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The 2012/13 Ski Season Thread


ski MRG

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Awesome photos PF.  Are you the photographer?  If so, what gear are you using?

 

Thanks.

Get an exif info extension for your browser, then you can see all sorts of info about the camera and even specifics about the settings that were used (f, iso, etc)

I'm using Exif Viewer for Chrome

 

PF, I can't see the your pics he's asking about for some reason, donno if it's just me.

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Awesome photos PF.  Are you the photographer?  If so, what gear are you using?

 

Thanks.

 

Sorry just seeing this now... I use a few year old Cannon Rebel.  Its pretty low-tech compared to what any professional photographer uses, but I think its all in how you compose a photo.  I took some photography classes in high school and college, so I've got at least some minor background in it.  I do a lot of the Stowe promotional photography on brochures, the cover of the trail map this season, online, etc.  But honestly, its not that hard to take sweet photos given the subject matter I'm given up here.  Lots of snow, great terrain, great skiers, big mountains & their weather, etc.

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how much did n greens receive in this event.  a shot out of jay look'd like 20+

 

There was an area of 24 inches or more from just north of here in Eden (Lamoille County) and up through Jay.  If that deeper moisture just came down a little further it would've been huge down here too.  But alas we'll have to deal with 12-18" in general.

This is an article from the Burlington Free Press which actually did a decent job explaining the upslope snow in laymans terms later in the article.  I think that was done about as well as you can without getting overly technical...

 

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Several towns, including Eden, Bakersfield, Jay and Troy received about 2 feet of snow.

 

The snow depth varied greatly over short distances. In St. Albans, residents awoke Thursday morning to barely a dusting of new snow. Just 15 miles to the east, along Vermont 36 in Bakersfield, residents confronted two feet of new snow as they started their Thursday.

 

The big storm winner was Westfield, where up to 29 inches of fresh powder was reported.

 

“Everybody is coming into town and saying ‘You guys got a lot of snow,” said Debbie Breault, owner of the Westfield General Store. And she’s happy about the very white state of affairs in town.

 

“It’s so gorgeous. It’s a light fluffy snow. It makes you feel really good,” she said. It won’t hurt that skiers, snowmobile enthusiasts and other winter enthusiast will flock to the area when word gets out about how much snow fell on the region, Breault noted.

 

The Westfield General Store gets much of its winter business from snowmobiliers. That sport has been spotty during this on again, off again winter. Snowmobiling in Westfield is now most emphatically on.

 

“This will encourage a lot more snowmobiles,” Breault said as snowflakes continued to fall Thursday afternoon, albeit at a much lighter pace than they did Wednesday night.

 

The localized storm proved that the right alchemy of wind direction, moisture in the air and terrain can really enforce the idea that Vermont’s weather is idiosyncratic, to say the least.

 

Storms moving northeast away from Vermont often produce a few hours of snow along the western slopes of the Green Mountains. West winds behind a departing storm hit those western slopes and are forced to rise over the ridges.

 

When air rises, it cools. Cooler air can’t hold as much moisture as warmer air. The moisture has to go somewhere as the air cools, so it falls out as snow across the northern Green Mountains.

 

This time, the storm to our northeast stalled. That meant a strong, wet west wind blew for a good 24 hours or more, starting Wednesday morning. More storminess in the upper atmosphere added to the lift already being provided by the Green Mountain range.

 

The result was hour after hour of heavy snow in the northern Green Mountains.

 

The snow wasn’t as heavy in the central and southern Green Mountains because the supply of moisture in the air wasn’t as intense there. In places like the Champlain Valley and eastern Vermont, the terrain wasn’t forcing the air to rise. No lift, no snow to speak of.

 

The wind shifted from the west to the northwest Thursday afternoon, which is more favorable for snow in the Champlain Valley. By then, there wasn’t as much moisture in the air as earlier, so only light snow fell in and around Burlington.

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Powderfreak etc, thanks for answering the question re lifts...didn't get a chance to respond but did see the answers and it's appreciated.

 

--

 

Hit Sunapee today.  First time I've been there with the whole mountain open (last time the left lift for the left trails was closed).   We hit Goosebumps on the first run, .lots of fun.  Little more narrow than it looks when you're cruising.  Extreme leg workout on all of those trails.  Beat feet up and over to the left trails, Wingdings etc.  Nice, lots of fun.  By the end of the day they were basically "moguls" end to end because of the snow getting pushed around.   Fun.  

 

Spent the midday with the youngest and my wife on the main lift.  My youngest has advanced quickly. She skis top to bottom on trails like Ridge and even does Upper/Lower Blast off without issue.  By lunch it was getting crowded so we were sticking to ridge run top to bottom, nice trail for the little ones.   Interesting crowd today, lots of adults that seemed to be pretty new.  But in the snow, fog, bumps, etc, the people doing enormous sweeping turns from trail edge to trail edge made it interesting.  We had an issue with a middle aged woman who lost control cutting off our little one and actually bumping her, which acted like a cue ball hitting another ball.. our little one shot off, up and over the embankment.   It wasn't simultaneous, it took another 5 seconds before she went up and over, the woman kept going (legitimately I don't think she knew, she was out of control).     She's fine, helmet FTW and her being smart and sliding.  But it took 2 of us and 2 ski patrol guys responding to another incident down the mountain (turned out to be the same woman wrecking in the woods needing a stretcher) to get her up and out...if I understood correctly she was going so fast she broke the rope line when she hit it.     

 

I love this mountain.  The people are great.  Probably 10 people offered to help, and all offered her encouragement when we got her back up which got her back on the skis and continuing on her way.  No doubt with the lesson in her head that like driving a car she does have to keep an eye on wayward skiers because people may run into you even if you are doing nothing wrong.  We had lots of help and my little one got a ton of encouragement and was off skiing in no time.   In the end I feel bad for the woman, in the snow, fog and limited visibility - she panicked.  Hopefully she's alright.  

What we learned today is even with our kids under control and under close supervision there's always the chance something can go wrong.   I guess it's kind of like driving a car, I'm not worried about my driving in the snow on 93 today, I'm worried about the idiot doing 75 in 3" of standing snow in the passing lane losing control and hitting a bunch of us. 

 

Sunapee gets two thumbs up.  I don't see the ski patrol really at all when I'm skiing but they're there and appear out of nowhere when the shi* hits the fan.   Good stuff.

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Really good day at Sugarbush.  Low vis and snowing needles made the trails tough, but the woods off Castlerock were exceptional if you didn't jump on the first line you saw.  Creativity and some hoofing was well rewarded with deep, untouched dense snow, soft landings, and quiet meditative scenes.

 

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Really good day at Sugarbush. Low vis and snowing needles made the decision trails tough, but the woods off Castlerock were exceptional if you didn't jump on the first line you saw. Creativity and some hoofing was well rewarded with deep, untouched dense snow, soft landings, and quiet meditative scenes.

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Sweet great pictures
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Glad you had a good time at Sunapee, Rollo.  I've been there a ton of times and always have good experiences with the staff too.

 

Top notch staff all around and it's an incredible bargain when family values is running.  $75 for parent and older child?  Can't beat it.

 

My little one is fine this am, luckily like I said she did a slide more than a fall. 

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For those who are interested: Crotched mountain has decided to offer one last friday midnight madness to close out the season.  They are offering discounted lift tickets valid from 5pm to 3am and the conditions should be awesome.  Every trail but one of the glades on skier's right of the main slope will be open for night skiing.

 

I've been there twice this season and literally rode every trail a couple of times each.  I was there on Saturday night and the skiing was great, as was the band playing in the bar (no idea their name but they were very talented).  I may go just to work on getting more comfortable hitting the jumps in the park.

 

Incedentally: Does anyone know how much more or less crowded Wildcat and Attitash get during the NH school vacation week?  I was up there on year during Mass school vacation week and thought if I could do it again I would just wait it out.  How does the NH vacation compare to the MA vacation week with regards to crowds on the slopes?

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For those who are interested: Crotched mountain has decided to offer one last friday midnight madness to close out the season.  They are offering discounted lift tickets valid from 5pm to 3am and the conditions should be awesome.  Every trail but one of the glades on skier's right of the main slope will be open for night skiing.

 

I've been there twice this season and literally rode every trail a couple of times each.  I was there on Saturday night and the skiing was great, as was the band playing in the bar (no idea their name but they were very talented).  I may go just to work on getting more comfortable hitting the jumps in the park.

 

Incedentally: Does anyone know how much more or less crowded Wildcat and Attitash get during the NH school vacation week?  I was up there on year during Mass school vacation week and thought if I could do it again I would just wait it out.  How does the NH vacation compare to the MA vacation week with regards to crowds on the slopes?

 

I may do this Crotched Mountain deal instead.  Fits the schedule better.

 

As far as the vacations, last week is the big week.  This week is nowhere near as busy.  Check out Sunday River.  Same time last week the line was 15 minutes long.

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I may do this Crotched Mountain deal instead.  Fits the schedule better.

 

As far as the vacations, last week is the big week.  This week is nowhere near as busy.  Check out Sunday River.  Same time last week the line was 15 minutes long.

Lift lines are never 15 minutes at Wildcat. Never ever -- there are barely ever lines at all. Last weekend was quiet too. Attitash gets busier but lines only approach that level on the very busiest days.

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Lift lines are never 15 minutes at Wildcat. Never ever -- there are barely ever lines at all. Last weekend was quiet too. Attitash gets busier but lines only approach that level on the very busiest days.

I love Wildcat, my Berkshire East of the North with perhaps the best view of any New Englland ski area.
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7 days until I head N w/ the wife and boy six days at SR and two at S'loaf. Can't wait, hopefully more snow incoming. Ben not quite 2 so no skis until next year but meeting my Canadian in laws so plenty of child care to give daddy extra slope time. ; )

Booked mine 5 today at SR, couples days up to Saddleback if all goes as planned. Super excited, hitting Okemo one day next week, probably Wildcat the Sunday start of the vacation, its that time for me GO GO GO

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re: Magic Mt today

 

What a waste of $50 in gas.  Yesterdays snow was warm and wet even though it stayed at or below freezing on the mt yesterday then it got just a bit colder last night and everything set up hard as a rock for this morning.  Anything not groomed was unskiable until about 2 and I was shot by then.  The groomers were alright  until about 1 when they got good but then it clouded over by 2:30 and the ruts got HARD.  Oh well...  At least the coverage is really really good so the season should stretch out a bit and there are bound to be a few perfect days mixed in now.

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Good day at MRG, especially on top which never thawed yesterday.  Mid-mountain down was locked up pretty tight until it warmed up later in the day.  Up top was special however...

 

MRG is a wild place. Lots of rabbit holes:

 

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You pull yourself through...

 

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So that's what he was hiding

 

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A stash 

 

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Jackpot

 

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re: Magic Mt today

 

What a waste of $50 in gas.  Yesterdays snow was warm and wet even though it stayed at or below freezing on the mt yesterday then it got just a bit colder last night and everything set up hard as a rock for this morning.  Anything not groomed was unskiable until about 2 and I was shot by then.  The groomers were alright  until about 1 when they got good but then it clouded over by 2:30 and the ruts got HARD.  Oh well...  At least the coverage is really really good so the season should stretch out a bit and there are bound to be a few perfect days mixed in now.

I was at work today, you were skiing. Quit crying ;-)

That, andif you are a member here, you are probably aware that weather can affect snow condiitons....

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Wow at the MRG pics

Had a great night at Wachusett. Friends had a suite upstairs that we chilled in, daughter and her friend had a great leason, wife skied and loved it

Good beer, great food. Daughter crying when we left at 9:40PM. Always a good sign

Son starting to hit terrain park features. Uh oh.

One of the owners was kind enough to take wife and daughters rental stuff and we mentioned how good the lesson was-instructor gets a bonus!

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