NNE Warm Season Thread 2021

[Ginx snewx]

PF would like the Para 

[J.Spin]

29 minutes ago, bwt3650 said:

Flipped to snow..if we get about 30” tonight, that should fix everything.

I was flipping past the Weather Channel and saw that things were changing over on the radar.  It prompted me to look at the thermometer and I see we’re dropping through the 30s now here at our site.  There’s not really any accumulation expected down at this elevation with this system based on our point forecast, but the models have been snowing snow chances around here from the next three to five projected systems.  It seems like a more typical, active March/April pattern vs. one of those sunny/mild ones.

[PhineasC]

Some light snow here now.

[powderfreak]

It’s white at 1500ft, a light pasting on the trees.  Pretty tight line around 1300-1400ft.  Lifts all iced up from the changeover from moist to frozen.  2” of paste above 3,000ft.

[Ginx snewx]

18 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

It’s white at 1500ft, a light pasting on the trees.  Pretty tight line around 1300-1400ft.  Lifts all iced up from the changeover from moist to frozen.  2” of paste above 3,000ft.

Euro and its new mate still sticking to its guns for an April fools snow for you.

[J.Spin]

On 3/25/2021 at 11:43 PM, PhineasC said:

I was more talking about seasonal snowfall and depth rather than experience on the slopes.

What would a D or F season look like in your experience? My very newbie take is that this season is probably closer to the bottom of the pile than the middle for the peaks at least in terms of snowfall, open terrain, and depth, but perhaps I am off base there.

 

On 3/26/2021 at 12:11 AM, mreaves said:

2015-16 was an F as was 2005-6. 2011-12 was a D

 

On 3/26/2021 at 8:11 AM, powderfreak said:

Yeah 2011-12, 2015-16 especially, those are fails in the past decade.  This was a long duration of off-piste skiing that a D/F winter won’t have.  We literally never went in the woods in 15-16.

Hard to describe, but this season just didn’t feel *that* bad from a “feel” standpoint.  Anytime it doesn’t rain for 6+ weeks is a good stretch.

This year had it's moment when you stack up snowfalls for weeks on end, even if they are light.

 

On 3/26/2021 at 8:24 AM, radarman said:

We skied Castlerock and hiked the long trail to Heavens Gate on 1/20/16 with 10-12" new and it was good, including some woods.  But yeah I think that was the only day of the year.  That's an F.

It’s obviously tough when it’s only your first full season up here and you don’t have a wealth of perspective Phin, but what folks provided above were some great examples of seasons that could be placed in that D/F range of quality – ‘05/’06, ’11-‘12 (115.3” of total snow at our site), and ’15-‘16 (72.2” of total snow at our site).  I was still out west in ‘05/’06, so I can’t say from firsthand experience, but I hadn’t heard great things.  For some reason, I have ‘09-‘10 (127.7” of snow at our site) in my memory banks as well as a poor season, but maybe it’s not quite down in that D/F area for the slopes?  And remember, even those poorest of ski seasons can have some bright spots, like big storms, decent stretches, good ski weather, etc.  As you can see from the comments, this ski season just doesn’t “feel” like it’s down in the basement with those.

You can certainly grade a “winter” on just seasonal snowfall and snowpack depth as you mentioned, but realistically, for a “ski season”, it’s a bit more complicated because there are factors like powder days, snow surface quality, preservation, consistency, comfortable temperatures, etc.  Think about well-known ski areas like Sun Valley in Idaho, which averages ~200” of snow a season, or Lake Louise in Alberta, which averages ~140” of snow a season.  Those places average roughly half the annual snowfall that some of our local places out here in the Northern Greens do, but their average season is still pretty darned nice because of their great snow preservation.  So that’s just one of those “other” factors that really needs to be put into the equation for an overall ski season, and it’s definitely one that had an impact on this one around here.

Remember, I’m personally still giving this ski season a C- at this point here in the Northern Greens, which is slightly below average, so it’s not as if this has been a season that knocked it out of the park or anything.  But one has to remember that slightly below average here in the Northern Greens is still a pretty darned good season from most people’s perspectives.  And I’m not just talking about a Northeast perspective; my perspective is framed by many years living and skiing out in the Rockies.  No, the Northern Greens are not going to outperform the top tier snow places in the country like Alta, or spots in the Sierra or Cascades that simply get incredible snowfall, but I can tell you from years of experience that they stack up quite well against a lot of the mid-tier resorts in the Rockies for conditions if there hasn’t been some sort of big thaw.  People “ooh and ahh” a bit more at the scenery and terrain out there in the Rockies of course, but because we get such frequent snowfall up here in the Northern Greens, the snow surfaces can often be really good – even in a national sense.  I just wanted to give you that context in that my grade on the season has that perspective in place; it’s not simply based on some comparison to Northeastern U.S. ski conditions, which are generally considered pretty subpar on a national scale.  It was interesting to hear Alex’s perspective on this when he left NNE and headed farther south for some skiing.

There are a couple of final notes of caution I’ll mention with respect to simply using raw snowpack numbers as a quality gauge for the ski season.  There’s no doubt that more is better, so if the snowpack at the Mt. Mansfield Stake is at 8 or 9 feet this time of year, that’s generally great news.  But there’s a degree of threshold effect for the parameter as well.  An average season at elevation here in the Northern Greens has more than enough snowpack for typical off piste skiing.  That’s why we talk about that “40-inch rule” around here, in that once you get to that depth at the stake, the off piste skiing is pretty much in play.  So if you have 6 feet of snow at the stake, which would be something fairly typical for this time of year, it doesn’t mean that the off piste skiing is only “half as good” or something like that if there’s only 3 feet of snow at the stake.  You’re still pretty close to that off piste threshold and there could be plenty of off piste terrain in play at elevation.  I also recall PF saying that this season had a smaller base depth differential than usual between the high and low elevations on Mansfield, which is going to further mitigate any natural base depth issues.  And finally, remember that the natural snow depth is entirely moot for many people’s ski experience because they’re sticking to trails with manmade snow, which is set up to ensure sufficient base for skiing no matter what’s going on with the natural snowpack.

[J.Spin]

2 hours ago, powderfreak said:

It’s white at 1500ft, a light pasting on the trees.  Pretty tight line around 1300-1400ft.  Lifts all iced up from the changeover from moist to frozen.  2” of paste above 3,000ft.

There was no accumulation to report down at our elevation at this morning’s observations, but indeed the snow line looked like it was down close to 1,000’ around here in our local hills.  I’m not seeing any significant accumulations reported yet by Bolton Valley this morning, but there’s definitely new accumulation visible on the live webcam at the main base.

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

I was surprised to find a decent amount of snow left at my house in SVT. Being tucked in a gorge and north facing really helps with retention.

 

[bch2014]

Not NNE, but here in the Catskills (Hunter), there is patchy snow on north facing slopes down to about 2500’. 
 

Consistent snow cover in the woods appears to start at about 3500’ (just above the top of the ski area-the summit is a bit above 4K, but ski area doesn’t go to top). 

[PhineasC]

36 minutes ago, bch2014 said:

Not NNE, but here in the Catskills (Hunter), there is patchy snow on north facing slopes down to about 2500’. 
 

Consistent snow cover in the woods appears to start at about 3500’ (just above the top of the ski area-the summit is a bit above 4K, but ski area doesn’t go to top). 

Seems like yesterday was nail in the coffin for most natural stuff. Sunday will wipe out whatever is left of natural trails. 

[wxeyeNH]

36.4/35  Drizzle.  I watched this storm all week.  At one point it looked like a blue bomb.  Now as the precip comes in I wonder if we can score a few flakes at the start?

 

[powderfreak]

Pretty inspiring stuff out there, ha.  Barely below freezing with sheet freezing drizzle coming in on 60mph winds.  This lift went on wind hold right after me, absolutely wild up top getting blasted by the southerly low level jet.

Freezing rain up here on strong winds.  Just special weather conditions.

[wxeyeNH]

Scott,  I hope they are paying you well to be out in a day like this!

Here in the tropics of C NH 37.4F Moderate rain and wind.

[Angus]

Wow, that's a brutal picture from the lift. Just read that Sugarloaf is planning to fire up the guns tomorrow. They have to feel Reggae fest is threatened, I'm assuming they are going to focus on trails to bottom of mountain to the superquad. LOL, I was just typing 'English Easter vacation business'...oh yeah, we aren't doing that this year!

[powderfreak]

22 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

Scott,  I hope they are paying you well to be out in a day like this!

Here in the tropics of C NH 37.4F Moderate rain and wind.

I actually went out under my own free will.  When I walked out of the office in my ski gear people just started laughing and shaking their heads.  Last day of season for Sensation Quad so I wanted to get a ride in.

[dendrite]

Snowing on MWN and in the last 2hrs the snow depth has been increasing at the Hermit Lake plot. Looks like snow mixing in for Phin on his cam?

[PhineasC]

8 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Snowing on MWN and in the last 2hrs the snow depth has been increasing at the Hermit Lake plot. Looks like snow mixing in for Phin on his cam?

Getting some thicker rain, it appears. I wouldn't call it snow yet. Just some globs mixed in here and there.

[bch2014]

Snowing on the Sugarloaf Cams at all elevations.

[Lava Rock]

Wow, that's a brutal picture from the lift. Just read that Sugarloaf is planning to fire up the guns tomorrow. They have to feel Reggae fest is threatened, I'm assuming they are going to focus on trails to bottom of mountain to the superquad. LOL, I was just typing 'English Easter vacation business'...oh yeah, we aren't doing that this year!

Reggae is happening this year?

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[#NoPoles]

Rain changed to snow here around 150pm for about 30mins...been back to all rain for a while at Rt 302 level.

Intense winds reported in Franconia Notch and the rt 3 corridor from BW to the Notch, reports of many trees down

[PhineasC]

Pretty annoying to go almost all of Feb and March without a notable synoptic storm and then we get three rainers in a row followed by dry again... nuts. 

[powderfreak]

18 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

Pretty annoying to go almost all of Feb and March without a notable synoptic storm and then we get three rainers in a row followed by dry again... nuts. 

Might put some lipstick on the pig late tonight and tomorrow with an upslope pulse, ha.

[Angus]

33 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

Reggae is happening this year?

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Reggae reimagined...they seem to have the right idea - have DJs playing at bottom and top of lifts...they emphasize it's for people skiing NOT a concert.

https://www.sugarloaf.com/events-calendar/reggae-fest-2021

[PhineasC]

33 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Might put some lipstick on the pig late tonight and tomorrow with an upslope pulse, ha.

At least my well is happy.   

[PhineasC]

Ate at a really neat ski bum place in Jackson today. Red Parka Pub. Tons of old ski stuff on the walls. Cool place. 

[CoastalWx]

2 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

Ate at a really neat ski bum place in Jackson today. Red Parka Pub. Tons of old ski stuff on the walls. Cool place. 

I’ve been there. Cool place. 

[backedgeapproaching]

See DDH was gusting to near 50 today for a few hours.   Been ripping here also most of the day...had to be near 50mph or higher. Pretty sizable branches down on my road, no trees though.

Still got about 1" in the gauge though.

[backedgeapproaching]

17 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

Ate at a really neat ski bum place in Jackson today. Red Parka Pub. Tons of old ski stuff on the walls. Cool place. 

Those types of place are pretty much obsolete now in Manchester.  Any new restaurant opening is more catered to the Real Housewives of New Jersey and New York crowd.  Makes sense to go along with the more upscale outlet shopping and new influx of wealthier out of staters now moving here full time.  Not many family friendly cheap options.( still Pizza and Tacos shops, etc)  Much different from the picture my wife paints from growing up here in the 80s and early 90s--more mom and pop type shops-although it's always been one of the more "upscale-ish" VT tourists towns.

Still can find some more hole in the wall type spots and pub types around if you know where to look, just not here in town. Have heard a lot of good live music from friends bands in barns and backyards/farms to get that true VT experience though..ha

[Lava Rock]

Ate at a really neat ski bum place in Jackson today. Red Parka Pub. Tons of old ski stuff on the walls. Cool place. 

It is a cool place. Has a nice appeal inside

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[PhineasC]

34 degrees with light snow.