The 2018-2019 Ski Season Thread

[Sugarloaf1989]

2 hours ago, MarkO said:

I don't think it will all melt away. A foot of man made snow has the liquid equivalent of maybe 5 feet of natural and if you look at their live webcams, they are just absolutely pounding Superstar. Like others have said, elevation helps a lot, not to mention late October sun angle is same as early February. Also, Killington is hosting (once again) Thanksgiving weekend FIS race which also gets it plenty more publicity and gives them another reason to keep the guns firing. 

Being able to drive to 2500' is pretty rare for a New England mountain. Bolton Valley is the only other one I can think of. As for other elevated lifts, the others that come to mind are the fixed grip quad at Cannon, the summit chair on Mt. Ellen (Sugarbush) and that summit chair on Sugarloaf. I think the bottom of all those lifts are over 3000'. The double chair at WV probably had the highest base elevation at about 3500', but it's gone this year, being replaced with a tee bar. FWIW, those chairs are for sale for $400 (I got one on hold). If anyone wants one, send me a pm.

My post was made in jest. I probably have around 20 skier days in October. Gore could do skiing on the upper mountain and download on the gondola. Mount Snow could also do the same with skiing on the North-face and download on the Bluebird. They are going to announce an opening day today. I'm planning on taking my son there on Saturday. I'm not sure if I will ski as the trail offerings are a bit steep for me with MS.

[radarman]

On 10/19/2018 at 9:14 PM, zeepowderhunter said:

It definitely a great mountain when the snow is flying. Also never have to worry about wind holds like many other mountains. My suggestion is to get there on a mid week powder day. Smaller crowds which preserves the powder!  That is if your into that type of thing.  No frills laid back vibe. 

They have other kind of holds at Magic

[PowderBeard]

On 10/22/2018 at 11:13 AM, MarkO said:

I don't think it will all melt away. A foot of man made snow has the liquid equivalent of maybe 5 feet of natural and if you look at their live webcams, they are just absolutely pounding Superstar. Like others have said, elevation helps a lot, not to mention late October sun angle is same as early February. Also, Killington is hosting (once again) Thanksgiving weekend FIS race which also gets it plenty more publicity and gives them another reason to keep the guns firing. 

Being able to drive to 2500' is pretty rare for a New England mountain. Bolton Valley is the only other one I can think of. As for other elevated lifts, the others that come to mind are the fixed grip quad at Cannon, the summit chair on Mt. Ellen (Sugarbush) and that summit chair on Sugarloaf. I think the bottom of all those lifts are over 3000'. The double chair at WV probably had the highest base elevation at about 3500', but it's gone this year, being replaced with a tee bar. FWIW, those chairs are for sale for $400 (I got one on hold). If anyone wants one, send me a pm.

I always thought the best early season set up in New England would be at the Lincoln Peak side of Sugarbush. Heaven's Gate serves about 1,400' of vert and the summit is just under 4,000'. Organgrinder (more of an intermediate trail) and Ripcord would be better than any other early season offerings. Just wonder if they could download on Super Bravo.

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

On 10/20/2018 at 9:14 PM, powderfreak said:

Stowe's just never been set-up for it, even the desire was there.  The lift system is top-to-bottom, no mid-stations or upper mountain lift.  For the mountain to open, the snowmakers need to lay down 2,000+ vertical feet and maybe a couple miles worth of base depths...which just doesn't make sense or is feasible too often this time of year.  The 1,500-2,500ft elevation band is the problem at Stowe, early season or late season when big melts happen...usually that 1,500-2,000ft zone because for whatever reason the atmosphere always seems well mixed there and they just can't radiate.  So even in times when the valley is cold and the summit is cold, there can be a belt of less than favorable snowmaking temps this time of year located mid-slope.

Killington really is set-up nicely for early and late season skiing with it's high (over 2,000ft) base elevation at the KBL, and a Gondola that accesses a high mountain lift.  It makes downloading really easy when you can utilize a gondola.  Ride up, go skiing on a smaller high-elevation zone, and then ride the Gondola down.  It's a perfect set-up when you only have to make snow from like 3,000ft+ this time of year.

Great explenation. It’s too bad whiteface can’t do that with their summit chair. That’s the highest lift served teriran in the east. 

[Hitman]

2 hours ago, PowderBeard said:

I always thought the best early season set up in New England would be at the Lincoln Peak side of Sugarbush. Heaven's Gate serves about 1,400' of vert and the summit is just under 4,000'. Organgrinder (more of an intermediate trail) and Ripcord would be better than any other early season offerings. Just wonder if they could download on Super Bravo.

They can and do download on the super bravo.  However, imho, mt Ellen is an even better set up with the summit chair to the top.  It’s a couple hundred feet higher than lincoln peak and the bottom of the summit is much higher than heavens gate.  Plus the lodge is right there by the lift.  There r more trails and a variety of terrain with fis, black diamond, panorama, rim run, and looking good.  

[MarkO]

Wildcat opens Sat top to bottom. 

[Skivt2]

Skied a beautiful sunshine afternoon on soft bumps under the guns at killington Friday.  Then skied in heavy wind driven Noreaster snow Saturday morning.  Unfortunately a power line blew Saturday afternoon and so the mountain is on hold this morning until the repair is complete.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

On 10/19/2018 at 8:11 PM, redbanknjandbigbasslakepa said:

Hidden gem in skiing, Magic Mtn

Yup and Burke too. 

[zeepowderhunter]

1 hour ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

Yup and Burke too. 

So I hear. A buddy of mine used to rent a house close to Jay but has since changed location to Burke area. I assume there are less winds holds at Burke compared to Jay but I hear they don’t get as much snow?  And yes, I am fully aware of Jays snow reporting!

[radarman]

On 10/24/2018 at 10:54 PM, MarkO said:

Wildcat opens Sat top to bottom. 

Pretty awesome pics came out of there yesterday with 4" new and 2100' open.  That was the place to be.

[MarkO]

5 hours ago, radarman said:

Pretty awesome pics came out of there yesterday with 4" new and 2100' open.  That was the place to be.

 

Conditions were mid-winter above 2500', and good but just sticky below that. "Officially" only one run open, but there was about on average 18" of natural snow on the rest of the mountain, so unofficially, the entire mountain was being skied. People were ducking ropes right at the chairlift. Lifties turned a blind eye. The natural trails skied FAR better than the open ones. Of course there were your fair share of waterbars, rocks and sticks to avoid. I got a couple scrapes on the new planks with the Solomon Shift bindings which felt just like typical alpine. It was funny teaching my son how to properly duck a rope. I was actually getting compliments and chuckles from the other jumpers. Just an awesome day overall particularly once we realized where the goods were. Hoping there's more powder days to come.

[Hitman]

2 hours ago, MarkO said:

 

Conditions were mid-winter above 2500', and good but just sticky below that. "Officially" only one run open, but there was about on average 18" of natural snow on the rest of the mountain, so unofficially, the entire mountain was being skied. People were ducking ropes right at the chairlift. Lifties turned a blind eye. The natural trails skied FAR better than the open ones. Of course there were your fair share of waterbars, rocks and sticks to avoid. I got a couple scrapes on the new planks with the Solomon Shift bindings which felt just like typical alpine. It was funny teaching my son how to properly duck a rope. I was actually getting compliments and chuckles from the other jumpers. Just an awesome day overall particularly once we realized where the goods were. Hoping there's more powder days to come.

How do you like the bindings?

[MarkO]

2 hours ago, Hitman said:

How do you like the bindings?

Have only skied them in alpine mode. Felt like any typical alpine binding. No early releases, only had one ski pop off through the toe as I felt it should. I was able to play around going between alpine and touring mode. Takes a few times to get used to the procedure, but I think I got it mastered. Time will tell

[radarman]

14 hours ago, MarkO said:

 

Conditions were mid-winter above 2500', and good but just sticky below that. "Officially" only one run open, but there was about on average 18" of natural snow on the rest of the mountain, so unofficially, the entire mountain was being skied. People were ducking ropes right at the chairlift. Lifties turned a blind eye. The natural trails skied FAR better than the open ones. Of course there were your fair share of waterbars, rocks and sticks to avoid. I got a couple scrapes on the new planks with the Solomon Shift bindings which felt just like typical alpine. It was funny teaching my son how to properly duck a rope. I was actually getting compliments and chuckles from the other jumpers. Just an awesome day overall particularly once we realized where the goods were. Hoping there's more powder days to come.

Awesome!  You're a brave man ducking ropes on new boards in October.  

[Ginx snewx]

On 10/20/2018 at 8:19 PM, powderfreak said:

Yes I do think it helps for the real season in driving business.  It gets Killington's name in the news, skiers are reminded to book their vacations, people buy their seasons passes after procrastinating for a while, etc.  There's no doubt in my mind that Killington saw a jump in vacation reservations this weekend.  My position is a bit different now, but we used to see an increase in reservations following the first snows of the season on the mountain.  I mean can you really prove that there is a strong ROI on early snowmaking and opening?  No, but you can make a case that its almost like a strong fall advertising campaign.  Casual skiers also will make the correlation that if Killington can open in October, then I feel confident making my vacation reservation with them this winter because they have to have a lot of skiable terrain no matter what (if they can open this early!).  A lot of the eastern ski industry is about reducing consumer angst and anything you can do to prove to them that mountain X will have what they want when they visit.  The resorts can also start peppering people with email blasts and deals with photos from actual skiing this season.  It does get the ski crowd going pretty good.

Now on the flip side, I think staying open late has very little effect on the bottom line and it may even hurt the bottom line.  There's no added value that will lead to increased visits from staying open late except it does add value to seasons passes, as consumers have more potential days to use their pass. 

I do think mountains like Sunday River realize this...and it's why Sunday River will bust a nut to open as early as possible but doesn't seem to care about staying open as late as possible.  They know there is a definite benefit to getting your name out there as early as possible in the Fall.  If I had full control of a ski resort, that's how I would operate.  Try as hard as possible to open as soon as possible, but close down in April like most ski areas.

SR closes May 1st pretty much every year. They have a very sizable April influence of English and Canadian skiers. They run full boat until mid April then close to 3 Mts for weekends last 2 weeks of the season.  April 01 was insane 

[Sugarloaf1989]

Wasn't Killington supposed to be closed by now?

[MarkO]

2 hours ago, Sugarloaf1989 said:

Wasn't Killington supposed to be closed by now?

lololol. I want to say MWN average temp drops below freezing mid October, so the worry about Killington pulling off an event Thanksgiving weekend on Superstar is probably pretty rare, I dunna know maybe 1 in 5 maybe more likely 1 in 10 years?? Seems like of late the odds seem to be better despite, well , you know.

[Sugarloaf1989]

8 hours ago, MarkO said:

lololol. I want to say MWN average temp drops below freezing mid October, so the worry about Killington pulling off an event Thanksgiving weekend on Superstar is probably pretty rare, I dunna know maybe 1 in 5 maybe more likely 1 in 10 years?? Seems like of late the odds seem to be better despite, well , you know.

Superstar trail elevation between 2,500' and 3,800' really helps.

[Angus]

On 10/19/2018 at 7:08 PM, powderfreak said:

 

I think business wise, going the extra mile in the fall even if you lose money on the operating costs, still nets you a positive return despite it being nearly impossible to measure.  The stuff I don't think matters is the staying open late in the season, from a business standpoint.  Right now you capitalize on anticipation.  In the spring time, the ROI (in my opinion) is mostly to satisfy a few passholders.  The early season skiing stuff is pure publicity and has about as far a reach as any ski news will get.

saw this link on another site, Killington's GM talking about early and late season. He gave Stowe a shout-out too!

Yes, the extended season is here to stay. It’s part of our culture. Long ago we stopped trying to figure out if it’s justified, so there’s not much calculation that goes into it. At the end of the day, we know we’re not making money off opening early and closing late, but it is closely tied to our brand. It’s important for us to show that we will provide skiing and riding to our guests anytime we can. It’s a nice differentiator for us.

https://nyskiblog.com/killingtons-mike-solimano/#more-50205

[Harvey]

Hey thanks for the link Angus.

I am wondering if any weather experts can help me.

These two links are an important part of our multi-page ski weather center:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/610day/610temp.new(dot)gif

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/814temp.new(dot)gif

I took the last . out and replaced it with (dot) because I want you to see the URL not the image.

I would really like this data to be https. We have move our entire site over to https and I can't make these images show. NOAA tells me that they will move them to https "soon" but not sure when that will be.

Does anyone have another source for the same data that is https secure?

Here is one of the URLs with the dot in properly:

Thanks!

 

[BrianW]

Nice start out west.

 

[PivotPoint]

What are potential thoughts for this coming Wednesday/Thursday (next week) for some uphill action?

I'm not sure on Stowe's uphill policy. Perhaps PowderFreak could enlighten the non-enlightened.... Please and Thank you

I see some potential on the NAM for this weekend and perhaps another round for Tuesday-Wednesday on the globals for Northern Greens....Hope the FV3-GFS is on to something :) 

Thinking perhaps above 2500' could have some early season gifts to offer!! One can hope...

[J.Spin]

6 hours ago, PivotPoint said:

I'm not sure on Stowe's uphill policy. Perhaps PowderFreak could enlighten the non-enlightened.... Please and Thank you

After the way things seemed to work last year, my advice on uphill at Stowe was to simply avoid it altogether once any mountain operations were taking place.  With opening day set for November 16^th, that essentially means any day now, or basically as soon as it’s cold enough to resume snowmaking.

I decided to check on the formal uphill policy on the website:

https://www.stowe.com/the-mountain/about-the-mountain/mountain-safety.aspx

Here are a couple of relevant excerpts:

Important Announcement - November 6, 2018 - TBD

Please be advised that for the safety of our general public, guests and employees, uphill access will not be permitted during the early season due to mountain operations and snowmaking work taking place at the resort. Stowe Mountain Resort will open for uphill access when early season operations are complete, and when the resort has adequate terrain to safely permit these activities.

So I figured once the mountain opened, that was it, no hiking for turns until they deemed “early season” was over (whenever that might be).  But lower down on the page there’s also this:

Mountain Closed for Uphill Access During Pre-Season Operations

Although the mountain is closed for the season, mountain operations continue and skiing/riding is forbidden at this time.

The way that’s written (closed for the season is usually written in the spring), it suggests they’re not even allowing any pre-season/off season hiking?

I can only imagine how this policy is received by the Stowe town locals.  It’s hard to know which of these policies are actually enforced, and which are actually just for legal C.Y.A. purposes by the resort.  Perhaps things are back to the way it used to be long ago with a “don’t ask, don’t tell” type of policy, or guerrilla-style outings.  I don’t think we actually had any really potent storms ahead of the lifts opening last fall, so if these next couple of systems deliver something substantial, I guess we’ll just have to see how it actually plays out at the mountain.

[powderfreak]

On 11/6/2018 at 11:42 AM, Angus said:

saw this link on another site, Killington's GM talking about early and late season. He gave Stowe a shout-out too!

Yes, the extended season is here to stay. It’s part of our culture. Long ago we stopped trying to figure out if it’s justified, so there’s not much calculation that goes into it. At the end of the day, we know we’re not making money off opening early and closing late, but it is closely tied to our brand. It’s important for us to show that we will provide skiing and riding to our guests anytime we can. It’s a nice differentiator for us.

https://nyskiblog.com/killingtons-mike-solimano/#more-50205

He seems like a cool dude... he gets it.  Killington's communications are on point, very transparent in a lot of their operations which is cool because skiers are just genuinely interested in what's going on. 

[powderfreak]

1 hour ago, J.Spin said:

After the way things seemed to work last year, my advice on uphill at Stowe was to simply avoid it altogether once any mountain operations were taking place.  With opening day set for November 16^th, that essentially means any day now, or basically as soon as it’s cold enough to resume snowmaking.

I decided to check on the formal uphill policy on the website:

https://www.stowe.com/the-mountain/about-the-mountain/mountain-safety.aspx

Here are a couple of relevant excerpts:

Important Announcement - November 6, 2018 - TBD

Please be advised that for the safety of our general public, guests and employees, uphill access will not be permitted during the early season due to mountain operations and snowmaking work taking place at the resort. Stowe Mountain Resort will open for uphill access when early season operations are complete, and when the resort has adequate terrain to safely permit these activities.

So I figured once the mountain opened, that was it, no hiking for turns until they deemed “early season” was over (whenever that might be).  But lower down on the page there’s also this:

Mountain Closed for Uphill Access During Pre-Season Operations

Although the mountain is closed for the season, mountain operations continue and skiing/riding is forbidden at this time.

The way that’s written (closed for the season is usually written in the spring), it suggests they’re not even allowing any pre-season/off season hiking?

I can only imagine how this policy is received by the Stowe town locals.  It’s hard to know which of these policies are actually enforced, and which are actually just for legal C.Y.A. purposes by the resort.  Perhaps things are back to the way it used to be long ago with a “don’t ask, don’t tell” type of policy, or guerrilla-style outings.  I don’t think we actually had any really potent storms ahead of the lifts opening last fall, so if these next couple of systems deliver something substantial, I guess we’ll just have to see how it actually plays out at the mountain.

 

That's the current official policy adopted from the western areas.  Being the first area in the east owned by them, there may be potential to change.  Out west there are avalanche issues and also a lot of additional options for skiing aside from the resorts.  Out west, if there's enough snow to ski at the resort, there's enough to snow to ski in a lot of places.  The "backcountry" in the east requires quite a bit more snow than the trails, where as out west if it snows, you can just walk up above any road and ski a sweet bowl or glade.  The uphill travel pressure isn't nearly as heavy out west in-bounds.  With that said, there were numerous cars in the Gondola parking lots during the last snowfall.

[Sugarloaf1989]

Killington will have a 200 day season and should be at 200 day's just before daily operations stop in early May. Early start this year ensures that.

[PivotPoint]

13 hours ago, J.Spin said:

After the way things seemed to work last year, my advice on uphill at Stowe was to simply avoid it altogether once any mountain operations were taking place.  With opening day set for November 16^th, that essentially means any day now, or basically as soon as it’s cold enough to resume snowmaking.

I decided to check on the formal uphill policy on the website:

https://www.stowe.com/the-mountain/about-the-mountain/mountain-safety.aspx

Here are a couple of relevant excerpts:

Important Announcement - November 6, 2018 - TBD

Please be advised that for the safety of our general public, guests and employees, uphill access will not be permitted during the early season due to mountain operations and snowmaking work taking place at the resort. Stowe Mountain Resort will open for uphill access when early season operations are complete, and when the resort has adequate terrain to safely permit these activities.

So I figured once the mountain opened, that was it, no hiking for turns until they deemed “early season” was over (whenever that might be).  But lower down on the page there’s also this:

Mountain Closed for Uphill Access During Pre-Season Operations

Although the mountain is closed for the season, mountain operations continue and skiing/riding is forbidden at this time.

The way that’s written (closed for the season is usually written in the spring), it suggests they’re not even allowing any pre-season/off season hiking?

I can only imagine how this policy is received by the Stowe town locals.  It’s hard to know which of these policies are actually enforced, and which are actually just for legal C.Y.A. purposes by the resort.  Perhaps things are back to the way it used to be long ago with a “don’t ask, don’t tell” type of policy, or guerrilla-style outings.  I don’t think we actually had any really potent storms ahead of the lifts opening last fall, so if these next couple of systems deliver something substantial, I guess we’ll just have to see how it actually plays out at the mountain.

 

11 hours ago, powderfreak said:

 

That's the current official policy adopted from the western areas.  Being the first area in the east owned by them, there may be potential to change.  Out west there are avalanche issues and also a lot of additional options for skiing aside from the resorts.  Out west, if there's enough snow to ski at the resort, there's enough to snow to ski in a lot of places.  The "backcountry" in the east requires quite a bit more snow than the trails, where as out west if it snows, you can just walk up above any road and ski a sweet bowl or glade.  The uphill travel pressure isn't nearly as heavy out west in-bounds.  With that said, there were numerous cars in the Gondola parking lots during the last snowfall.

Thanks guys!

Oh, and J Spin, I lurk on your reports pretty heavily during the winter time. Love the detail and consistency! Thanks for sharing those.

I appreciate the insight PowderFreak -- I also always appreciate your "parking lot" reports when you report it's dumping at the base and it's a light mix in town. Gives me that warm fuzzy feeling lol

 

Any other spots you'd guys would go if you wanted a few preseason turns (without going out west of course) Thanks again

[HoarfrostHubb]

My home hill, Wachusett, started snowmaking last night.  

[Sugarloaf1989]

I'm at Mount Snow currently and they are making snow TTB on Cascade and Canyon, Deer Run,  Long John, Lauch Pad and Carintha.

It's sunny and 28F at the base with gusty winds. There's about 2" of snowcover. My son is going skiing, I'm probably not. It's not TTB skiing right now, but Canyon may open later.

 

[Sugarloaf1989]

My son report's awful skiing conditions. Sheet ice, chunks of ice, water bars and low visibility with snowmaking. 45 minute wait for the GSE to open for downloading.