sankaty

1.5" in Reading, VT

Killington also had a plowing mess on Sunday. The Skyeship parking lot was still a partially plowed mess at 10AM causing traffic on Rt 4 to back up all the way to Bridgewater Corners (about a 20 minute backup). I've never seen anything like that even on the busiest holiday weekends. I skied Pico but had to wait in the backup to get there. Parking was a challenge at Pico, too, but that was mostly just because of the limited space. What a run we've had, though. Between this past weekend and the weekend of the 9th, it's been a 10 out of 10 March.

25" so far in Reading VT. Pico was off the hook today.

It would be interesting to see a correlation of snowfall at the Mansfield stake relative to temp departures. I bet this season would stand out as one of the snowiest with a strong positive departure.

No kidding about the vertigo above tree-line at a-basin! For the last run of the day we had to ski from the top of Beavers down the front side to the base in snow and fog. It wasn't just that the light was flat, we literally couldn't tell up from down. All the expert skiers looked like we'd never been on skis before until reaching the trees. Looks like another epic weekend for the northeast! Will be at Killington/Pico Friday-Monday. Pretty amazing how great this season has been considering the positive temperature departures.

Killington was very crowded yesterday for a Tuesday, though still very manageable. This week is spring break for Toronto folks, so lots of Canadians to chat with on the lifts. I remember that Toronto spring break was also an epic snow week last year, so I'm developing a Pavlovian fondness for people from Toronto.

Pico was phenomenal today. Boot-deep fluffy powder all day with falling and windblown snow constantly filling in the tracks. The soft, dense snow underneath it all from yesterday made it seem bottomless. Maybe the second best snow conditions I can remember in VT.

I don't usually put much stock in the 3K NAM, but it's a thing of beauty for the mountains

The transition from dense frontside snow to fluffier upslope could be perfect for resurfacing. As a Pico skier, also liking how far down the spine the upslope seems to go. I have a good feeling about this.

I have very fond memories of learning to ski at Butternut. Haven't been there since the late 80s. I'd love to go back someday.

OTOH, there are a lot more pass holders than there used to be with Epic and Ikon, and spring is when they are doing their main sales drive. If things get bad enough, they might not have a choice, but wouldn't be a good look from a sales perspective for them to electively close early. I think there's going to be a fair amount of good skiing left, at least from Killington north.

From the latest BTV discussion: Overall, thermal profiles continue to support snow being very elevationally dependent with elevations below 2000 feet mainly rain through Sunday, ending with a light accumulation of snow Sunday night into Monday. Across the higher elevations though, snow remains the dominant ptype, very wet and heavy Saturday night through Sunday night, before decreasing in density on Monday. A first guess at storm total snowfall would support a winter weather advisory Sunday night through Monday across the western slopes of the Adirondacks and northern Greens for 3-6" of snow, while elevations above 2000 feet could see accumulations of 12-18" from Saturday night through Monday night.

Amidst the general gloom, the Sunday-Tuesday period could be a pretty special stretch if the models pan out. Some much needed high-density resurfacing snow followed by a pretty significant upslope event stretching pretty far down the spine.

My sense is the largest share of the AN temp departures have been driven by AN lows (but still below freezing) and a lack of arctic outbreaks. It's been just cold enough to snow and retain cover much of the winter in NNE (unlike most of SNE). Last winter was kinda similar. I've been splitting my time between CT and the Killington area the past few winters, and the VT time has soothed the winter loving soul. If I had been only in CT the past couple of seasons, I'd be losing my mind.

Any good links to track the current and forecasted states of the WPO/EPO? Thanks!