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The 2012/13 Ski Season Thread


ski MRG

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Ian was well known in Stowe. I ski with one of his best friends all the time. Was a tough week in town and they are raising money to bring his wife and daughter back to Stowe where friends/family are.

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superstar.jpg

 

 

Yeah snowmaking trails are still looking strong just about everywhere up here...been skiing everyday this week (really enjoying the lack of work and just enjoying the skiing) and even still skiing the glades at Stowe, lol. 

 

This is at maybe 2,200ft, about the elevation of the base elevation in that photo above at Killington.  This is where the natural snow gets too undermined, isothermal, unpredictable to ski with any confidence, but still fun to skin up through the forest and enjoy the relatively low elevation snow while its still around.

 

 

post-352-0-86667500-1366993109.jpg

 

 

Higher up the glades are still skiing nicely on the top 1,000-1,500ft from like 2,500ft and higher...(photos from Thursday, but still good today)

 

post-352-0-59749400-1366993045.jpg

 

post-352-0-55961800-1366993043.jpg

 

 

I was still able to ski down through the woods back to about 2,200ft before it became too "punchy" and unsupportive to ski.  This is all down in the hardwood forests though at mid-elevations (2,200-3,200ft) where the snow is hanging tough...still 4+ feet though up in the spruce/fir forest at 3,000ft and higher.

 

With the cold nights and warm days, the snowpack freezes solid at night, and then only the top couple of inches soften during the day.  Leads to some really nice tree skiing for the end of April.

 

 

Natural snow trails are looking decent and this is about 2,500ft elevation or just a bit lower...about 1/3rd of the way up the mountain.

 

 

Snowmaking trails are buried top-to-bottom... should be skiable at least though mid-May on a variety of terrain.

 

 

I'm thinking we made too much snow on some of these trails... wall-to-wall and like 8 feet deep.  This is an over-the-head hole and the trails are now starting to melt, fracture, and cave in like glaciers do.  The downhill creep of the snowpack is very evident by glide cracks all over the place.

 

 

I really enjoy this time of year... so much snow and the area closed, so its time to leisurely wander the mountain without having to worry about the operational things that are always one my mind in the winter.   It is like a ski vacation with no work, though some consider my winter work a vacation anyway, lol. 

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Superstah!!!

Awesome day today at K! Panic button, Vertigo, Dipper, Downdraft, cascade, East Fall, lower skylark all skiing well! Beast roast with Bison and Pig roasting and a Band playing at the U-bar. Those are the memories that get you through the summer!

 

Nice!  Glad to see others are still getting after it as well.  It will be around for a long, long time this spring. 

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Some photos by friends on Cinco de Mayo at Stowe....

 

Spruce Peak is getting pretty low on snow, but look how much snow is still on Mansfield's trails across the valley...apparently a bunch of routes are still good top-to-bottom with no walking right back to the parking lot.  Take your pick. 

 

190427_581543858535953_542048815_n.jpg

 

942875_4789249931475_1855004475_n.jpg

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Some photos by friends on Cinco de Mayo at Stowe....

 

Spruce Peak is getting pretty low on snow, but look how much snow is still on Mansfield's trails across the valley...apparently a bunch of routes are still good top-to-bottom with no walking right back to the parking lot.  Take your pick. 

 

190427_581543858535953_542048815_n.jpg

 

942875_4789249931475_1855004475_n.jpg

 

 

It's suprising to see the snowmaking air/water hoses still connected. I would have thought they would have been stored away already to prevent any damage.

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It's suprising to see the snowmaking air/water hoses still connected. I would have thought they would have been stored away already to prevent any damage.

Good catch! Most are stored but there are a few still kicking around out there.

Props to Killington for going till June..I'll be in the US again by then so will go if they make it.

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According to kmart's site, they hope to spin lifts until 6/2. My son's 9th birthday is 6/1, and I asked him today if he wants to go skiing on his bday. Little bugger said no! Wtf?

 

 

The skiing at that point will probably require extensive walking Down the Superstar Headwall and perhaps at the bottom. It's not the most fun for a 9 years old in ski boots to walk down a rock and mud strewn slope.

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Spent the weekend skiing the big bumps on Superstar at Killington. This season has been so awesome and management so committed to the customer at Killington that some folks here are seriously holding out hope for some snowmaking tonight and Monday night! We will be skiing again at Killington next weekend either way with the amount of snow still left on the hill. Big fun for those who like big bumps and partying at the U-bar. I seem to remember folks talking like the season was almost over in mid-February. I always get perplexed when people start talking about the end if the season 3 months early. We are still going strong at the big K.

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Snowmaking, tomm nite? now that would be cool. Its refreshing to hear stories like this, of seemingly keeping mtn open and making snow in may, all for the die hard skier/snowboarder. Its not a knock against all those who wont but it is cool to see.

Someone would have to be drunk to make snow this time of year. But it is good for Killington to start to get their customer base back. They took a solid hit a few years ago during the management switch, so it seems they are doing a decent job of building that loyalty back up.

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Everyone LOVES Mike the new mountain president! Our intro to him was on Friday October 12th in a Facebook picture at about 2pm. He was hiking up under the glades triple, skis slung across his shoulder, guns blazing on either side of him. The caption read, "are you ready to make some turns tomorrow?" Then they opened for an epic season pass holder only weekend. There have been so many awesome things from great snowmaking, liberal ropes policy, seeded bumps, water and plastic cups places strategically at the bottom of lifts, the return of the Bear Mt Mogul challenge (with the names winners of the unofficial "denial cup" from last year engraved on the official BMMC trophy), baseball hats with "100 club" enbroydered for the lucky first 200 customers to reach 100 days, good bands on the deck of the U-bar, brewfests, beast roasts, the list goes on. Mike is everywhere...skiing, busing tables, serving food, you name it he is doing it. He is hands on and he completely understands his customers. He's loading next years passes with cash credits that can be used for food and beverages For those renewing. And now the mountain is still open to ski Superstar which has not been groomed since April 30th. It's so old school Killington. Folks are very happy. 1000% turn around in one year.

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Everyone LOVES Mike the new mountain president! Our intro to him was on Friday October 12th in a Facebook picture at about 2pm. He was hiking up under the glades triple, skis slung across his shoulder, guns blazing on either side of him. The caption read, "are you ready to make some turns tomorrow?" Then they opened for an epic season pass holder only weekend. There have been so many awesome things from great snowmaking, liberal ropes policy, seeded bumps, water and plastic cups places strategically at the bottom of lifts, the return of the Bear Mt Mogul challenge (with the names winners of the unofficial "denial cup" from last year engraved on the official BMMC trophy), baseball hats with "100 club" enbroydered for the lucky first 200 customers to reach 100 days, good bands on the deck of the U-bar, brewfests, beast roasts, the list goes on. Mike is everywhere...skiing, busing tables, serving food, you name it he is doing it. He is hands on and he completely understands his customers. He's loading next years passes with cash credits that can be used for food and beverages For those renewing. And now the mountain is still open to ski Superstar which has not been groomed since April 30th. It's so old school Killington. Folks are very happy. 1000% turn around in one year.

That's pretty sweet....seems like it has worked as Killington has gained some momentum.

Now all you need will be a relative jackpot snow season...Killington has seemed to have a bit of a lull the past few years. But the time is coming for a winter with a storm track where coastal storms favor the deep interior of like ALB-RUT-LEB corridor.

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Skiing is still going on in Scotland at Cairngorm and this is the second year in a row with skiing into May which makes one wonder if the climate there is getting colder with all the crazy snow that they had this year:

 

http://www.cairngormmountain.org/

 

 

The 2013 ski season is just starting up in Australia with Perisher making snow:

 

http://www.perisher.com.au/weather-cams/snow-conditions-reports/snow-report.html

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Another awesome weekend at Killington!! Those bumps are huge!! No brutal grooming has occurred since 4/30 which has allowed maximum snow retention. It's anyone's guess what conditions will be like next weekend but I have no doubt the lift will spin for the holiday. June now looks possible. It will be interesting to see how the remaining stockpiled snow gets used and whether/how much walking will be required.

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