#NoPoles Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 hey pf, are there any good ski and stay packages for Stowe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 hey pf, are there any good ski and stay packages for Stowe? I really have no idea, but you can usually find decent stuff (relatively speaking) for this time frame between now and President's Week. There's sort of a lull, especially mid-week, at the end of January and early February. With an Evolution Stowe card, if you purchase your ticket online its $79 bucks every day including weekends, from now till Presidents weekend I think. In December that price was $59, and I bet later in the season we may see more of that price... but honestly $79 even on weekends in the prime of the season isn't that bad (similar or same Saturday rate as "cheap" MRG I think). As far as lodging, I'm sure there are plenty of decent mid-week deals throughout town... in this town there's all sorts of lodging options from full-scale luxury hotels to shady bear motels, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clinch Leatherwood Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Sunday River I thought was pretty empty this weekend....which was good. No real waits until Jordan went onto lift hold yesterday. This morning the lift lines were no more than 2 or 3 people total on each lift...ie you never waited. They do need more snow. It's really hard packed and I don't think they're able to groom through it each night. IE, it's ice. When it's scratched off even on slow days by 11.... some good yard sales with injury on white heat yesterday as people were being super aggressive and totally losing the show. Saw what looked like two nasty breaks...yuck. The cruisers were great. If you go up top to the left, goat path is closed so it's tough to cut across with novices. End up on Aurora yesterday afternoon in the squalls as a lot of the mountain was closed. Good terrain, some really steep drops on that side. I'd give it an 8.5 out of 10 we had a blast. I thought the conditions were fine but I have the skis tuned often. The guys that haven't done it in "years" that are much better skiers than me were having a tough time by 11am or so each day...spend the $25 and have the skis tuned! One huge improvement. They had ski patrol at most of the major intersections telling people to slow down. Great change from previous years and really added to the safety. On Saturday about 10 I was up on American Express with just my daughter. We had the entire trail to ourselves and were making good time. Literally nobody else aside of two snowboarders above us. One got so close to me we clicked and he fell. WTF is wrong with people...no common sense left really at all, I was skiing straight down the mountain and never moved more than 15 feet on a 60 yard wide trail. Foggy Goggle still smells like elephant balls. They really need to throw a chair through the window to let the stink out. It's a shame, it's the only real beef with the mountain the après ski in that place.....really lacks compared to Bretton Woods and other places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 a facility managers nightmare. Is this true? I havent seen this reported elsewhere. How long was the power out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Is this true? I havent seen this reported elsewhere. How long was the power out? It was on Killington's webpage/snow report during it. No idea on duration or anything. It just listed the affected lifts (mostly fixed grip, as now in days, most high speeds have two back-up power sources) and said Green Mountain Power crews were working on the situation. Sounded like the Bear Mountain side of the ski resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clinch Leatherwood Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Powderfreak how is your snowpack compared to climo at this stage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#NoPoles Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 just spent some time researching how to ski at Jay Peak, and the only conclusion i was able to come to is a ****-ton driving time and money for lodging compared to very little time on the slopes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeepowderhunter Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hey guys, long time lurker here. As for Jay, yes its a ways up there but great if you know the mountain. I tend to stay inbounds but, the dip and big jay are worth it, when the condition permit. As for lodging, the mountain has seemed to buy some lodging on the access road, so fewer option close to the mountain. However, Newport City is about 25 min or so and has a decent hotel for cheap. This is a no frills place and there is a little bar/pub just up the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeepowderhunter Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Oh yeah, its windy too!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Powderfreak how is your snowpack compared to climo at this stage?Natural snow is less than average...both in season to date (though not by much, but we lost ground this month after that epic 3 week stretch starting Dec 16), and in snowpack. Snowpack was above average the first week this month, then the thaw knocked it back quite a bit.I'll post the Mansfield Co-Op stake graph but that pretty much explains it. Snowmaking has been phenomenal though... The new improvements of having so much fixed equipment can't be stressed enough. Last week after the thaw, we made snow on pretty much every snowmaking trail prior to the holiday weekend in a resurfacing effort. When you have all fixed tower guns, there's no moving equipment down time like prior years...you literally blow 5-7 trails for 12 hours, turn those off, and less than an hour later you are making snow on another 5-7 trails. Automation and fixed equipment is awesome... Switch your trails every 12 hours (more than enough time to put down a lot of snow at the temps we had last week and now even better this week), and before you know it you've completely resurfaced 45-50 trails in 4 days in chalky man-made packed powder. Last summer we added 350 fixed guns as well as a bunch of permanent fan guns, so we are still just getting used to how much of a game changer that stuff can be. There should be more coming this summer too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ono Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 just spent some time researching how to ski at Jay Peak, and the only conclusion i was able to come to is a ****-ton driving time and money for lodging compared to very little time on the slopes... it can be worth the drive. you have to like woods skiing, and exploring openings you see in the woods. there are plenty of off-map inbounds glades. the trail system is so-so. well, pretty wind-blown and can be downright rough. even at the end of that long stretch of snow they had "caution icy trail" signs up as the wind really scours the place and they didn't think things through back when they cut. think of it as the opposite of MRG in that sense. big jay is not recommended if you don't know where you're going (unless you have backcountry mobility capability). as getting out is not as intuitive as you'd think, and the snow can easily be waist deep. which means trouble if you get stuck at the bottom of the bowl below the traverse. stowe's always a good bet for if driving time is a concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolMike Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Wildcat mountain closed today due to the cold weather and safety concerns. They were at -15 this afternoon with a -47 wind chill. Nearby Attitash stayed open. I've never heard of a mountain closing due to the cold before. Edit: They will also be closed tomorrow. That mountain does always seem to be colder than the surrounding areas. No idea why. I always assumed it was in my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Our.school ski club was cancelled for Thurs evening...not my decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Wachusett looks absolutely empty tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisM Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 just spent some time researching how to ski at Jay Peak, and the only conclusion i was able to come to is a ****-ton driving time and money for lodging compared to very little time on the slopes... Jay is the best skiing east of Colorado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Snowmaking is very productive in these temperatures. Turn the guns on for a night at -20F and you get big piles in the morning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clinch Leatherwood Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 snowmaking the only game in town the next 1-2 weeks. The lack of real snow is really hurting places like Mad River. Been closed, opening a few trails again this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbutts Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 No way ticket sales were going to cover the costs of running those lifts and lodges. Pretty much nobody will drive up to Wildcat on a day like today so you only upset a small few die hard passholders and would be day skiers. I don't think they'd even consider it on a Saturday even if it were colder so I don't really buy the safety thing. I do think it would be potentially dangerous to be stuck on a lift breakdown or some other situation in the wind on a day like today, so the safety excuse isn't totally bunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbutts Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Snowmaking is very productive in these temperatures. Turn the guns on for a night at -20F and you get big piles in the morning... IMG_1895_edited-1.jpg Would make a good time lapse (in the day anyway) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adk Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 snowmaking the only game in town the next 1-2 weeks. The lack of real snow is really hurting places like Mad River. Been closed, opening a few trails again this weekend. Not sure that's true. Plenty of chances for snow once we move into later next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Would make a good time lapse (in the day anyway) That is a pretty good idea... I may look into that. Would be awesome to do like a 12 hour test with a time lapse just to show how productive these guns are at these temperatures. I mean, you can significantly change the topography of a trail in 12-18 hours at those temperatures... and its really cheap snow, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisM Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 That is a pretty good idea... I may look into that. Would be awesome to do like a 12 hour test with a time lapse just to show how productive these guns are at these temperatures. I mean, you can significantly change the topography of a trail in 12-18 hours at those temperatures... and its really cheap snow, too. Airless I assume? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 snowmaking the only game in town the next 1-2 weeks. The lack of real snow is really hurting places like Mad River. Been closed, opening a few trails again this weekend. Snowmaking will also likely be slowing down at a lot of resorts over the next couple weeks. Historically you see a large drop off in early February in snowmaking operations. Especially after the past two weeks with great cold temperatures in two different snaps. I know we've gone trail to trail, just burying them and then moving on... like in my photos above. That first photo I posted of the piles on Perry Merrill, in like 12-18 hours the snow depth on that trail will increase about 5 feet from side-to-side once its groomed out. There's really no reason to go back and make snow there again this season. That trail will now have enough snow to carry through the spring. At this point, everyone is making snow for spring base depths. Unless we get a massive thaw prior to President's Week, I think you'll see snowmaking operations at ski resorts slow down... or at least become more selective (ie. not make snow unless its 15F or lower) for cost purposes. And after President's Week, no one makes snow unless we have a time like last season with a week of 80s in March and a few spots decide to fire up the guns again. But after President's Week...snowmaking is pretty much dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Airless I assume? Normally we run 5 compressors... this week its only taking 2 compressors, lol. You can basically just spray water out of a hose at -20F haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clinch Leatherwood Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 That is a pretty good idea... I may look into that. Would be awesome to do like a 12 hour test with a time lapse just to show how productive these guns are at these temperatures. I mean, you can significantly change the topography of a trail in 12-18 hours at those temperatures... and its really cheap snow, too. That'd be really cool...a timestamped time lapse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#NoPoles Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 maybe some snow for the g2g? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Skiing at Wachusett this evening was awesome Tons of snow, little ice And Noooooo people. Got the sweetest parking spot ever Dang cold and windy though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skivt2 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 It's a bummer that ski areas stop making snow at presidents week. The reason is simple. Skiers who only ski a couple times a year stop skiing after mid-late march. They assume their is no snow because there is no snow in their backyard. If people woke up and realized how great it is to ski in summer weather I'll bet ski areas could keep going well into June on man made snow. Unfortunately ski areas rent compressors and they return them in mid February. If the snow can last until the skiers stop coming than its good enough. Contrary to popular belief ski areas actually shut down due to lack of people. If you've never skied in April at Stowe, Jay or Killington you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 yep, that idea wormed out great. Yeah, I was just thinking that too... The good news is that they're making mountains, and we'll maybe get some natural monday night, so maybe a mini-pow day for us on tuesday? Hopefully a little winter weather won't keep people from making the drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 yep, that idea wormed out great. Fine with me, no trees in my ski days anymore, you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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