J.Spin Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 15 minutes ago, PhineasC said: OK, never skied in April in the East so I guess I will just need to see it to believe it. Oh, that might explain the excessive consternation. High elevation resorts in spots like Colorado will continue to get exclusively snow most of the time through April, but that’s not the case in the Northeastern U.S., even in the mountains of NNE. We can have some great winter storms in March and April, but to get through the entirety of March without any mixed precipitation or rain would be pretty unusual, and to get through April like that would be virtually unheard of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhineasC Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Just now, J.Spin said: Oh, that might explain the excessive consternation. High elevation resorts in spots like Colorado will continue to get exclusively snow most of the time through April, but that’s not the case in the Northeastern U.S., even in the mountains of NNE. We can have some great winter storms in March and April, but to get through the entirety of March without any mixed precipitation or rain would be pretty unusual, and to get through April like that would be virtually unheard of. I certainly understand it can rain here all winter, but sometimes I feel like I am living in a reality distortion chamber with you guys. LOL It has barely snowed at all in March after a below-average snowfall winter at the resorts, and this week has been a torch followed by 2 big rainers. That seems like a recipe for early closures to me. I am curious to see how far some of these places can go at this rate. I know Wildcat loudly announced they will be open until 18 April. That seems like an awfully bold claim given they already had many bare spots in February... I guess a single slushy stripe down a main run counts as "open." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCWarrior Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 9 minutes ago, PhineasC said: I was planning on being finished with skiing next week (headed to Florida for a while), so I am good irrespective of what happens weather wise. I was just finding it a little optimistic to be talking about regular skiing well into May given the well below average March snow and recent warmth. But I realize now you guys are talking mostly about skiing down a stripe of shrinking manmade after skinning up and not really a resort being open for regular business. I have never skied Killington, but their method sounds like more of a publicity stunt than anything. Killington mid may on a Friday or Monday is pretty awesome. Big soft bumps and limited crowds usually. Saturday and Sunday I'd bet is a little crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhineasC Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Just now, GCWarrior said: Killington mid may on a Friday or Monday is pretty awesome. Big soft bumps and limited crowds usually. Saturday and Sunday I'd bet is a little crazy. They must blow a ton of snow there. I am not familiar with that mountain at all. I can't envision people still riding lifts and enjoying bumps in mid-May given the weather right now and upcoming, but it will be fun to watch it play out. A learning experience for me for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 minute ago, PhineasC said: I certainly understand it can rain here all winter, but sometimes I feel like I am living in a reality distortion chamber with you guys. LOL It has barely snowed at all in March after a below-average snowfall winter at the resorts, and this week has been a torch followed by 2 big rainers. That seems like a recipe for early closures to me. I am curious to see how far some of these places can go at this rate. I know Wildcat loudly announced they will be open until 18 April. That seems like an awfully bold claim given they already had many bare spots in February... I guess a single slushy stripe down a main run counts as "open." I guess we forget that you didn’t really grow up here in New England ski country, but yeah, ski areas being open in the spring doesn’t mean they’ve got wall-to-wall coverage on every trail. Lift-served spring skiing is generally about corn snow and moguls, and you only need a few steep trails to do it. There’s often no beginner, or sometimes even intermediate ski terrain available at all as you push farther into the season. Lower-angle slopes often melt out quickly, and/or the resorts don’t prep those trails to last through the end of the season. It doesn’t seem distorted from our perspective because we’re just typical avid skiers for this area, but we’re certainly not like your typical recreational skiers from the city. But I can tell you from living out west and skiing all around the country, there are very few resorts that offer lift-served skiing in May, anywhere. You’re going to typically get one resort in a given market that will do that, sometimes two if it’s a big market like the Northeast or Colorado’s front range. When we lived in the Northern Rockies, there wasn’t a single resort that would ski into May in all of Montana or Idaho. Even in late April there was nothing, and we’d have to travel at least eight hours to get to an open resort if we were looking to do lift-served skiing at that point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, PhineasC said: I have never skied Killington, but their method sounds like more of a publicity stunt than anything. They do get the notoriety/publicity from typically staying open into June, which is longer than any other resort around here, but their late season skiing isn’t some sort of stunt or gimmick. It’s actually great skiing as GC said. If you enjoy skiing moguls in spring snow on black diamond terrain with sun and warm temperatures, it can often be the crème de la crème of that experience. I’ve been many, many times, and even on weekends, there aren’t any issues with lift queues or overcrowding. There just aren’t enough people skiing at that time of year to really reach capacity (at least normal lift capacity), and when you’re bump skiing, it’s not as if you’re flying down the hill at 60 MPH and have to look out for someone 200 yards in front of you. You don’t need 200 trails open for the spring bump skiing experience, and in fact, you want a solid amount of skier traffic on the trails you’re using to set and develop the bump lines. If they groom anything at that time of year, it’s generally infrequent because it wrecks the bump lines. Here are a few shots from one of our Killington trips with the boys when they were younger – this one happened to be at the end of April, but it’s typically like that right through May: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, J.Spin said: Oh, that might explain the excessive consternation. High elevation resorts in spots like Colorado will continue to get exclusively snow most of the time through April, but that’s not the case in the Northeastern U.S., even in the mountains of NNE. We can have some great winter storms in March and April, but to get through the entirety of March without any mixed precipitation or rain would be pretty unusual, and to get through April like that would be virtually unheard of. not to mention january and february. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, PhineasC said: I certainly understand it can rain here all winter, but sometimes I feel like I am living in a reality distortion chamber with you guys. LOL It has barely snowed at all in March after a below-average snowfall winter at the resorts, and this week has been a torch followed by 2 big rainers. That seems like a recipe for early closures to me. I am curious to see how far some of these places can go at this rate. I know Wildcat loudly announced they will be open until 18 April. That seems like an awfully bold claim given they already had many bare spots in February... I guess a single slushy stripe down a main run counts as "open." Yeah that's how Killington gets to Memorial Day weekend. Maybe some walking required or turfing. Open in the East is a pretty liberal/generous definition... many of us will hike 2,000 vertical feet to ski a ribbon in the spring. It won't be pretty but stuff can last. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCWarrior Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Even in a low snow winter there are turns to be had in the high places of New England into late April and May. I managed to skin and ski continuous snow top to bottom at Wildcat May 1st, 2016. I just threw up in my mouth thinking about that "winter." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skivt2 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 2 hours ago, PhineasC said: I guess they have blown a shit ton of manmade snow on a couple of key runs to stretch that far? There’s 30’ of snow on superstar as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skivt2 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, J.Spin said: They do get the notoriety/publicity from typically staying open into June, which is longer than any other resort around here, but their late season skiing isn’t some sort of stunt or gimmick. It’s actually great skiing as GC said. If you enjoy skiing moguls in spring snow on black diamond terrain with sun and warm temperatures, it can often be the crème de la crème of that experience. I’ve been many, many times, and even on weekends, there aren’t any issues with lift queues or overcrowding. There just aren’t enough people skiing at that time of year to really reach capacity (at least normal lift capacity), and when you’re bump skiing, it’s not as if you’re flying down the hill at 60 MPH and have to look out for someone 200 yards in front of you. You don’t need 200 trails open for the spring bump skiing experience, and in fact, you want a solid amount of skier traffic on the trails you’re using to set and develop the bump lines. If they groom anything at that time of year, it’s generally infrequent because it wrecks the bump lines. Here are a few shots from one of our Killington trips with the boys when they were younger – this one happened to be at the end of April, but it’s typically like that right through May: It’s no gimmick. It’s one of the highlights of the season. They used to go into June but now tend to try for June 1st. Here is the group picture from the top after last chair. Lots of good peeps in this photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwt3650 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 The snow on Superstar will last no matter how warm it gets. Here is Superstar on July 6th Last year, still with a tiny little patch of snow hanging on. Pretty amazing that trail has at least some snow on it for every month of the year except August and September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhineasC Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 28 minutes ago, bwt3650 said: The snow on Superstar will last no matter how warm it gets. Here is Superstar on July 6th Last year, still with a tiny little patch of snow hanging on. Pretty amazing that trail has at least some snow on it for every month of the year except August and September. Well yeah when it’s 30 feet deep, of course. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skivt2 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 5 hours ago, GCWarrior said: Killington mid may on a Friday or Monday is pretty awesome. Big soft bumps and limited crowds usually. Saturday and Sunday I'd bet is a little crazy. Killington always goes to 3 days a week starting the first weekend in May. It’s Friday-Sunday. And as you know it’s important to understand that it’s certainly not consistent with the normal resort skiing culture. It becomes sort a study in deviant behavior by a core group of obsessive skiers. Mostly the same people gather there in May each year from all over New England. It’s sort of an oddball tribe often referred to by the participants as “Land of the misfit toys” etc. Many folks will show up at 8 and ski until 10 on the groomed strip of snow then tailgate or go home to do yard work. Others wait until the snow softens and the bumps are “ready” before they start skiing. The lifts run until 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froude Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Spring corn cycles like this one often provide my favorite turns of the season. Fast and smooth on groomers, and hopping over the exposed rocks and dirt patches on the natural trails just adds to the fun. That said, Phin is onto something here. Big melt in the hills this week. Noticeable difference in coverage from even two or three days ago, and it will be interesting to see how it looks after this weekend. We are now in the basement in terms of snow depth when it's often the deepest pack of the season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 18 hours ago, J.Spin said: They do get the notoriety/publicity from typically staying open into June, which is longer than any other resort around here, but their late season skiing isn’t some sort of stunt or gimmick. It’s actually great skiing as GC said. If you enjoy skiing moguls in spring snow on black diamond terrain with sun and warm temperatures, it can often be the crème de la crème of that experience. I’ve been many, many times, and even on weekends, there aren’t any issues with lift queues or overcrowding. There just aren’t enough people skiing at that time of year to really reach capacity (at least normal lift capacity), and when you’re bump skiing, it’s not as if you’re flying down the hill at 60 MPH and have to look out for someone 200 yards in front of you. You don’t need 200 trails open for the spring bump skiing experience, and in fact, you want a solid amount of skier traffic on the trails you’re using to set and develop the bump lines. If they groom anything at that time of year, it’s generally infrequent because it wrecks the bump lines. Here are a few shots from one of our Killington trips with the boys when they were younger – this one happened to be at the end of April, but it’s typically like that right through May: Looks awesome. See a lot of heavy legs in that last picture. Lol. Spring season is the best as most have moved on to golf and the resorts are empty. Big tans, big burgers and bigger beers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backedgeapproaching Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Thunder, lighting, downpours and dews. We March...lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 11 hours ago, Froude said: Spring corn cycles like this one often provide my favorite turns of the season. Fast and smooth on groomers, and hopping over the exposed rocks and dirt patches on the natural trails just adds to the fun. That said, Phin is onto something here. Big melt in the hills this week. Noticeable difference in coverage from even two or three days ago, and it will be interesting to see how it looks after this weekend. We are now in the basement in terms of snow depth when it's often the deepest pack of the season. Oh it’s at May 22nd levels last year. Mentioned that on the Snow Phone Report today, ha. Its a melt similar to 2012, maybe not quite that but it’s not done yet with another rainstorm coming. We just don’t like angst here in VT, we’ll find a way to turn it into a positive, . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 51F In the low clouds, vis 0. Thunderstorm in progress but with only light to moderate rain. Couple of days ago I thought we might pull off a blue bomb on Sunday but that threat has faded. Only about 25% snowcover remains. 62" on the season but as I have posted several times my largest storm has been only 3.5" other than the Dec 17th 2 footer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NW_of_GYX Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 nice t-storm just rolled through here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 We went on hold at 11:44am for thunder up here at the ski area. Nothing on the lightning maps but was called into dispatch by both guests and ski patrol. Not sure how those lightning sensors work that well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhineasC Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Nothing much here yet. Just .10" in the bucket. Had a brief shower and that was basically it. I think I am being dryslotted and that is fine by me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dryslot Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 13 minutes ago, NW_of_GYX said: nice t-storm just rolled through here. That's the one going thru oxford right now and were under the gun next with the tail of that line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Nasty line heading for the dog trails and snowboards of Stowe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 2 thunderstorms so far today. Sun is just breaking through temp heading up. 55F Some nice clearing to the west. Severe Thunderstorm Watch for VT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamarack Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 39 minutes ago, NW_of_GYX said: nice t-storm just rolled through here. One farther north hit here 12:10-12;25, no wind, maybe 0.10" RA (in 2 minutes) and a strike less than 100' from the house, which I described in a spotter call to GYX. A fuller description is in the March thread, as I need to leave on an errand in a couple minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 38 minutes ago, CoastalWx said: Nasty line heading for the dog trails and snowboards of Stowe. Ha yeah I was on the Stowe twitter and Tim Kelly tweeting to Duck and Cover. Velocity scans seemed to weaken a bit. Still a pretty solid line. Suns out now and it feels humid all the sudden. Crazy weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 49 minutes ago, PhineasC said: Nothing much here yet. Just .10" in the bucket. Had a brief shower and that was basically it. I think I am being dryslotted and that is fine by me. Yeah that first round didn't leave that much rain, maybe a quarter inch at the mtn. I think this squall line is going to dump some water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhineasC Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 9 minutes ago, powderfreak said: Yeah that first round didn't leave that much rain, maybe a quarter inch at the mtn. I think this squall line is going to dump some water. Yeah, wondering if it may just clip me given the radar depiction. I'm fine with it missing me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 31 minutes ago, PhineasC said: Yeah, wondering if it may just clip me given the radar depiction. I'm fine with it missing me. This one isn't missing. Torrential rain and thunder. Back on hold for lightning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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