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The 2022 - 2023 Ski Season Thread


Skivt2
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12 hours ago, mreaves said:

Not skiing but this was the first weekend that widespread snowmobiling has been available and I can’t remember the last time I saw so many people on the trails. It was crazy. And I only got about 10 miles from home before we had to limp my buddies sled back home. 

I don’t ride but I imagined this would be the case , I think many are also nervous the season may end up short lived so that are not just eager to get out , but don’t want to miss it . Hope NNE keeps building a pack .

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14 hours ago, NW_of_GYX said:

It’s industry wide. Records set across NE over the last 2 weekends. The demand has never been higher which I think speaks to a hangover effect from COVID demand on outdoor access and the marketing strength (especially social media) of the outdoor industry as a whole. Everyone wants to be like their favorite instagram influencer. Season pass sales have been very strong from what I’m told and the value of an epic or ikon pass is still very good for your average 5-10 day a year skier. 

It was an extra 30 minutes to get home from BMOM yesterday due to traffic on rt 26. Almost all out of state plates too. Im assuming the recent storms got people to come up. 

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4 hours ago, hazwoper said:

so, for those in the know at Stowe (@powderfreak) how terrible is it going to be there Friday and Saturday?  Heading up with family and I know the cold is going to be brutal.  What winds and chances of lifts shutting down?  This is pretty terrible timing for us.

My guess is there should be warnings out for the conditions on the mountain . Frostbite will be a huge danger to anyone not very prepared and or experienced with much below zero temperatures and wind. Windchills -40 to -50 and temps near -30 at mountain Sat am . Sunday looks calm and less severe a couple hours after dawn 

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Japan is a magical place. Did 11 days of skiing on the northern island of Hokkaido followed by 3 days in Tokyo. The people, food and snowfall were all incredible. Will 1000% be going back in hopefully the not too distant future. 
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Wow, looks amazing! On my wish list now! Keep hearing how awesome it is. Great pics!!


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Not sure how to follow up Japan.  That looks like it was an amazing trip!  I’d like to make it there someday. 
 

February 1st marks the beginning of the end for snowmaking at a lot of resorts. Most places like to wrap it up before the busy school vacation week.  So go longer depending on weather and need.  Looks like a prime stretch for round the clock snowmaking the rest of this week at least down here.  

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Not sure how to follow up Japan.  That looks like it was an amazing trip!  I’d like to make it there someday. 
 
February 1st marks the beginning of the end for snowmaking at a lot of resorts. Most places like to wrap it up before the busy school vacation week.  So go longer depending on weather and need.  Looks like a prime stretch for round the clock snowmaking the rest of this week at least down here.  

Time for Killington to start loading up Superstar. Base isn’t currently deep on it.


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18 hours ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

My guess is there should be warnings out for the conditions on the mountain . Frostbite will be a huge danger to anyone not very prepared and or experienced with much below zero temperatures and wind. Windchills -40 to -50 and temps near -30 at mountain Sat am . Sunday looks calm and less severe a couple hours after dawn 

Wonderful

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On 1/30/2023 at 11:45 AM, hazwoper said:

so, for those in the know at Stowe (@powderfreak) how terrible is it going to be there Friday and Saturday?  Heading up with family and I know the cold is going to be brutal.  What winds and chances of lifts shutting down?  This is pretty terrible timing for us.

no way to sugar coat it-it is going to be brutally cold. unless you have extreme cold-weather gear, you are risking frostbite-toes, ears, fingers, face etc.

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1 hour ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

I would consult @powderfreak he works there. If there is a gondola I’d stick to that and dress for Antarctica . The chair lift Ride would be ...bad .

Are you able  to just wait and ski Sunday. No wind and rapidly warming temps during mid am .

We'll probably ski Friday and again on Sunday.  Find something else to do Saturday.  Heading back to Philly area Sunday, so we'll just be a little later.

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go snowshoeing or xc skiing and stick to the woods - that's my plan on Saturday. You will expend so much energy, you won't get cold. Dress in layers so you can shed but wear an outer layer that blocks the wind.

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I skied Jay once after a back to back 30", followed by brutal winds and cold. -17F at base without the wind. I did 2 runs and called it a day. Need the right wax for your skis. The snow makes a squeaking sound when you walk in boots. It sucked!

I just checked the ECM snow depth map for Steamboat. Wasn't sure what I was looking at, then noticed it was in the 150"color. The maps don't go beyond that. Heading out 2 weeks from today. Nearly 27 feet since Thanksgiving. Not much in the forecast though. Maybe a couple feet.:D

 

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On 1/30/2023 at 9:13 AM, STILL N OF PIKE said:

I don’t ride but I imagined this would be the case , I think many are also nervous the season may end up short lived so that are not just eager to get out , but don’t want to miss it . Hope NNE keeps building a pack .

To be honest I don’t really see or hear any of that sentiment except on this forum or among highly weather savvy people.  The eagerness is 100% there but aside from this forum, the worry that the season is over soon isnt there.

Most are just happy it’s here and now look forward to the next 2-3 months deep into April.  Many eastern skiers are eternal optimists.

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11 hours ago, hazwoper said:

Wonderful

Saturday morning is the one that’ll be next level at Stowe.

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Operations are usually curtailed to lower mountain lifts and/or Gondola.  FourRunner Quad has shelter at Octagon at the top but I could see lower mountain lifts only and maybe Gondola as a viable option.

Wind hold threshold drops greatly too… any decent breeze and lift goes on hold as no one wants to come close to any issues.  The amount of risk assumed in those conditions is near zero.  Wind can also trip sensors from chairs rocking, even slightly as tolerances of those sensors is extremely small. Normally that’s no problem, a lift mechanic just goes and verifies haul rope placement and it takes <10 minutes.  It’s not ideal but it’s a CPS (cable positioning system) fault that lifts at most ski areas can see a few times a day in some cases.  However, in that type of cold, even a 6-min stop is a problem.  So if there’s a chance, lift goes on hold.  Wind hold tolerance goes way down.

Decisions likely made Thursday and Friday for any operational changes within the next 24 hours based on final forecasts.

Personally, I’d try Friday and definitely Sunday.  Saturday is out unless it’s one run for the novelty of it.

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32 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

To be honest I don’t really see or hear any of that sentiment except on this forum or among highly weather savvy people.  The eagerness is 100% there but aside from this forum, the worry that the season is over soon isnt there.

Most are just happy it’s here and now look forward to the next 2-3 months deep into April.  Many eastern skiers are eternal optimists.

I mean when I’m out skiing , I’m not voicing that opinion on the slope or on the chairlift , I’m definitely making the best of the day . I was primarily talking about “riding” snowmobiles, I’m pretty sure I was responding to someone about riding . But I could extend that and say , winter enthusiasts want to be out there Riding or skiing  during the very good conditions , so you can simply say they wanna hit it while the hittings good .

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26 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

I mean when I’m out skiing , I’m not voicing that opinion on the slope or on the chairlift , I’m definitely making the best of the day . I was primarily talking about “riding” snowmobiles, I’m pretty sure I was responding to someone about riding . But I could extend that and say , winter enthusiasts want to be out there Riding or skiing  during the very good conditions , so you can simply say they wanna hit it while the hittings good .

Yeah for sure, people chat about the winter and outlooks all the time on the lift rides.

Everyone seems to know you have to hit winter while it’s going well in New England, absolutely.

Maybe it’s just this impending vibe of doom on this board that gets me too, ha. The mood is like a funeral for someone who hasn’t died yet… but for some, maybe it was never living either, ha.

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31 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

I mean when I’m out skiing , I’m not voicing that opinion on the slope or on the chairlift , I’m definitely making the best of the day . I was primarily talking about “riding” snowmobiles, I’m pretty sure I was responding to someone about riding . But I could extend that and say , winter enthusiasts want to be out there Riding or skiing  during the very good conditions , so you can simply say they wanna hit it while the hittings good .

Yeah, that was me, I think. I’m definitely worried about a short season. It’s a curse, we get snow and things are good but I’m always worried about what comes later. I need to just enjoy the present first. 

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7 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Yeah for sure, people chat about the winter and outlooks all the time on the lift rides.

Everyone seems to know you have to hit winter while it’s going well in New England, absolutely.

Maybe it’s just this impending vibe of doom on this board that gets me too, ha. The mood is like a funeral for someone who hasn’t died yet… but for some, maybe it was never living either, ha.

If you shared the board with the Saint Lawrence valley forum instead of sne the mood would be brighter , but Stowe was dancing along the bottom of the snow stake barrel for a bit so I mean as a skier I hope things stay decent . This winter I’m hopeful but not optimistic that NNE gets a good score on the winter “back 9”. It’s decently up in the air with a higher chance than normal (whatever normal is) in my opinion that it ends earlier . We are raging above average and that needs to change as we leave peak climo . N VT is positioned better than most 

 

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6 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

If you shared the board with the Saint Lawrence valley forum instead of sne the mood would be brighter , but Stowe was dancing along the bottom of the snow stake barrel for a bit so I mean as a skier I hope things stay decent . This winter I’m hopeful but not optimistic that NNE gets a good score on the winter “back 9”. It’s decently up in the air with a higher chance than normal (whatever normal is) in my opinion that it ends earlier . We are raging above average and that needs to change as we leave peak climo . N VT is positioned better than most 

 

For sure but it’s game on right now, we enjoy. Been a great run of near daily snows past couple weeks again.

Had another 3” on this morning’s reading (snow bough blew off tree and landed in front of Stake).

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1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

Saturday morning is the one that’ll be next level at Stowe.

B110A654-B426-493D-91DC-C13EC22B41A7.png.237696decb04d092ace1fed090619a8b.png
 

Operations are usually curtailed to lower mountain lifts and/or Gondola.  FourRunner Quad has shelter at Octagon at the top but I could see lower mountain lifts only and maybe Gondola as a viable option.

Wind hold threshold drops greatly too… any decent breeze and lift goes on hold as no one wants to come close to any issues.  The amount of risk assumed in those conditions is near zero.  Wind can also trip sensors from chairs rocking, even slightly as tolerances of those sensors is extremely small. Normally that’s no problem, a lift mechanic just goes and verifies haul rope placement and it takes <10 minutes.  It’s not ideal but it’s a CPS (cable positioning system) fault that lifts at most ski areas can see a few times a day in some cases.  However, in that type of cold, even a 6-min stop is a problem.  So if there’s a chance, lift goes on hold.  Wind hold tolerance goes way down.

Decisions likely made Thursday and Friday for any operational changes within the next 24 hours based on final forecasts.

Personally, I’d try Friday and definitely Sunday.  Saturday is out unless it’s one run for the novelty of it.

Yeah beer sales will be up in VT ski towns this weekend. Friday is almost looking worse. More clouds, more wind, and temp dropping throughout the day. Not to mention we're all used to skiing in light layers in the 20s and 30s at this point, hah

 

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1 minute ago, Froude said:

Yeah beer sales will be up in VT ski towns this weekend. Friday is almost looking worse. More clouds, more wind, and temp dropping throughout the day. Not to mention we're all used to skiing in light layers in the 20s and 30s at this point, hah

 

Yeah Friday afternoon looks pretty rough.  You’re right, if that has any dampness to it with clouds or that arctic haze, it’ll feel real bad.  There’s that damp arctic cold we all know and love vs the clear cold, ha.

Its going to be a shock to the body for sure.   We are certainly soft from weeks and weeks of 20s and 30s.  

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9 hours ago, mreaves said:

Yeah, that was me, I think. I’m definitely worried about a short season. It’s a curse, we get snow and things are good but I’m always worried about what comes later. I need to just enjoy the present first. 

yeah, I think that most snowmobilers are worried about that. @powderfreak it is much different than skiing. Ski areas can make snow to get through the lean stretches, and extend the season, but snowmobilers don't have that luxury. we need to get out there as often as we can while we have the opportunity, because the snowmobiling season can end on a dime. Trails are usualy pretty crazy once that first snowfall comes and trails get opened up.

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