tedede
Quietman;c-45779 wroteCould they be keeping Milky Way offline on purpose to encourage more use of the West double to access Velocity & Super Nova?
I doubt it. My memory is a bit foggy here, but I think the middle loop serves Meteor and Plutos. If you want snow making on Milky Way, you shunt off Plutos for that. Right now Pluto's is the priority over Milky Way.
joshua_segal
tedede;c-45780 wroteQuietman;c-45779 wroteCould they be keeping Milky Way offline on purpose to encourage more use of the West double to access Velocity & Super Nova?
I doubt it. My memory is a bit foggy here, but I think the middle loop serves Meteor and Plutos. If you want snow making on Milky Way, you shunt off Plutos for that. Right now Pluto's is the priority over Milky Way.
I agree with Ted. Among other things, without Milky Way, it is difficult to patrol the westside safely.
xwhaler
Thanks...makes sense. Patrol at CM is doing a very fine job keeping things organized and safe from a rope and signage standpoint. Unfortunate we dont have ARL this yr and the Onset Pub for post race beers and conversation.
NELSBEER
Trails being added for the weekend are focused on more top to bottom capacity to spread skiers out.
Pluto's Plunge (upper & lower), Jupiter's Storm, Big Dipper & NCC_1701 (mini-park) should be the major additions to the trail count for the weekend. All good solid alternatives to last weekend's crowded mid-mountain choices Meteor (race trail) and Galaxy (split between park & general public last week).
Open trails were refreshed to insure full width coverage. Snowmakers should be about finished recovering from the rain damage and able to work on connecter and favorite smaller trails soon.
xwhaler
Just an oversight on today's snow report not listing Milky Way? One couldn't access UFO/Equinox w/o it
Week outlook: A park build will happen in NCC on Tuesday for opening Wednesday. Snowmaking will continue as temps permit with a goal of adding Retro, Blast Off, Eclipse, UFO, Equinox and Magnitude for the weekend.
NELSBEER
There are actually six carriage guns located on Milky Way as of Monday, another gun on blast off, and one near the triple chairlift Summit. So priorities may have been shifted.
Blast off the chute below the Rocket unload is a perennial favorite. The triple Park chairlift is being prepped for use and would add a little more uphill capacity.
Magnitude, UFO and Equinox are partially covered by tower guns. The top snowmaking pond is full so with the right temps we could have a lot more capacity by nex6 week.
Now, if we could just get a few 6- 12 inch snowfalls we would be in business...
NELSBEER
Things are evolving in a positive direction at Crotched.
The Park triple chairlift ( just outside the base Lodge) is ready to run for the weekend providing about 10% more lift capacity & eliminating the need to climb to get to the cafeteria entrance and to cross to the west side of the mountain.
Snowmaking has been running continuously on UFO, Milky Way and the trails surrounding the Park lift for several days. Evenings they have been top coating the existing open terrain after closing.
Other small trails have been receiving overnight snow making and may make it for the weekend. Reentry has been open all week.
Crowds have been light, skiing has been great. Light winds allowed snowmakers to blow cover higher for longer hang times and more powdery snow ❄️.
Spruce
First visit to Crotched today with my 17 year old son. I have no point of reference... it seemed busy but not overwhelmingly so. Conditions were pretty good on a well prepared, firm (not icy) surface. I’d like to get back on a weekday after some natural snowfall.
joshua_segal
Spruce;c-46125 wroteFirst visit to Crotched today with my 17 year old son. I have no point of reference... it seemed busy but not overwhelmingly so. Conditions were pretty good on a well prepared, firm (not icy) surface. I’d like to get back on a weekday after some natural snowfall.
FYI Spruce: I have never experienced liftlines as long as they were today at CM. I measured 13 minutes on 1-occasion on the Rocket today. Glad you enjoyed it and say hello if you come back. You'll usually find one or more Snow Journal people at the Patrol top shack.
Spruce
Interesting. Thanks for the feedback. 10 to 13 mins for us as well on a couple of occasions but it was pretty low key and I didn’t feel uncomfortable. The folks were being respectful and responsible as far as I can tell. Kudos to the staff for doing a great job. Ill let you know when I’m heading up again. Had a great time with my boy. Nothing better
shpride
Wow 10-13 minutes on the rocket! I have never waited more than a few minutes all the times I’ve been there. I guess the word is out amour Crotched.
tedede
shpride;c-46128 wroteWow 10-13 minutes on the rocket! I have never waited more than a few minutes all the times I’ve been there. I guess the word is out amour Crotched.
Most chairs are going up at 50% capacity. Skier volume is also up.
joshua_segal
Jan. 11, 2020 - Mon.
Except for Comet Drop and Upper Shooting star, everything not designated a glade is open and the conditions are as "Spruce" described above, "firm but not icy".
While snow would be nice, I'll settle for a January with no-January-thaw!
Quietman
1st lift served turns of the season for me today, and my plan worked perfectly. Waited for the rain to end and arrived before 4, & parked right in front of the Rocket. Very few other skiers on the hill and the snow was buttery soft but not at all slushy, never hit an ice patch while I was skiing.
Seemed like the upper half of the hill picked up a few inches before the rain, as the edges of the trails were untracked and nice. Sharing a chair wasn't ever an issue, not that I would have minded. They also seem to have the Rocket dialed in this year as it hummed right along. I might have even snuck a few runs down a trail with whales and soft cream cheese on the top.
Was great to finally get out after almost 11 months since skiing the West ledges last Feb. Also 1st time paying for a day pass at Crotched since 2012, but it was worth it.
joshua_segal
January 18, 2021 - Mon. - MLK Day
Given the crowd on Sunday, I expected a gigantic mob on MLK Day. It was a good crowd, but nothing like Sunday.
Grooming did a good job of making Saturday's rain a bad memory. Conditions remained groomed granular - firm, but not icy until late in the day.
NELSBEER
When you don't hear from crotchet for a week or two chances are we're all out having fun skiing.
With all trails open they have been continuing to pound the hill with more man made snow than we have seen in years. If it is cold enough the lights are on and two of the three loops are being covered nightly.
With some real snow coming in today (Tuesday) at about 3 pm we expect to see great conditions tonight and the rest of the week.
No lines weekdays...
joshua_segal
It's an unusual year to have had no January thaw.
Quietman
joshua_segal;c-46524 wroteIt's an unusual year to have had no January thaw.
Yup, I've had the same 2" of ice/snow in my front yard for the last 3 weeks. 3-5" tonight would be nice!
joshua_segal
Jan. 27, 2021 Weds.
4" of new snow on the hard base mentioned by Quietman above yielded some superb glade skiing.
First 2021 Glade Report
- Solstice Glade - Excellent
- Old T-Bar Line - Very skiable
- Dark Star - Not maintained with many 2 to 3-year-old saplings.
- Final Frontier - Many good lines
- All cuts and chutes to the west of Final Frontier - very skiable
- Upper Kuiper Belt (between Moon Walk and Eclipse) - skiable
Most other glades will require more snow to cover sharp rocks and stumps.
joshua_segal
A friend noted that there was enough blow-over from Jupiter's Storm to make Trailee skiable.
The CM website no longer includes even the glades on their Trail Map. Final Frontier is accessible from Comet Drop. A rope blocks the entrance from Super Nova. (Presumably, we do not want beginners on Super Nova to inadvertently turn onto "Shooting Star" - marked Green Circle - in its current condition and there is no real way to differentiate that piece of Shooting Star from Final Frontier.)
