Angus Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 and contrast that with Temple Mountain which has been closed much shorter time which is now almost completely overgrown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRVexpat Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 14 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said: Wow nice. Watatic still has a lot of very skiable trails visible on it. It's amazing how long they have lasted considering it hasn't been open in over 30 years. Spoke to a local at the summit who mentioned that there is a small crew that does some glade thinning and clears underbrush from the trails most years in the fall. The water content in this storm was noticeable as some of the narrower trails were barely passable at times with trees overhanging. Birch bender indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRVexpat Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 11 minutes ago, Angus said: and contrast that with Temple Mountain which has been closed much shorter time which is now almost completely overgrown. Was considering checking out Temple as well, glad I stuck with my first option! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBeard Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 Happy to hear about the local beavers keeping Watatic in good shape. Probably in better shape than Mittersill was when Cannon opened it - then destroyed it. That is some serious base over 600' of vert. I'm curious what Brodie trails look like but don't want to risk a trespassing violation, apparently they are really strict there. Maple Valley is still pretty cleared out minus some grundel floss. I have always wanted to hit the upper liftline section given the ledge bands but it would need a ton of snow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 1 hour ago, MRVexpat said: Spoke to a local at the summit who mentioned that there is a small crew that does some glade thinning and clears underbrush from the trails most years in the fall. The water content in this storm was noticeable as some of the narrower trails were barely passable at times with trees overhanging. Birch bender indeed. Yeah. Our friends son was big into maintaining that before he passed in an accident several years ago. When I have hiked it I can see how it must have been a nice ski mountain. Someone I used to work with almost bought it to run as a ski area but couldn’t put it together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIPPYVALLEY Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 I skied Watatic as a kid when it was still open. Then did some back country out there about 10 years ago I was surprised how good the trails still were and there were a bunch of other people out there skiing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIPPYVALLEY Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 I’m sure most people on here know about this but here’s the link anyway: http://www.nelsap.org 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Wachusett is now selling uphill passes. $50 for the season if you don’t have a downhill season pass, $25 if you do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRVexpat Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 9 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said: Wachusett is now selling uphill passes. $50 for the season if you don’t have a downhill season pass, $25 if you do Does this now mean they will be allowing uphill access during operating hours? Seems worth it if so, especially this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhineasC Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 2 hours ago, HIPPYVALLEY said: I’m sure most people on here know about this but here’s the link anyway: http://www.nelsap.org I hadn’t seen that. Neat site! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBeard Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 13 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said: Wachusett is now selling uphill passes. $50 for the season if you don’t have a downhill season pass, $25 if you do The days of free uphill are quickly disappearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIPPYVALLEY Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, PhineasC said: I hadn’t seen that. Neat site! If you ever go up to your place via the Lakes region keep an eye out for the old Mountain Whittier site. When we go up to North Conway my kid loves driving by the McDonald’s that has the old lift tower in its parking lot. The building behind McDonald’s was the old lodge that the lift ran into and the lift actually went across the state highway! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backedgeapproaching Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 2 hours ago, HIPPYVALLEY said: I’m sure most people on here know about this but here’s the link anyway: http://www.nelsap.org The real estate company my wife works for is selling the land for one of the lost SVT spots- Snow Valley in Winhall. Can be yours for a cool $5 mil.. 90 Snow Valley Rd, Winhall, VT, 05340 | realtor.com® 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBeard Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 8 minutes ago, PhineasC said: I hadn’t seen that. Neat site! https://www.newenglandskihistory.com/ Solid as well. I love the lift history details, just learned the chair at Watatic was from Diamond Hill, RI. That place has some seriously steep little chutes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baroclinic Zone Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Evergreen Valley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 2 hours ago, HIPPYVALLEY said: I skied Watatic as a kid when it was still open. Then did some back country out there about 10 years ago I was surprised how good the trails still were and there were a bunch of other people out there skiing. For a MA hill east of the Berkshires, it has some good vertical. Like almost 600 feet? Its kind of surprising that it couldn’t stay open given the lack of areas within an hour of Boston. I wonder how it would do if it reopened today with some decent infrastructure. I’m guessing it would be viable. We wont find out though. I think it’s like designated wilderness land or something now which would probably make it really hard to reopen a ski area. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBeard Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 It's the Dutch Hill of Massachusetts, in a nice snow spot. I have been to Dutch Hill when Mount Snow was only on man-made and that place had plenty of base. 15 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said: For a MA hill east of the Berkshires, it has some good vertical. Like almost 600 feet? There are some sneaky good areas east of the Berks with 500-700' of vert with consistent intermediate and legit advanced slope. Most are single lane fire road wide or with thinned out glades. Two of which only need about an 8" base. Haven't had the best experience in the Berkshires, more ledge and you're skiing hiking trails or going to scratch your goggles up on branches. There is one place I have been able to hit twice with a friend that was 800-900' of consistent advanced/expert vert - similar to Ripcord at Mount Snow for pitch and as wide as Broomstick at Magic or Misery Whip at Sugarloaf - that was well maintained by the power companies. I would take it over Greylock's Thunderbolt any day. This should be on everyone's to-do list during a good winter. I'm all for rope-ducking in the "right" circumstances but these would need a ton of snow to ski safely. https://nebackcountry.blogspot.com/2013/01/trip-report-mohawk-trail-slides.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 hour ago, MRVexpat said: Does this now mean they will be allowing uphill access during operating hours? Seems worth it if so, especially this year. Based on what I read once the lifts start spinning then no. But maybe I misread it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 29 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said: For a MA hill east of the Berkshires, it has some good vertical. Like almost 600 feet? Its kind of surprising that it couldn’t stay open given the lack of areas within an hour of Boston. I wonder how it would do if it reopened today with some decent infrastructure. I’m guessing it would be viable. We wont find out though. I think it’s like designated wilderness land or something now which would probably make it really hard to reopen a ski area. Yeah. It can’t ever become a ski area again. I thought it had more than 600’ of vert but I know better than to second guess you. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 hour ago, PowderBeard said: The days of free uphill are quickly disappearing. Lawyers suck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBeard Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 minute ago, HoarfrostHubb said: Yeah. It can’t ever become a ski area again. I thought it had more than 600’ of vert but I know better than to second guess you. Lol If you do some Killington math I bet you could scrape 900' out of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRVexpat Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 17 minutes ago, PowderBeard said: It's the Dutch Hill of Massachusetts, in a nice snow spot. I have been to Dutch Hill when Mount Snow was only on man-made and that place had plenty of base. There are some sneaky good areas east of the Berks with 500-700' of vert with consistent intermediate and legit advanced slope. Most are single lane fire road wide or with thinned out glades. Two of which only need about an 8" base. Haven't had the best experience in the Berkshires, more ledge and you're skiing hiking trails or going to scratch your goggles up on branches. There is one place I have been able to hit twice with a friend that was 800-900' of consistent advanced/expert vert - similar to Ripcord at Mount Snow for pitch and as wide as Broomstick at Magic or Misery Whip at Sugarloaf - that was well maintained by the power companies. I would take it over Greylock's Thunderbolt any day. This should be on everyone's to-do list during a good winter. I'm all for rope-ducking in the "right" circumstances but these would need a ton of snow to ski safely. https://nebackcountry.blogspot.com/2013/01/trip-report-mohawk-trail-slides.html Speaking of Greylock and needing a ton of snow, I've been looking at those powerlines for a few years. That looks like a 30+ degree pitch and not sure what the underbrush looks like but I'm sure 2 feet of settled snow would be appreciated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 minute ago, PowderBeard said: If you do some Killington math I bet you could scrape 900' out of it. Apparently they only claimed 550’. The base of the area was pretty high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBeard Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 4 minutes ago, MRVexpat said: Speaking of Greylock and needing a ton of snow, I've been looking at those powerlines for a few years. That looks like a 30+ degree pitch and not sure what the underbrush looks like but I'm sure 2 feet of settled snow would be appreciated. The youtube video makes me think A LOT of rock and ledge as it can be seen in a few frames. Comparing it to Red Line or Chute/Liftline at MRG I would agree 2' of settled. 9 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said: Lawyers suck I had one contact me via PM on a ski forum regarding an incident when someone fell off a lift. I had captured the image form the resort webcam of the skier dangling from the lift about 20' up and he wanted to know about it. Apparently the area had blasted the chairs with snowguns and not cleaned them which led to some people slipping off chairs that day. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 hour ago, PowderBeard said: The days of free uphill are quickly disappearing. Its definitely a hot topic in the ski industry. I'm torn because as we discussed without really hashing it out again, it continues to add to the idea that skiing is a luxury sport that costs a decent penny (I mean, if you have to pay to walk yourself up the hill?)... my core skier instinct says if you want to earn your turns it should be free. But also seeing the business side of it and being in that environment, there are several reasons for a fee. You are still using snowmaking and grooming, etc. There is also liability involved and a purchase would of course include signing a waiver, and having some sort of legal contract. The popularity of uphill has exploded so it also moves into the supply/demand curve and might serve to limit uphill traffic a bit... though as I well know at Stowe, if you use a price to control demand, you inevitably start moving towards pricing some users out, no matter how small the cost may seem. And maybe that cost rises down the road. The flip side of paying for something is that the ski area owes you a product, so they can't just stop uphill when they want to. You bought it, they have to allow it as the terms of service. That's actually what's stopping a lot of places from charging for uphill.... they want the freedom to shut it down as they see fit. Snowmaking, grooming operations, certain storms, poor icy conditions. If they sell you it, they have to let you do it. If it's free, they can tell you no and not bat an eye. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NW_of_GYX Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 hour ago, Baroclinic Zone said: Evergreen Valley The shwack is heavy with this one and I haven’t bothered to ski in years. Great area to ride sleds though. Often the last place to ride local well into April Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 10 minutes ago, NW_of_GYX said: The shwack is heavy with this one and I haven’t bothered to ski in years. Great area to ride sleds though. Often the last place to ride local well into April Megan and I stayed at the evergreen inn a couple times before we had kids when we were doing “budget” Sunday River trips. That place is hilarious. They haven’t changed anything inside since they built the place around 1970. The decor is straight out of that era. Also, when we pulled up, there was always like milk and beer in the snow outside staying cold, lol. Always tons of snow mobiles chained up to the trees out back since the trails have access right to the inn. When I chatted with the owner, he told me how it’s mostly snow mobilers but that they do get some skiers like us too that make the 25-30 min trip to SR or Mt Abram. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NW_of_GYX Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 15 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said: Megan and I stayed at the evergreen inn a couple times before we had kids when we were doing “budget” Sunday River trips. That place is hilarious. They haven’t changed anything inside since they built the place around 1970. The decor is straight out of that era. Also, when we pulled up, there was always like milk and beer in the snow outside staying cold, lol. Always tons of snow mobiles chained up to the trees out back since the trails have access right to the inn. When I chatted with the owner, he told me how it’s mostly snow mobilers but that they do get some skiers like us too that make the 25-30 min trip to SR or Mt Abram. It’s a beautiful spot and in the summer you’ve got kezar lake and immediate access on the shell pond road to hiking in the notch. Little bit too far off the beaten path for someone to make a legit go of it I suppose. I do get the heebie jeebies back there sometimes lol, the banjos certainly ring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwt3650 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 hour ago, PowderBeard said: If you do some Killington math I bet you could scrape 900' out of it. With Killington doing the math on the vert and Jay peak doing the snow measurements. it would be quite a place.. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongBeachSurfFreak Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 10 hours ago, backedgeapproaching said: The real estate company my wife works for is selling the land for one of the lost SVT spots- Snow Valley in Winhall. Can be yours for a cool $5 mil.. 90 Snow Valley Rd, Winhall, VT, 05340 | realtor.com® Awesome! I love that place. The top of the lift has some incredible views of the Southern Greens. It’s also a great snow spot as it always seems to upslope well by SVT standards. I hike and ride it several times a winter. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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