package. If you really want to see snow cover, you can go by car to northern New England, but what will happen when you are there is still a bit of a crapshoot. Last year during 3 days in March in Vermont, we had 37 inches of snow. This year first week in March it rained almost every day, but fortunately not all the time, so we still skied. And Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are beautiful places in the winter with plenty of other activities. If you find downhill is not for you, you can do X-country, which is a lot easier and cheaper just to "go out and do it". And don't let a "not athletic" self-image deter you. I started in my 30s and no one has ever called me "athletic". I may not be very good, but I think being out in the mountains in the winter is magic. My father started after he retired in his 60s and went many times to New England and even out west. Had a great time with it for years.

(Getting off-topic here, mods please move this to banter if appropriate…) Here’s the the operative question: do you ski at all - and by “ski” in this case, I mean downhill as opposed to x-country? Have you ever been skiing? If you haven’t, and I get the feeling that’s the case, then I think many members of this forum, including me, would be happy to give advice on the best approach to getting started. Skiers tend to be evangelists for the sport, and the thing we most want to avoid is for first-timers to have a bad first day and get turned off, which can easily happen. Having a fun first day, even if you’re falling all over the place, is the key.

Would love to see this go back a couple of decades further. Growing up in Faifax County in the sixties and early seventies, I learned to ice skate and never was on a rink until my last couple of years in high school. Ponds froze for at least a handful of weeks most winters. The other reason I would like to see it go back further is to see how those late seventies winters look compared to earlier. Was that period as anomalous in context of the previous couple of decades?

I think this is what W53 refers to.

Hmm - how about an Amwx ski day at Liberty or Whitetail. I’d be down for that.

The “chain-up” lots on the east side of Bennington and west side of Wilmington on rt 9 are promising indicators for sure. Usually only see that out West!

I think prices will go down eventually, at least in ME. Any kind of fluctuation tends to be exaggerated there because of the distance from population centers. Also, historically the length and depth and darkness of winter in the higher elevations in ME tends to be discouraging. Fun at first, but it gets old for most folks after a few years. Even Squire Rangeley, the town namesake, said the hell with this and moved down to Virginia after several years. That may be changing though; last several winters even there have been significantly more moderate (getting back to thread relevance!).

Definitely stay out of the Bennington/Manchester valley in VT. Not that they don’t get more snow than us, obviously, but it would be massively frustrating to me to look down at brown ground and know that 5 miles away and a thousand feet higher there is a 2 foot snowpack. But it’s pricey. Pandemic induced massive changes in the real estate market, particularly in sourthern VT. Anything decent up on the plateau closer to ski areas is extremely expensive, especially in areas closer to Manchester, like Winhall, etc. The situation is not so severe in NW Maine; non-waterfront is still non-crazy, pricewise. Choose properties carefully - Rangeley area has a severe labor shortage, so building or major renovations are on a multi-year waiting list. I suspect the situation is similar in VT.

Almost unbelievable. At 11pm the night before, it had stopped, we had about 4 inches on the ground and TV forecasters said it was over. When I got up the next morning, not particularly late, it had already stopped again. I measured 23 inches in Springfield. Rates must have been incredible.

Interesting. It has always struck me how dramatic the difference is in both temperature and precipitation between the Allegheny Front and the ridges immediately to the east, although my familiar reference points are a bit further north toward Canaan and into Maryland. Not that much difference in elevation but a totally different climate over a few air miles and one deep valley. Snowshoe/Canaan are a different animal from Wintergreen was what I was thinking.

Do Wintergreen/Massanutten get appreciably more snow than the lowlands? Yes, higher altitude, colder, but also seems drier, especially up on top of the Blue Ridge. On the other hand plenty of artificial for skiing if that will do the trick!

Starting in Chevy Chase at the bottom of Rock Creek Canyon. 39/23

Thanks everyone for this discussion - much appreciated. I wish there was a way to look up this "forecast vs. observed" historically - if there is, I haven't found it. I'm curious to know how the forecasts from 2010 tracked with eventual observations. I recall clearly that even at the beginning of the fairly extended January thaw that winter the strongest voices here (Eastern back then?), such as Wes, DonS and a couple of others, were rock solid in their opinion that the pattern would return to a snow favorable situation. The positive AO was slight and very short-lived. Were long-range models more on target with pattern recognition that winter, or did Wes & Co have faith in the "El Nino seasonal" progression?

Tracker’s Hitler rant = GOAT. Watched it again and again.

Could be somewhere near Newfane?