The 2021-2022 Ski season thread

[powderfreak]

8 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

Nah you can rip thru Kansas on Jordan and high speed it all the way to little White cap lift. Done it a hundred times literally, 2 plus miles. North Peak 1500 feet high speed is my jam for short vert and having a ball

That's not that short on vertical, ha.  The funny thing about the vertical discussion, is how the East actually has some better vertical per lift ride than many of the major ski areas out west.  Of course there are the Jackson Holes, Big Sky, Steamboat, Telluride, etc but many lifts out west are largely in the 800-1,500 vertical foot length.  Even the big vertical mountains, it takes multiple lift rides to get that vertical.

It's one of those things where you go out west and it is hard to find single lifts that do 2,000+ verts in one shot.  Of course there's like Snowbird and Jackson Hole trams but it's surprising how the east coast verts compare to out west.  There's a lot of yo-yo type setups of 1,000 verts per pod in like Utah and Tahoe.

[Ginx snewx]

51 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

That's not that short on vertical, ha.  The funny thing about the vertical discussion, is how the East actually has some better vertical per lift ride than many of the major ski areas out west.  Of course there are the Jackson Holes, Big Sky, Steamboat, etc but many lifts out west are largely in the 800-1,500 vertical foot length.  Even the big vertical mountains, it takes multiple lift rides to get that vertical.

It's one of those things where you go out west and it is hard to find single lifts that do 2,000+ verts in one shot.  Of course there's like Snowbird and Jackson Hole trams but it's surprising how the east coast verts compare to out west.  There's a lot of yo-yo type setups of 1,000 verts per pod in like Utah and Tahoe.

Never asked you but what's your opinion on Smuggs. I know you have a Stowe heart but how would you compare Smuggs. Just wondering. Seems like a cool place

[Brewbeer]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

That's not that short on vertical, ha.  The funny thing about the vertical discussion, is how the East actually has some better vertical per lift ride than many of the major ski areas out west.  Of course there are the Jackson Holes, Big Sky, Steamboat, Telluride, etc but many lifts out west are largely in the 800-1,500 vertical foot length.  Even the big vertical mountains, it takes multiple lift rides to get that vertical.

It's one of those things where you go out west and it is hard to find single lifts that do 2,000+ verts in one shot.  Of course there's like Snowbird and Jackson Hole trams but it's surprising how the east coast verts compare to out west.  There's a lot of yo-yo type setups of 1,000 verts per pod in like Utah and Tahoe.

Whistler Blackcomb was like that last time I visited.  5K verts, but the good snow didn't start until you were at the top of your 3rd lift. 

[powderfreak]

17 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

Never asked you but what's your opinion on Smuggs. I know you have a Stowe heart but how would you compare Smuggs. Just wondering. Seems like a cool place

To be honest I have only skinned there in the past 7 years I think?  It's been a while since I've ridden a lift there but it's great terrain with deep snowfall.  Incredible side country, inbounds woods.  The vibe is more laid back than the busier south side of the Notch.  

[Ginx snewx]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

To be honest I have only skinned there in the past 7 years I think?  It's been a while since I've ridden a lift there but it's great terrain with deep snowfall.  Incredible side country, inbounds woods.  The vibe is more laid back than the busier south side of the Notch.  

Nice thanks. 

[PowderBeard]

I went down this rabbit hole last night. All from the install verts listed on newenglandskihistory.com >1,500' 

Sugarloaf

SuperQuad 1,783

Attitash

Summit Triple 1,881  - when a squirrel doesn't make it catch fire

Cannon

Tram 2,021

Loon

Gondi 1,738

North Peak 1,563

Waterville Valley

White Peaks 1,912

Wildcat

Wildcat Express 2,041

Jay

The Freezer 1,620

Tram 1,953

K

K1 1,642 

Skye Peak 1,525

Skyeship 2,522 (~1,500 for Stage 2)

MRG

Single 1,972

Mount Snow

Grand Summit/Bluebird 1,600

Okemo

Sun Burst Six 1,670

Pico

Summit Express 1,565

Smuggs 

Madonna 1 2,150  (maybe tied with Tenney for the longest ride in the east?)

Sterling 1,500

Stowe

Fourrunner 2,047

Gondi 2,100

Lookout 1,750

$tratton

Gondi 1,742

Sugarbush

Castlerock 1,670

North Ridge 1,690

Superbravo 1,529

*Whiteface*

Cloudsplitter 2,432

Summit Quad 1,830

Lookout 1,560

Little Whiteface 1,555

Originals:

K1 Gondi 3,000

Stowe Big Spruce 1,750

Sugarbush Gondi 2,388

Sugarloaf 2,410

Surprises

Canyon Quad at K is 1,193, thought it was shorter but that terrain is steep

Was a little surprised Mittersill was only 1,280. I remembered it more like Sterling at Smuggs size.

If Ascutney was ever allowed to build to the summit it would have had almost 2,300' of vert. 

Original Ram's Head lift at K went 200' higher than the current. 

Beartrap at Mount Snow is only 373'.

How massive Gore and Whiteface really are. 

[radarman]

13 minutes ago, PowderBeard said:

Beartrap at Mount Snow is only 373'.

Nice.  That's a fun little trail.  

Did you ever ski Granite Gorge?  Another short lift, but fairly steep.

[PowderBeard]

1 minute ago, radarman said:

Nice.  That's a fun little trail.  

Did you ever ski Granite Gorge?  Another short lift, but fairly steep.

I never did. I think that was a favorite spot of @GCWarrior. Looks similar to Whaleback. 

[MRVexpat]

4 hours ago, powderfreak said:

That's not that short on vertical, ha.  The funny thing about the vertical discussion, is how the East actually has some better vertical per lift ride than many of the major ski areas out west.  Of course there are the Jackson Holes, Big Sky, Steamboat, Telluride, etc but many lifts out west are largely in the 800-1,500 vertical foot length.  Even the big vertical mountains, it takes multiple lift rides to get that vertical.

It's one of those things where you go out west and it is hard to find single lifts that do 2,000+ verts in one shot.  Of course there's like Snowbird and Jackson Hole trams but it's surprising how the east coast verts compare to out west.  There's a lot of yo-yo type setups of 1,000 verts per pod in like Utah and Tahoe.

There's also the effect of spreading out skiers by ability a little bit. Expert skiers can stay on the upper mountain lifts and not ski the often flatter run outs, thus yielding more quality vert per time on chair. Beginners can have their own trail pod. Works out well. 

[mreaves]

Watched some men’s GS from Beaver Creek last night. Lots of brown in sight away from the slopes. The announcers said highs were expect to reach the 50’s. 

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, mreaves said:

Watched some men’s GS from Beaver Creek last night. Lots of brown in sight away from the slopes. The announcers said highs were expect to reach the 50’s. 

CNN reported that Denver has remained snow-free into December for the first time.  (Don't know the POR.)  

[PowderBeard]

15 hours ago, powderfreak said:

To be honest I have only skinned there in the past 7 years I think?  It's been a while since I've ridden a lift there but it's great terrain with deep snowfall.  Incredible side country, inbounds woods.  The vibe is more laid back than the busier south side of the Notch.  

Birthday Bowls, keep the skis on, and commute down to the office? lol 

[powderfreak]

36 minutes ago, PowderBeard said:

Birthday Bowls, keep the skis on, and commute down to the office? lol 

Yeah to be honest the closest I get are the Birthday Bowls from the top of Spruce Peak at Stowe… but we need to start cutting back towards Stowe earlier and Smuggs skiers can keep rolling downhill.

[PhineasC]

BW keeps opening terrain at a good clip.

I know it's not the most epic radical powder hound mountain out there, but man they know how to make snow and groom it up nice. LOL

[Ginx snewx]

45 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

BW keeps opening terrain at a good clip.

I know it's not the most epic radical powder hound mountain out there, but man they know how to make snow and groom it up nice. LOL

As I grew older I learned to appreciate quality snowmaking and great grooming no matter the mountain. 

[PhineasC]

Just now, Ginx snewx said:

As I grew older I learned to appreciate quality snowmaking and great grooming no matter the mountain. 

I also ski with 4 small kids of varying confidence levels and it's a lot easier for me to handle them all on a nicely groomed, predictable trail. My one son and daughter will go off on the edges and ski bumps and weave in and out of the trees with no issues (they also sometimes go in the glades) but my other two kids really just prefer reliable groomers right now. BW also tends to not be too icy. Cannon is so bad with the ice. We had to stop going last year, every day was bad there with ice. We ski every day so it wasn't just a fluke either; I went to Cannon about 20 days last winter. I think skiing there is a battle of wills thing for people; they want to say they were able to "defeat" the mountain. Obviously they have a loyal following of people. The "living legend" or whatever. LOL legendary ice maybe. I had the kids up at the summit at Cannon a few times and it was just never fun. We made it down fine (my kids can all ski any blue trail and most diamonds with zero issue) but it was us vs. the shit conditions the whole way. BW had the best conditions day in and day out for the kind of family skiing we are doing. It's a long season so we will be back to Sunday River, Cannon, Attitash, Cranmore, Wildcat and maybe Mt. Abram over the course of the season. 

[radarman]

The Beast turned on the snowguns today

[PowderBeard]

9 hours ago, radarman said:

The Beast turned on the snowguns today

Schaeffer on Instagram gave a pretty detailed update. Had no idea they put over $1 million into the snowmaking system. They started ordering pumps and parts last fall that got installed this week. Less energy used while putting out 40% more water. And 75 new snowguns that arrived last week. Damn. The system might be better than Crotched's since they have more water access. Also mentioned they changed the grade on some trails so they can open them faster. I'll be curious to see what they did. 

[GCWarrior]

They may open next weekend if they survive the warmth and rain Monday.  Pretty late start for them but I guess getting the new snowmaking equipment up and running took some time. 

[GCWarrior]

On 12/2/2021 at 10:53 PM, PowderBeard said:

I never did. I think that was a favorite spot of @GCWarrior. Looks similar to Whaleback. 

I’ve actually never skied Granite Gorge.  I had a student pass there my first year getting my masters.  I never used it once at the actual hill because the lift broke.  I used several of the freedom pass days. Weird fact.  Lift hasn’t opened in several years.

[Angus]

hiked middle and north sugarloaf off of zealand road yesterday. lots of snowmaking at both BW and Cannon. Looks like Gary's and zoomer will be open soon with caveat re: upcoming weather. We stopped to take picture at BW and someone in parking lot said skiing was very good. The cars parked along 302 in crawford notch was silly - weekend summer like. Only saw 2 couples on our hike.

[powderfreak]

Sucks it’s going to rain.  We were finally getting some momentum going.  Even poking into the woods and the mountain seemed one storm away from being wide open on natural snow.

[Brewbeer]

13 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Sucks it’s going to rain.  

Must be ski season in New England !  lol

[amarshall]

On 12/3/2021 at 3:20 PM, PhineasC said:

I also ski with 4 small kids of varying confidence levels and it's a lot easier for me to handle them all on a nicely groomed, predictable trail. My one son and daughter will go off on the edges and ski bumps and weave in and out of the trees with no issues (they also sometimes go in the glades) but my other two kids really just prefer reliable groomers right now. BW also tends to not be too icy. Cannon is so bad with the ice. We had to stop going last year, every day was bad there with ice. We ski every day so it wasn't just a fluke either; I went to Cannon about 20 days last winter. I think skiing there is a battle of wills thing for people; they want to say they were able to "defeat" the mountain. Obviously they have a loyal following of people. The "living legend" or whatever. LOL legendary ice maybe. I had the kids up at the summit at Cannon a few times and it was just never fun. We made it down fine (my kids can all ski any blue trail and most diamonds with zero issue) but it was us vs. the shit conditions the whole way. BW had the best conditions day in and day out for the kind of family skiing we are doing. It's a long season so we will be back to Sunday River, Cannon, Attitash, Cranmore, Wildcat and maybe Mt. Abram over the course of the season. 

We started at BW because we always found snow there. We'd drive by a bare Attitash/Cranmore/Loon/WV to get top to bottom runs at BW.  Most times you'd hit Cannon and it would start dumping.  For a true skiing family, I think BW is the best beginner mountain for conditions and terrain.  By age 10 my oldest had outgrown the terrain and we transitioned to the Loaf. He's now off on his own at age 12 at the loaf.   We go to loaf exclusively because of the similar conditions. It's a bear of a drive for living south of Boston but worth every minute spent there. 

[mcglups]

Heading to Sunday River for next week and while it is still early season, I do appreciate the notes above.  By adding hiking into early season skiing, these trips are still quite enjoyable.  I welcome any additional thoughts about sr.

[snowgeek]

Looks like us weekend warriors have a choice of Saturday's warmth and rain and Sunday's sheets of ice.  Oh well.  Might have to skip this weekend on the slopes.  Great, now my wife can ask me to do a million of her projects that she musters up! 

[GCWarrior]

Jay Peak for me tomorrow and Saturday.  Tomorrow looks pretty decent all things considered. They have some natural trails and glades open. Saturday is a different story.  Little bit of rain skiing and probably some IPAs!  

[powderfreak]

Good stuff out there this morning on Mansfield!

[bwt3650]

3 hours ago, GCWarrior said:

Jay Peak for me tomorrow and Saturday.  Tomorrow looks pretty decent all things considered. They have some natural trails and glades open. Saturday is a different story.  Little bit of rain skiing and probably some IPAs!  

Jay is in really good shape right now..tnrw should be good too.  With the Bonnie open, if you hike that little bit on northway to jfk, you’ll find all those glades on tramside basically untouched; just make sure you have a way to get back from tramside.  Saturday sucks because they were really getting there.

[NW_of_GYX]

On 12/7/2021 at 9:04 PM, mcglups said:

Heading to Sunday River for next week and while it is still early season, I do appreciate the notes above.  By adding hiking into early season skiing, these trips are still quite enjoyable.  I welcome any additional thoughts about sr.

Skiing at the river has been great this week and conditions this morning were stellar. That will change unfortunately.... be prepared for firm early season conditions with limited terrain.