uncletim

3 hours ago, Always in Zugzwang said:

I've heard Paxlovid is very effective but there's a tendency to have a sort of "relapse" once you stop taking it.  I don't know all the details or why it would "come back" after finishing a course of the drug.  Maybe now they taper you off more, to avoid that?  I also haven't heard if Paxlovid is effective against the latest mutations of COVID, but I would think probably so at least to some extent.

 

That sucks man, sorry you got it!  I actually had COVID back last April.  Fortunately I had by then gotten the original series of 2 shots and the booster, so my symptoms weren't too bad.  More like a moderate cold, but no severe cough and no fever.  I also felt a bit tired.  But it more or less cleared up in a few days or so.  Got the bivalent booster this past fall.  Hope you don't have anything severe!!!

The Paxlovid dosing schedule has not changed - it’s still a 5 day course.The latest research on Paxlovid rebound suggests that it may be due to a more robust immune response, rather than an impaired one. “Overall, the level of T-cell responses was greater in rebound patients than in patients with early acute COVID-19 who did not experience rebound.”
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/findings-suggest-covid-19-rebound-not-caused-impaired-immune-response

25 minutes ago, Terpeast said:

Yes it’s not even Feb yet, and I’m already punting to next winter. 

Might as well get the shutout year out of the way, because I’m 90% certain we won’t have back-to-back shutout seasons. Let’s just hope we don’t get an east-based +3 nino… otherwise all bets are off 

It’s been so not close to snowing that they haven’t even brined around here once, which normally happens even when there’s coldish rain forecast. So, at least this year thousands of tons of salt won’t end up in the streams.

There - silver lining found.

2 hours ago, Maestrobjwa said:

Ava Marie is a meteorologist up here (local station in Baltimore)

Not to be confused with Ave Maria.

Looks like a scary ski holiday coming up: bulletproof surface + holiday crowds + limited trail count. Recipe for tragedy and I hope resorts lean on the safety messaging.

18 hours ago, eyewall said:

There is also a flood of remote workers to more desirable rural locations and that is also driving up prices I am sure.

Yes, this certainly the case in Rangeley. Together with short-term rentals it’s a “perfect storm” for the housing market.

2 hours ago, mreaves said:

I get Redfin updates a couple of times a day on my phone.  I have noticed that there are more price reductions now than there has been for a couple of years.

Yes, my impression as well that market peaked a few months ago. I can see the short-term rental pressures stabilizing somewhat, but at a level that still freezes out the local work force.

Maybe the solution is to create incentives for the local workforce to construct rental units so they can benefit directly - "Teachers (or law enforcement, whatever) get a no cost loan to build an VRBO/AB&B unit so they can afford to live in our town!". I'm speaking tongue-in-cheek, I think...

1 hour ago, bch2014 said:

The issue is that it’s nearly impossible to build anything in the Northeast due to a combination of NIMBYism, construction costs, and regulation. 
 

Look at housing production/capita in fast-growing yet relatively affordable metros (I.e Houston, San Antonio, Greenville/Spartanburg, just to name a few) vs. the Burlington, VT MSA. 

Just speaking for myself, my posts were primarily addressing resort towns, which have a substantially different set of issues from metros.

11 hours ago, powderfreak said:

The economic engine is hampered by work force now.  The demand is there but restaurants that were 7-day a week operations are now 4-5 day a week operations.  There are plenty of guests to do 7 day a week operations but can’t staff it.

Wages are minimum $20/hr and some restaurants around here are at $30/hr now. But even being just a line cook for $70,000 a year won’t let you buy or rent around here.

Also I have to imagine the margins weren’t great to begin with but if your whole restaurant staff is now filled with people making the equivalent of $50-$75k annually from hostess to line cooks, the margin has to be even less.  The cost of food is up. Prices keep going up on the menu too.

Short of regulatory intervention, which always makes me squirm, I’m not sure what the answers are. I haven’t seen or heard about any communities which have successfully dealt with it. Saddleback is building employee housing, but that seems like a drop in the bucket of a regional problem. 

On 10/12/2022 at 10:19 AM, bwt3650 said:

I agree, but this goes to not being able to make everyone happy.  The small businesses benefit immensely from Short Term Rentals.  More people in town means more people renting skis, going to restaurants, going on snow mobile tours, buying gas at the convivence store etc.  Hotels generally tend to keep people more isolated to the businesses in or immediately near a hotel.  Short term also saves towns tons of money because there are no kids going to school like long term rentals (and schools are by far the biggest impact on property taxes) Towns also hire seasonal part time police with no benefits, instead of full time officers, the second biggest impact on the municipal budget.  The mountain is usually the biggest employer in the nearby town, so more people equals more jobs.  Economically, it is a substantially superior model.  The downside is the local resident, who wants a less crowded experience at their mountain.  Everyone bitches about Stowe being too crowded, but isn't the real issue a one lane road leading to a dead end?  I kind of equate this to a stadium.  No matter what you do (besides expanding for about 8 days a year) you are going to have traffic before and after a football game.  It's like a powder day at Stowe, or the 7am-10am period on Saturdays in mid winter or two weekends in October.  Do you really build another road (even if you could) to accommodate that? I love the idea of a town gondola; I just don't know if the expense could be justified.  Stowe is not Breck or Vail or the western giants.  Maybe.  The other bitching is just vail sucks guy, who wants the mountain to himself and is ok with a $1799 season pass because he skis everyday, can afford it, and it's "their mountain".

 

Full disclosure: I rent out my condo a couple weeks a year, so I am one of those Short Term rental people everyone hates.  We use it a ton so if we couldn't rent it for those two or three weeks a year, it's no big deal.  But I know a lot of people who would have to sell, as theirs's are strictly rentals and I wonder what that flood of supply would do to everyone's property values.

From what I see in our summer town (Rangeley), the economic benefits of short-term rentals only go so far. The disruption in the housing market caused by short-terms is extreme and the result is that many businesses, especially restaurants, are open fewer days and hours than they were a decade ago due to worker shortages. Even with higher wages, it’s very difficult to find a place to live that is affordable. From what I read, this now the norm in most resort towns. The old market wage/living cost balances no longer apply and it will take time to sort out the new market and find solutions.

14 hours ago, Angus said:

Season done? Probably. Skied at Jay Peak for first time ever Friday. I have now seen the 'Jay cloud' in action. Snowed on and off hard all day - really a lot of graupel. Because I was  alone, I didn't venture into the woods which were still skiable. Can definitely see the appeal of mountain with mid-winter powder. From there, I drove to Sugarloaf and planned to ski both yesterday and today. Woke up at 530ish yesterday morning and checked the weather stations at saddleback and saw it was 16 degrees at their summit and kind of knew deep down what was in store for the day! Anything that wasn't groomed overnight never softened and was unskiable on the upper mountain. That unfortunately was a lot of the terrain I really like to ski. It was still fun and they have a ton of snow on the hill - in fact, I have now skied there 3 of last 5 weekends and in that stretch the amount of snow loss has been minimum. Amazingly, Winter's Way and Bubblecuffer are still open but I wasn't going to venture down. Skied gondi line probably a half dozen times and although it has a deep base, with the lack of softening it wasn't great and had lots of big chunks of ice that had been busted up by the groomers. Anyway, at the end of the day thinking today would be more of the same - I decided to drive home and rake leaves today...after I go for a bike ride! It has been a good season!

So, knowing the cold start, I drove up Eustis Ridge and took a few pictures - spectacular as both @tamarackand @uncletim said. 

 

 

Nice, glad you got up to the ridge! It’s funny because especially when you go past the little picnic area it’s not particularly high at all, just happens that there’s nothing obstructing the whole range.

12 hours ago, tamarack said:

Chain of Ponds is a lovely drive but not one for gazing away from the road for long - lots of curves, lots of trucks.  Great campground, too, though it's not open yet.  IMO, best view of the Bigelow Range is up the Eustis Ridge Road, which leaves Rt 27 near the north edge of old growth red pine (Cathedral Pines, some of which may have been saplings when Benedict Arnold's army passed by on the way to Quebec in 1775.)  There's a scenic overlook at ~1/7 miles that used to have picnic tables - was deep in snow last time I went by, but I've heard there's even a better view ~3/4 mile further.

On Eustis Ridge, the “scenic overlook” at the top of the hill is gradually being hemmed in by trees, but still a nice spot. If you continue on the road, dowhill and curving to the left, it doesn’t look very promising but eventually you get to open lots with a few houses and the view is wide open  - the whole panorama from Saddleback to Bigelow.

I take issue with calling the high-end amount the “worst case”.

5 hours ago, CAPE said:

Beautiful evening for a few drinks around the firepit. 

 

 

 

You really have a beautiful place. Whenever I see your location, it makes me think more Greensboro VT rather than Greensboro MD. Only thing lacking is the snow!

2 hours ago, PhineasC said:

The craziest part is the the ski patrol guys nonchalantly standing around chatting while that poor dude is blasted with icy water and then appears to be a frozen corpse hanging half off the chair for several minutes. No one seems to too concerned.

This. I really don’t understand what they were trying to do. Running the lift? Wouldn’t it be better to stop the lift with the jet between chairs and rope everyone down? Then they stop it right where the guy is getting blasted? As Phin says, the guy isn’t moving at all when they finally move him away. Holy crap - cross this place off the list.

14 minutes ago, eyewall said:

Thank you and no site specifically, but I can get you a print if you DM me. It is expensive to maintain a site. I am uploading to Picfair though and I will give you that link when it is ready.

Thank you and to all who post pics. For us stuck down south who can't make it up at this time of year, these are next best thing to being there. A special shoutout to Powder as well for his shots from Stowe.

Just gorgeous shots! Thank you Eyewall! Love the colors on an overcast day. Do you have a site for purchase?

A handful of houses at Saddleback around 2400', condos a bit higher. Sugarloaf west mtn houses close to the same elevation.

6 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Awesome views today.  Looking towards Alex, Diane and Phin's neck of the woods.

This perspective really communicates how anomalously big Mt. Washington is for eastern North America. Nothing else close.

7 hours ago, tamarack said:

Neither can I.  Looks like SR near the left edge and Mansfield shouldn't be too far from the right edge. (If not beyond)   Google Earth has MWN 61 miles from Saddleback at about azimuth 225° true.  SR is 37 miles at around 210° and Mansfield 115 miles at about 255-260°.  Given the respective angles left and right from MWN, Mansfield might be off the right edge.  (Bearings are eyeball estimates thus none too precise.)  Looks like the Mahoosucs between SR and MWN, more toward MWN.

Edit:  The close-up circle between peaks looks to be the saddle between Elephant and Old Blue Mountains, south of Richardson Lake and about 17 miles from Saddleback.  The "gunsight" view between those summits would point toward Moosilauke/Layayette, peaks that are 90 and 77 miles from Saddleback, respectively (assuming GE is accurate.)

 

Wife and I drove the loop home-Eustis-Rangeley-home (149 miles) today - spectacular.  Unfortunately, trees were in the way of seeing the Bigelow range unobstructed from Eustis Ridge. (We didn't care to wade into several feet of snow on the unplowed picnic area and stand on a table for a better view.)  Last time I was there was October of 2003.  Great views of Saddleback both from the north while on Rt 16 and from the west while headed home on Rt 4.  Rt 16 bumps between Stratton and Rangeley were memorable.  Surprisingly saw neither deer (they get fed on the Kennebago Road just off 16 in Coplin Plantation) nor moose.

If you keep going on Eustis Ridge Rd past the picnic area it eventually bends around into open fields that have recently built homes and some lots. In many spots you can see the whole panorama from Bigelow to Saddleback unobstructed. I think one of the best views in the East. Unexpected because it's lower in elevation than the picnic area, but the picnic spot is gradually getting hemmed in by trees as the years go by.

20 minutes ago, psuhoffman said:

@HighStakes my 5.5” was definitely low. Now that I’m out clearing and looking around the 5.5 area i typically measure in was a low spot. Wind was unusual with this one so snow drifted it weird ways compared to what I’m used to. The 5.5 areas are compacted down to 4.5 now but I found a general 6-8” of new depth on top of the ice on the other side of my property (downwind) of the ridge which was the opposite side of normal.  Even one foot drifts very common on the front side of my house. 

If I simply take an average of measurements around my property between the board on my driveway, the deck, and the front walk I get 6.5” and that’s without counting the 1 foot drifts. Plus it was likely more since there has been a lot of compaction since 2 hours ago!  

We need to buy up some property on "Psuhoff Ridge" and start an AmWx snow colony. That Is the Place!

22 minutes ago, BlizzardNole said:

Alrighty North Balti, time to get you some of these

I have stabilicers, which are not as hard core as this.  They make all the difference in the world and will literally save your ass. Getting to old to fall on the ice so 25 bucks and a few seconds to save broken bones works for me.

https://stabil.implus.com/product/stabil-walk

13 minutes ago, psuhoffman said:

I am THERE!  You may have just picked my next trip!

Looks like they’re having a great season so far. Might be open well into spring.

Just now, psuhoffman said:

They open again!!!???  I’ve always wanted too! And I love smaller resorts sometimes. A basin is one of my favorites in Colorado. 

New ownership. New high speed lift.

https://www.saddlebackmaine.com/

4 minutes ago, psuhoffman said:

Hell yea if it wasn’t so freaking middle of no where that would be on my short list of places to live. Love sugarloaf also. Favorite east coast ski resort. 

If you haven’t been to Saddleback, it’s amazing. Obviously not as big as the ‘loaf, but big enough. Should be even better with the new lift.

20 minutes ago, EastCoast NPZ said:

I was in Rangeley,  ME, July 2019.  36F in the evening.  The place is Heaven.

Very few places in the east that can compete with Rangeley in the summer.