rickbolger
Aren't those just dried hops for their HiPA?
they are both in family Cannabaceae, but that image doesn't appear to be Humulus.
I thought you were a science major? ;)
ski_it
Aren't those just dried hops for their HiPA?
Maybe? I guess? Doesn't look anything like the hops I grow or any I've ever seen, but I'm no hop expert.
DrJeff
Saturday... Wet, hero snow, variable visibility, thanks to the 1st AM Express of the season and low crowd volume due to the weather
with all these lift horror stories, MLK rental in West Dover has me thinking the run up to Okemo might be worthwhile. If the weather is a complete bust I can walk to that new brewery :) :) :)
Yes everyone please go to Okemo!
Speaking of the brewery, new on their FBook page:
That must be what I think it is? I guess I could research this online but is that legal in VT?
And how legal is pot in VT, because I watched two f boys load the Tumbleweed each with a joint in their mouths. I gave them the benefit of the doubt until they lit up a couple chairs ahead of me.
That Snowhorn is pretty tasty! They had just tapped it on Saturday evening, and the guy who's family farm grew the hops and his girlfriend (who used to be one of my kids awesome snow camp instructors many years ago) were at the bar and "convinced" me to try it. Easily the "juiciest" selection that Snow Republic had on tap Saturday! A very solid New England Style juicy IPA!
ski_it
“ The Grand Summit Express is planned to stay on hold for today as our team works to resolve the issues that arose from a previous lightning strike. We will continue to provide updates on the status of the Grand Summit Express when available.”
I got to do some lift maintenance today. I was just about to load the bubble when a mechanic asked if I’d carry a medium size box up. “No problem if it will help fix the GS. (I just assumed it was for that) Who do I give it to?” “A mechanic will be waiting”
Now it was pretty light so I’m thinking drive control card. At the top I told the guy my rate and he said he was out of cash. What was in the box you ask? Like 8 big light bulbs and a giant Allen key. They were going to use the bulbs to put a load on some circuit to test it. Also He was on top when the lightening struck. Scared the heck out of him. Hey I was the bottom... did the same to me.
The lift didn’t spin today. :(
ski_it
I saw the GS spin briefly last Sunday afternoon. And:
"Thirteen lifts are scheduled to spin from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow 1/17. This includes, drum roll please, The Grand Summit Express, which will be making its much anticipated return."
DrJeff
I saw the GS spin briefly last Sunday afternoon. And:
"Thirteen lifts are scheduled to spin from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow 1/17. This includes, drum roll please, The Grand Summit Express, which will be making its much anticipated return."
Not sure that I'd want to ride the GSE today with the air temps and wind speeds this morning!!
Now tomorrow, when the winds aren't supposed to be nearly as strong as they are today, that's a different story!!
DrJeff
And the GSE IS spinning on the webcam right now! Not seeing anyone riding it, which may have more to do with the current Snowstake cam showing about -8, and there being enough wind in the area to put Canyon on windhold currently... Gotta think the Bluebird is a much more rational choice than the GSE right now!! :)
rickbolger
bluebird on early wind hold, looks like the orange thing at Okemo is also on wind hold
jgreco
We took one for the team and hopped on Grand Summit, figuring we could sneak an extra run in with Bluebird going through it's normal stop and go routine.
They came up with a brilliant solution to the broken conveyor load - they buried it in snow.
GS stopped twice for more than 5 minutes each on my one ride. It sucked. I couldn't see any other idiots up or down the lift line. And on the second stop I could see the top, so I decided to ski Exhibition (which looked good) to see who I could blame for stopping the lift. No one else was behind us. So the lifties were either playing a dangerously cruel joke or there's something still wrong with GS.
The first time it stopped we were at a low point about 10-12 ft and we were there long enough where we were entertaining jumping. I've never been to a ski area with so many lift issues as I've seen at Mount Snow just this year.
rickbolger
ugh. thanks for the report, hopefully they'll have enough options running this weekend with Sundance and Ego Alley chair
ski_it
Chair ran okay today except for one trip when it stopped for 5 minutes
jgreco
Got 10 excellent early runs expecting the crowd. Left at 10:30. The line of stopped traffic on 100 went to tannery Rd, tannery Rd was bumper to bumper and as far as we could see down handle Rd from the Tanner Rd jct was bumper to bumper.
We were laughing in shock driving out of there. I asked my GF "who arrives now, waits in maybe an hour of traffic, to then wait 20 minutes to buy a lift ticket for $120, then stand in a 30 minute lift line, ski 4 crowded runs and decides to go skiing ever again?"
DrJeff
Multiple laps this morning of Mineshaft to Inferno was worthy...
If today wasn't one of Mount Snow's top 5 (or 3) busiest days ever, I don't know what is... My condo Complexes Moover (the local bus service) put it, he hasn't seen a day thus busy car wise since the X-games were here!
jaytrem
Yet North Face was empty all afternoon. I guess people don't appreciate soft bumps with a bit of ice between them.
Jeff, if you're still using those Amazon pass holders be careful, they don't seem to hold up in cold weather. Kid lost a pass today when the bottom seperated. I assume from the cold yesterday.
ski_it
6” maybe. People acted like they never seen snow before. I managed to get a couple untracked long portions of runs early. The GS had a problem right from the get go. Might have sent a few chairs up then they let it idle. Didn’t start loading until 8:20. They didn’t load Ego until 10 even though there were huge queues at all the detachables. Then they closed it at 2. The singles line at 11 am Nitro was back to Long Island. The BB was packed until 3:55. They opened late morning, several natural snow trails but they got boney, what with all the traffic.
From on high I saw cars parked where I’ve never seen them parked before, like along the entire length of Snow Lake Rd. Someone said all the lots were full and they were telling people to park somewhere down 100.
ski_it
DrJeff
Cold, breezy and Bluebird this morning. Just did the opening bell to 9:45 shift with my wife and kids before the cold, and a few things to attend to at home in CT this afternoon for me and the kids took precedence.
Great machine groomed soft pack, with the occasional bit of untouched blown in snow from the inch or 2 that fell since last chair on Sunday (thank you Ego Alley for those tasty untracked turns about 8:25 this morning!)
Bluebird, which short of 1 ride up Beartrap after a Sunbrook loop was all we rode today. Never more than 5 minutes. Might be nice if the ticket scanners for the main queue lanes could pick up the pace a bit so the guy doing the final pairing before loading doesn't have to keep calling out 1 to 2 chairs of singles in between every "front row" call of the main queue lanes.
Some brave souls were riding the GSE this morning, which appeared to be running fine. Those getting off the GSE after those 7.5 minutes in the single degree temps and decent wind quartering at their faces off their right, didn't look nearly as "happy" as those who waited for the Bluebird and enjoyed the wind blocking comfort of the bubble!!
Very mellow this morning compared to the last 2 days.
Our Moover driver told us today that on Sunday the 2 Moovers that serve our condo complex from 7AM until 5PM at 15 minute intervals carried just under 1300 total passengers. Previous record was just over 1100 for 1 day set about 5yrs ago over Christmas break during a similar set up... Holiday time where most weren't working the next day, overnight snowstorm, and pent up demand. For reference sake there's just over 200 condo units in my complex, and to my eye at least a solid 1/4 of the units didn't have cars parked infront of them this weekend.
Let's hope it's back to the "normal" craziness next weekend!! ;)
yardsale
Not crowded today. I skipped Sat & Sunday and was rewarded today. I was solo. Single line at BB probably maxed out at 10:30am at 10 min or so. With that, I decided to ski on to Grand Summit at that point and was pleasantly surprised - while it was cold and windy, I was warmer without standing in line for those minutes(feet). Skied 2 shifts - 8:15 to 11:30 then 1-3:30. Agree with the Dr on Ego Alley - I think I prob skied it within minutes of him. South Bowl was also excellent. Au natural Shootout was groomed? and was interesting and fun. Skied a couple of Northface runs in the afternoon. Chute was the better of them. Plummet lighting too flat in the afternoon. No lift issues to speak of.
Shoot out
DrJeff
Just heard a good one, from a friend, who has plenty of very trustworthy sources at Mount Snow, about the crowds on Sunday... Apparently they sold out of RENTAL EQUIPMENT on Sunday!! Based on the line I saw out of that building mid morning on Sunday, that wouldn't surprise me at all!!
joshua_segal
Sunday it seems everyone wanted to ski. Adding Mount Snow to the list of areas that sold-out on Sunday. The list to date includes Wachusett, Crotched, Gunstock, Pat's and Sunapee. Others?
