The 2022 - 2023 Ski Season Thread

[amarshall]

31 minutes ago, bch2014 said:

I’ve been in Lech/Zurs/St Anton for the last four days. Conditions haven’t been great. Rain/snow line has covered around 2000M and the snowpack below about 1400M is obliterated (St. Anton town has essentially no snow-Lech and Zurs a bit better). Anyway, snow levels dropped last night and delivered about 25cm above 1500M. Off-piste Skiing at the higher elevations where there is about 80-100Cm of base is quite good. Huge relief as the first few days weren’t great (scenery and atmosphere were great, the skiing not so much). 
 

And yes-I was in the same spot as the Zurs avalanche that buried ten people about 30 minutes before. Extremely lucky. 

I just looked at that trail map. Mother of god. 

[bch2014]

1 hour ago, amarshall said:

I just looked at that trail map. Mother of god. 

Yeah, it’s huge. From the Northwest Side (Warth Schrocken) to the Southeast side (St. Anton) would take about half a day to ski. 

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

Lighting fast groomers at Stratton today. Along with the biggest mid week crowds I have ever seen. 

[qg_omega]

1 hour ago, LongBeachSurfFreak said:

Lighting fast groomers at Stratton today. Along with the biggest mid week crowds I have ever seen. 

lol it’s not mid week it’a a holiday week

[Ginx snewx]

1 hour ago, LongBeachSurfFreak said:

Lighting fast groomers at Stratton today. Along with the biggest mid week crowds I have ever seen. 

Christmas week bro

[Childude645]

Looking at the forecast for first week of Jan at Sunday river, invited by group of friends w/ trip planned there. Disappointing looking at the models right now… anyone have any thoughts on conditions the week of the 1st in NW Maine?

[bwt3650]

Looking at the forecast for first week of Jan at Sunday river, invited by group of friends w/ trip planned there. Disappointing looking at the models right now… anyone have any thoughts on conditions the week of the 1st in NW Maine?

I don’t know SR at all, besides their reputation for some of the best snow making in the east. I’m sure they’ll resurface main routes where needed. It will be warm with some rain no doubt next week, but doesn’t look like any hard freezes after the rain. Also, a trend starting with more cold air around changing some of these to back end snows. The experienced guys from up hear always tell me that it’s rare something stays 100 percent wet up here in jan. 30s and soft snow can beat hard icy conditions and the bitter cold shots we often see in jan. Just enjoy it.


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[Childude645]

I don’t know SR at all, besides their reputation for some of the best snow making in the east. I’m sure they’ll resurface main routes where needed. It will be warm with some rain no doubt next week, but doesn’t look like any hard freezes after the rain. Also, a trend starting with more cold air around changing some of these to back end snows. The experienced guys from up hear always tell me that it’s rare something stays 100 percent wet up here in jan. 30s and soft snow can beat hard icy conditions and the bitter cold shots we often see in jan. Just enjoy it.


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Appreciate the insight and positive mentality! I will


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[STILL N OF PIKE]

Jay claims they have 20” of new snow in last 72 hours on their 7am report and they claimed 17 or 18” new in their 72” hour report on Wednesday . Is this remotely accurate ...? 

[GCWarrior]

They are opening tramside today.  Running on mostly natural snow over there. 

[STILL N OF PIKE]

On 12/27/2022 at 6:12 PM, Childude645 said:

Looking at the forecast for first week of Jan at Sunday river, invited by group of friends w/ trip planned there. Disappointing looking at the models right now… anyone have any thoughts on conditions the week of the 1st in NW Maine?

I’d ski . There isn’t some monster cutter or 3 days of rain , and they should have enough snow , that 100-% beats 0f temps and howling winds . I think it will be pretty dang good 

[CT Rain]

Heading to Stowe for Saturday and Sunday. Every New Year's ski  trip I take is a disaster 

[DJln491]

5 hours ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

Jay claims they have 20” of new snow in last 72 hours on their 7am report and they claimed 17 or 18” new in their 72” hour report on Wednesday . Is this remotely accurate ...? 

I noticed this last year with Jay.  Def some pumping of the numbers.  Made me wonder if they include man made snow lol

[STILL N OF PIKE]

11 minutes ago, DJln491 said:

I noticed this last year with Jay.  Def some pumping of the numbers.  Made me wonder if they include man made snow lol

I read the report the last couple days and they chalk it up to the jay “cloud” . Just dropping 20” in last 3 days , are they dropping acid before they measure?

[DJln491]

1 minute ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

I read the report the last couple days and they chalk it up to the jay “cloud” . Just dropping 20” in last 3 days , are they dropping acid before they measure?

I was at Jay last year, first week of Dec.  We were there for 3 days and it did snow every day on and off.  they probably picked up 4-5 inches when I was there.  so it does snow a lot, but when I checked their website it was way above what had actually fallen, IMO.   

[QCD17]

We got our first runs of the year in at Bromley today.  Was nice and warm, snow was soft but not slushy.  I feel bad for the mountain when I look at the 10-day forecast.  Hoping they can survive and get dumped on afterwards.

[bwt3650]

7 hours ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

Jay claims they have 20” of new snow in last 72 hours on their 7am report and they claimed 17 or 18” new in their 72” hour report on Wednesday . Is this remotely accurate ...? 

It snowed almost everyday since the weekend until today.  We prob had a 3-6 elevation depending yesterday.  I don’t know,….18 in the last 72 hours seems high.  It kind of all blends together.  To be honest, it was all upslope starting Monday and very little water content.  Made for great days and a great winter vibe, but got beat fast today with the holiday traffic.  I was surprised how bad it got by the end of the day.  Natural snow of that density just can’t handle the traffic and the wind up top.  Tramside has stuff that is almost bare in the middle, yet deep packed on the sides.  Lots of thin spots and icy spots.  And even groomers got bumped hard.  The woods are still ok, but it’s low tide for sure and the rocks will get you.  It’ll take a beating this weekend.  Hopefully, the back end refresh helps.  Don’t get me wrong, still very doable, especially remembering the time of year.  MLK is my date for the “real” start, so woods, naturals and almost 50 trails ain’t bad.  But if you read 20” in the last week, you’re gonna be disappointed.  I’ll post a couple pics later.

[bwt3650]

2 hours ago, DJln491 said:

I noticed this last year with Jay.  Def some pumping of the numbers.  Made me wonder if they include man made snow lol

they use a range, but always add totals using the higher number.  Is it high sometimes, maybe.  But remember, it’s what falls, not necessarily what’s on the trail 6 hours after settling and skier traffic.  Everyone gets so hung up on the numbers. They should just say minor event, moderate event or major event.  It’s the snowiest place east of the Mississippi.  The number is irrelevant.

[bwt3650]

8 hours ago, GCWarrior said:

They are opening tramside today.  Running on mostly natural snow over there. 

They blew goat, which is in good shape and northway.  Lower quai is man made too.  Ullrs is still natural and the entrance is VERY thin.  Some deep pockets on the side, but all bumped and very thin in the middle.

[Modfan2]

Was considering Wachusett this Sat but not sure if conditions will warrant a trip

[STILL N OF PIKE]

7 hours ago, Modfan2 said:

Was considering Wachusett this Sat but not sure if conditions will warrant a trip

Will be very soft  and I’d go very early 

it’s in the 50’s at the base there now 

I would go to Crotched in SNH which got 2 feet in the storm about 10 days ago 

[bwt3650]

Warmth over-performed. Destroyed anything natural. Can still duck into some woods if you don’t mind destroying your skis, but this was a death blow for a while. Snowmaking trails are great tho; nice and soft. But with no snowmaking except some short windows for a week, huge setback. I underestimated Holiday traffic and no refreeze at night. Thought we might limp through with mid 30s for highs, but no dice.


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[powderfreak]

3 minutes ago, bwt3650 said:

Warmth over-performed. Destroyed anything natural. Can still duck into some woods if you don’t mind destroying your skis, but this was a death blow for a while. Snowmaking trails are great tho; nice and soft. But with no snowmaking except some short windows for a week, huge setback. I underestimated Holiday traffic and no refreeze at night. Thought we might limp through with mid 30s for highs, but no dice.


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Natural stuff took a full on beating.  Patrol here has closed pretty much all of it.  Somehow Toll House is still going but it's flat, ha.

[snowgeek]

Windham was great today. Soft snow, no ice, low 50’s, but snow is taking a beating. Lots of thin spots and the snow was melting fast. Warm nights and rain gonna do a number on what’s left.


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[CT Rain]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

Natural stuff took a full on beating.  Patrol here has closed pretty much all of it.  Somehow Toll House is still going but it's flat, ha.

Blah. How bad will it be tomorrow? haha

[radarman]

What a blast today.  Taste of spring.

[powderfreak]

1 hour ago, CT Rain said:

Blah. How bad will it be tomorrow? haha

The snowmaking trails should be fine, but it definitely leads to a bit more crowding on the hill as everyone gets funneled into the same runs.  Much more enjoyable with natural snow trails going to spread people out.  Definitely could go for a full 7+ days of round the clock snowmaking temps anytime soon again.  It feels like expansion has been very slow lately because you're always doubling back to make snow in the same areas after each of these "thaws".  We lost about 36 good hours of snowmaking too last weekend after the wind storm, as Stowe Electric had so many trees/poles down that the mountain took a "civic pause" to not stress the local power grid as the snowmaking system is a massive electric draw.

It's definitely becoming a sneaky poor first half of winter looking at what the next 7 days should bring too.  We were super lucky to get that big heavy/dense snow event a couple weeks ago as I think most mountains have been largely surviving on that for natural snow trails.

[Hitman]

16 hours ago, powderfreak said:

The snowmaking trails should be fine, but it definitely leads to a bit more crowding on the hill as everyone gets funneled into the same runs.  Much more enjoyable with natural snow trails going to spread people out.  Definitely could go for a full 7+ days of round the clock snowmaking temps anytime soon again.  It feels like expansion has been very slow lately because you're always doubling back to make snow in the same areas after each of these "thaws".  We lost about 36 good hours of snowmaking too last weekend after the wind storm, as Stowe Electric had so many trees/poles down that the mountain took a "civic pause" to not stress the local power grid as the snowmaking system is a massive electric draw.

It's definitely becoming a sneaky poor first half of winter looking at what the next 7 days should bring too.  We were super lucky to get that big heavy/dense snow event a couple weeks ago as I think most mountains have been largely surviving on that for natural snow trails.

I kind of feel like this has been an average start to the season.  We got 7 days of good conditions in December and that seems to my recollection to be about, give or take, how its been in the last decade.  Looking like a struggle through the latter part of January when hopefully things will pick up around super bowl weekend.

happy new year all

[HoarfrostHubb]

Went for the first time this season last night.  The amount of snow they made at Wachusett was very impressive. They really took advantage of the cold snap we had. Can't recall the last time I saw so many whales of that size.   The skiing was fun, nice and soft.  Plenty of trails open but kinda narrow in cases.

[bwt3650]

50 plus trails , to 18 snowmaking only in 48 hours. I know not record breaking or anything, but an impressive melt. Still have a pack, but wonder if that survives


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