uncletim

41 minutes ago, Jebman said:

Roger that! That was Feb 12-14 2003. I was in Harrisonburg with my ski friends for that one. Talk about whiteout on I 81!

Also, Feb 9 1994, storm started out as freezing rain at 19 degrees. Then it changed to HEAVY SLEET and it POURED heavy pingers for hours. We wound up with 3-4 inches of sleet otg which glaciated overnight. Then it was FUN FUN FUN to jebwalk on! I saw ppl with digging bars trying to remove the stuff. It would warm to 48 degrees, little pools of water formed on top of the glacier then it just froze again at night lol.

Good Times.

That Feb '94 storm was one of the legends. I was in Arlington where it was also 19 degrees and absolutely pouring rain. Standing there looking out the door saying "What the...?" A lot of people don't believe it when I cite it, and I was almost beginning to doubt my own memory. Thanks for confirming!

36/11.5 in Rock Creek Canyon.

P.S. Bob's back!!!

6 hours ago, Jason215 said:

Okemo seems to be on top of their game re: grooming and snowmaking. They have quite a bit of water capacity to make snow. Killington for example- though they claim 75% of trails have snowmaking- if you follow their snow reports- they are only able to blow snow on 5-8 trails per night. It would take them well over a week to cover most of the mountain assuming they had an artic blast and it was sub 20 the entire time. A guy told me once they just don’t have the water pressure to blast large chucks of the mountain simultaneously (like Okemo does).

Also, re:your experience at Okemo- you went on a Wednesday- the snow does not get skied off as quickly as a weekend day- (much less skier traffic) so the tilled snow is able to last most of..if not the entire day. 

Not too many mountains around here have south facing slopes, but I agree that would change my guidelines somewhat. Especially for March/April spring skiing. 37 on a sunny March day with a southern exposure would be enough to melt the ice into spring conditions. 

Okemo is a really good mountain, they make the best of whatever the weather throws at them. My gripe with them is they can get really crowded on weekends. Killington is so big, there are plenty of mid/upper mountain lifts where you can escape the crowds. They need to get that South Ridge lift moving already, that’s probably my favorite part of the mountain. 

Certainly Okemo does a remarkable job with surface prep, and I'm lucky to be able to get up there a couple times a year during the week when it's relatively deserted, and less expensive. We'll see how things change with Vail ownership. Prices seemed to take quite a jump this year...

23 hours ago, Jason215 said:

In my opinion, assuming there is no freeze/thaw issues, I think the conditions are close to ideal when the temps are between 25-30 (for nice powder/packed powder). Colder than that is perfectly fine, but you just might not be as comfortable.

After a rainstorm and then a hard freeze, you want to ski in temps about 40-45 or so to make sure the icey hardpack melts.  This would provide soft spring-like conditions- which in my opinion is the second best scenario. You don’t want to go skiing after a thaw or rainstorm and then a hard freeze and temps remain sub freezing- the whole mountain would be all ice and terrible conditions. 

These are good guidelines, but there are a lot of variables that affect them. I think the resort's primary slope direction matters a lot. Not to get hung up on Mid-Atlantic examples in this subforum, but Whitetail in PA with it's south-east facing slopes needs a really cold day to hold up if the sun is out. I would assume Bromley is similar relative to its VT brethren. And regarding the thaw/freeze issue, grooming skill can make a huge difference. This past Tuesday at Okemo was springtime in Feb. with temps in the 50s and then it froze up tight on Tuesday night. I thought Wed. would be a skating rink, but the groomers managed to make a silk(ish) purse out of a sow's ear. Not exactly soft packed powder corduroy, but a mostly good-quality skiing surface.

Bottom line is that skiing the east is usually something of a gamble regarding conditions, but a little bit of foreknowledge about the specific destination can improve the odds!

Summit bubble lift at Okemo not running, I assume due to wind, but I don't even see any chairs on it...?

3 hours ago, das said:

Charlotte, VT. 13 miles south of Burlington in the Champlain Valley.  3 miles east of Lake Champlain. 

Thanks! I think I recall you saying that you were in a "low-snow" situation for VT, so I was wondering Champlain or CT River valley.

23 minutes ago, das said:

Ok, here’s a couple. 14” otg so far but it’s very hard to measure with winds at 22G40.  CXX Mets were saying this morning that 35-40 dBZ returns below 0°F were nearly unprecedented. Saw lots of that this morning. Storm temps started at 0°F, dropped to -10°F around midnight and have crept up to 1°F, all under a strong SSW WAA regime above 800mb and strong (20+mph) N cold air draining down the Champlain Valley at 925mb. 1”+ per hour rates will continue for another 2-3 hours then taper to snow showers (with 3-5” more after that through tomorrow mid day as the NW flow becomes blocked (with Froude numbers falling below 1.0) and temps crashing to -15 to -20°F and dangerous wind chills of -40°F. Fun stuff!

What town in VT is this?

I'm not native to this forum, but I have spent a good amount of time scoping out the different resorts over the years and I'm not an advanced skier, so I might be able to contribute.

Stratton should have enough wide easy greens even from the top. As I recall, East and West Meadows are just as their names imply: wide and low angle. Also nice easy trails, not quite so wide open, from Tamarack on the lower 3rd of the mountain. In my experience, steeper trails tend to get scraped off quickly by crowds. Stratton also has the only real slopeside village in NE that I know of - a walking mall with shops, restaurants etc.

Okemo is a great fit for lower level skiers in general. Grooming is top notch and almost nothing is steep, so it's tough to get into trouble. Lots of wide greens and easy blues. While there are plenty of slopeside accommodations, there's no "village" as such. Ludlow has some pleasant lower priced overnight options.

Concur with Angus that Bretton Woods may be the best for lower level skiers, with lots of different green options and the bonus of an amazing view when you can see it. No village, but if you stay at the Mt. Washington (expensive of course), just about everything will be at hand. If you stay in North Conway, which has tons of accommodations at all different price levels, you can take a day at Wildcat. The trip down Polecat is a great experience for beginners.

Stowe is one of the few places I have not been, so I can't compare.

MLK weekend is likely to be both crowded and pricey at all the big resorts, so maybe some others can comment on ways to avoid or deal with the worst of that. Good Luck!

8 hours ago, Met1985 said:

Nice! I have been looking to buy a hole in the wall or some land around Rangeley but it's a bit expensive around the lake. Beautiful though. 

Rangeley and Mooselook waterfront are pricey. Smaller lakes and ponds not nearly so much.

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

With the whole thing framed by the slightly lighter green of the white pines.  Super composition.

The roadside trees were actually what I was referring to. I assumed they were balsams and/or spruces, but now I see the pines. A great photo.

8 hours ago, OceanStWx said:

A few shots from Grafton Notch State Park yesterday

In the last shot, the contrast of the the green spruces/balsams with the gold is especially beautiful, and the sign is the icing on the cake.

Eyewall and Pf - amazing photos. Thank you!

3 hours ago, eyewall said:

The weather wasn't really there for a truly visually compelling wide shot but I did this quick before departing for NC. This was near North Elba before getting to Lake Placid in the ADK's off 73 on 10.1.2018 (not processed, straight from the drone camera):

 

Intense color. Thanks for giving those of us in the tropics some vicarious enjoyment!

1 hour ago, eyewall said:

I am on the road home but detoured over to the high peaks region of the adks and wow what a change in just a few days. High color to hear peak near North Elba by Lake Placid. I will have a clip later on from a rainy drone flight

Can't wait to see it. Gorgeous area, and low cloud days are usually the best for colors.

Just grabbed this pic off the webcam for Bald Mtn Camps in Rangeley. Aurora or just a camera effect?

Her's the link: https://www.rangeleymaine.com/rangeley/webcams

I've gotta give Dec. 09 some love, for the quality of the snow. Beautiful, almost "champagne powder" from start to finish. A breeze to shovel, or even use a leaf blower. This week was close, though.