sankaty

January had so much low-density snow in the Killington area that the healthy seasonal snow total didn't really reflect the lack of depth in the woods for a while, but it's truly deep in the woods (and nats) now.

Drove through the lake effect band on 91 in VT in the Bellows Falls/Saxons River area about an hour or so ago. Pretty intense! Highway was completely snow covered. Looks like Stratton is getting hammered on their web cams. Really interesting weather the past few days. Skied Killington on Sunday because the Pico summit lift was closed. On the Bear/Needles Eye side of the resort it wasn't windy at all. Heard it was howling all day at Pico. Summit lift was closed again today with very high winds at Pico. Snow has been really good overall. They're reporting 17" storm total, which seems plausible. No icing during the day at Killington on Sunday, just sleet between the two rounds of snow. Same here in Reading where we ended up with about 10". Will try to get first tracks at Pico when the finally open the summit, hopefully tomorrow.

I've heard such people exist but always had my doubts (welcome to the board )

I'm sure we haven't seen the final shape of this storm yet. Don't know if it will get better or worse, but I think there's still a decent chance that Sunday will be soft even at Mt Snow. I don't find sleet particularly unpleasant to ski in. How winds affect lifts is so unpredictable. I've skied undisrupted so many days when folks here guaranteed the lifts would be closed due to wind. It does look like the Euro now shows a marginally better solution compared to the GFS. I can't tell you how many times I've gone through this evolution of thought tracking a storm over the years: Model runs 1-10: Model A is shows a much better outcome than model B. Hope model A verifies. Model runs 10-20: Still pulling for model A! I can remember many times when the models have switched places and I end up rooting for the other model, but these solutions are so vastly different, that's surely not possible this time around. Model run 21: Really hope model B is right about this

0z Euro much closer to 0z GFS. Very snowy for most of VT! Will be a banner holiday ski weekend if that verifies.

18Z GFS now keeps the Killington area mostly or all snow for the weekend, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Feeling less optimistic about the weekend storm. Each successive run has been building heights over the east as the storm approaches. The cold air over New England hangs in surprisingly well compared to changes upstream. Assume the last-minute coastal development is saving us from a total washout. Obviously things could change, but seems likely that sleet at least will mix in around the Killington area. Conventional wisdom is that sleet doesn't damage ski surface conditions too much? Also somewhat optimistic that even some freezing rain would just cause a crust on top of the new snow, which might not be too much of an issue after the new snow gets skied in (one of the times when you don't want first tracks through the woods ).

Yikes! Even on the lift, I could pull the cord out of the battery, so hopefully I won't have that kind of "adventure." There are thousands of these in circulation, and with our litigious society, I don't think Therm-ic would survive if this happened with any significant frequency. Please don't quote this back to me if I end up in a ski boot heater accident headline. Posted my installation process in the ski season thread. Euro and GFS still locked in a model death match for the weekend. Hoping the Americans win this time around (have a decent feeling about it).

There was an inquiry about wiring ski boot insoles for heat in the NNE thread. Thought I’d post the details here. You should know that I’m a self-aware ski boot primadonna who insists on both maximum performance and maximum comfort. My bootfitter is also my de facto therapist, and I don’t think he feels he really signed up for either role. Here are the options I’ve tried: Adhesive chemical heaters. They don’t fit in my boots. Otherwise, I’d probably have stopped here Neoprene “boot gloves.” These work much better than expected! They still have a role in my toe warmth routine, but they restrict easy access to buckles, so they’re a little annoying. They also hide too much of my awesome Ferrari-red Atomic Hawx Ultras. Heated socks. My wife loves these, and they do work well, but even the thinnest ones I could find (Lenz 6.1) don’t really fit in my boots. It’s also a little annoying to have just one or two pairs of socks. Aftermarket heated elements. I’m having great luck with these! The main brands are Hotronics and Therm-ic. There are two main ways to install these. The conventional way is to cut a hole in the footbed and thread the cord through. A couple of bootfitters recommended an alternate installation method (only possible with Therm-ic) where you fold the cord around the toe of the footbed, which is less invasive because you don’t have to cut a hole. I tried both methods and didn’t like either at first, because I could feel the hole using method 1 and could feel the lump of the element cord using method two. With method 2, I tried dremeling a relief channel on the underside of the footbed, but there was not enough thickness to take up the depth of cord, so it was still uncomfortable. I solved this by putting a 1mm foam shim under the footbed, which gave enough depth to stash the cord. The shim takes up a tiny bit of volume in the boot (not a bad thing after 35+ days in the liner), and the heat element and cord are now completely undetectable (other than the heat ). I ran the cord out under the arch, cut a small hole in the liner near the arch, and ran the cord around the ankle to the outside. Makes more sense in the photos below. Pro tip: both heated socks and elements are about half price if purchased from Europe instead of the US. I ordered mine from bobliesure.com. I’ve also had good luck with snowinn.com. Pictures below to show the process:

I'll post later today about my adventures in boot heating in the ski season thread later today. Don't want to go too far off topic here.

Amazing photos! Pico was just dreamy yesterday. What's not to like about 7" of light fluff on top of a mostly soft base? The woods finally have finally filled in enough to get great flow without too much fear of what lurks beneath. My son on Summit Glade yesterday:

Sounds about right. The GFS has been right the past couple of cycles when it's been colder than the Euro. Here's hoping that streak can overpower the holiday curse. It has seemed that the Euro dominance over the GFS is not as strong as it has been in years past, but it's hard to shake the sense of dread when the Euro is on the wrong side. I just wired my ski boot insoles for heat, so I'm ready for arctic cold and snow.

The discrepancy between the Euro and the GFS for the next two storms will have major implications for ski conditions over the holiday week. Any reason to favor one model over the other in this case?

Any reason to be optimistic that the upslope will reach as far south as Killington/Pico? The NWS is not showing much here.

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.