Mt Snow Trip Reports 2018-9

ski_it

Alone on a Saturday

DrJeff

Did the 8 to 9:30 shift on Saturday.. That was enough for me. Temp was 30 at my condo when I headed to the mountain at 7:30 (it was 60 when I arrived about 6PM on Friday evening...) - just some almost impossible timing for mountain ops to do much, especially since temps slowly dropped during the day.

Still plenty of snow pack on most everything, just gotta wait for some temps to get non groomed stuff back in play as the 10 day forecast doesn't currently show much promise for any decent snow events to help soften stuff up....

jaytrem

Guess PA was a good choice this weekend. Nice soft bumps yesterday at Liberty and Roundtop. Groomers are good today at Jack Frost.

yardsale

Carinthia was the better area of the Mt both Sat & Sun. On Sat I skied 8-9:30 then went in for a long coffee break. It was sunny when I went in so I thought it might soften - wrong - went back out at 10:45 and stayed almost exclusively at Carinthia. Fair to Fair+ over there. Quit at 12:30. Sunday - Snowdance deep groom quite good. Everything else extra firm. Carinthia again was better. Gulch was really pretty nice considering. Piles of sugar snow on Gulch. When I went back out at 10:45 on Sat I switched to the race skis and stayed with them today as well. Was going pretty fast down mine shaft today - just a tad out of my comfort zone. I skied Wed-Thurs, then Sat-Sun out of the last 5 days. I should have traded Sat out for Friday, and skied the warmth because the crowds for the $17 tik’s really didn’t materialize.

ski_it

Sunday was a little better. Much less crowded too. More ropes up. Agree with the Carinthia assessment as I skied all over. Chute & Plummet were okay, Cloud 9 pretty good except Sunbrook was off. We took a couple down Bear Traps white ribbon of groomed. Sundance lodge is most likely closed for the season and most of the internationals are headed home. Rode last chair with a couple guys who gave their ski day a 10. I was thinking more of a 5 but that just goes to show you.

bmwskier

I’ve been on crowded areas before and if everyone follows the rules, then it’s not too bad. Haven’t been to Mt Snow though I would like to go. Working this year has curtailed my adventurism.

Another perspective on those beginners— we need them. The industry is getting more and more expensive and I think I heard that one out of ten continue with the sport past the first few times so every skier/rider counts. If areas like Mt Snow, Killington, Loon and Holiday Valley can get beginners interested and excited enough in the sport then great! They’re the seed corn to eventually move beyond those areas and support other places. I love empty trails as much as another person but I also see that empty chairs means less $$ to keep the area operating.

In other news– one of our patrollers got called down to a taxi ride on Sunday. He found a 65 year old struggling— but laughing and having the time of his life. He just started this season. Didn’t need a ride but just some help down the steeper sections. That’s what makes this fun.

ski_it

March 23, 2019 - Sat. 83 of 86 trails if you could get to them. 11 of 20 lifts some of the time. 11” in 7 days, 20-28 degrees, windy as hell. The day started with wind holds , North Face, Sunbrook closed. Closed Carinthia for a while, no detachables at all until 10-11. Humongous line at Ego and then bigger lines at the Bluebird when that finally opened. Heard Heavy Metal was back open so headed there. The line was all the way to the half pipe, no exaggeration. They opened Nitro at noon and closed Heavy Metal. Opened Canyon, one North Face chair, and Beartrap around 1pm & closed Ego. Snow was great but lift lines were horrendous most of the day. Don’t blame it all on the wind, Looks like the cost cutting season has started for lift ops.

ski_it

1:30 lift line at NF

ciscokid

Nice pic ski_it

Was looking for you on the Weather channel report from Mt Snow this morning

yardsale

Ditto ski_it's report

Jaws

Outpost lift line

Olympic

Choke

ski_it

ciscokid;c-34845 wroteNice pic ski_it

Was looking for you on the Weather channel report from Mt Snow this morning

I did see 3 guys with yellow vests that said Film Crew several times. I figured it was just a scam to cut the lines

BarringtonLevy

ski_it;c-34844 wrote1:30 lift line at NF

This view from the Northface has always made me think... Is this the only view from a ski area in New England where you can not see a single home or road?

lotsoskiing

BarringtonLevy;c-34879 wrote
ski_it;c-34844 wrote1:30 lift line at NF
This view from the Northface has always made me think... Is this the only view from a ski area in New England where you can not see a single home or road?

I ask: "Why not run the second lift?"

DrJeff

BarringtonLevy wrote: »

ski_it wrote: »

1:30 lift line at NF

</blockquote> This view from the Northface has always made me think… Is this the only view from a ski area in New England where you can not see a single home or road?

</blockquote> I ask: "Why not run the second lift?"</blockquote>

Short version this time of the year…. The seasonal employees have gone back home to South America, and the mountain doesn’t have the staff numbers to run more lifts, and a few other amenities this time of the season…..

Also on Saturday at least, the winds at the Summit were up, and the other lift, Challenger, is more exposed to the winds as you near the top terminal than the one lift that ran, Outpost

ski_it

BarringtonLevy;c-34879 wroteThis view from the Northface has always made me think... Is this the only view from a ski area in New England where you can not see a single home or road?

Good question

ski_it

March 24, 2019 - Sun. Lines were a little more manageable than Sat. but still busy until late in the day. The snow conditions were pretty good even though some of the powder had set up some. Late in the day it warmed and trails in the sun got just a little soft, especially ones like Bear Trap that have full exposure. It was pond skim & cardboard duct tape race day as well as day of Reggaefest. Overheard several other people say the conditions were the best of the season.
You might have to rotate your monitor or phone to view.

ski_it

March 25, 2019 - Mon. Things firmed up a bit more but everything was easily edgable in the morning except the ungroomed that had been in the sun Sunday. Fools Gold almost shook my teeth out. I skied everything open on North Face except Jaws (Ripcord was closed Sun & Mon. & maybe Sat. IDK) and they were all fine due to their northerly exposure. The denser woods & upper mountain areas in the shade Sun. stayed more powdery. It was colder than I hoped for because I wanted other trails to soften but with the ample sunshine I just wore glove liner & no neck warmer all day. Real late close to closing it did warm up down low which made stuff like Pat's pitch more fun.
The place was empty and I took a few single Bubbles. I could have layed down but I may have fallen asleep....
Did meet a guy who says he was on day 114, 3.5 million vertical & 3500 miles traveled....

Closed means closed!

With better resolution you might spy the Franconia range & the whites.

Chuckstah

Looks good ski_it! I'm hoping to get there tomorrow, nice late arrival around 11, figuring all but NF should be a bit soft by then. Have not been since January.

newpylong

DrJeff what is your guesstimate on the last week of midweek ops?

DrJeff

newpylong;c-34917 wroteDrJeff what is your guesstimate on the last week of midweek ops?

I saw a post by an admin saying that for sure, daily, through Sunday April 7th. Beyond that my guess is it will be the age old combo of "how's the weather looking during the week?" and what have the crowds been like lately combo?

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