J.Spin

Thanks PF, I figured you guys would update the storm total beyond the 14" that was on the website once you had time. It was pretty obvious that there was significantly more than that based on the reports from the surrounding resorts, and then your of course your images. I’ve updated the storm total list below – you guys are the only northern resort that has made an evening update thus far, but we’ll see what updates are made tomorrow. Jay Peak: 20” Smuggler’s Notch: 20” Stowe: 30” Bolton Valley: 20” Mad River Glen: 14” Sugarbush: 10” Middlebury: 6” Pico: 6” Killington: 6” Okemo: 2” Bromley: 6” Magic Mountain: 4” Stratton: 6” Mount Snow: 3”

Event totals: 7.8” Snow/1.60” L.E. Details from the 6:00 P.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 0.8 inches New Liquid: 0.03 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 26.7 Snow Density: 3.8% H2O Temperature: 21.7 F Sky: Partly Cloudy Snow at the stake: 14.5 inches

Here’s the north to south listing of available totals from the Vermont ski areas for Winter Storm Odell thus far. Some resorts may have done midday updates, so those will have some of this morning’s snow included already. There’s still moisture from the Great Lakes affecting the area, so the numbers may still change a bit in the next day or so. Jay Peak: 20” Smuggler’s Notch: 20” Stowe: 14” Bolton Valley: 20” Mad River Glen: 14” Sugarbush: 10” Middlebury: 6” Pico: 6” Killington: 6” Okemo: 2” Bromley: 6” Magic Mountain: 4” Stratton: 6” Mount Snow: 3”

Event totals: 7.0” Snow/1.56” L.E. Below I’ve got my updates from the past couple rounds of observations at our site. Snow is off and on, and at times rather heavy as we get influenced by the lake moisture assist from upstream in the Great Lakes. Details from the 12:00 A.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 1.8 inches New Liquid: 0.10 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 18.0 Snow Density: 5.6% H2O Temperature: 23.4 F Sky: Light Snow (1 to 8 mm flakes) Snow at the stake: 15.5 inches Details from the 6:00 A.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 0.2 inches New Liquid: 0.01 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 20.0 Snow Density: 5.0% H2O Temperature: 21.4 F Sky: Light Snow (1 to 2 mm flakes) Snow at the stake: 14.5 inches

Event totals: 5.0” Snow/1.46” L.E. My wife and the boys were home today due to school vacation, so they were able to get an intermediate sampling for water analysis. The morning started as the cat paws I reported on before, which brought an impressive 0.58” of liquid, then it changed over to snow and brought 1.9” of snow with 0.36” of liquid equivalent, and finally the afternoon session brought 2.8” of snow with an additional 0.16” of liquid equivalent. The snow had shut off in Burlington by the time I was heading home today, and there was essentially nothing falling all the way through Bolton Flats. Then I started ascending the pass toward the house and the snow suddenly started to appear. It had picked up to a steady moderate snow by the time I reached the house, and we’ve had light to moderate snow going on since I’ve been here. Details from the 6:00 P.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 4.7 inches New Liquid: 0.52 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 9.0 Snow Density: 11.1% H2O Temperature: 27.7 F Sky: Snow (3 to 20 mm flakes) Snow at the stake: 15.0 inches

Yeah, I see that snow is passing the 8” mark on the Stowe Snow Stake Webcam – and that’s after the accumulation was cleared this morning. Even the lower valleys are accumulating now – we’ve had pounding snow at times here in BTV over the past couple of hours and we’ve got about ½” – 1” of accumulation here at UVM now that the temperature has come down. At the house in Waterbury I see that we’ve picked up about 1” or so.

Yeah, I see that snow is passing the 8” mark on the Stowe Snow Stake Webcam – and that’s after the accumulation was cleared this morning. Even the lower valleys are accumulating now – we’ve had pounding snow at times here in BTV over the past couple of hours and we’ve got about ½” – 1” of accumulation here at UVM now that the temperature has come down. At the house in Waterbury I see that we’ve picked up about 1” or so.

Yeah, I see that snow is passing the 8” mark on the Stowe Snow Stake Webcam – and that’s after the accumulation was cleared this morning. Even the lower valleys are accumulating now – we’ve had pounding snow at times here in BTV over the past couple of hours and we’ve got about ½” – 1” of accumulation here at UVM now that the temperature has come down. At the house in Waterbury I see that we’ve picked up about 1” or so.

I saw that when I took a look at some of the models earlier – very neat to see it roll out all the way over into Maine, but sometimes that happens. The frame you chose has that band going right over me and PF in the Bolton-Stowe region.

Event totals: 0.3” Snow/0.06” L.E. Even in Burlington it snowed most of the day today, but temperatures were marginal, so accumulations were minimal down in the valleys. Toward evening it seemed to mix with/change to a bit of drizzle before shutting off. Details from the 6:00 P.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 0.1 inches New Liquid: 0.01 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 10.0 Snow Density: 10.0% H2O Temperature: 34.7 F Sky: Cloudy Snow at the stake: 12.0 inches

Event totals: 0.2” Snow/0.04” L.E. When I initially to a peek outside this morning it looked like all my equipment was just wet, so I’d grabbed the tools for simply liquid analysis and cleanup. When I actually stepped out the door though, I realized that it was snowing with some accumulation, and all the liquid was partially frozen. I then had to head back in and get everything for a full analysis. This storm has been named Winter Storm Odell, and while the bulk of the snowfall in our area is expected to be at elevation, we’re currently getting at least a bit of accumulation in the valleys as well. Details from the 6:00 A.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 0.2 inches New Liquid: 0.01 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 20.0 Snow Density: 5.0% H2O Temperature: 32.2 F Sky: Light Snow (1 to 2 mm flakes) Snow at the stake: 12.5 inches

I’ve added the latest BTV NWS maps for the upcoming storm, which has been named Winter Storm Odell. There aren’t any winter alerts in our immediate area of the Northern Greens, but the mountain forecast looks quite substantial – the Mt. Mansfield point forecast suggests 12-18” through Thursday night, so there appears to be a lot of potential for snow in the higher elevations.

Around Bolton Valley Resort there’s lots of backcountry skiing just like you’ll find at many of the Vermont ski areas, with some famous officially-maintained routes/areas like the Woodward Mountain Trail, Cotton Brook Area, Bolton-Trapp traverse, Catamount Trail, etc. Beyond that though, Bolton Valley has a bit of a special set up in that there is a bunch of easy-access backcountry skiing integrated into and around their Nordic ski trails. They call this the Bolton Valley Nordic and Backcountry Network. I guess looking at a map is the easiest way to get a sense for the area: In terms of actual, purpose-built backcountry skiing areas in the state, I’d say that RASTA’s Brandon Gap Area and the Bolton Valley Nordic and Backcountry Network are the most prominent/easy access areas I know about. Like Brandon Gap, Bolton’s network is very easy access, but at Bolton you’re literally starting right in the resort village, and many of the trails are even patrolled (although the patrolled area only extends so far into the backcountry). The patrolling etc. comes with a bit of a price in that you should purchase a Nordic pass for the day ($17 this season) to access the network. For a sampling of the touring in the area, I’ve got the details on dozens of Bolton backcountry tours I’ve done listed on our backcountry page. Checking those out will definitely give you a feel for the various possibilities in the area: http://jandeproductions.com/backcountry/ In my reports I include a GPS/Google Earth map that gives a general idea of the tour. To give you a sense for how easy the access can be, I’ve included the map from our tour on Saturday below. We did two laps in under 90 minutes, but you can do tours well under an hour depending on how efficient you are and how far you want to go. Access is certainly easy, especially to their lower glades – there are even much closer glades than what we visited on Saturday down below Bryant Cabin.

I finished up the trip report from our tour on Saturday, so I’m passing along a few pictures. I’m sure the snow will have consolidated a bit since we’ve had some above freezing temperatures over the past couple of days, but these will give you the general idea. The elevations around here look like they’ll get some decent snow, so the backcountry touring should be great atop the already existing base. The full report can be accessed by the linked text.

Early this morning I got a text alert that we’ve been put under a Winter Storm Watch in association with the upcoming storm this week. The graphical point forecast for our location looks fairly active and wintry over the next few days, and suggests 3-6” of snow through Thursday, with perhaps a bit more in the Friday timeframe.

I’ve actually been considering a trip down to Brandon Gap, but thus far I’ve been staying up here in the Northern Greens because I’ve been unsure of the quality of the powder farther south. I was just out on the Bolton Valley Backcountry Network yesterday though, and the conditions were excellent. I’d actually describe the conditions as even better than what we encountered last Saturday – and that already wasn’t too shabby: The powder skiing then was decent, but there was a marginal buried crust present in some areas that knocked the overall feel down a notch. The mountains have had several more inches of snow since then though, and when I was out for a tour yesterday afternoon with my son, we didn’t encounter any signs of it because it’s probably buried deep enough now. Surface powder depths we found were right around 20 inches before getting down to the base, which is basically what we found last weekend. The powder was more consistent yesterday though with any crust buried deeper. That 20 inches of powder is fairly settled at this point of course, so we’re not talking about sinking down 20 inches into fresh champagne, you’re more like 6 to 12 inches down in the powder, but the rest is serving as fantastic cushion above the base. I haven’t finished up my report yet, but I’ll send along a bit more info and some pictures when I do. The upcoming storm actually looks pretty nice for the mountains around here from what I’ve seen. There’s likely going to be some mixed precipitation, but unless things change dramatically it looks like another nice gain for the snowpack. Some of the models also show extended upslope snow on the back side of the cycle.

I’d still argue that’s an absolutely insurmountable elevation difference for any sort of apples to apples comparison though, unless you guys have a record of similar annual snowfall in the past or something.

I’ve been a bit busy this week with other stuff, but on Sunday we headed over to Lake Morey Resort, so I wanted to pass along some images. A big feature there is of course the 4.5-mile skating loop around the lake, which is apparently the longest skating trail in the United States, but it’s a classic NNE experience in general for those who haven’t been yet.

Right, my data are from the Waterbury area, more specifically along the Waterbury/Bolton line to the west of town along the spine of the Greens. Because of that location, our site does a decent job of mirroring what goes on at some of the local resorts like Stowe. The plot of the snowpack at the Mt. Mansfield Stake gives a good sense for how the season has gone. That stretch of below average depths played out sort of how you’d expect – conditions were perhaps a bit below average, but that’s really not all that bad around here. Hitting that storm (Winter Storm Kade) earlier this month was a good time to be around here though – it was a nice shot of snow that actually got the snow depths up near average as you can see on the plot.

Event totals: 2.1” Snow/0.16” L.E. Everything cleared out today, so these should be the final totals for this event. Details from the 8:00 P.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 0.5 inches New Liquid: 0.02 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 25.0 Snow Density: 4.0% H2O Temperature: 16.3 F Sky: Cloudy Snow at the stake: 15.5 inches

I see we picked up another 0.6” from that burst – pretty fluffy because it’s settling rather quickly. Mansfield is hidden again behind snowfall and I see on the radar that there’s some additional shots of moisture moving into the area:

Roger that, we had that mist as well around observations time yesterday evening. It was really brief in this area though and quickly turned back to snow - I couldn’t even detect it when I was clearing the snow off the webcam board this morning. We had another round of snow this morning, which brings the total to 1.7” for the event. That’s a touch below the 2-4” in the point forecast, but I find the lower end of the range is common in these types of events with more southerly component to the flow and small flakes/snow grains.

Event totals: 1.6” Snow/0.14” L.E. Details from the 12:00 A.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 0.6 inches New Liquid: 0.04 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 15.0 Snow Density: 6.7% H2O Temperature: 36.0 F Sky: Cloudy Snow at the stake: 16.0 inches

Event totals: 1.0” Snow/0.10” L.E. The snow accumulations in the Burlington area seemed similar to what I found here in Waterbury, but in line with what I saw on the way into town this morning, there was essentially no visible accumulation in the Richmond area by I-89. I’m guessing it was due to downsloping along the western slopes of the Greens. The snow had stopped and we just had some mist falling at observations time here at the house, but not long after that it changed back to snow and we’ve had light snow falling here since that point. Details from the 6:00 P.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 1.0 inches New Liquid: 0.10 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 10.0 Snow Density: 10.0% H2O Temperature: 31.3 F Sky: Mist Snow at the stake: 15.5 inches

The first flakes I saw this morning at the house in Waterbury appeared around 7:15 A.M. or so, and it was certainly picking up in intensity by the time I was leaving around 7:45 A.M. As I headed west though, the snow stopped altogether, which may be due to some of that downsloping that the modeling shows for the western slopes. There was nothing going on here in Burlington when I arrived around 8:30 A.M., but there’s a steady light snow out there now.