Crotched Mountain - 2024-5 Season

NELSBEER

Part of the reason/justification for flattening out Moonwalk was to allow extradition of summit machinery, guess this is that work.

This is part of a general effort to get Rocket totally up to par. The drive motor from the base was taken out a while ago & is out for "re-build", apparently maintenance needed from time to time. This explains why chairs have not been re-hung, no motor to move them.

This is all scheduled work & the lift will reportedly be ready for the season.

joshua_segal

Oct. 8, 2024 - Photo

Colors starting to pop at CM. Still much less than 50%.

NELSBEER

Yesterday the crew ran up one pump and charged the snowmaking system, they then rode around the hill blowing out every hydrant, clearing silt & rust. (Blowing out the mice). No guns this time. The 'peak usage' electric rates effectively limit how much power can be used until the next rate period starts.

Earlier they checked the Meyer's boxes, electric service boxes for the snow guns, clearing mice, bees, cobwebs & tightening the electrical connections (the aluminum wire used for this system tends to expand & contract loosening connections).

Finally the batter boards are in the dam, a little earlier than usual, to start saving water.

With the pumps all PM'd & working it looks like snowmaking is ready to go full bore when the temperatures drop.

The AeBe lawn mower is due this week or next so the slopes should look good for the annual pre-season block party.

CM BLOCK PARTY Saturday October 26th Noon until 3 Open to all that know about it.
see web site....
A good excuse to come hike the hill in the morning, have lunch and meet friends (SJ regulars are common here)

Quietman

Slight correction
CM BLOCK PARTY Saturday October 26th Noon until 3 Open to all that know about it.

NELSBEER

Thanks,

Thought folks might like to see a serious brush back effort in progress:

The above was taken from my condo when they were cleaning up the West Lift's line.
Best part was they blew extra wood chips onto 'Bradford Notch' my unofficial connector to Lower Shooting Star, allowed me to cover rocks, stumps & roots (handy when your neighbor is on the crew & uses the same trail :| }

Griffinr04061

Had a fun afternoon at Crotched Mountain today. Was finally able to meet Joshua in person for the first time. I appreciated the time he took talking to my 20 year old son about jobs in the ski industry. I also enjoyed learning a bit more about the history of the mountain.
Seemed like a good crowd today with many familiar faces. Lots of excitement for the upcoming season!

joshua_segal

I agree with Griffinr04061. It was probably the biggest crowd I’ve seen for this event in a few years.

obienick

How significant was the grading work?

joshua_segal

obienick;c-66228 wroteHow significant was the grading work?

Hard to tell until they actually put snow on it.

joshua_segal

Oct. 28, 2024 - Mon.
Accumulating snow at CM this AM as shown below. As far as I know, it was the first of 2024-5 season. I looked hard for some solid cover on the grass on which to make a turn or two, but none was available. By noon, it had pretty much all melted and a crew was on the hill weed-whacking the trails.

rickbolger

not sure why we're seeing boot prints instead of nordie ski tracks? ;)

joshua_segal

rickbolger;c-66274 wrotenot sure why we're seeing boot prints instead of nordie ski tracks? ;)

LOL. Those are my sneaker prints at the entrance to my condo.

It never got below freezing. What little snow there was, wasn't even slippery. Believe me: I checked it. A thick layer of hoar frost would have been skiable. This was not!

joshua_segal

I was looking at the Crotched Mtn. website and noticed that ticket sales begin for Friday, December 6 and following.

lotsoskiing

joshua_segal;c-66333 wroteI was looking at the Crotched Mtn. website and noticed that ticket sales begin for Friday, December 6 and following.

better hope November temp are favorable. Right now not so much... https://cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/

joshua_segal

With the pumping capacity that CM has, they don’t need a really long window. That being said, I remember one season recently where CM didn’t open till December 26.

NELSBEER

They need only a few nights of cold to get their first targeted Top to Bottom route open (Moonwalk, Galaxie, Meteor). A few ancillary trails like the carpet area, maybe Satellite Summit & Meteor can open shortly after. West lift & Super Nova (Green Dot/ski school trail) frequently follow quickly when carriage guns are freed up. These add up to a respectable 3 ways down serving all levels.

Right now, to get beyond the above, the challenge is water. Batter boards are in the dam, but the pond isn't filling. A low rain summer has dropped the water table and a low rain forecast doesn't bode well. With the current weather pattern I expect they will conserve water and add extra coverage on the above trails rather than risk pushing out large numbers of additional trails with thin cover.

Quietman

Deirdre Riley Named as Crotched Mountain General Manager SAM Link
No Mention of specific food/bev background! ;)
I waited to post this until it was officially announced.

obienick

I was going to say her name sounded familiar.

Interesting it mentions Okemo oversees Crotched and Sunapee. That explains why I’ve seen a lot of Okemo jackets at Crotched.

So if this structure is company-wide… who oversees Attitash and Wildcat? Stowe?

tedede

Vail moves talent around a lot. Sometimes they bring their uniforms. Nothing more consequential than that. The larger resorts with lodging typically have a local VP in the leadership chain.

joshua_segal

obienick;c-66540 wrote... That explains why I’ve seen a lot of Okemo jackets at Crotched.

...

Until this year, most CM Patrollers had their own parkas. In recent years, while waiting for our turn to get Vail Uniform Patrol Parkas, a few of our patrollers have been wearing left-over Okemo Patrol parkas. A few of the "more-CM-loyal-Patrollers", have covered the Okemo name with white duct tape.

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