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NNE Autumn 2013 Thread


MaineJayhawk

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JSpin, how often are you hitting rocks and other obstacles? The tracks look nice but you must be compressing pretty far down, no?

 

 

27OCT13B.jpg

 

It really depended on elevation, snow depth, wind effects, ski width, pitch of the slope, turn shape, underlying trail surface, etc. etc.  That shot of the tracks there (I've added it again above for reference) was up above 3,000’, and at those elevations, unless one was in a wind-scoured area, you could definitely make most turns on appropriate terrain (not overly steep) without much concern for touching down to the ground, depending to some degree on one’s weight and ski width.  Those tracks shown are also on the Perry Merrill trail, which has a moderate pitch – one wouldn’t necessarily be able to say the same thing about the skiing on steeper, black diamond-type slopes, where the turns create more pressure.  Another thing to note is the consistency of the snow – if you look closely at that picture you’ll see that the edges of the tracks are fairly well-defined, vertical walls.  That’s a sign of powder that is typically on the denser side of the spectrum, or may have settled over time or been compressed by wind.  That type of powder holds its form well and doesn’t collapse because it coalesces and is not overly fluffy.  You’ll also notice that the tracks aren’t actually all that deep, just a few inches, and that’s also a sign of higher density and incompressibility.  Indeed it seems that although the snow up there wasn’t really wet, it was comprised of small flakes, and they pack closer and denser.  Snow like that helps to keep you from touching down on the ground below.

 

Contrast those tracks in the image above to the one shown in the image below from December 23rd last year.  That track is much deeper (probably 1 to 2 feet deep) and you can pick out other differences such as how there is snow sprayed along the edges of the track.  You can also see how the sides of the track are ill defined because the snow along the edges collapses inward.  My analyses from the house indicated that that snow was very light and fluffy when it fell, as low as 2-3% H2O in some of the smaller accumulations I measured.

 

23DEC12A.jpg

 

The snow in the first picture is great, but the snow in the second picture is pretty much the stuff of dreams for powder skiers.  Anyway, the point of the two pictures was just to point out that we weren’t skiing that light and fluffy type of snow.  If we were, we would have been skiing on the ground since there’s no base yet.  Thanks to the Perry Merrill trail having plenty of grass vs. rocks, we were actually in very good shape down to 3,000’, and even down to 2,500’ on Saturday.  Below that we were definitely encountering some rocks, especially on Sunday, and we even decided to walk down below 2,000’ that day instead of skiing the last bit.  So indeed some rocks were there this weekend, warranting the use of rock skis, but up in those highest elevations where that picture was taken, it was pretty rock free thanks to the relatively dense snow.

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Not often that MWN isn't the cold spot in the area, but currently they are at 14F and BML is 13F.  16F in my 'hood.

Damn, I have to move to your area for better radiational cooling. Guess the warmer temps at our house will be like this all winter. The only time where we might benefit by being on the hill is during the elevation rain/snow mix events. Had a couple last year.

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Is that what I have been seeing a lot of lately? I thought it was jupiter

 

Orion is the defining constellation of the winter sky - four bright stars in a vertically oriented trapezoid, three in a horizontal row across the middle (Orion's belt) and three less-bright stars stretching down from the belt (his sword.)  In summer it's below the horizon during the dark hours.

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Orion is the defining constellation of the winter sky - four bright stars in a vertically oriented trapezoid, three in a horizontal row across the middle (Orion's belt) and three less-bright stars stretching down from the belt (his sword.)  In summer it's below the horizon during the dark hours.

Thanks, I feel stupid and had forgotten that orion was a constellation and not one star. I must be seeing something else in the sw sky at night. Very bright and even visible before complete darkness.

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I just saw that wind chills on Mansfield got down to around 0F last night.  Pretty darn crisp.

 

That mountain is just glowing in the sunshine today... looks mid-winter from town.  Giant white-caked wall looming overhead.  Really puts a kick in your step.  Invigorating just to see that.

 

Go Sox.  So stoked they are only one win away.

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I just saw that wind chills on Mansfield got down to around 0F last night.  Pretty darn crisp.

 

That mountain is just glowing in the sunshine today... looks mid-winter from town.  Giant white-caked wall looming overhead.  Really puts a kick in your step.  Invigorating just to see that.

 

Go Sox.  So stoked they are only one win away.

I can see MWN on my way to work. With the sun coming up and shining on the mountain, it too looked like mid-winter.

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Thanks, I feel stupid and had forgotten that orion was a constellation and not one star. I must be seeing something else in the sw sky at night. Very bright and even visible before complete darkness.

That is Venus brilliantly shining in the SW at dusk.

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