alex Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 1/28/2024 at 5:37 PM, bwt3650 said: Gfs has been hammering days of upslope starting late week into next weekend for several runs now. Nice signal and position. . Hehe just reading this now. This shows exactly why I'm so cynical when it comes to the accuracy of any forecast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 The clipper system that came through the area at the end of the week had been shown in the modeling for quite a while. Some of the earlier runs even suggested the potential for some additional upslope snow on the back side of the system, but that component faded in the prognostications as the week wore on, and the system was essentially a clipper passing north of the area. Yesterday morning’s early snow reports of 2 to 3 inches for the Northern Greens resorts were somewhat encouraging, and that was bolstered by PF’s comments from Stowe indicating that the snow wasn’t just fluff – it had some substance to it. After a consistent run of storm cycles throughout January, we’re in a relatively slow period of snowfall right now. We haven’t had a substantial storm in several days, and it looks like it will be at least a few more until our next one, so this is likely our best immediate window of fresh snow. With that in mind, it seemed like a good day to get our for some turns, so I headed up to Bolton Valley for some touring on the backcountry network. Starting from the Village at around 2,000’, I skinned up past Bryant Cabin to roughly 2,800’ on Heavenly Highway. The new snow depths were very much as advertised, with 2 to 3 inches of powder through that entire elevation range. There really wasn’t much increase in the snowfall totals at those elevations where I was touring, but the totals definitely started to tail off below 2,000’. I can’t say exactly how much fell at 1,500’, but it was noticeably less, and once you got below 1,000’ there was no new snow. At some point in the past several days there’s also been some riming in the mountains; you can see the rime on the trees at various elevations throughout the resort. With the available snow I stuck to low-angle glades for as much of my descent as possible, and as noted, the new powder had some substance to it so the turns would up being quite decent. On mid-fats I was probably getting 25-50% bottomless turns on terrain with the appropriate pitch. And even when touching down, the turns were still feeling very good because the subsurface has some pliability – it’s certainly dense, but nothing like the sheet of ice that would result from a big rainstorm. The base snow is soft enough that you can punch down into the snowpack if you’re not on a floatation device like skis or snowshoes, and I saw numerous signs of this happening where snowboarders or hikers were traversing areas in boots. For the last part of my tour on the backcountry network I worked my way along Gardiner’s Lane and made good use of the low-angle terrain there. In many areas I was able to explore lines that you often can’t hit because the powder is too deep to sustain good momentum, but they were great today, so I experienced a lot of new sections of the network that I often breeze past. I connected onto the alpine trails at Lower Turnpike for the last part of my tour, and let’s just say, if you didn’t get out for lift-served turns around here today, you’re really not missing anything. Lower Turnpike typically maintains some of the highest quality snow on the alpine trails because of relatively low skier traffic, modest pitch, and good protection from the wind. Even there, the surface was firm unless I was able to get into the untracked powder off to the sides, and if it’s firm on Lower Turnpike you know it’s going to be very rough elsewhere. I don’t actually have to imagine what the conditions were like on the main trails though, because some friends sent us video of their son snowboarding today, and the sound of his board on the snow was excruciating. That’s probably going to be a common situation until the next substantial storm comes into the area or it gets very warm, so we’ll be looking for Mother Nature to get another good winter storm system through here as soon as possible. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 2/1/2024 at 9:09 PM, powderfreak said: We just went +8.1F locally at MVL in January… Saint Johnsbury (1V4) with a period of record to 1800s was also +8.1F. It turned into a +6 to +8 above normal January here. Thats pretty high-end to have temps of 30.2/17.4 for a mean up here. On 2/2/2024 at 9:15 PM, powderfreak said: Definitely craving some sunshine at this point. Starting to go a bit crazy, ha. 2 hours ago, powderfreak said: Man, to see the sun again. What a treat. Some awesome alpenglow this morning too as the sun first came up. That does tell you how potent the winter climate is up here when temperatures can run greater than +8 F and the average high is still below freezing. January is the perfect month to do that, and it’s a great way to run the month – we didn’t have to sit through any of those arctic weeks where you’re constantly dealing with all those cold weather issues like the hassles with vehicles, frigid lift rides, etc. And, without that artic air constantly being driven right into our back yard, we didn’t have the problem of the moisture and storm track being pushed elsewhere. Over the years, one of the reasons I’ve seen our January snowfall take a hit in some seasons is because we deal with those artic weeks where you just can’t get new snow. The snowfall averages are the averages for a reason of course, so that’s baked into our climate, and it’s really just a “perceived” loss in snowfall because the parade of storms stops relative to what it was. In any event, this was one of those Januarys where we didn’t have to take that arctic snowfall hit. The stats at our site definitely tell the tale. While January snowfall was actually just a bit above average and not especially notable, it was the most January snow we’ve seen in five seasons. And while the snowfall wasn’t overly noteworthy, the month did take its place among the records in a couple of different categories. Speaking to your comments about the lack of sun, we only had two days in the entire month without snow here at our site. That’s 29 out of 31 days with snow, and it tied January 2021 for the highest number of days with snow for any month in my records. This January actually has its real claim to fame in another category though – number of storms. The month had a total of 19 distinct storms/events, which simply blew away the previous record holders of December 2014 and December 2008, which both had 16 storms. So if it felt like it was snowy and we rarely got to see the sun out here in the Northern Greens, your perception was indeed correct. I don’t have the exact numbers, but Bolton Valley probably reported around 80 inches of snow from the month based on the 100 inches they had through the end of December? That’s not quite the typical doubling I often see for snowfall relative to what we record here in the valley, but it’s reasonably close. Similar to here in the valley, it was definitely a solid snowfall month for the resort. I think if most skiers had their choice though, what we experienced was the way to run January: moderate midwinter temperatures that keep things below freezing, with solid snowfall plus lots of refreshers to top off the conditions and keep the powder days coming. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STILL N OF PIKE Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Saw a good amount of snowmobiles From N Conway to Wakefield (mainly crossing 16) on drive back south today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 What a day. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Like Scott just said, what a day!! After a week of low clouds and below freezing temperatures that mountains are just white against the blue sky. I took the drone up to Franconia Notch. Incredibly beautiful. Much more so that a tropical sunset. I want such a day as this on April 8th! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Full drone video 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borderwx Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 February beach day! What a special time to be able to play in the mountains . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMontpelierWhiteout Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 2 hours ago, powderfreak said: What a day. It was just spectacular scenery on the mountain today, and although certainly not the best snow conditions, the morning was pretty good, especially on Perry and Gondolier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 1 hour ago, EMontpelierWhiteout said: It was just spectacular scenery on the mountain today, and although certainly not the best snow conditions, the morning was pretty good, especially on Perry and Gondolier. Perry Merrill has been the trail of the season since it opened. Just pristine every day. Veteran groomer on that most mornings with like decades of experience. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMontpelierWhiteout Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 34 minutes ago, powderfreak said: Perry Merrill has been the trail of the season since it opened. Just pristine every day. Veteran groomer on that most mornings with like decades of experience. Yes, I’ve noticed a huge grooming difference Gondala runs versus blues off Forerunner this year. Interesting to hear groomers have their set trails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Just now, EMontpelierWhiteout said: Yes, I’ve noticed a huge grooming difference Gondala runs versus blues off Forerunner this year. Interesting to hear groomers have their set trails. It depends on the shifts. Since Perry Merrill is the evening uphill route for skinning, that pod gets done after midnight every day. FourRunner blue terrain is largely before midnight. Some of that isn’t operator either, but stuff groomed earlier in the night is firmer as a rule because it has time to cool and set. Gondola stuff is usually good because it’s been groomed under 5 hours to open and sometimes just an hour before opening. That stuff is freshly tilled with more air in it as it hasn’t had time to set. So it skis softer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMontpelierWhiteout Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 5 minutes ago, powderfreak said: It depends on the shifts. Since Perry Merrill is the evening uphill route for skinning, that pod gets done after midnight every day. FourRunner blue terrain is largely before midnight. Some of that isn’t operator either, but stuff groomed earlier in the night is firmer as a rule because it has time to cool and set. Gondola stuff is usually good because it’s been groomed under 5 hours to open and sometimes just an hour before opening. That stuff is freshly tilled with more air in it as it hasn’t had time to set. So it skis softer. Thanks for the info on this. Interesting and good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwt3650 Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 It depends on the shifts. Since Perry Merrill is the evening uphill route for skinning, that pod gets done after midnight every day. FourRunner blue terrain is largely before midnight. Some of that isn’t operator either, but stuff groomed earlier in the night is firmer as a rule because it has time to cool and set. Gondola stuff is usually good because it’s been groomed under 5 hours to open and sometimes just an hour before opening. That stuff is freshly tilled with more air in it as it hasn’t had time to set. So it skis softer.As a ski/snow nerd, this is awesome info.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavisStraight Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 5 hours ago, wxeyeNH said: Like Scott just said, what a day!! After a week of low clouds and below freezing temperatures that mountains are just white against the blue sky. I took the drone up to Franconia Notch. Incredibly beautiful. Much more so that a tropical sunset. I want such a day as this on April 8th! We went snowmobiling through the Notch yesterday, looked nice but wasn't a lot of snow, went to the top of Cannon it was full on winter on top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, bwt3650 said: As a ski/snow nerd, this is awesome info. The time of groom on any trail at any mountain does matter depending on the conditions and if you are there early. First skiers down something groomed at 5-8pm, can notice a difference in the surface verses a trail groomed at 4-7am. Like a field that was just plowed vs one that has settled out. The firm surface holds up better into the day, but the recent one is noticeably more enjoyable at first crack. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 On 2/1/2024 at 8:58 PM, powderfreak said: I’m definitely jonesing for a period of trackable winter weather. Today was gorgeous, but we’re definitely in a dry spell with respect to winter weather events. Relative to the usual frequency of winter storm in the Northern Greens at this time of year, the period we’re in right now feels like being in the middle of a desert. The little clipper system that came through at the end of the week would typically be just a blip in the storm parade, but in this case it was a much appreciated mini oasis for this stretch of winter. I wasn’t sure if I was going to ski at all this weekend, let alone get out for two sessions, but the way the new snow set up the low angle terrain for powder turns wound up creating some respectable conditions. And then of course there was today’s perfect midwinter weather with clear blue skies and temperatures pushing into the upper 20s F – that really sealed the deal to get out for another ski tour. On yesterday’s tour I hit a good collection of low angle terrain and explored some new spots that don’t typically lend themselves to great turns in deeper powder. Whereas yesterday I’d topped out around 2,800’ on Heavenly Highway, today I pushed out a bit father out toward Stowe View and topped out around 3,200’. Even up at that altitude, I wasn’t detecting any notable increases in new snow depths, so the general 2 to 3 inches that I’d encountered yesterday was still the rule. My target terrain for today was some of the lower angle slopes in the Moose Glen/White Rabbit area. I hadn’t been up there in a while, and it turns out there was a lot of terrain that was steeper than I’d remembered, especially in the initial parts of the descent dropping down from Stowe View and Moose Glen. Although that terrain was a bit steep for today’s conditions, the visit did serve as a reminder to get out there when the powder is a bit deeper, because the terrain is quite expansive. I eventually got into more of the lower angle terrain that I’d remembered, and that offered some nice powder turns with similar consistency to what I’d experienced yesterday. Overall I’d say yesterday’s tour had a slightly higher yield in terms of catching smooth, bottomless turns on the right terrain, but today being Sunday, it did mean another full day of visitors getting out there in the snow. Even on the backcountry network, traffic eventually tracks up the snow, and with these conditions, you really needed untracked snow for the best turns. Just one pass through the snow by another skier makes a big difference with these lighter accumulations. One neat thing I did see today while heading up Birch Loop was a skier returning from out on the Catamount Trail heading toward Bryant Cabin. There’s a bit of rolling terrain there that isn’t optimal for having skins either on or off, and what he did was to have a skin on one ski but not the other. When he was skiing, he was one-footing it on the ski with no skin for maximum glide, and then he could use the other ski with the skin on it for better grip going uphill. I thought that was a pretty slick compromise for that sort of rolling terrain. Being on Telemark gear, I typically just go without skins on rolling terrain since herring boning on the uphill sections is simpler with the light gear, but that guy’s technique could be a nice way to go on a heavier setup like alpine touring gear. The snowpack out there is midwinter deep and ready for prime time as soon as we get another decent storm - let’s hope something pops up before mid-month so we don’t have to spend another ten days in this veritable snowfall desert. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRVexpat Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Got out into the Bolton BC on Saturday for my first tour ever in that area. Lots of terrain to be had! We skinned up to Stowe View and then dropped into the Cotton Brook area via Paradise Descent. More of a cut trail than a glade run for the first several hundred vertical feet before it opened up more as the terrain first steepened, then mellowed out. The real fun was had on the south facing aspect of the ridge that separates the Cotton Brook basin from Nebraska Valley. Lots of great ski terrain there that wasn't too steep and the 2-3" that J Spin mentioned skied well on top of a light crust. We were tempted to drop the other side of the ridge into Nebraska Valley for a nice long descent but were running out of time. After skiing the southern aspect back down to the Cotton Brook basin we skinned up to the Catamount trail and made our way back to the Bolton base area via some glades off of Gardiner's Lane. All in all a great day! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 3 hours ago, MRVexpat said: Got out into the Bolton BC on Saturday for my first tour ever in that area. Lots of terrain to be had! We skinned up to Stowe View and then dropped into the Cotton Brook area via Paradise Descent. More of a cut trail than a glade run for the first several hundred vertical feet before it opened up more as the terrain first steepened, then mellowed out. The real fun was had on the south facing aspect of the ridge that separates the Cotton Brook basin from Nebraska Valley. Lots of great ski terrain there that wasn't too steep and the 2-3" that J Spin mentioned skied well on top of a light crust. We were tempted to drop the other side of the ridge into Nebraska Valley for a nice long descent but were running out of time. After skiing the southern aspect back down to the Cotton Brook basin we skinned up to the Catamount trail and made our way back to the Bolton base area via some glades off of Gardiner's Lane. All in all a great day! That’s great to hear you got out – I wasn’t sure if you would change plans based on the size of the most recent storm. Thankfully that clipper was helpful in at least taking the edge off a bit with respect to the snow surfaces, and as you noted, the base isn’t bulletproof hard or anything. As you probably observed as well, turns in untracked snow on those lower angle pitches were actually fairly pleasant. It sounds like you hit a lot of great areas in your tour, so I hope you get a chance to try them out with a more substantial dump at some point. That first image of yours looks like it’s from Stowe View based on that caked-up tree on the right – it seems to be the same one I had in my image from that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwt3650 Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 Fantastic mid-winter blue bird day. Crisp, little wind and bright blue skies. Groomers are where it’s at right now. Naturals and glades are skiable, but def a “fun challenge”. Lots of base so they might be decent toward the weekend when it softens up, but we need a refresh. Great day to be out.. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 5 hours ago, bwt3650 said: Fantastic mid-winter blue bird day. Crisp, little wind and bright blue skies. Groomers are where it’s at right now. Naturals and glades are skiable, but def a “fun challenge”. Lots of base so they might be decent toward the weekend when it softens up, but we need a refresh. Great day to be out. You and other NVT skiers/riders know what “fun challenge” means… not ideal and slick/firm surfaces but still skiable and open. These phrases are like codes for condition types. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMontpelierWhiteout Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I find the Stowe snow report to be pretty accurate to conditions. No real bs making it sound better than it is like some other resorts. Yes, a “fun challenge” has been the pretty common “not so great but you are not going to die” refrain for some of these post-marginal events or dry periods. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 2/6/2024 at 1:07 AM, EMontpelierWhiteout said: I find the Stowe snow report to be pretty accurate to conditions. No real bs making it sound better than it is like some other resorts. Yes, a “fun challenge” has been the pretty common “not so great but you are not going to die” refrain for some of these post-marginal events or dry periods. A “fun challenge” is a code phrase we are stuck in because its condition type is slick, not overly enjoyable, but open and available. It’s for those skiers/riders who are looking for a fun challenge, not an easy soft run. Hopefully the turns soften if temps are going to be mild at elevation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwt3650 Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 I find the Stowe snow report to be pretty accurate to conditions. No real bs making it sound better than it is like some other resorts. Yes, a “fun challenge” has been the pretty common “not so great but you are not going to die” refrain for some of these post-marginal events or dry periods. Stowe and Jay are the best reports out there. They both give actual details on the conditions rather than “it’s going to be a great day” and they update several times a day. I think the mountain ops details are important too. If you know the mountains, you can figure out what pods will open next and how the trails will ski based on the snowmaking. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreaves Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 2/6/2024 at 1:07 AM, EMontpelierWhiteout said: I find the Stowe snow report to be pretty accurate to conditions. No real bs making it sound better than it is like some other resorts. Yes, a “fun challenge” has been the pretty common “not so great but you are not going to die” refrain for some of these post-marginal events or dry periods. 10 minutes ago, bwt3650 said: Stowe and Jay are the best reports out there. They both give actual details on the conditions rather than “it’s going to be a great day” and they update several times a day. I think the mountain ops details are important too. If you know the mountains, you can figure out what pods will open next and how the trails will ski based on the snowmaking. . I can't speak for Jay but the Stowe report can almost entirely be attributed to @powderfreak. His dedication to having an accurate accounting is key. He pretty much documented the development of his system on this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwt3650 Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 I can't speak for Jay but the Stowe report can almost entirely be attributed to [mention=352]powderfreak[/mention]. His dedication to having an accurate accounting is key. He pretty much documented the development of his system on this board.Yes, he does an outstanding job. His measurements and knowledge of the micro climate of that mountain is second to none. Jay’s snow reporting is not as accurate as his. The frequent updates and mountain ops details are just as good though. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 10 hours ago, bwt3650 said: Yes, he does an outstanding job. His measurements and knowledge of the micro climate of that mountain is second to none. Jay’s snow reporting is not as accurate as his. The frequent updates and mountain ops details are just as good though. Thanks guys, I just happen to find myself in a position to be able to inform the core skier/rider group with information. Solid understanding of the weather, understanding that “snowfall” is what it is at consistent plots, and knowledge of operations (with the trust we will communicate properly) is what drives a snow report. It’s the written storytelling of a day on the mountain… the morning outlook… end of the day reflection. Jay does it very well, with Stowe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunafish Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 No comparison to the other pics ITT, but the late afternoon sun was glorious on Pleasant Mountain, ME yesterday afternoon. Kezar pond with MWN beyond. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Today was forecast the be the warmest day of this current stretch, and while there was a chance for showers, it was sunny most of the morning. We had an appointment in the afternoon, but with sunshine and valley temperatures expected to get into the 50s F, it seems like too nice a day to pass up the chance to get in some turns. We headed up to Bolton’s Timberline area, since the relatively low elevation and exposure there make it the best bet for the snow to start softening up. I think even snow on the main mountain would have been fine though – the snow was already nice and soft all the way up to the Timberline Summit at 2,500’ when we arrived in the midmorning period. With the soft snow and sunshine, today on the slopes had more of a March feel than a typical February feel. I don’t think the snow has seen too much freeze-thaw cycling over the past couple of days, but in general it was skiing quite well. I felt that my skis were sticking just a touch at the start of my first run, but that seemed to disappear quickly, so it was likely just an issue of working off some old wax or maybe some residual skin glue that had been left over from last weekend’s ski tours. We found the best turns to be where others were churning up the snow and getting down a bit into the cooler layers, but in general you could go anywhere. In terms of coverage, even the natural snow trails down at Timberline elevations are doing well, with a few bare spots here and there that were inconsequential in general. They’ll need some additional winter storms though for those lower elevation trails to maintain robust coverage into March and April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#NoPoles Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Lots of melting out there today, temps ranged from the mid to upper 50s. I live on a dirt road and between today and the last few days, it thawed and my poor corolla gets sucked into all the tire ruts created by the overly large pick up trucks everyone seems to drive up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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