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The 2017-18 Ski Season Thread


Skivt2
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Made me do a quick check of MRG, Cannon, Loon, Sugarloaf and Wildcat webcams. All looking pretty rough.  I didn't see any bare spots on the Sugarloaf cam which was kind of surprising because folks up there have been complaining about lack of snow making this season. Suspect only snowmaking trails will be able to be opened tomorrow. To get folks on the single chair tomorrow, MRG will have to shovel some snow which is a shame because they have had a really good early season. Get some cold temps, lock it up and we'll be skiing it in April! LOL, WaWa looked to be in best shape!

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Sad, the MWV ski areas were 100% open, including glades last week.  Here is this morning's report from Wildcat:

We have 14 trails, 98 acres, and 6.5 miles of open terrain. With such a fluctuation in temperatures these past 24 hours, patrol has decided to close the natural stuff. I'd like to thank all of our guests for sticking through this weird weather pattern and it seems that the worst is behind us. We're looking at a couple of cold and sunny days followed by a snow event moving in. The road to recovery starts now with conditions getting better and better by the day and we will be back on the rest of the mountain before we know it. For a fun run today though, rip down Upper Catapult to Middle Wildcat then finish it on Bobcat. All wide open trails, they're perfect for getting over on edge and letting the skis run. We're spinning 4 lifts today from 8:30am until 3:30pm including The Wildcat Express.

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2 minutes ago, J.Spin said:

 

So I see as usual things were a total meltdown, shut ‘em down, to the border, AWT, glad we don’t live there, napes, etc., etc.

Definitely lost snow and it'll get skied off as it does every holiday weekend (as always, the game plan should be get there early and leave early on these days), but these have been the two busiest days of the season...so not too many people canceled trips, ha.

The stake is at 35"... so lost about 10" of depth from the temps in the 50s and rain.

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Went up to white face from southern Vermont and it was well worth the trip!! About 8” fresh made for solid conditions.The beggining of the day was a blast. It did ski off by afternoon though with the holiday crowds. The mountain really is hard core with the tremendous vert. A top to bottom run is a real leg burner. I had my first bad wipe in years, on of course my last run. Hit an ice patch and went flying at high speed. Luckily I landed well and just some bruises to show for it. Pretty humbling and is the exact reason you need to be super careful when it’s icy. 

Back to Stratton tomorrow where hopefully things have recovered a bit. 

 

 

 

913665C0-7D89-4B86-868B-0540A41F3871.jpeg

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On 1/15/2018 at 4:08 AM, LongBeachSurfFreak said:

Went up to white face from southern Vermont and it was well worth the trip!! About 8” fresh made for solid conditions.The beggining of the day was a blast. It did ski off by afternoon though with the holiday crowds. The mountain really is hard core with the tremendous vert. A top to bottom run is a real leg burner. I had my first bad wipe in years, on of course my last run. Hit an ice patch and went flying at high speed. Luckily I landed well and just some bruises to show for it. Pretty humbling and is the exact reason you need to be super careful when it’s icy. 

Back to Stratton tomorrow where hopefully things have recovered a bit. 

 

 

 

913665C0-7D89-4B86-868B-0540A41F3871.jpeg

When did you go, I was there also on Sunday, talk about BLUE BIRD!

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22 minutes ago, qg_omega said:

When did you go, I was there also on Sunday, talk about BLUE BIRD!

That was Sunday. Great mountain. That was my second time there. I’ll only make the trip when conditions are good, I have a season pass at Stratton. Which was actually very good yesterday/Monday. They went all out on snow making and had the place back in good shape

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Skied Stratton today.  Not a memorable day, but conditions were pretty good considering the recent thaw.  Snow was on the firm side on anything with pitch, but serviceable on the groomed snowmaking trails.  Definitely a day for practicing firm-snow carving on my stiff frontside skis, which is not my favorite type of skiing, but fun for a change of pace.  Low-angle trails were genuinely soft in most places.

Woods are completely out of play and will be for a while.  The few ungroomed trails had some soft snow from yesterday, but the moonscape left over from last weekend's thaw/freeze was just beneath the surface or poking through, making it a bit treacherous.

First day in 14 years with new boots.  They felt pretty good, so that's a win.  I'll be in the Okemo/Killington area this weekend.

Seems like the Euro is close to keeping the northern 2/3rds of VT mostly snow for next week's storm, unlike the GFS.  I'm skeptical, but here's hoping.

 

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I’m giving Killington a try Saturday. Hopefully it’s not to firm/ icy. I’ll probably bring my soft snow skis in case there are any bumps on Outer Limits etc. and my old carvers in case it’s super icy. I’m sure I will be longingly looking into the woods that skied so we’ll before Meltapalooza.

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What are people's thoughts about skiing this weekend at Killington Saturday vs. Sunday.  Saturday looks sunnier, but the higher summits wind forecast scared me a bit:

.SATURDAY...Partly sunny. A slight chance of snow showers across
the northern Green Mountains. Highs in the lower 30s. West winds 
50 to 65 mph, decreasing to 35 to 50 mph in the afternoon. Wind 
chill values in the single digits above zero.

Was worried about lift wind holds, although Killington faces east, so that should help, especially with Bear Mountain which is more protected.  The pressure gradient between the low scooting through Quebec and the high to the south looks pretty intense on Saturday.  Was thinking the snow might be a little fresher Saturday and sun is always nice.  Sunday looks like the warm advection from the next low should cloud things up.  Hmmmmm.  Any thoughts would be appreciated!

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Saturday I think would be better.  With the slopes already hard packed, a day's worth of weekend skiing on the trails with temps above freezing and then a re-freeze on Sunday AM will make for some icy conditions on Sunday... and Sunday is football day :).  Killington does get windy.  I'm going to Okemo tomorrow.  Seems to be less impacted by wind with a primarily east facing slope.  You just get it coming up the top of the summit lifts, but the lift bubbles help mitigate that.

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14 minutes ago, shawnmov said:

Saturday I think would be better.  With the slopes already hard packed, a day's worth of weekend skiing on the trails with temps above freezing and then a re-freeze on Sunday AM will make for some icy conditions on Sunday... and Sunday is football day :).  Killington does get windy.  I'm going to Okemo tomorrow.  Seems to be less impacted by wind with a primarily east facing slope.  You just get it coming up the top of the summit lifts, but the lift bubbles help mitigate that.

Half price tickets this weekend for ski club members at Killington so Killington it is.  $52.

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On 1/15/2018 at 4:08 AM, LongBeachSurfFreak said:

Went up to white face from southern Vermont and it was well worth the trip!! About 8” fresh made for solid conditions.The beggining of the day was a blast. It did ski off by afternoon though with the holiday crowds. The mountain really is hard core with the tremendous vert. A top to bottom run is a real leg burner. I had my first bad wipe in years, on of course my last run. Hit an ice patch and went flying at high speed. Luckily I landed well and just some bruises to show for it. Pretty humbling and is the exact reason you need to be super careful when it’s icy. 

Back to Stratton tomorrow where hopefully things have recovered a bit.

My first ever seasons pass was to Gore and Whiteface... only made it to Whiteface a couple times a winter but that mountain is serious.  I find some of those steep, groomed flat and often wind-scoured upper trails terrifying.  You lose an edge up there and you are going to slide for you life.  No way you are stopping till you drill a tree or some other object.

Whiteface gets respect.

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1 hour ago, CT Rain said:

Hoping wind isn't too bad. Could see some wind holds - some nasty 850mb winds out of the west. 

That's my concern.  We are on the east side which can either be good here as the wind can go up and over us...but I've also seen where it doesn't go up and over us, ha.  It comes over the ridge and then drops suddenly and hard down the east slope. 

Does look a bit worse south of here into SVT with the core of the H85 jet but we've still got 50kts gusts in our forecast for 875mb.

Otherwise, it looks like the first Saturday in like 4 weeks where its not either flash freezing or -30F with hurricane winds.

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Just now, Hoth said:

Nosedive?

Yup.  One of the classics.  Hard to get the sustained pitch it has for the vertical it covers (it goes from like 875mb to 950mb, lol) anywhere else...it's not overly steep except for the upper turns that can get some people a little nervous.  But the pitch from here down is just a steady, wide open carving and speed heaven.  It also faces northeast (best snow retention angle) in a cold pocket on the mountain and is often the last trail on the mountain to melt out.  That's why you'll still see me hiking and skiing that trail in May, and its a big locals favorite for late season skiing.

It is the original trail down this side of the mountain, cut by the CCC in the 1930s.  Man I wish we could get more stuff like this done today... a government sponsored program aimed at unemployed, unmarried males to create recreational opportunities.

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