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The 2014-2015 Ski Season Thread

Skivt2

By Skivt2,
in New England

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powderfreak

powderfreak

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reeks of desperation but I understand. some might call this an unhealthy addiction. personally, I have another few weeks to go.

It's really fun in low tide though with the junk-boards. No edges, real short and fat boards. It's like a skiing hybrid haha. Those guys are great and I've known some of them since I moved up here, school teachers at Champlain Valley Union high. I think it's different if you live around the area and you want to get back to that backyard playground...these folks aren't traveling from Boston to do it. Sort of like if it's there, why not.

I personally need 6" or so at least on the upper mountain. But will grass ski back to the car at all costs. I don't walk downhill. Only uphill.

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Ginx snewx

Ginx snewx

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It's really fun in low tide though with the junk-boards. No edges, real short and fat boards. It's like a skiing hybrid haha. Those guys are great and I've known some of them since I moved up here, school teachers at Champlain Valley Union high. I think it's different if you live around the area and you want to get back to that backyard playground...these folks aren't traveling from Boston to do it. Sort of like if it's there, why not.

I personally need 6" or so at least on the upper mountain. But will grass ski back to the car at all costs. I don't walk downhill. Only uphill.

You know it, if I lived up there exactly what I would do at their age. Like winter surfing, you just have to have the disease to understand.

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powderfreak

powderfreak

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You know it, if I lived up there exactly what I would do at their age. Like winter surfing, you just have to have the disease to understand.

Yeah like living at the beach...the guys putting the wet suits on in the freezing cold to surf. Most folks would wait for warmer weather or water but if you live there and that's what you do, you go for it when it's available.

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powderfreak

powderfreak

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It does make me wish I lived closer to the northern mountains... I've never really earned my turns but I want to.

For most of us it's just a fun way to get exercise. You know, you hike all summer, mtn bike or trail run. We don't have an over-abundance of YMCA's or health clubs in the mountain towns, so you use the local outdoors. Most folks going and earning their turns aren't doing it for the skiing per se, but just to get outside and get the heart rate up. The skiing can often suck but it's fun. You can earn 2,000 vertical feet in about an hour if you're real fit, 90 minutes if you are going at a relaxed pace. I do it in 70 minutes usually, then another 20 minutes to switch over and ski down. Usually in 1.5 to 1.75 hours I can do a great hike, get to ski down, and be back at my car. Two hours round trip from my home. It's not about the skiing but it's a benefit...just a fun way to get outside this time of year.

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ORH_wxman

ORH_wxman

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Getting pumped to get back out there. I'm gonna try and go in December this year at least once. I usually loath December skiing since its basically like skiing on rock hard white ice death-chutes with little snow but often biting cold....however, I am a bit more optimistic this year. Good November pattern may make the December skiing a bit more enjoyable. Lay down some more base.

 

Of course, if we can get a good 1-2 week stretch in early-mid December for natural snow, then you can really make for mid-winter conditions.

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CoastalWx

CoastalWx

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For most of us it's just a fun way to get exercise. You know, you hike all summer, mtn bike or trail run. We don't have an over-abundance of YMCA's or health clubs in the mountain towns, so you use the local outdoors. Most folks going and earning their turns aren't doing it for the skiing per se, but just to get outside and get the heart rate up. The skiing can often suck but it's fun. You can earn 2,000 vertical feet in about an hour if you're real fit, 90 minutes if you are going at a relaxed pace. I do it in 70 minutes usually, then another 20 minutes to switch over and ski down. Usually in 1.5 to 1.75 hours I can do a great hike, get to ski down, and be back at my car. Two hours round trip from my home. It's not about the skiing but it's a benefit...just a fun way to get outside this time of year.

 

I like that approach. I have 435' or so of vertical that I can hike on the mighty Blue Hill. :lol:

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powderfreak

powderfreak

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Getting pumped to get back out there. I'm gonna try and go in December this year at least once. I usually loath December skiing since its basically like skiing on rock hard white ice death-chutes with little snow but often biting cold....however, I am a bit more optimistic this year. Good November pattern may make the December skiing a bit more enjoyable. Lay down some more base.

Of course, if we can get a good 1-2 week stretch in early-mid December for natural snow, then you can really make for mid-winter conditions.

My favorite December was 2003 for snow, the first year I ever lived up here and skied at Stowe.

There was the 5-7th storm and then another whopper around the 15th, followed by yet another one on the 18th-19th. That was the year Jay Peak COOP had 80" in 5 days around that mid-month period.

I remember skiing at Stowe and it being my first season there I was like "oh wow so this is how it is. We just get 20-36" bombs every week or so." lol...

The first system on the 5-6th left 33.5" at Underhill on Mansfield's west side per a NWS met report, though I remember more like 24-30" at the ski resort. This was the storm that left 4 feet of absolute champagne at Sugarloaf. I still have a buddy who talks about that one at the Loaf where he was skiing like chest deep snow and still hitting rocks; more like upslope consistency.

Then the next storm a week later was I think Jay Peak's 24-hour record though I'll lave to look back. One thing like 42" in 24 hours. I again remember around 2 feet or a touch more at Stowe during that one.

December 2007 was awesome too. But since then I don't remember any December standing out.

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powderfreak

powderfreak

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I like that approach. I have 435' or so of vertical that I can hike on the mighty Blue Hill. :lol:

Even that can be plenty. Work at it and get to the point of running up it. When I'm short on time I'll only go up as far as time allows. I know I make it out that it's all about the skiing sometimes, but most of the time pre and post-season earning turns is just a way to get outside in the mountains (like I said, the skiing isn't always great lol).

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HoarfrostHubb

HoarfrostHubb

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Getting pumped to get back out there. I'm gonna try and go in December this year at least once. I usually loath December skiing since its basically like skiing on rock hard white ice death-chutes with little snow but often biting cold....however, I am a bit more optimistic this year. Good November pattern may make the December skiing a bit more enjoyable. Lay down some more base.

 

Of course, if we can get a good 1-2 week stretch in early-mid December for natural snow, then you can really make for mid-winter conditions.

You can get some smaller events in there too, which can make it enjoyable, even over limited terrain and a porcelain underlayment

 

Crowds can be low as well depending on the day

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LongBeachSurfFreak

LongBeachSurfFreak

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Yeah like living at the beach...the guys putting the wet suits on in the freezing cold to surf. Most folks would wait for warmer weather or water but if you live there and that's what you do, you go for it when it's available.

I have been surfing winters on long island since 2000. Back then it wasn't unusual to surf world class surf after a nor'easter with 3 others guys out even at a top break.

These days not so much. Yesterday for example (though not super cold the wind was brutal) there were 50 guys out at my favorite break. The explosion of the sport on the east coast and major increases in wetsuit technology have ended the good old days. It used to take me an hour to squeeze in and out of my old 6 mil. Now it takes a couple minutes from a thinner but far warmer 5 mil.

I respect the guys making the hike. If I had a hill bigger then 6 feet in my back yard I would be all about it

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J.Spin

J.Spin

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It's really fun in low tide though with the junk-boards. No edges, real short and fat boards. It's like a skiing hybrid haha. Those guys are great and I've known some of them since I moved up here, school teachers at Champlain Valley Union high. I think it's different if you live around the area and you want to get back to that backyard playground...these folks aren't traveling from Boston to do it. Sort of like if it's there, why not.

 

I personally need 6" or so at least on the upper mountain. But will grass ski back to the car at all costs. I don't walk downhill. Only uphill.

 

I'm on the same page as you PF; without prior base, I'd like to see accumulation reaching around that 6" mark, at least on the upper mountain where you can do laps or have those turns for the first portion of your main run.  Essentially I'm looking for that minimal amount of snow where you're at least skiing on snow, not grass.  If the grass is showing through on every turn, that's really a sign that you're skiing mostly grass, and that's sort of the line where it's not really worth the hassle (for me), especially when you're likely to be able to ski much better snow if you just wait a week or two.  We're definitely spoiled up here, and the trouble is, one can essentially earn turns every day during the late fall, winter, and spring if they want to.  Even if you work seven days a week, there's really no excuse not to do it every day, since you can go out on dawn patrol before work, evening sessions after work with headlamps (as those guys you mentioned above sometimes do), or in the middle of the night if that's the window you've got.  You mentioned how quickly one can get a session in, and skipping that is essentially like skipping the gym for the day.  There generally aren’t too many legitimate reasons for skipping, especially when the gym is, practically speaking, open 24 hours a day.  My personal strategy during the cold season is to try and keep it manageable by limiting myself to just those days when there's fresh powder, which is still a good number of days in upslope country.  Taking that approach does provide some extra motivation, since you're only skiing good to great snow, and you never have to deal with the crappy conditions.  Like you said, if you enjoy the workout anyway (it's hard not to when your "workout" is skinning up through fresh snow that gets deeper with every step, and if it's not snowing like a banshee, then the views often improve in the same manner), then the skiing is really just a bonus.  But, when finishing your workout means skiing down through 6 to 12 inches of champagne powder, often on a trail that you have to yourself or share with a few friends or family members, that's kind of a huge bonus.  I think it's easy to see why so many people find the activity appealing.

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CoolMike

CoolMike

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Nice blue cruisers groomed to perfection

Boring for some but I enjoy it

 

They also have some really nice glades.  None of the trails are steep but some of the tree runs are really beautiful.  The nearby Mt Washington hotel is a real treasure.  Check out the old speakeasy bar in the basement if you can.  The bar has weird hours.

 

Other than the hotel there isn't much for restaurants in the area.  Its a not insignificant drive to the cool places to eat in the white mountain region.

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