The 2016-17 Ski Season Thread

[ORH_wxman]

1 hour ago, Professional Lurker said:

Good question...

No, it's not about laps for me. I primarilly stick to laying down train tracks on groomers, but will venture off-trail if the conditions warrant it. I'm not huge into bumps or natural trails, but I'm sure that would change if my home mountain was farther north and recieved refreshers more often. I only own one pair of carvers and if I had more in my quiver, I'd probably venture farther off-piste.

I'm also not a snob who will only go out if conditions are perfect. I'm somebody who is always trying to improve and I feel strongly that skiing all conditions only makes one a much better skier.

I'm not a fan of trying to thread the needle through crowded trails at speed (although I admit it can sometimes be fun, it's definitely not my first choice from a safety or enjoyment factor).

I guess I can compare skiing with my non-winter passion, golf. Sure, it's kinda nice to say you've played Augusta or Pebble Beach. But, if it costs a fortune and you have to wait on every single shot, and you're only an above average player, is it really worth it? My arguement has always been that the smaller, less crowded, cheaper places are always the better bet if they offer enough challenges to allow you to continue to improve your game.

Skiing for me is about enjoying the experience, not to brag that I can bomb down Outer Limits or that I've skied Aspen, Vail, or Stowe. I don't ski at any particular mountain for bragging rights or "status." There's plenty who do, and I avoid the people and places as much as possible.

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Reminds me, we need to get a ski GTG this year at Beast or similar non-major mountain. Ginxy was bugging me last year to come to one.

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

If you want to avoid lines head out right now, I have Stratton to myself right now. Just a little goggle cleaning now and then from the freezing mist. Supper fast and untouched, definitely bombing some runs today which normally is t my style 

[Professional Lurker]

 

Reminds me, we need to get a ski GTG this year at Beast or similar non-major mountain. Ginxy was bugging me last year to come to one.

Yes, we do! All are welcome.

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[sankaty]

Mount Snow was fun yesterday with decent snow.  Crowds were not bad at all aside from the morning crush around 9:30 AM.  Skied almost exclusively ungroomed natural snow trails and woods.  It was a bit thin, but pretty good for this time of year in S. VT.  A couple more big storms will set them up very well if we can avoid a major thaw.

[MarkO]

Question for anyone with knowledge running a groomer. Our local hill has a new groomer (only our second season with it), does a much better job than the old piece of junk that basically dragged a rotting/rolling steel cage. Anyway, after a mixed event like yesterday, heading into a prolonged cool down, when is the best time to groom. FWIW, the hill is closed during the week, and we only have about a 4-10" base. 

Any help appreciated.

 

[#NoPoles]

53 minutes ago, MarkO said:

Question for anyone with knowledge running a groomer. Our local hill has a new groomer (only our second season with it), does a much better job than the old piece of junk that basically dragged a rotting/rolling steel cage. Anyway, after a mixed event like yesterday, heading into a prolonged cool down, when is the best time to groom. FWIW, the hill is closed during the week, and we only have about a 4-10" base. 

Any help appreciated.

 

You should get in touch with the Mike Bouchard at Tenney Mountain. He runs an awesome Facebook page and I'm sure he could pass along valuable information (I think I got his last name right)

[MarkO]

Just now, #NoPoles said:

You should get in touch with the Mike Bouchard at Tenney Mountain. He runs an awesome Facebook page and Imore sure he could pass along valuable information

I've been talking to Mike, but he's generally in the same boat as we are. Well, except we were fortunate enough to open this year over Christmas break. But in our defense, our operation first re-opened 5 years ago and is about 1/4 the scale as his. (We've also got a very supportive community that rallied around the re-opening of the ski area.) 

I've been pushing Mike to just open one of his chairs and do a little grooming and people will come!

Looks like we held off grooming yesterday, and are doing it now. Mountain looks surprisingly good after yesterdays mixed bag.

http://24.103.196.50/stream.jpg

[#NoPoles]

47 minutes ago, MarkO said:

I've been talking to Mike, but he's generally in the same boat as we are. Well, except we were fortunate enough to open this year over Christmas break. But in our defense, our operation first re-opened 5 years ago and is about 1/4 the scale as his. (We've also got a very supportive community that rallied around the re-opening of the ski area.) 

I've been pushing Mike to just open one of his chairs and do a little grooming and people will come!

Looks like we held off grooming yesterday, and are doing it now. Mountain looks surprisingly good after yesterdays mixed bag.

http://24.103.196.50/stream.jpg

That's awesome! Kudos to you both. I keep hearing Tenney is stuck waiting on something with insurance before they can open. However, you probably know more than the general public. I hope Tenney will open. Your mountain looks great. I hope everything works out!

[Ginx snewx]

On 1/3/2017 at 11:27 AM, ORH_wxman said:

 

Reminds me, we need to get a ski GTG this year at Beast or similar non-major mountain. Ginxy was bugging me last year to come to one.

Think Tuesdays are out of state days 10 bucks off. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

6 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

Think Tuesdays are out of state days 10 bucks off. 

Not every Tuesday   Jan 10, 24                   Feb 7     March 7

Mass residents get $10 on certain Weds

[powderfreak]

Another ho-hum sleeper morning on Mansfield.

We track events for a week at a time and they tend the under-whelm from the hype and rabid following.

Then there are these days which are our bread and butter when it dumps and no one even knows it happens.

 

 

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

PF that's amazing!! How much fresh did you get on that upslope? Meanwhile downstate at Stratton with a very similar (lift served) elevation they revived 0. That upsloap machine facinates the crap out of me!!

[powderfreak]

6 hours ago, MarkO said:

Question for anyone with knowledge running a groomer. Our local hill has a new groomer (only our second season with it), does a much better job than the old piece of junk that basically dragged a rotting/rolling steel cage. Anyway, after a mixed event like yesterday, heading into a prolonged cool down, when is the best time to groom. FWIW, the hill is closed during the week, and we only have about a 4-10" base. 

Any help appreciated.

 

Groom it tomorrow afternoon, let it set up on Friday night and you should have some firm corduroy on Saturday morning that can withstand traffic.  If you want a softer surface (but may turn out to be too much loose granular) groom it Saturday morning prior to opening.

[powderfreak]

3 hours ago, LongBeachSurfFreak said:

PF that's amazing!! How much fresh did you get on that upslope? Meanwhile downstate at Stratton with a very similar (lift served) elevation they revived 0. That upsloap machine facinates the crap out of me!!

It was 5-6" at 3,000ft but its possible it was a tad more above 3500ft.  Of course I also know the spots to go to when I want photos that can fill in a bit more. 

But yeah definitely wasn't expecting a powder morning...got lucky with a lake band mixed with upslope.

[Ginx snewx]

1 minute ago, powderfreak said:

It was 5-6" at 3,000ft but its possible it was a tad more above 3500ft.  Of course I also know the spots to go to when I want photos that can fill in a bit more. 

But yeah definitely wasn't expecting a powder morning...got lucky with a lake band mixed with upslope.

Sweeetness

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

4 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

It was 5-6" at 3,000ft but its possible it was a tad more above 3500ft.  Of course I also know the spots to go to when I want photos that can fill in a bit more. 

But yeah definitely wasn't expecting a powder morning...got lucky with a lake band mixed with upslope.

I wonder how much of your seasonal snowfall is from the lake and how much is true upslope . Either way the fact that you have the lake there and a nice north south orientated ridge line for the win!

[Hitman]

Nice pics!  

Has anyone checked out what's going down in the sierras?  They are getting a ton of snow, and an unbelievable amount of rain.

 

Days 0-3 Squaw Valley Weather Summary:  A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sat morning. Becoming milder with heavy rain (total 5.9in) on Sun morning. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 39°F on Sat night, min 14°F on Thu afternoon). Winds increasing (calm on Thu afternoon, gales from the SW by Sun morning).									Days 4-6 Squaw Valley Weather Summary:  Heavy rain (total 2.6in) on Sun afternoon. Becoming colder with heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun night. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 36°F on Sun afternoon, min 23°F on Mon morning). Winds increasing (fresh winds from the SW on Mon night, severe gales from the SW by Tue night).
	Thu		Friday 6			Saturday 7			Sunday 8			Monday 9			Tuesday 10			Wed
	PM	night	AM	PM	night	AM	PM	night	AM	PM	night	AM	PM	night	AM	PM	night	AM
mph	0	5	10	10	20	35	30	35	45	40	40	30	35	30	25	35	55	35
Summary	snow shwrs	clear	clear	some clouds	light snow	heavy snow	heavy snow	heavy rain	heavy rain	heavy rain	heavy snow	mod. snow	heavy snow	heavy snow	light snow	light snow	heavy snow	mod. snow
Snow map More
in	-	-	-	-	1.6	6.7	4.3	-	-	-	16.5	2.8	4.3	8.3	0.8	0.8	11.4	3.9
in	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.4	3.0	2.5	2.6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
max°F	16	23	27	27	28	32	36	39	37	36	34	25	23	27	27	30	32	25
min°F	14	18	25	27	27	32	34	37	37	36	25	23	23	23	27	28	27	25
chill°F	1	7	14	16	12	16	21	25	23	21	9	5	5	5	12	12	9	7
Humid.%	95	43	22	34	65	100	99	100	100	100	100	97	99	98	98	97	99	98
Freezing level (ft)	3100	0	4400	5700	5100	7500	8200	9700	9500	9000	7900	5400	5400	5400	5900	6100	7400	5700

[ORH_wxman]

Yeah I was posting in the banter thread yesterday about the Sierras. This pattern is awesome for them. No end in sight for the storminess...like they might get 4 storms in the next 12 days or so. They are gonna get destroyed. Alpine Meadows has had 7 feet of snow this week alone. 

Even in the warmer storm this weekend they are probably gonna get a foot on the front end and 1-2 feet on the back end so all it ends up doing in the end is just solidifying the base.

[Hitman]

10 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Yeah I was posting in the banter thread yesterday about the Sierras. This pattern is awesome for them. No end in sight for the storminess...like they might get 4 storms in the next 12 days or so. They are gonna get destroyed. Alpine Meadows has had 7 feet of snow this week alone. 

Even in the warmer storm this weekend they are probably gonna get a foot on the front end and 1-2 feet on the back end so all it ends up doing in the end is just solidifying the base.

That's 8" of rain in between.  How can that be good, other than for the drought?

[ORH_wxman]

1 minute ago, Hitman said:

That's 8" of rain in between.  How can that be good, other than for the drought?

I dunno. It gets buried so fast that I'm not sure it really matters other than putting more liquid in the pack. It might melt some of the snow. But then you are getting A foot or two to end it and then a series of what looks like huge snowstorms starting again a few days later. 

The rain would probably suck a lot more if there was no snow right on its heels and then they went 2-3 weeks with nothing. 

[Hitman]

I'm curious to see what transpires.  I would imagine all that rain could wash away quite a bit of snow, especially in gullets and what not.  

[mcwx]

link to denver post
see this one at a-basin?

[powderfreak]

Mother Nature hookin' it up.  11" in the past 2 days and now bluebird.

[#NoPoles]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

Mother Nature hookin' it up.  11" in the past 2 days and now bluebird.

Epically beautiful!

[eyewall]

Mother Nature hookin' it up.  11" in the past 2 days and now bluebird.

Nice shots! I will post some from Smuggs later today. It was a great until the Madonna lift had mechanical issues.

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[CoolMike]

PF: Are you able to predict upcoming powder days like that with a decent degree of certainty or do you just see the potential and then show up for work pleasantly surprised?

It would be cool to be able to sneak up there for one of these midweek powder days one day...
 

Nice photographs!

[mreaves]

15 minutes ago, CoolMike said:

PF: Are you able to predict upcoming powder days like that with a decent degree of certainty or do you just see the potential and then show up for work pleasantly surprised?

It would be cool to be able to sneak up there for one of these midweek powder days one day...
 

Nice photographs!

He's not tellin!

[adk]

1 hour ago, CoolMike said:

PF: Are you able to predict upcoming powder days like that with a decent degree of certainty or do you just see the potential and then show up for work pleasantly surprised?

It would be cool to be able to sneak up there for one of these midweek powder days one day...
 

Nice photographs!

You gotta know when they are possible and just make sure you are there. I've struck out as often as I've homered.  You don't know if you dont' go. 

[powderfreak]

1 hour ago, adk said:

You gotta know when they are possible and just make sure you are there. I've struck out as often as I've homered.  You don't know if you dont' go. 

Yup, there are "chances" but you never really know if it'll work out.  Like adk and I will be discussing something in the NNE thread and its often with the caveat that hey this little feature might be like 6-10" or it might be a dusting to 2". 

Like the past two days I knew the potential was there even though the models weren't really showing anything.  The WSW flow off Ontario can be very productive and everything came together (snow growth, moisture from Ontario, and then orographic lift) to blast the mountain with some fluff...the first time as the band was lifting north I think, and then last night it was dropping south.

I generally don't know until I show up to work, though radar and text messages from grooming and snowmaking can keep me up-to-date all night long, haha.  The past two mornings around 4:30am I've gotten something along the lines of "Dude no idea what its doing in town but its been dumping up here.  3" in 2 hours and 5" new total.  You're going to be stoked when you get up here.  Grooming plan is complete, just dropping in on Liftline with the winch and we're all good." 

 

[eyewall]

From Smuggs today: