2023-2024 Ski Season Thead

[bwt3650]

My guess is that they will probably try to use the fill from the sides in order to make it less severe.  That's what we try to do with snowmobile trails.

Are they able to even get the construction equipment up there this time of year to even move the fill? That has to be a logistical nightmare.


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[mreaves]

21 minutes ago, bwt3650 said:

Are they able to even get the construction equipment up there this time of year to even move the fill? That has to be a logistical nightmare.


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If the ground can freeze some. it might not be that bad.  I'm always amazed at what a skilled excavator operator can do.

[Lava Rock]

From latest SR update:

Looking ahead, our current plan is to re-open this Saturday, December 23, with limited terrain off of the Barker 6, Locke Triple, Spruce Triple, the South Ridge Express, and the carpets.  Any guests with tickets, rentals and lessons booked through Friday, December 22, will be refunded automatically.

Access will be limited to season passholders, ticket pack holders, Ikon passholders, and guests who have already purchased lift tickets. Guests who have booked lodging directly through the resort in the Grand Summit,  Jordan or Snow Cap Inn  may purchase Stay & Save lift tickets for their stay. We will continue to update the Mountain Report with the latest information.

 

 

[mcglups]

A wild ride to watch the devastation and recovery underway up north. Despite my interest to enjoy more days on the slopes, the combination of the holiday uptick of people and the limited/recovered terrain, and health issues that don't have any capacity for injury, I'm playing it safe and resuming weekend trips on January 5th. If the 7-day forecast holds for a warm system to drop rain, that is unfortunate to say the least. ... As time marches into the decades ahead, warm systems with copious amount of rain (in very short time periods) will occur every month of the year, but timing is everything and I am sure we will all squeak out lots of awesome days.

 

 

[HIPPYVALLEY]

12 hours ago, bwt3650 said:

Are they able to even get the construction equipment up there this time of year to even move the fill? That has to be a logistical nightmare.


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Maybe just easier to turn it into a long ass halfpipe for the season?  

[STILL N OF PIKE]

SR sure needs to avoid another massive Rainer prior to new years , bc they sound like they are on the ropes needing a reprieve. I really hope the system prior to NYE either Snows or is weak or misses . A couple others are probably close . Wildcat is reopening at noon today . Hopefully 

Loon seems like they bounced back decently 

[Layman]

16 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

SR sure needs to avoid another massive Rainer prior to new years , bc they sound like they are on the ropes needing a reprieve. I really hope the system prior to NYE either Snows or is weak or misses . A couple others are probably close . Wildcat is reopening at noon today . Hopefully 

Loon seems like they bounced back decently 

I was checking all the local cams earlier and everybody seems to be working hard with guns blazing trying to rebuild.  Except Wildcat, oddly.  They were the only ones with no apparent signs of snowmaking.  The NH resorts seemed to be making good progress.  The Sunday River conditions report sounded rough.  Definitely recovering from a traumatic experience.  One of my kids was up at Gunstock yesterday (first time ever) and was able to have fun on a few trails learning to snowboard.  Hopefully the cold over the next couple days allows everyone to claw back some ground and prep for whatever comes next.  

[Layman]

Beautiful morning on top of Mt. Washington judging by the cam.  Not much snow still.

[Layman]

For those who work at the resorts and/or have knowledge of mountain ops, what kind of info is there regarding snowmaking?  Specifically, are there known ratios for how much snow can be made, and/or ground covered at certain temperatures, water content and air pressure?  

For example, if there's a super stable airmass at 20 degrees F for 24 hours, can it be reasonably precisely calculated how much ground can be covered at X inches of depth?

[powderfreak]

On 12/20/2023 at 9:12 AM, bwt3650 said:

Are they able to even get the construction equipment up there this time of year to even move the fill? That has to be a logistical nightmare.


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There have been excavators going up and down Nosedive to get to it.

[DavisStraight]

5 hours ago, Layman said:

For those who work at the resorts and/or have knowledge of mountain ops, what kind of info is there regarding snowmaking?  Specifically, are there known ratios for how much snow can be made, and/or ground covered at certain temperatures, water content and air pressure?  

For example, if there's a super stable airmass at 20 degrees F for 24 hours, can it be reasonably precisely calculated how much ground can be covered at X inches of depth?

I asked that question last year, Powderfreak answered, he knows all about that.

[GCWarrior]

I’m not much of a picture taker but here are a few from Bolton Valley this  past weekend.  Sad about all the rain we got!  Hopefully things can recover sooner than later.

New lift at Berkshire East supposed to go online tomorrow! Skiing was really good today, nice smooth manmade groomers. 

[Jebman]

On 12/21/2023 at 7:49 AM, Layman said:

I was checking all the local cams earlier and everybody seems to be working hard with guns blazing trying to rebuild.  Except Wildcat, oddly.  They were the only ones with no apparent signs of snowmaking.  The NH resorts seemed to be making good progress.  The Sunday River conditions report sounded rough.  Definitely recovering from a traumatic experience.  One of my kids was up at Gunstock yesterday (first time ever) and was able to have fun on a few trails learning to snowboard.  Hopefully the cold over the next couple days allows everyone to claw back some ground and prep for whatever comes next.  

I heard that Jay Peak's snowpack is largely intact.

[snowfan]

SR posted a vid on instagram showing what they’ve been dealing with this past week.
 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1KxCnMMjmO/?igsh=MjJkMmIyYzQxYw==

[Layman]

41 minutes ago, snowfan said:

SR posted a vid on instagram showing what they’ve been dealing with this past week.
 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1KxCnMMjmO/?igsh=MjJkMmIyYzQxYw==

Wow - incredible damage up there.  

[Layman]

What a neat shot from one of the Wildcat cams this morning:

 

[alex]

I posted in the other thread, I was really surprised by how good the conditions were today, just a few days after a historic storm. Only 5-6 top to bottom trails, but the quality of the snow was better than I've usually found at Stowe a day after a 1 ft storm (no offense, but I've always found Stowe gets frustratingly icy). Great grip, a good powdery coat on the top, and very little if any ice. Between snowmaking and the new groomers, I think we should count our blessing - technology is going a long way countering Mother Nature when it comes to skiing. 

Of course, for x-country, snowmobiling, etc, this just SUCKS. 

[STILL N OF PIKE]

4 hours ago, alex said:

I posted in the other thread, I was really surprised by how good the conditions were today, just a few days after a historic storm. Only 5-6 top to bottom trails, but the quality of the snow was better than I've usually found at Stowe a day after a 1 ft storm (no offense, but I've always found Stowe gets frustratingly icy). Great grip, a good powdery coat on the top, and very little if any ice. Between snowmaking and the new groomers, I think we should count our blessing - technology is going a long way countering Mother Nature when it comes to skiing. 

Of course, for x-country, snowmobiling, etc, this just SUCKS. 

I wonder what PF has to say lol

[bwt3650]

I heard that Jay Peak's snowpack is largely intact.

The snow is there, but won’t be skiable until a few good snows. Naturals need about 6-8, glades a foot or so.


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[STILL N OF PIKE]

54 minutes ago, bwt3650 said:

The snow is there, but won’t be skiable until a few good snows. Naturals need about 6-8, glades a foot or so.


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So what is intact is largely boiler plate everywhere , that is good to hit groomers first thing in am and then wait till the next am 

[alex]

31 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

So what is intact is largely boiler plate everywhere , that is good to hit groomers first thing in am and then wait till the next am 

I was gonna out at 1 pm and the conditions were great, but crowds are low so that helps

[Layman]

Are helmets required PPE at resorts nowadays or just a smart decision to keep the semi-important grey matter in tact?

It's been many years since we've been snowboarding and are planning on taking the kids this year while seeing if taking a break for half our lives has had any impact on our abilities...

[mcglups]

9 minutes ago, Layman said:

Are helmets required PPE at resorts nowadays or just a smart decision to keep the semi-important grey matter in tact?

It's been many years since we've been snowboarding and are planning on taking the kids this year while seeing if taking a break for half our lives has had any impact on our abilities...

I have not seen (or heard of elsewhere) of helmets being mandatory. I was on the tram at Cannon about 12 years ago, looked around, and it was just me without a helmet, so I've worn one ever since (including a helmet when biking around town). Last season I caught a rail, couldn't control my speed and fell to the side (ski's stayed on) but my left hip bumped the earth with some force and my left side of the helmet has a tiny scratch on it from hitting the surface.

However, statistics from resorts on accidents would be way more definitive to aide in decision making. Of immediate awareness, most places have a frozen foundation, even more so this season right now.

[Layman]

6 minutes ago, mcglups said:

I have not seen (or heard of elsewhere) of helmets being mandatory. I was on the tram at Cannon about 12 years ago, looked around, and it was just me without a helmet, so I've worn one ever since (including a helmet when biking around town). Last season I caught a rail, couldn't control my speed and fell to the side (ski's stayed on) but my left hip bumped the earth with some force and my left side of the helmet has a tiny scratch on it from hitting the surface.

However, statistics from resorts on accidents would be way more definitive to aide in decision making. Of immediate awareness, most places have a frozen foundation, even more so this season right now.

My brother relayed a similar story to me from about the same timeframe at Sunday River.  He said he was essentially the only one there without a helmet.  Ironically, he fell quite hard, hit his head, likely suffered a minor concussion and has worn a helmet ever since.  

We'll likely have the whole family rent some current gear the first time out to see how it goes.  We've got 10-12 complete setups dating back about 20 years but I was amazed to find when I dug them out the other day how deteriorated the bindings were simply from sitting idle in a temperature controlled environment.  Some of the plastics were so brittle they cracked or disintegrated with a slight squeeze.  Not going to risk my aging and pained body with that 

[bwt3650]

So what is intact is largely boiler plate everywhere , that is good to hit groomers first thing in am and then wait till the next am 

Nothing natural is skiable. Too many rocks poking through, water bars, bare spots. If it was just an even, consistent melt I think some of them would have been bad, but open. The heavy rain washing stuff out is was really hurt. You won’t see anything but snowmaking trails at jay, and probably anywhere in vt until at least 6-8 fresh IMO. I guess the good part is there is snow on the trails, just not the entire trail. The other problem is that because terrain is so limited now, even the groomers are getting beat by 10am with holiday traffic. It just sucks after how good it was for the better part of 4 weeks. Need to get the 28th to changeover faster and overperform, or sit nearby so we can at least upslope our way back to respectability. The resorts with snowmaking fire power like killington, Stratton and Stowe are the winners right now.


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[mcglups]

23 minutes ago, bwt3650 said:

Nothing natural is skiable. Too many rocks poking through, water bars, bare spots. If it was just an even, consistent melt I think some of them would have been bad, but open. The heavy rain washing stuff out is was really hurt. You won’t see anything but snowmaking trails at jay, and probably anywhere in vt until at least 6-8 fresh IMO. I guess the good part is there is snow on the trails, just not the entire trail. The other problem is that because terrain is so limited now, even the groomers are getting beat by 10am with holiday traffic. It just sucks after how good it was for the better part of 4 weeks. Need to get the 28th to changeover faster and overperform, or sit nearby so we can at least upslope our way back to respectability. The resorts with snowmaking fire power like killington, Stratton and Stowe are the winners right now.


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Agreed. I have a 250 mile drive to my place up north (which I enjoy the travel) but to plan to just get at-best 6 runs each day that lessen in quality to the point of the final run being on the verge of dangerous, is a tough sell. A couple of weeks ago I was halfway down a run and looked around and saw high school kids tearing it up with fearless courage, middle-age folks like myself with wild ranges of skill and risk taking, and then people learning to ski (because there is just one run down) and just decided to hold off until conditions improve. Then, the next weekend the devastation hit!  --- I will probably venture back up just to check-in, but I agree wholeheartedly that we had a magnificent start and now we need a full reload.

[SJonesWX]

1 hour ago, Layman said:

Are helmets required PPE at resorts nowadays or just a smart decision to keep the semi-important grey matter in tact?

It's been many years since we've been snowboarding and are planning on taking the kids this year while seeing if taking a break for half our lives has had any impact on our abilities...

I skied all last season without a helmet. Of the ~20 times I went, I may have seen 10 people who were not wearing helmets. bought myself one which I willl wear from now on.

[Brewbeer]

I started using a helmet 4 years ago, when my oldest started skiing. 

When I started skiing in 1990, the only helmets you saw were on the ski racers.  Now, everyone is wearing them.

[eyewall]

16 hours ago, Brewbeer said:

I started using a helmet 4 years ago, when my oldest started skiing. 

When I started skiing in 1990, the only helmets you saw were on the ski racers.  Now, everyone is wearing them.

Yep this is definitely accurate. Helmets are also helpful in keeping warm.

[Angus]

I would never ski without a helmet. For both safety and comfort reasons. They are so much warmer than a hat and provide protection from not just a hard fall but the random branch. My son took a hard fall at Stratton maybe 15 years ago on a steep, icey slope that would have scrambled his brains if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. I will actually be wearing a new Mips technology helmet tomorrow when I hit the slopes in BC.