Angus

Much better than expected at Cannon today. They have done a good job recovering from last weekend. The front 5 part of mountain was being pounded by snow making to point it was nearly impossible to ski due to visibility. First day on downhill skis - felt good.

headed to Cannon tomorrow. Son sent me a Reddit thread about today's lines - yikes, some of the pictures posted were horrible.

planning on alpine skiing for first time this season on Sunday or Monday - really hoping these two events deliver in the notch. The thought of skiing a bunch of ice is unappealing for my first day out of season. This has to be the latest start to my season in 15 seasons.

would like to get out to Hunter this season - I've never skied in NY state.

the sign that the road is closed in the winter is pretty obvious if my memory serves me right. This ski trip will be legend in that family forever. Lucky they are all fine.

If you know how to move around Killington, avoiding the crowd and skiing the right trails, it is a great mountain. I feel lost when skiing alone but when I follow my son who knows his way around, I enjoy it very much. We usually start at Bear Mountain, go all the way across the resort and back again. With that said, I rarely ski mid-winter - tend to ski bumps around May 1 most years. 5 more days this week on the skinny skis at the Weston ski track...kind of concerned they may lose their loop with the incoming precipitation.

[Was pointing the mountain out to my daughter from Welch Dickey on Sunday. Just looked up their current pricing for season pass - $389. I think ragged was selling their passes for low $300's pre-season. Like all skiers, would love to see them succeed but no snow making is problematic.

Daughter, dog and I hiked Welch Dickey (Waterville Valley NH - today - beautiful day to be in mountains. probably only 4" on the ground.

Someone posted pictures of Sugarbush on a ski forum I read, from Thursday I think, Sugarbush has a pretty liberal policy relative to trail openings...some of the trails looked very, very thin.

https://waw.w3.uvm.edu//skivt-l/?Page=depths.php

So quick update, 5 days of nordic skiing this week. Two days at Weston and three around the neighborhood. Great Brook received their contract from the DCR one day after they were eligible to be open but the latest update stated the DCR had still not counter signed so they can't begin preparations to open. They would have gotten huge crowds this weekend. I can't tell you how disappointing the behavior of the DCR is for the local nordic skiing community and everyone feels very bad for the guy who runs the place and his employees. On weekends when they are open, you can't find a parking spot- it always amazes me what a huge pent-up demand there is to ski. Also, the local high schools use it as a practice facility rather than fighting traffic to weston. just a joke.

Went out for a XC ski in the field adjacent to my house this evening - made a pair of tracks probably 100 yards in length - and just went back and forth for a half hour or so. The local nordic center (Great Brook) can't open due to the MA DCR (department of conservation and recreation) having not issued the necessary concession permit - total joke. Too bad, I'm sure they are losing revenue given Chelmsford/Carlisle received at least 12". And Weston Ski track which I'm less familiar with having just been a passholder last season seems to want to build a man-made base before opening - plus weston didn't get that much snow - 4". Oh well, still nice to be gliding!

LOL. Tim Kelley 'skiing' in the woods at stowe! https://twitter.com/TimNBCBoston/status/1198262278711390209

went to the boston ski show last night - hadn't gone in years and was looking for something to get me out of the house last nite. Yes, I lead a very dull life! I wasn't really checking areas off a list but I'm not sure if I saw Stowe there?? But the reason I'm typing this is I noticed there were no Massachusetts ski areas exhibiting west of Wachusett. In previous year threads, we've discussed how BE, Jiminy, Catamount , Otis, Bousquet, etc - western Massachusetts areas don't even look for traffic from the eastern half of state. I am impressed that Berkshire East is opening this early. Great area.

You have to get up pretty early to beat Sugarloaf1989. The dog woke me up at 2:15 this morning to go out and when I came back in and checked my phone, the story popped up. I went to post but Sugarloaf1989 had beat me to it by about 40 minutes or so! Of course, I beat him to Sugarloaf by 7 years - Jan 1982, if moniker is indicative of his first time there. Saddleback is a great mountain. I've skied there when only the t-bar was running and had a great time. The Kennabago quad which was installed by the Barry's can be reached via a long traverse from the t-bar but the 'normal' customer wouldn't do it. The new chairlift which will replace to old double really makes the whole mountain easily accessible. I know the locals have been pruning and keeping at least some of the glades thinned out but suspect the glades will take some time to recover from 4 years of inattention. Great mountain, great for the W. Maine region and also provides an alternative to/and some competition to Sugarloaf which is good.

Just saw the NENSA Rollerski race has been cancelled in Stowe. NENSA posted a picture of some pretty serious erosion.

i love BV. it is a great mid-size mountain with a real mix of terrain, great snow and you get a lot of skiing in during the day due to lack of crowds. Although rare, if I spend a weekend up in that neck of the woods - I'll ski MRG, Stowe or Sugarbush really hard 1 day of weekend and spend the 2nd day at BV. Speaking of lift lines, when I ski at Sugarbush, I spend most of the peak ski day over at glen ellen - there are rarely lines and some great terrain.

Wow, the new gondola and summit restaurant dominate BW. I drove by yesterday and took quick glance.

Big roller ski (nordic) race tomorrow at MRG. Thinking I might take out my roller skis over weekend and re-awaken the muscles!

18-19" in Concord MA. Definitely will see some localized higher amounts reports. Two measurements - around 2PM and then an hour or so ago. Local school district is making an announcement of either 2 hour delay or no school at 4:30AM.

back from walk with dog - an additional 5-6" in 2.5 hours out on my driveway - in Concord. That would bring me to 14-15" storm total which seems a little low from what others are reporting locally. heavy snow at moment.

Just went out and shovelled the driveway, stuck ruler in several spots shielded from wind and found consistent 8.5-9". Moderate heavy snow falling. Would be nice to get to 18" - that's my criteria for a memorable storm! Snow is relatively light. There is a good inch of melt slush at bottom of pack. Local weather station reading 28 with max gust of 28 out of north...I'd say a pretty consistent 10-15 mph out of north.