Hitman

6 hours ago, rclab said:

 

Good afternoon all. Hitman inspired me to look it up and I found the seven rituals that need to be performed when one desires a snow or school snow day, as follows:

 I. Wear inside-out backward PJ’s.

2. Place a spoon under the pillow.

3. Do a Snow Dance.

4. Place a white crayon in the freezer.

5. Place ice cubes on the porch.

6.  Flush ice cubes down the toilet.

7.  Run around the dining table five times before bed.

if the dance fails, at least you have six other options. Their results can’t be any worse than the long range models. Stay well all, as always ….

Thanks.

have problems with 4 and 7.  Don’t have a white crayon nor a dining room table at the moment (renovation in progress).  I’m partial to a little voodoo doll action.

9 minutes ago, gravitylover said:

^^It's everywhere. I still have a half mile or less visibility. 

This weather blows.  I think this weekend I get out the sticks and do a snow dance to change the juju.  I know its early, but I am antsy and it's ugly.

6 hours ago, powderfreak said:

If Sugarbush had a top-to-bottom lift at North and South, they probably win. I’ve always thought it would change the whole experience.  It might always be on wind hold though… but man the vertical available on one single lift ride would be sweet.

I prefer the hub and spoke lift system as a regular but can see how it would be frustrating to those new to the mountain.  Usually, I would only use one of the base quads twice a day, in the morning and after lunch.  The rest of the day, laps off the upper mountain lifts.  Avoid the crowds and the beginner skiers (no offense).  

1 hour ago, MRVexpat said:

I am not sure the reason why but I have heard from friends that are still local that the snowmaking pond was drained completely in the fall...can't imagine that helps the situation. Just about the only positive in this rain is that it will help in that regard! 

I also heard there was an issue with the snowmaking pond but I don't think that has anything to do with the situation which was their decision to make snow on gatehouse first.  Apparently they installed a new inflatable weir on the pond over the summer.

1 hour ago, PowderBeard said:

I think it gets overlooked stuck between Killington and Stowe/Smuggs. It is massive (Mt. Ellen is like 2600' of vert), their trail pods are ~1,500' or more, and it gets tons of snow. The trails have "character" and they open trails when most other places would not so that makes it fun. Stein's is one of the best spring-bump runs in New England imo.

I had a season pass there for a couple seasons and it was well worth it even though it was a 3.5 hour drive each way. Even on weekends, I never waited more than about 10 minutes and that always from the base. Awesome to make the hike to Castlerock when they don't run the lift and there is fresh snow. When I was in the midst of internship placements I was pretty excited with Dartmouth, probably because it was only about an hour from MRV lol

Sugarbush does get good snow but not as much as further north on the spine.

It's also beyond the reach for the NYC metro crowd.  As someone who did it weekly for a decade, we were one of the few families from NY making the trek.  We would see pretty much all the cars exiting for stratton and killington on the way up.  But we came from the northern burbs making it a 4.5 hour drive whereas from anywhere else, nj manhattan its over 5 hours on a good day.  and forget about from long island or brooklyn.

14 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Something seems up at Sugarbush.  It doesn’t make sense to be honest given where they are historically compared to regional competitors. One run each, off the two open lifts that might be 1,000 verts?  And I’ve seen posts saying the two routes that are open are thin.  The weather hasn’t been ideal but it seems a very slow expansion.  Not riding Bravo yet seems off. 

Yesterday in the rain, the Gate House Quad route.

 

Everyone is trying their hardest, and I hope whatever they are up against gets better.  Stuff happens behind the scenes that can amplify a poor weather streak.

I think they chose to make snow first to get beginner terrain open off the gatehouse instead of what they usually do which is the more advanced terrain off heavens gate.  They hit gatehouse first and then the valley house side.  So now they're struggling to make snow up top when in previous years, they would be struggling to get the beginner terrain open before the holiday.  Temps this week don't look promising.  Don't know that I agree with the choice but its more likely you have good temps to make snow at elevation than down below.

All that being said, sugarbush always looks bad in comparing early season trail counts/acreage because they have about half of the snowmaking capacity over at mt ellen which won't open for another few weeks.  The systems are separate. So they're making snow on trails which won't show up on the stats until mt ellen opens for business.

A pedestrian .33” today.  2.44” on the month.

Happy thanksgiving!

once the turkey is done, we need to get some snow.

1 hour ago, IrishRob17 said:

Agree. Have you ever driven out I-80/90 out here though?  When you get to the Ohio/Indiana border you swear you've gone back in time.  The toll booth in Indiana is 5 mph for ezpass and the road itself is riddled with weeds and different types of pavement. It does get better as you travel further into Indiana though but that first stretch is something else for an interstate. 

nope, never had the pleasure.  I drove out to denver in july but went from pittsburgh to louisville.  But I've been on 84 through scranton a bunch of times and the approach to scranton has always bugged me out.

3 hours ago, IrishRob17 said:

Drove out here to South Bend today, 84 just east of Scranton was a skating rink this morning around the 7am hour.  There were snow showers that were melting and refreezing on the road. As a result there were numerous cars and trucks off the road as it had not been treated. My ass was around a 9 on the Pucker scale. 

That road sucks in good weather.  

5 hours ago, CT Rain said:

Yeah that drive would suck. Somehow I was able to find cheaper airfare on Delta to MTJ than DEN! Only an easy 1h15m from Montrose. 

I just looked and it’s over 5 hours and that’s assuming good weather.  

6 hours ago, ORH_wxman said:

Long drive from Frisco to Telluride. But if you can stay in Telluride for a few days, it's def worth it. If its only for a day or two in Telluride, I'd prob just enjoy Copper and not worry about the 5-6 hour drive.

Thanks.  

18 hours ago, ORH_wxman said:

Yeah the town is great. You can walk anywhere in town which makes it super easy. Lots of places to eat and grab beers. I like the old hotel in town. Has a great bar. 

I'm going to copper in early march and have a place to stay in telluride.  Is it crazy to drive from frisco to telluride and then back to denver for 3-4 days of skiing?

Happy to report i saw my first flakes last night at 37f down here in the tropics.  38f now.  Hoping this a good omen for the winter to come.  

2 hours ago, borderwx said:

Welcome to the winter gardening club:)

Nothing is as curious as rink ice, equal parts satisfying and maddening

what about a Zamboni?

Just over an inch

.8" so far.  good thing I cleaned the gutters last saturday.

2 hours ago, IrishRob17 said:

A high of 69 yesterday and a low of 34 this morning, lovely stuff. 

can't say I'm upset to be able to lay off the oil heat for a few weeks

A solid .15” to start the month.

Got down to 31f here.

have 4” on the nose for the month.

I’m about 80% full here.  The oaks just started to turn.  The Japanese maple in my backyard which is always the last to go, is almost all green.

7 hours ago, gravitylover said:

What I noticed driving around the Croton res yesterday is the water level is as low as it's been in years. All through this dry stretch it stayed up and now, after getting a bunch of rain, it's pretty low. Have they started the pre-winter water release already? It seems early for that. 

They did a scheduled release starting after labor day and lasting about a month.  Prior to that, it was full.  so much so, that they closed the river to recreational activities.  I walked over the dam on sunday and the water gauge was about 3 feet below full.

I'm not sure what the purpose of this release was but in the past few years they've been doing some to clear out invasive species in the river, I think.

.31” here

before the rain started, i drove over the croton reservoir and noticed the trees really starting to pop.

.75” here.  Drove up to new paltz yesterday afternoon.  Some nice color but not there yet.

2.1” in croton