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The 2012/13 Ski Season Thread


ski MRG

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"In the 20s" as in what...? 29? You really need wet bulb temperatures around ~24 and lower to start making good snow in most cases. That and it's almost getting to the 50s during the day. Snowmaking costs an astronomical amount of money and it's honestly kind of silly to make marginal snow at night and have a good chunk of it melt during the days. 50 and sun doesn't do great things for snow when it's 5 days in a row of it. I agree with their decision.

24/25 for the lows the last few nights. already 30F at 6:30PM. Did not get above 45 since...Tuesday?And they did crap for snowmaking last year (not usually their fault, too warm). So many injuries due to icy conditions that they could have avoided.

But did they lower prices? Give discounts? Of course not. Again, not totally their fault, but c'mon...

Does not need to be 19/10 to get snow...

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Went to jiminy peak today and while the snow was thin in some spots and icy in others conditions were generally good as the sun softened things up. Skied 10-3 then called it a day as my legs pretty much gave out, this is my first time out since I broke my tibia and fibula last year in SLC and it felt really good to be on snow again.

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Went to jiminy peak today and while the snow was thin in some spots and icy in others conditions were generally good as the sun softened things up. Skied 10-3 then called it a day as my legs pretty much gave out, this is my first time out since I broke my tibia and fibula last year in SLC and it felt really good.

Has to be one of the earliest ski days in Mass history (as far as officially being open). Last October folks were hiking WaWa and skiing down

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Went to jiminy peak today and while the snow was thin in some spots and icy in others conditions were generally good as the sun softened things up. Skied 10-3 then called it a day as my legs pretty much gave out, this is my first time out since I broke my tibia and fibula last year in SLC and it felt really good to be on snow again.

good to hear...i was just looking at their trail map today, and wondering how the weekend skiing went...even if we aren't getting real snow, i'm glad the temps cooperated so that resort from SNE all the way to NNE can make some snow...

if we had another winter like last winter i think some of the smaller resorts may have gone under...

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Guns were cranking at Wawa last three nights in a row and with evening temps this week in the 20s-low 30s, they should have enough cover to make their scheduled Fri open. Checked out the latest Warren Miller movie in Worcester on Sat night. As usual, a great movie that pumps you up for the upcoming season.

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So I've been monitoring the temps a bit more closely the last few days because the snow preservation varies so much across this mountain, and I'd like to see how/why.

On each "terrain pod" or zone, we have weather stations at the summit/middle/base. We picked up a general 2-4 inch snowfall a week ago (last Monday night) and then its been sunny and dry since. South facing areas of the mountain have been snow free all the way to 3,600ft for days now, while east facing slopes see consistent natural snow start pretty high up (2,700-3,000ft) but with ribbons on north facing treeline down to 2,000ft, while north facing slopes have natural snow on the ground down to 1,700-1,800ft.

This is a crude panoramic, but the left side of the photo (in the shade at 12pm, only sees sun for 2hrs a day at first light) is north facing, while the terrain on the right is east facing. All snow seen in the photo is natural snow.

So I've noticed that on the north facing side of the mountain, the temperatures tend to run a solid 5-10F lower than the east to southeast aspects. Pretty cool to see how that natural snow gets preserved so well on the left side of the phone below, vs the right side. It was 37F at 3,600ft at the top of the lifts on both stations...but then the mid-mtn stations were much different. It was 31F (high of only 32F) at 2,700ft on the steep north facing aspect of the mountain, while at 2,500ft on the east facing side it was 39F. Both base areas were registering near 40F.

I believe the stations are legit and it just goes to show how frost can last all day long even in the valleys on north facing aspects... without seeing any sunshine all day long this time of year, the very shaded north facing slope never warms up. Its almost like it is radiational cooling at midday noon, while all other aspects are still warming up through the afternoon.

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So I've been monitoring the temps a bit more closely the last few days because the snow preservation varies so much across this mountain, and I'd like to see how/why.

On each "terrain pod" or zone, we have weather stations at the summit/middle/base. We picked up a general 2-4 inch snowfall a week ago (last Monday night) and then its been sunny and dry since. South facing areas of the mountain have been snow free all the way to 3,600ft for days now, while east facing slopes see consistent natural snow start pretty high up (2,700-3,000ft) but with ribbons on north facing treeline down to 2,000ft, while north facing slopes have natural snow on the ground down to 1,700-1,800ft.

This is a crude panoramic, but the left side of the photo (in the shade at 12pm, only sees sun for 2hrs a day at first light) is north facing, while the terrain on the right is east facing. All snow seen in the photo is natural snow.

So I've noticed that on the north facing side of the mountain, the temperatures tend to run a solid 5-10F lower than the east to southeast aspects. Pretty cool to see how that natural snow gets preserved so well on the left side of the phone below, vs the right side. It was 37F at 3,600ft at the top of the lifts on both stations...but then the mid-mtn stations were much different. It was 31F (high of only 32F) at 2,700ft on the steep north facing aspect of the mountain, while at 2,500ft on the east facing side it was 39F. Both base areas were registering near 40F.

I believe the stations are legit and it just goes to show how frost can last all day long even in the valleys on north facing aspects... without seeing any sunshine all day long this time of year, the very shaded north facing slope never warms up. Its almost like it is radiational cooling at midday noon, while all other aspects are still warming up through

Cool stuff PF. I've noticed the same around here with the frost. There are even areas of my backyard where the long lasting frost follows the shadows cast by the fence rails. Allenson's post even mentions "accumulating" frost in particularly shady areas. It really does show how snow retention works.

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Cool stuff PF. I've noticed the same around here with the frost. There are even areas of my backyard where the long lasting frost follows the shadows cast by the fence rails. Allenson's post even mentions "accumulating" frost in particularly shady areas. It really does show how snow retention works.

Yeah in a period where the weather is relatively boring like this, we gotta geek out to something else, haha.

I think its real easy though to use "frost" as a substitue for "snow" right now in the lower els (below 2,000ft) and watch the melting patterns. This is my first winter in a new place with a decent sized yard, and I'm already getting to see what patterns the snow melt will likely take based on the frost patterns throughout the day.

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i've given up on a November opening for Wawa...

They'll open on Friday. The snowboarders and freestyle skiers are already hitting the boxes and rails on Ollies. They just have to hoof it right now. I think Ollies and the new Monadnock Quad will be open by Fri giving access to beginner terrain.

Video from yesterday of weekends progress.

!
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Stowe looks great right now. Lots of coverage on the open trails and that place holds natural snow unbelievably. The piles on Spruce Peak are huge lol. Got to hang out with PF for a while today, dude has the dream job! Very nice person too, hopefully we can all ski together this winter.

i got a few runs with him last year, during a window of decent skiing in late march.

there's a chance i'm there sat sun or mon, but it's tuff call right now.

i wonder if stowe is lookin at 3-6 this weekend. all we need is one moose to fart in the woods, and the upslope sometimes turns on .

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They'll open on Friday. The snowboarders and freestyle skiers are already hitting the boxes and rails on Ollies. They just have to hoof it right now. I think Ollies and the new Monadnock Quad will be open by Fri giving access to beginner terrain.

Video from yesterday of weekends progress.

!

One inside source I have says nope...another week.

I am not sure I 100% believe them though. As far as the new Monadnock quad opening, there is literally no snow over there. They have only been making snow on Ollie's, Challenger, and a little on Ralph's

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One inside source I have says nope...another week.

I am not sure I 100% believe them though. As far as the new Monadnock quad opening, there is literally no snow over there. They have only been making snow on Ollie's, Challenger, and a little on Ralph's

i agree...i was just at WaWa for the blood drive and the snow they had made was really really sparse...gonna take them a bit to get enough coverage to ski on...plus its going to get a bit warmer and probably rain before we really get some good snow making temps...i'm betting on them opening in December...

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Been just amazing early up high on the mountain.

Ski day 12 saw me with dawn patrolling with the regular crew. The up was...ummm....spicy due to the fact we firmly believe you should ascend closed trails whenever possible. The down however was amazing.

Looking forward for stowe's 4-6 saturday. Some fresh on perfect cord is the way to fly....

Like the look of next week too.

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Been just amazing early up high on the mountain.

Ski day 12 saw me with dawn patrolling with the regular crew. The up was...ummm....spicy due to the fact we firmly believe you should ascend closed trails whenever possible. The down however was amazing.

Looking forward for stowe's 4-6 saturday. Some fresh on perfect cord is the way to fly....

Like the look of next week too.

Amen... for not sitting under blind corners on open terrain at o'dark thirty in dark jackets and pants while a groomer comes barreling around the corner.

And I'm thinking 1-3" for this weekend at this point. Just enough to whiten the ground. However I'm usually a little less aggressive than you are, adk, but you usually end up right while I'm pleasently surprised ;)

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And I'm thinking 1-3" for this weekend at this point. Just enough to whiten the ground. However I'm usually a little less aggressive than you are, adk, but you usually end up right while I'm pleasently surprised wink.png

I think adk often factors in that extra Mansfield “bump” or “magic” that it can be tough to nail down. Pleasantly surprised is probably the way to go in your official thoughts though; it helps to push against that typical (or at least perceived) ski area snow report bias. I love it when you predict X” of snow and you end up with X” + 6” or something and then document the hell out of it. It’s like sticking it to that overly cynical crowd that believes ski area snow observations are all about over-reporting.

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