The 2018-2019 Ski Season Thread

[Hitman]

1 hour ago, burann said:

If you're looking for hard skiing and are okay with a more subdued nightlife, for the money you can't go wrong with BC. I've skied Kicking Horse (Golden, BC) and Revelstoke the past two years early-mid March. Kicking Horse is more old school, fewer "tourists" than LL, Banff, SV. Similar to a Cannon or MRG vibe. Revelstoke is more commercialized (trying to be anyway), but skiing is still excellent.

Fly into Calgary, rent a Suburban, and road trip out on the Trans-Canada Rt 1, 2.5 hrs to Golden. AirBnBs are a dime a dozen. If you're into backcountry, Roger's Pass is world class. With the exchange rate you save a fair bit of money, and lift tickets are at least 30% less than anything in the western US.

I’d add whitewater to that list.  No tourists and Nelson is a great city.  3 hour drive from Spokane.  

 

[Jason215]

43 minutes ago, burann said:

If you're looking for hard skiing and are okay with a more subdued nightlife, for the money you can't go wrong with BC. I've skied Kicking Horse (Golden, BC) and Revelstoke the past two years early-mid March. Kicking Horse is more old school, fewer "tourists" than LL, Banff, SV. Similar to a Cannon or MRG vibe. Revelstoke is more commercialized (trying to be anyway), but skiing is still excellent.

Fly into Calgary, rent a Suburban, and road trip out on the Trans-Canada Rt 1, 2.5 hrs to Golden. AirBnBs are a dime a dozen. If you're into backcountry, Roger's Pass is world class. With the exchange rate you save a fair bit of money, and lift tickets are at least 30% less than anything in the western US.

My group ( except for myself) has either never gone out West or only once. So anything out there compared to east coast would be amazing. 

Revelstoke sounds amazing, but since their base is very very low, I worry about getting Rained on like what happened to me at Whistler. I’ve dealt with enough rain this winter, here on the LI rainforest. I think Kicking Horse is prolly too intense. Mostly double blacks from Summit. (My sweet spot is single and some double blacks, but that is east coast standards. West coast would be more like blues and single blacks. I’ve skied a handful of out west double blacks (Whistler, Big Sky, Jackson Hole) but that was to say I did it, rather than enjoying myself while doing it. 

We’re east coasters who want an out West experience, doesn’t have to be untracked- hellisking-like. A few tourists won’t scare us off. Heck, I’ve skied Vail, but don’t remember any lift lines (must have been a weekday). 

What are your thoughts on LL, SV, Banff Vs Telluride vs Snowbird UT, vs Vail.

also, have you ever hit Big white, Fernie, etc? 

It would be great to take advantage of the favorable exchange rate we got going in Canada.

Sorry for the long ramble! 

[#NoPoles]

3 hours ago, Jason215 said:

My group ( except for myself) has either never gone out West or only once. So anything out there compared to east coast would be amazing. 

Revelstoke sounds amazing, but since their base is very very low, I worry about getting Rained on like what happened to me at Whistler. I’ve dealt with enough rain this winter, here on the LI rainforest. I think Kicking Horse is prolly too intense. Mostly double blacks from Summit. (My sweet spot is single and some double blacks, but that is east coast standards. West coast would be more like blues and single blacks. I’ve skied a handful of out west double blacks (Whistler, Big Sky, Jackson Hole) but that was to say I did it, rather than enjoying myself while doing it. 

We’re east coasters who want an out West experience, doesn’t have to be untracked- hellisking-like. A few tourists won’t scare us off. Heck, I’ve skied Vail, but don’t remember any lift lines (must have been a weekday). 

What are your thoughts on LL, SV, Banff Vs Telluride vs Snowbird UT, vs Vail.

also, have you ever hit Big white, Fernie, etc? 

It would be great to take advantage of the favorable exchange rate we got going in Canada.

Sorry for the long ramble! 

My friend is a lift electrician for the Yelliwstone Club in Big Sky. He loves Big Sky!

[Hitman]

5 hours ago, Jason215 said:

My group ( except for myself) has either never gone out West or only once. So anything out there compared to east coast would be amazing. 

Revelstoke sounds amazing, but since their base is very very low, I worry about getting Rained on like what happened to me at Whistler. I’ve dealt with enough rain this winter, here on the LI rainforest. I think Kicking Horse is prolly too intense. Mostly double blacks from Summit. (My sweet spot is single and some double blacks, but that is east coast standards. West coast would be more like blues and single blacks. I’ve skied a handful of out west double blacks (Whistler, Big Sky, Jackson Hole) but that was to say I did it, rather than enjoying myself while doing it. 

We’re east coasters who want an out West experience, doesn’t have to be untracked- hellisking-like. A few tourists won’t scare us off. Heck, I’ve skied Vail, but don’t remember any lift lines (must have been a weekday). 

What are your thoughts on LL, SV, Banff Vs Telluride vs Snowbird UT, vs Vail.

also, have you ever hit Big white, Fernie, etc? 

It would be great to take advantage of the favorable exchange rate we got going in Canada.

Sorry for the long ramble! 

Whistler is on the coast, whereas the other areas in bc are inland.  Much less chance of getting rained on and the snow in general is lighter.

[Angus]

I wouldn't rank in any particular order - Telluride - stay downtown, lots of night life options. good assortment of terrain for all levels and enough to keep things interesting for 5 days easy. Banff - haven't stayed there but my son has and says good things. Sunshine Village (I liked) and Lake Louise (my son said was better) have enough terrain to keep you interested and the Canadian Rockies are spectacular. Kicking Horse is awesome terrain wise but Golden has a handful of restaurants and the base area didn't seem like much. The bottom third of Revelstoke is prone to warmth but the top 2/3rds stays cold and there is some great terrain. I might throw in Fernie - the downtown is nice and the terrain there is fun and terrain has everything. I don't think you can beat SLC plus it is definitely the easiest to get to. On the park city side of things, my least favorite is the Canyons due to funky lift setup. Problem is with having snowboarders in your group, DV and Alta are eliminated. I think you can't beat staying downtown because your body recovers faster at lower elevation plus you wake up and choose from Powder Mountain/Snowbasin to north to the cottonwoods to Park City areas... but I can't really speak to the nightlife in SLC though. Big Sky is probably the last resort on my N.A. bucket list - but you need to stay in the village and it is $$$. Don't know anyone who hasn't gone there and hasn't comeback raving. As I write this up, you can't really go wrong at any of these places.

[snowgeek]

I wouldn't rank in any particular order - Telluride - stay downtown, lots of night life options. good assortment of terrain for all levels and enough to keep things interesting for 5 days easy. Banff - haven't stayed there but my son has and says good things. Sunshine Village (I liked) and Lake Louise (my son said was better) have enough terrain to keep you interested and the Canadian Rockies are spectacular. Kicking Horse is awesome terrain wise but Golden has a handful of restaurants and the base area didn't seem like much. The bottom third of Revelstoke is prone to warmth but the top 2/3rds stays cold and there is some great terrain. I might throw in Fernie - the downtown is nice and the terrain there is fun and terrain has everything. I don't think you can beat SLC plus it is definitely the easiest to get to. On the park city side of things, my least favorite is the Canyons due to funky lift setup. Problem is with having snowboarders in your group, DV and Alta are eliminated. I think you can't beat staying downtown because your body recovers faster at lower elevation plus you wake up and choose from Powder Mountain/Snowbasin to north to the cottonwoods to Park City areas... but I can't really speak to the nightlife in SLC though. Big Sky is probably the last resort on my N.A. bucket list - but you need to stay in the village and it is $$$. Don't know anyone who hasn't gone there and hasn't comeback raving. As I write this up, you can't really go wrong at any of these places.

I went to Big Sky last spring and it wasn’t too expensive. We found reasonable restaurants. I think I got a 5 day ticket for around $520. The earlier you buy, the cheaper it is. Our hotel was across the street from the slopes and was only around $175 a night. The ski area is amazing. No lift lines, except the tram.


.

[Jason215]

On 2/5/2019 at 5:29 PM, Steve25 said:

Hey everyone. I actually live down a little further south but I had a general ski question. My sister and I live down in Maryland and we were thinking about going skiing soon. We considered this week but it's going to be 50+ degrees all week so we chose to wait for colder conditions. Next week should be 30s/40s. My question is how bad conditions are to ski when temperatures are above freezing and what would be your cutoff temperature for when you don't think it's worth going?

In my opinion, assuming there is no freeze/thaw issues, I think the conditions are close to ideal when the temps are between 25-30 (for nice powder/packed powder). Colder than that is perfectly fine, but you just might not be as comfortable.

After a rainstorm and then a hard freeze, you want to ski in temps about 40-45 or so to make sure the icey hardpack melts.  This would provide soft spring-like conditions- which in my opinion is the second best scenario. You don’t want to go skiing after a thaw or rainstorm and then a hard freeze and temps remain sub freezing- the whole mountain would be all ice and terrible conditions. 

[Jason215]

On 2/5/2019 at 8:50 PM, #NoPoles said:

My friend is a lift electrician for the Yelliwstone Club in Big Sky. He loves Big Sky!

Yellowstone Club is for the high rollers! LOL. Big sky was my favorite mountain out west. Got a group of friends together and rented a ski in/out Moonlight Mountain House. From the house, we had the option of skiing Big Sky or Moonlight Basin. Both were amazing. No lift lines or crowds whatsoever. Pristine place. I couldn’t get enough of just staring at Lone Peak. Such a jagged and sharp summit. The view from the summit was spectacular. 

[Jason215]

On 2/5/2019 at 10:52 PM, Hitman said:

Whistler is on the coast, whereas the other areas in bc are inland.  Much less chance of getting rained on and the snow in general is lighter.

You have a valid point! If I wasn’t so snow starved this year plus being traumatized by the rain we got at Whistler up to the 6,000ft level, (temp then dropped and 3/4 of mountain was ice) I would not be as paranoid about rain. I know some of those places in interior BC got rain at the their at the same time.. I think Fernie was one of them and for sure Revelstoke. Usually Whistler does not rain above 4500 ft.

Funny thing is, I have never ever heard of any rain at like a Vail, Telluride or Big Sky during the winter months. I wonder if they ever get rain. 

I know Lake Tahoe resorts can get rain up to 8,000ft via the “Pineapple Express” 

[Jason215]

15 hours ago, Angus said:

I wouldn't rank in any particular order - Telluride - stay downtown, lots of night life options. good assortment of terrain for all levels and enough to keep things interesting for 5 days easy. Banff - haven't stayed there but my son has and says good things. Sunshine Village (I liked) and Lake Louise (my son said was better) have enough terrain to keep you interested and the Canadian Rockies are spectacular. Kicking Horse is awesome terrain wise but Golden has a handful of restaurants and the base area didn't seem like much. The bottom third of Revelstoke is prone to warmth but the top 2/3rds stays cold and there is some great terrain. I might throw in Fernie - the downtown is nice and the terrain there is fun and terrain has everything. I don't think you can beat SLC plus it is definitely the easiest to get to. On the park city side of things, my least favorite is the Canyons due to funky lift setup. Problem is with having snowboarders in your group, DV and Alta are eliminated. I think you can't beat staying downtown because your body recovers faster at lower elevation plus you wake up and choose from Powder Mountain/Snowbasin to north to the cottonwoods to Park City areas... but I can't really speak to the nightlife in SLC though. Big Sky is probably the last resort on my N.A. bucket list - but you need to stay in the village and it is $$$. Don't know anyone who hasn't gone there and hasn't comeback raving. As I write this up, you can't really go wrong at any of these places.

I’ve skied Powder Mountain and Snowbasin, but would like to hit the Cottenwooods.

Leaning towards Canada at the moment- with the favorable exchange rate- The thing that I like about Fernie and Big White is the accommodations and slope side village. But I’ve always wanted to ski Lake Louise/Sunshine. I love the Spectacular Scenery.

When I skied Breckinridge and lodged there for a week, I got altitude sickness- I had to go to the oxygen bar twice. I didn’t have issues at Vail or Beaver Creek. For Telluride- staying at Mountain Village would give me issues, so yeah in town would be better.

My favorite mountain thus far is Big Sky, beautiful place,  no crowds- just friendly folk.

[#NoPoles]

50 minutes ago, Jason215 said:

Yellowstone Club is for the high rollers! LOL. Big sky was my favorite mountain out west. Got a group of friends together and rented a ski in/out Moonlight Mountain House. From the house, we had the option of skiing Big Sky or Moonlight Basin. Both were amazing. No lift lines or crowds whatsoever. Pristine place. I couldn’t get enough of just staring at Lone Peak. Such a jagged and sharp summit. The view from the summit was spectacular. 

Yup, it sure is. The employees of The Yellowstone Club get passes to Big Sky because they arent allowed to ski/ride at Yellowstone Club for recreational purposes. TYC, sets aside one day per year for employee use. The rest of the time they ski/ride Big Sky.

[uncletim]

23 hours ago, Jason215 said:

In my opinion, assuming there is no freeze/thaw issues, I think the conditions are close to ideal when the temps are between 25-30 (for nice powder/packed powder). Colder than that is perfectly fine, but you just might not be as comfortable.

After a rainstorm and then a hard freeze, you want to ski in temps about 40-45 or so to make sure the icey hardpack melts.  This would provide soft spring-like conditions- which in my opinion is the second best scenario. You don’t want to go skiing after a thaw or rainstorm and then a hard freeze and temps remain sub freezing- the whole mountain would be all ice and terrible conditions. 

These are good guidelines, but there are a lot of variables that affect them. I think the resort's primary slope direction matters a lot. Not to get hung up on Mid-Atlantic examples in this subforum, but Whitetail in PA with it's south-east facing slopes needs a really cold day to hold up if the sun is out. I would assume Bromley is similar relative to its VT brethren. And regarding the thaw/freeze issue, grooming skill can make a huge difference. This past Tuesday at Okemo was springtime in Feb. with temps in the 50s and then it froze up tight on Tuesday night. I thought Wed. would be a skating rink, but the groomers managed to make a silk(ish) purse out of a sow's ear. Not exactly soft packed powder corduroy, but a mostly good-quality skiing surface.

Bottom line is that skiing the east is usually something of a gamble regarding conditions, but a little bit of foreknowledge about the specific destination can improve the odds!

 

 

[Lava Rock]

Foggy at SR today. Waiting for the front to push through

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[Jason215]

16 hours ago, uncletim said:

These are good guidelines, but there are a lot of variables that affect them. I think the resort's primary slope direction matters a lot. Not to get hung up on Mid-Atlantic examples in this subforum, but Whitetail in PA with it's south-east facing slopes needs a really cold day to hold up if the sun is out. I would assume Bromley is similar relative to its VT brethren. And regarding the thaw/freeze issue, grooming skill can make a huge difference. This past Tuesday at Okemo was springtime in Feb. with temps in the 50s and then it froze up tight on Tuesday night. I thought Wed. would be a skating rink, but the groomers managed to make a silk(ish) purse out of a sow's ear. Not exactly soft packed powder corduroy, but a mostly good-quality skiing surface.

Bottom line is that skiing the east is usually something of a gamble regarding conditions, but a little bit of foreknowledge about the specific destination can improve the odds!

 

 

Okemo seems to be on top of their game re: grooming and snowmaking. They have quite a bit of water capacity to make snow. Killington for example- though they claim 75% of trails have snowmaking- if you follow their snow reports- they are only able to blow snow on 5-8 trails per night. It would take them well over a week to cover most of the mountain assuming they had an artic blast and it was sub 20 the entire time. A guy told me once they just don’t have the water pressure to blast large chucks of the mountain simultaneously (like Okemo does).

Also, re:your experience at Okemo- you went on a Wednesday- the snow does not get skied off as quickly as a weekend day- (much less skier traffic) so the tilled snow is able to last most of..if not the entire day. 

Not too many mountains around here have south facing slopes, but I agree that would change my guidelines somewhat. Especially for March/April spring skiing. 37 on a sunny March day with a southern exposure would be enough to melt the ice into spring conditions. 

Okemo is a really good mountain, they make the best of whatever the weather throws at them. My gripe with them is they can get really crowded on weekends. Killington is so big, there are plenty of mid/upper mountain lifts where you can escape the crowds. They need to get that South Ridge lift moving already, that’s probably my favorite part of the mountain. 

[snowgeek]

Okemo seems to be on top of their game re: grooming and snowmaking. They have quite a bit of water capacity to make snow. Killington for example- though they claim 75% of trails have snowmaking- if you follow their snow reports- they are only able to blow snow on 5-8 trails per night. It would take them well over a week to cover most of the mountain assuming they had an artic blast and it was sub 20 the entire time. A guy told me once they just don’t have the water pressure to blast large chucks of the mountain simultaneously (like Okemo does).
Also, re:your experience at Okemo- you went on a Wednesday- the snow does not get skied off as quickly as a weekend day- (much less skier traffic) so the tilled snow is able to last most of..if not the entire day. 
Not too many mountains around here have south facing slopes, but I agree that would change my guidelines somewhat. Especially for March/April spring skiing. 37 on a sunny March day with a southern exposure would be enough to melt the ice into spring conditions. 
Okemo is a really good mountain, they make the best of whatever the weather throws at them. My gripe with them is they can get really crowded on weekends. Killington is so big, there are plenty of mid/upper mountain lifts where you can escape the crowds. They need to get that South Ridge lift moving already, that’s probably my favorite part of the mountain. 

South Ridge Lift is now open at Killington!!! Woot!!


.

[amarshall]

Dumping at Killington right now

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[Jason215]

2 hours ago, snowgeek said:

South Ridge Lift is now open at Killington!!! Woot!!


.

Well how about that!!! Now we just need a good foot plus of natural to cover up the ice. Not too much to ask for in VT in February. 

[uncletim]

6 hours ago, Jason215 said:

Okemo seems to be on top of their game re: grooming and snowmaking. They have quite a bit of water capacity to make snow. Killington for example- though they claim 75% of trails have snowmaking- if you follow their snow reports- they are only able to blow snow on 5-8 trails per night. It would take them well over a week to cover most of the mountain assuming they had an artic blast and it was sub 20 the entire time. A guy told me once they just don’t have the water pressure to blast large chucks of the mountain simultaneously (like Okemo does).

Also, re:your experience at Okemo- you went on a Wednesday- the snow does not get skied off as quickly as a weekend day- (much less skier traffic) so the tilled snow is able to last most of..if not the entire day. 

Not too many mountains around here have south facing slopes, but I agree that would change my guidelines somewhat. Especially for March/April spring skiing. 37 on a sunny March day with a southern exposure would be enough to melt the ice into spring conditions. 

Okemo is a really good mountain, they make the best of whatever the weather throws at them. My gripe with them is they can get really crowded on weekends. Killington is so big, there are plenty of mid/upper mountain lifts where you can escape the crowds. They need to get that South Ridge lift moving already, that’s probably my favorite part of the mountain. 

Certainly Okemo does a remarkable job with surface prep, and I'm lucky to be able to get up there a couple times a year during the week when it's relatively deserted, and less expensive. We'll see how things change with Vail ownership. Prices seemed to take quite a jump this year...

[Lava Rock]

Winds whipping here at Sunday River. Only 2 lifts open. So glad we.skiied yesterday

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[Angus]

noticed both wildcat and sugarloaf are closed for the day due to winds. i xc skied at weston ski track in slush yesterday afternoon in sunshine and temps in mid-50's then did a less-than-enjoyable two hour session at WaWa last evening on a surface that was freezing up, winds howling and kids bombing by me out of control...ah, the joys of NE weather.

[Sugarloaf1989]

I'm at Berkshire East right now and it's frozen granular snow conditions. No line for the chairs.

[gravitylover]

On 2/7/2019 at 1:48 AM, Jason215 said:

You have a valid point! If I wasn’t so snow starved this year plus being traumatized by the rain we got at Whistler up to the 6,000ft level, (temp then dropped and 3/4 of mountain was ice) I would not be as paranoid about rain. I know some of those places in interior BC got rain at the their at the same time.. I think Fernie was one of them and for sure Revelstoke. Usually Whistler does not rain above 4500 ft.

Funny thing is, I have never ever heard of any rain at like a Vail, Telluride or Big Sky during the winter months. I wonder if they ever get rain. 

I know Lake Tahoe resorts can get rain up to 8,000ft via the “Pineapple Express” 

I lived in Steamboat for 6 years back in the late 80's and early 90's. It rained there more often than you'd imagine. I remember one day in particular where it was heavy rain and 45* at the base and freezing mist and rain and near 0 up top. The whole mountain turned into a block of ice, some of the trees came through in great shape but the trails were terrible until they got groomed a few times. I spent a winter at Targhee/Jackson and it got wet a few times too. I know it rains in the winter at Big Mt Montana and all of the ski areas in Idaho but I haven't had the pleasure.

Tahoe? I lived there for a while too, forget about it, when it rains there it doesn't fool around. After rolling through a 6 week blitz of over 30 feet it rained 3 or 4 times followed by raging winds and a 40+ degree temp drop. Those mountains would freeze solid 6" thick (on top of a 250-300" base) and it would be unbearable for days until it warmed up and then it would be the most glorious corn ever.

[Jason215]

11 hours ago, gravitylover said:

I lived in Steamboat for 6 years back in the late 80's and early 90's. It rained there more often than you'd imagine. I remember one day in particular where it was heavy rain and 45* at the base and freezing mist and rain and near 0 up top. The whole mountain turned into a block of ice, some of the trees came through in great shape but the trails were terrible until they got groomed a few times. I spent a winter at Targhee/Jackson and it got wet a few times too. I know it rains in the winter at Big Mt Montana and all of the ski areas in Idaho but I haven't had the pleasure.

Tahoe? I lived there for a while too, forget about it, when it rains there it doesn't fool around. After rolling through a 6 week blitz of over 30 feet it rained 3 or 4 times followed by raging winds and a 40+ degree temp drop. Those mountains would freeze solid 6" thick (on top of a 250-300" base) and it would be unbearable for days until it warmed up and then it would be the most glorious corn ever.

Steamboat for CO standards has a pretty low base altitude. I’m a bit more surprised to hear Big Sky Resort can rain being that it’s about 300 miles further north and a little higher base.   Lake Tahoe area can have such wild swings in weather. Either prodigious snows or rain or severe drought. I guess no ski area is totally immune to rain then in the lower 48. 

You must have had some epic days since you’ve lived in ski country for years. 

I did ski Grand Targhee once (while on a Jackson Hole trip) and the snow was amazing. Like floating on a cloud! 

[HIPPYVALLEY]

All reports indicate everything South of Killington is a glacial disaster right now.  

[Baroclinic Zone]

9 minutes ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

All reports indicate everything South of Killington is a glacial disaster right now.  

They were making snow at Blue Hills yesterday.  

[Sugarloaf1989]

1 hour ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

All reports indicate everything South of Killington is a glacial disaster right now.  

Berkshire East was definitely not a glacial disaster yesterday. It was edgable frozen granular. Very empty except for a race on Competition with new snowmaking. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

1 hour ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

All reports indicate everything South of Killington is a glacial disaster right now.  

My son was snowboarding at Wachusett Saturday night after his shift was done.  He said it was very icy

[gravitylover]

My daughter said the Butternut was 'firm' yesterday. 

Jason yeah I sure did have some epic days. I'm so glad I got to do all of that while I was in my 20's. 

[powderfreak]

5 hours ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

All reports indicate everything South of Killington is a glacial disaster right now.  

Glacial disaster up here too. 

We've got 88" on the ground and it is essentially a concrete foundation.

It is very icy out there. 

 

[powderfreak]

Unfortunately the icy conditions up here have not been good.  I don't know if I've ever seen it this bad.  The glades are straight pond ice, everything not groomed is extremely dangerous.  Even what most skiers would think of as low-angle is slide for life.

A skier died at Jay Peak yesterday when he lost a ski and then slide on the ice into trees.

https://vtdigger.org/2019/02/11/west-montreal-skier-dies-jay-peak-striking-trees/

 

Up on Mount Mansfield yesterday, a local hiker (non-ski related) was on the Long Trail with his dog when he lost his footing.  He slid through the woods, striking trees and suffered severe trauma and was airlifted by DART (flying out of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital).  This guy was just walking in the woods and it is literally that icy that even a slip on any incline at all will cause a slide for life through the hardwood forests.