snowgeek

31/27 here in Albany with sleet and zr. Didn’t see that coming. .

Feel grateful for my 6.8” in ENY. Gorgeous out there. Here’s the view from my classroom. A little less snow here at work. I actually measured 8.5” on my grass in spots where the snow literally was sitting on top of the 2” of grass. Sticky dendrites!

Man, that boiler plate was rock solid at Windham. Fresh snow all day helped but still firm. The sides of the trails had some good snow and it got better during the day but overall they need more terrain and lots of snow. .

The hope of swirly manmade snow clouds. Woot. Better times ahead. .

Wow, y’all sitting up some pretty good old memories. I started night skiing at Ski Liberty, PA in 1978. Everything you guys are saying rings true. Snow guns pasting your goggles, boiler plate, skis without brakes flying down the hill, slow lifts, dirty smelly overcrowded lodges, muddy strips across the huge parking lots, horrible food…. LOVED IT!! The best of times. I agree that the boiler plate of yore made us better skiers, but at my age I now avoid going when it’s icy. Falls on ice can take a while to recover from lol. My parents didn’t ski. My dad could barely walk on snow or ice lol. My brother and I started in the Jr High Ski club. I can’t believe our parents let us go out west in high school without parents! 4 high school boys lol. Steamboat February 83 was my first trip out west. I planned everything. Called toll free numbers and had brochures sent. Reserved a slope side condo. Mailed a check lol. Airfare, greyhound bus over rabbit ears pass. Snowbanks were like 20 ft. tall. One of my best childhood memories. We were there when Steamboat supposedly broke some kind of record for consecutive days with an inch or more of snow. I think it was over 50 days? Upper lifts were dug out with people skiing above you. Hot tub, heated pool. Why could I afford to stay there then when I was in 10th grade when now I wouldn’t want to pay the crazy prices that exist today. I paid for that entire trip with lawn mowing money lol. I also agree that midweek skiing rocks. When I retire in 2024, midweek here I come!! New Year’s resolution. Enjoy the crowds, lift lines and chaos! Any skiing is amazing!! .

I never thought that there would be enough people skinning to effect the stats that much. Can’t breed more than 1 percent? .

Interesting perspectives. Definitely want skiing to be popular enough to thrive but not so popular that it’s crowded lol. .

Once it gets more consistently cool, the trails with no snow on them now will probably be in better shape than the ones that are currently open which will have a nice foot of ice on the bottom. The kind of ice that fresh powder just slides off of (especially the steeper sections). Boiler plate baby!!! .

I have noticed more and more of my 8th and 9th grade students talk to me about skiing each year. The sport Is definitely becoming more popular. A student just said to me , “Guess what, we’re going to Alta this winter.” For a long stretch, I had almost no students that skied. This year it’s at least 10. .

No weather balloon launches at Albany NWSFO until March! Won’t know if storms are coming until the day before lol! Public Information Statement National Weather Service Albany NY 943 AM EST Tue Nov 29 2022 ...The National Weather Service office at Albany, NY will be temporarily suspending weather balloon launches... Effective December 1 and until further notice, the National Weather Service office at Albany, NY will be temporarily suspending weather balloon launches. The reasoning behind this decision is twofold, the first of which continues to be the global supply chain disruption of helium, with a secondary reason attributed to the delayed arrival of a new upper air inflation building and helium piping at our new facility located in the ETEC building on the University at Albany campus. file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/d9/09/83B4799F-AF9E-4B2C-8F3F-4E674BD00C5B/UA_Outage_Dec1.pdf

Rain, freeze, warm up, repeat. Skiing gonna be pretty meh the next week or so although some areas might get some good upslope behind Wednesday system. Oh well. Hopefully fun times ahead after that. .

Will do. I feel like they usually make some pretty dense snow too early season which ices up easily. I went last year Thanksgiving time after a thaw/ freeze and it was very slick and hard. .

Was having second thoughts about Stratton tomorrow. Rain then mid 20’s tonight. Thinking icy tomorrow despite temps near 40 and sun. .

Article in Ski Magazine. “Why You Should Seriously Consider a Ski Trip to the Alps This Winter. $200/day for 5,000 acres or $75 for 200,000? You do the math. Here’s why skiing Mont Blanc is a far better value than North American resorts.” Get there before it becomes like here lol. Too bad about the airfare. .

Windham was great today. 2 top to bottom runs. Wolverine (double black on top) had silky, chalky whalebacks. Couldn’t have been more than 200 people skiing. Parked next to the lodge so changing to tele set up halfway through was easy. Early season FTW!! .

Thanks for the replies. Looks like a cool mountain, but ONLY gets 350” of snow lol. .

Anyone ever ski Snowbasin? It’s on the Ikon. And might be a good option if LCC is a mess. .

Going out in Feb. Is it a schist show midweek too? Is the road to Brighton/ Solitude any better? Might have to hit Snowbasin multiple days if the Cottonwoods are too crowded.

It’s time to start trying to answer the question “Is Killington gonna be ready for the FIS on 11/26?” 23 days and counting. I think they will pull it off, but current temps are definitely disconcerting. Hopefully pattern flip isn’t delayed and they can start cranking out the snow soon enough. Darn ground is gonna be so warm after this weekend. Get that PNA flipped asap! .

Wolf Creek Colorado. Bit of a hall but they get a ton of snow. Alta, Bachelor. Alta might be your best bet. .

Just brought my boots in for some custom fitting at local ski shop in Albany area and spoke to the owner. Place was packed and he said they will probably run out of seasonal rentals a month early this year. Ski industry appears to be booming. He said that ever since Covid, demand went way up and haven’t leveled off. .

Here’s an article that sort of sums up the whole fluid situation that is proving to have a huge effect on the industry and sport that we love. http:// https://www.deseret.com/2022/2/7/22918555/what-ski-towns-tell-us-about-the-countrys-inequality-crisis-affordable-housing-healthcare?_amp=true

I still can’t believe they made it to 6/22 in 97! Blows my mind. .

Windham was great yesterday, but looked more like early April. Hero snow! Heck, even the ice was grippy!! No lines. Just wish there were more bumps. I actually love dodging the bare patches. Makes for a fun obstacle course kind of feel. I think next weekend will be it for them. Wonder how late Killington will make it this year? .

Wow, great pic. Hope they get it fixed soon!! .