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The 2012/13 Ski Season Thread


ski MRG

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Somewhat sub-par year out here so far with 243" on the season. Don't know what everyone is complaining about. I've never seen this much snow! Hoping for a strong finish but not nearly the disaster last year was nation wide.

Nice to know my 3000ft snow board is only 60" behind 10,000+ feet in the Wasatch, lol.

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Skied Mt. Baker today... Pretty good conditions with about 8" new up top and 6" lower down... The freezing level shot up on Friday night to high elevation so there was a bit of crust underneath. The terrain there is great with steep chutes, cliffs, and open faces. The snow depth at the base is 160" and at the top it is 190".. In the record setting year of 98-99 they received 1189" and had a max depth of 311". Amazing stuff... Off to Whistler tomorrow thru Friday for more fun!

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Nice to know my 3000ft snow board is only 60" behind 10,000+ feet in the Wasatch, lol.

 

Yeah we're at about 80% of average.. you must be right around average to date. Normally I think we'd be in the upper 200" range by now. 

 

Never-mind being 60" behind 10,000' in the Wasatch, you're 40" ahead of 13,000 feet in the front range. 

 

You're at 55% of season average

 

we're at 49%

 

front range resorts like Breck are at 42%. 

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Skied Mt. Baker today... Pretty good conditions with about 8" new up top and 6" lower down... The freezing level shot up on Friday night to high elevation so there was a bit of crust underneath. The terrain there is great with steep chutes, cliffs, and open faces. The snow depth at the base is 160" and at the top it is 190".. In the record setting year of 98-99 they received 1189" and had a max depth of 311". Amazing stuff... Off to Whistler tomorrow thru Friday for more fun!

 

Jealous... the Pacific NW is awesome.  I thought Whistler was the best ski resort I've ever been to from a terrain & operations standpoint.  They are running a tight ship up there and from my perspective, the operations side of running a mountain that big with so many lifts, avalanche concerns, wind, vertical feet, etc is just impressive.

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Yeah we're at about 80% of average.. you must be right around average to date. Normally I think we'd be in the upper 200" range by now. 

 

Never-mind being 60" behind 10,000' in the Wasatch, you're 40" ahead of 13,000 feet in the front range. 

 

You're at 55% of season average

 

we're at 49%

 

front range resorts like Breck are at 42%. 

 

We are below normal to date but within 1 standard deviation.  Nothing horrible but nothing remarkable either.

 

I love the Wastach resorts... I would like to work out there at some point.  Doing what I do now but out there would be sick, haha.

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Heading to Waterville at 6AM Tuesday. Daughter is doing the full day kids thing ($$$) but our lift tix are free

Hoping the rain holds off. Have not been there in years

Enjoy SR

 

People love to put down Waterville but I like it.  Gema, Oblivion, Tippecanoe are all great trails.

 

When I lived in Cambridge there were several years where you could buy a sun - fri Waterville/Loon pass and I ended up going to Waterville more often because the crowds were mellow and there were less obnoxious sh*theads.

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People love to put down Waterville but I like it.  Gema, Oblivion, Tippecanoe are all great trails.

 

When I lived in Cambridge there were several years where you could buy a sun - fri Waterville/Loon pass and I ended up going to Waterville more often because the crowds were mellow and there were less obnoxious sh*theads.

 

My only complaint about Waterville is the crowds.  Of all the places I've skied I find it the most dangerous.  I'm a big dude and I ski well, keep straight and always pay attention to the surroundings.  I've been almost hit or clicked skis/boards a couple of times at Waterville.  They really need to do what places like Sunapee and Sunday River have done this year which is aggressive ski patrol.

 

It was bad enough last year that I probably won't go back, I wouldn't feel safe with the kids.

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My only complaint about Waterville is the crowds. Of all the places I've skied I find it the most dangerous. I'm a big dude and I ski well, keep straight and always pay attention to the surroundings. I've been almost hit or clicked skis/boards a couple of times at Waterville. They really need to do what places like Sunapee and Sunday River have done this year which is aggressive ski patrol.

It was bad enough last year that I probably won't go back, I wouldn't feel safe with the kids.

I had Friday's off then so I guess I missed some of that. I swore off Killington for the same reasons you mentioned.

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Had a great three days at Stowe.  Very good snow on Friday and Saturday.  I was very impressed with how well the mountain absorbed the crowds on Saturday.  I never waited more than 10 minutes in the singles line for the gondola, and usually much less.  Lots of laps on Chin Clip.  Upper Liftline (right under the lift) to lower National was really nice too (though the last pitch of National was bulletproof).  I discovered the hard way that the chutes near the top of Bypass could use a bit more snow.

 

Sunday was a much bigger problem.  Spent about fifteen minutes stopped about three quarters up the Forerunner, buffeted by frigid winds, before they finally started it up again (and then closed it once everyone was off).  The gondola was crawling.  Between the lines and the slow lifts, it took two hours to complete two runs.  Nothing Stowe can do about the wind, obviously, and the previous two days had been so good I was able to be philosophical about the delays on Sunday.  Between the winds and the the skier traffic, high-traffic groomed trails were scraped, but there was some very nice snow in places.  Cliff Trail was nice and soft on the right and the glades to the right of Nosedive seemed to be the beneficiary of the snow blown off other trails.  Those woods seemed to ski even softer than they had the day before.

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I had Friday's off then so I guess I missed some of that. I swore off Killington for the same reasons you mentioned.

 

I've really come to appreciate the mountains that enforce safe skiing. Sunday River was ruthless the couple of trips up there this year.  They've had ski patrol stationed at may of the crossing trails and we did see them pulling tickets. 

 

I forget the name of the trail at Waterville, starts down and then right at the top there's a sharp switchback with a very steep wall.  It was impassable the last time we were there.  Boarders laying from one side to the other to the point where you had to side step your way through them.  That's the crap that frustrates me to no end.  Maybe they too have toughened it up this year.

 

SR and other places are so busy the fact is they don't have to tolerate the nonsense.

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Alright, where didn't get blown clean last night?  Berks or Catskills?  Either zone more or less likely to see NCP tomorrow before 3?  I want to keep tomorrow within ~3 hour drive from home because it's back to work and school on Wed.

 

Today was "special"... talk about wind scouring, but I guess sustained 80mph gusting over 100mph will do that.  Its not ice in the sense of liquid water that froze, but just very hard snow, haha.  Sub-zero temps and high winds can create one of the more interesting surfaces out there.

 

But a resurfacing upslope event is on the way...NWS mentioned Jay Peak to Stowe as favored in the forecast discussion and here's the Mansfield forecast.  Looks very similar to last week's event with 0.5-0.75" of QPF and 6-12" of snow.

 

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Had a great three days at Stowe.  Very good snow on Friday and Saturday.  I was very impressed with how well the mountain absorbed the crowds on Saturday.  I never waited more than 10 minutes in the singles line for the gondola, and usually much less.  Lots of laps on Chin Clip.  Upper Liftline (right under the lift) to lower National was really nice too (though the last pitch of National was bulletproof).  I discovered the hard way that the chutes near the top of Bypass could use a bit more snow.

 

Sunday was a much bigger problem.  Spent about fifteen minutes stopped about three quarters up the Forerunner, buffeted by frigid winds, before they finally started it up again (and then closed it once everyone was off).  The gondola was crawling.  Between the lines and the slow lifts, it took two hours to complete two runs.  Nothing Stowe can do about the wind, obviously, and the previous two days had been so good I was able to be philosophical about the delays on Sunday.  Between the winds and the the skier traffic, high-traffic groomed trails were scraped, but there was some very nice snow in places.  Cliff Trail was nice and soft on the right and the glades to the right of Nosedive seemed to be the beneficiary of the snow blown off other trails.  Those woods seemed to ski even softer than they had the day before.

 

Awesome... yeah the mountain was real good on Saturday, while Sunday was much more interesting, haha.  Where on Bypass were you?  On the actual trail or in the woods skiers left?  There's one area near the hard right hand turn at the top of the trail that if you go into the woods too early, you can end up on a very sketchy ice/cliff spot.  The actual trail itself is usually pretty technical and gnarly at the crux in the middle regardless of how much snow there is.  Fun stuff.

 

I might have been on the FourRunner a few chairs ahead of you on Sunday when it stopped.  I had a radio on so had a good idea of what was going on, but essentially the winds were tripping the safety mechanisms on the lift.  I've never seen winds come up so fast on that mountain as I rode it just prior and thought it was holding its own and winds were only in the 30-40mph range.  The next time I rode it, winds started picking up and they stopped loading to put the lift on hold prior to the stoppage.  Then some 70-80mph gusts came up at the summit stretch near the Octagon and the lifts these days have so many great safety features, and are almost like "smart" lifts (like a smart phone when compared to those of old), so it knows it shouldn't be running when winds are like that.  Ski patrol was dispatched to watch a certain windy area from the ground, and then everyone else was run off the lift slowly.  It was cold and uncomfortable for a bit there, but it seemed safely handled from that stand point.  Mountain weather is always exciting and you never really know what is going to happen...but that's part of the allure. 

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Do places like Stowe offer any sort of financial recourse to ticket holders when parts of the mountain shut down due to winds? I would doubt it, but just wondering.

 

Can't wait for Waterville tomorrow... kids/wife not liking the 5:30 wakeup call, but at least they can sleep in the car. Boards are all waxed up and edged. New helmet and goggles for me (my old helmet lining was disintergrating and the goggles were scratched up). Daughter is enrolled in the full day program. Got to get her ready for next season. Maybe one more paid lesson at WaWa then I will go with her some later this season

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Where on Bypass were you?  

 

On the trail, all the way to skiers right.  Significant bands of exposed rock/ice.  It wasn't impassible, but at my level of skill/courage, it wasn't pretty.  The woods below it were fantastic, though.

 

On the Forerunner we were about 100 yards down from the catwalk (Haychute?) that crosses the bottom of upper liftline.  I know that over and above that catwalk is where the craziest winds were, so I was very glad to be below it.  There have only been a few times when I've been pretty sure that a lift shouldn't be running, and that was one of them.

 

I did not envy the patroller stationed above the catwalk.  Days like Sunday reminded me of how challenging that job can be.  I'm very appreciative of all they do to help keep us safe.

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On the trail, all the way to skiers right. Significant bands of exposed rock/ice. It wasn't impassible, but at my level of skill/courage, it wasn't pretty. The woods below it were fantastic, though.

On the Forerunner we were about 100 yards down from the catwalk (Haychute?) that crosses the bottom of upper liftline. I know that over and above that catwalk is where the craziest winds were, so I was very glad to be below it. There have only been a few times when I've been pretty sure that a lift shouldn't be running, and that was one of them.

I did not envy the patroller stationed above the catwalk. Days like Sunday reminded me of how challenging that job can be. I'm very appreciative of all they do to help keep us safe.

Ahh yeah, Bypass gets really skied off at the choke there regardless of how much snow there is. Pretty rugged and usually makes me pause to get a game plan in place. I'll advise that going left into the woods up above that can be a much better option, down to Rim Rock and then into Nosedive Glades.

And oh so you saw the patroller there...yeah that was a tense time for a bit there. Very rarely does it get to a point when a patroller needs to watch from the ground. That wind just came up so fast in that area. It is always interesting how certain wind directions make a huge difference. We can run quite well in most winds that are SW-W-NW but once it goes NNW-N-NE we get hammered. That wind on Sunday was N-NNW so it came straight across into the FourRunner from the Chin, while the Gondola/Spruce lifts are more protected. Yesterday was high winds of similar speeds but with the ocean storm lifting north, the wind backed more to the west so everything was able to open/run as scheduled with blocking provided by the ridge line.

Let me know next time you are up here and we can take a run.

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Ahh yeah, Bypass gets really skied off at the choke there regardless of how much snow there is. Pretty rugged and usually makes me pause to get a game plan in place. I'll advise that going left into the woods up above that can be a much better option, down to Rim Rock and then into Nosedive Glades.

And oh so you saw the patroller there...yeah that was a tense time for a bit there. Very rarely does it get to a point when a patroller needs to watch from the ground. That wind just came up so fast in that area. It is always interesting how certain wind directions make a huge difference. We can run quite well in most winds that are SW-W-NW but once it goes NNW-N-NE we get hammered. That wind on Sunday was N-NNW so it came straight across into the FourRunner from the Chin, while the Gondola/Spruce lifts are more protected. Yesterday was high winds of similar speeds but with the ocean storm lifting north, the wind backed more to the west so everything was able to open/run as scheduled with blocking provided by the ridge line.

Let me know next time you are up here and we can take a run.

 

What's the real danger with the high winds, it coming off the tracks?  Poking around bored one day I was reading about lift crashes.  It seems the biggest crashes are uncontrolled reversals or whatever...is that partially triggered by high winds?

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Let me know next time you are up here and we can take a run.

 

That would be fun!  I'll definitely let you know.  I hope to be back sometime in late March as some friends are renting a place up there for the month.  In the meantime, looks like I'll be skiing Steamboat and Vail for the first week in March.  Naturally, the northeast is certain to get buried while I'm away.

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We are below normal to date but within 1 standard deviation.  Nothing horrible but nothing remarkable either.

 

I love the Wastach resorts... I would like to work out there at some point.  Doing what I do now but out there would be sick, haha.

 

Hmm I may have overestimated how much of the season remains slightly. Perhaps we are more like 75% of YTD and you are 90 or 95%.

 

Regardless 55% 49% and 44% of seasonal average at Stowe, Wasatch, Breck respectively gives an idea who's been having a better season this year. Not sure about the PNW. Next 10 days look killer here would not be surprised to add 50-80"+ over that period. 

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What's the real danger with the high winds, it coming off the tracks?  Poking around bored one day I was reading about lift crashes.  It seems the biggest crashes are uncontrolled reversals or whatever...is that partially triggered by high winds?

 

Strong winds blowing perpendicular to the lift can swing the chairs into the towers.  Nothing good happens when a chair hits a tower.

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What's the real danger with the high winds, it coming off the tracks? Poking around bored one day I was reading about lift crashes. It seems the biggest crashes are uncontrolled reversals or whatever...is that partially triggered by high winds?

De-roping a lift is the biggest concerning high winds...usually caused by a tower strike with a chair/carrier. The haul rope will end up in the cable catcher, but that's an automatic evac and several days of work to get it back online.

I've seen chairs get into positions you never would think possible...like up in the catwalk of lift towers from swinging so much due to high winds.

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