bwt3650

Pretty bad here today. Couple routes down from the top…icy and beat up loaded with people (holiday crowd too). I don’t envy ski patrol. .

Jan 1st backyard at 1850’ last year. The only difference this year is that we started from a much deeper snow pack and the wipe out this year has been followed by a week of torch. The emotional part of me wants to buy a round in the panic room, but I’m trying to stay grounded and say “it’s northern f’n Vermont; it’ll snow” .

Wasn't just you..I said it too.. November was great up north and the calls for a November torch were simply, just because. It was nothing like last year and several LR "torchy" periods got beat back. But there is no denying December, particularly the last two weeks for NNE, have been nothing short of a disaster, torch, shit sandwich, whatever you want to call it. The calls for a December torch were right, though I think some were for the wrong reason..but right is right. We can easily still get to normal snowfall totals and up north, it can change really quickly. I prefer to be optimistic, especially in late December.

Merry Christmas NNE crew! Time for some Christmas miracles to fix the skiing! .

Nothing natural is skiable. Too many rocks poking through, water bars, bare spots. If it was just an even, consistent melt I think some of them would have been bad, but open. The heavy rain washing stuff out is was really hurt. You won’t see anything but snowmaking trails at jay, and probably anywhere in vt until at least 6-8 fresh IMO. I guess the good part is there is snow on the trails, just not the entire trail. The other problem is that because terrain is so limited now, even the groomers are getting beat by 10am with holiday traffic. It just sucks after how good it was for the better part of 4 weeks. Need to get the 28th to changeover faster and overperform, or sit nearby so we can at least upslope our way back to respectability. The resorts with snowmaking fire power like killington, Stratton and Stowe are the winners right now. .

The snow is there, but won’t be skiable until a few good snows. Naturals need about 6-8, glades a foot or so. .

Cool shot of the mountain with a clear, star lit sky tonight.. .

Are they able to even get the construction equipment up there this time of year to even move the fill? That has to be a logistical nightmare. .

There’s going to be a lot of sugar coating it..people spend a lot of money for the holiday week and no one wants to hear “it sucks, stay home”. Mountain ops will have their work cut out. It was bad; really bad. Jay doesn’t even have enough down low on tramside to run the lifts out of that side. But snowmaking trails will be resurfaced, groomed and survive. You won’t really lose any. There was a ton of snow out there on the naturals and in the woods so that’s where it hurts. Put a foot of fake stuff over the crusty base tho, and it’ll come right back. I think we’ll get something in the next 7-10 up there that will bring it back to respectability at least. Killington south will be more of an issue IMO. As far as TK, he’s not JB. He def will lean more optimistic and downplay the bad, but he knows that mountain climate better than anyone. And he’s been highly accurate this year, if not on the low side a few times. The mountain is not going to pay him to say it’s a death ribbon stay home, but he’ll be up front about rain, wind holds etc. good dude too from what I hear. .

Didn’t want to post the 0z run or 12 hours later because it’s not rainy enough?? .

Disaster in no uncertain terms. Almost 100 percent open to bare spots here. Backyard at 1850’ has a stream running through it. Not that you ever want a hard freeze after, but it would have at least helped the water bars. Guns will go on tnrw afternoon, but after the best start since 18, this is a worst case scenario going into the holiday week. .

7th warmest over half a month is fishing for stats to show warmth. There’s no doubt the past two years have been brutal in nyc metro, but this isn’t the stat to show it. .

Not gonna lie; it's a disaster for the northern greens as well. Only difference is greater ability to recover faster with upslope, but after the phenomenal start we have had, this one is gonna hurt. I could see them going from almost 100 percent open, to 20 trails...and losing 4 days of snowmaking temps going into Christmas week blows too. Water bars are going to be brutal next week. Need to fake snow our way to a foot into next weekend to fix this.

Just shut off, but going to be another spectacular day…feel bad for all those people seeing pics of all this snow going into holiday week and it’s going to be wiped out Monday. Need another miracle save, but I think we’ve used them up for the season. .

Dumping again.. .

Might be another 2-3 from tonight if you would include it in the same storm. It was very localized coming up 242 where before the dip (about 3 miles from the base) it was just flurries, to a steady light, sometimes moderate snow here at 1850’. .

About an inch of the fake stuff so far tonight..snowing pretty good right now. .

You called the last one so keep it coming. .

Almost whole mountain open today; though it’s very soft. It’s been an incredible start. .

Some more pics from today..as has been mentioned, the scenery right now is incredible. Almost as good as the early season skiing. I wish I had the talent to photograph like pf and jspin, because there’s some great shots to be had… .

It is still really, really good out there…weird skiing some trails that are always snowmaking and open on natural snow. You have to be on your toes…and this weekend now looking like a net gain and then some; fantastic start. .

I believe it..crazy the trees are still caked how many days later. Shows the weight and water content in these… .

I can see that turquoise paint of the 30 spot when I look outside up towards the sky overhead. Not gonna happen, but pulling half that and a 3rd major out of our ass is impressive. It finds a way this year. .

Love seeing that cold smoke rise when you have those perfect snowmaking temps… .

Read some posts there last week...It's a pretty negative forum. Don't know this, but I get the impression a lot of posters in there grew up post 1995 and forget what Climo is. Average High in EWR on December 1 is still 50.