# 2018-2019 Sunday River



## uphillklimber (Nov 20, 2018)

x


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## crazy (Nov 21, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> I gotta say, if you were considering maybe coming skiing, you could do a lot worse than to come to the River. Some 2 weeks ago, we got 10-12 inches of heavy wet stuff, followed by 3 hours of rain then freezing temps. Instant base across the mountain, in the trees on the trails, everywhere. Followed up by a few smaller snowstorms and it is pretty good what Mother Nature is giving.
> 
> Add to it that Sunday River is putting their best foot forward this year with snowmaking. A new pipe line from the pond, additional pump capacity, and today, they worked on or changed the pump out at the pond before firing up the guns a little after noon time. That and paying their snowmakers $20.00 per hour, they are putting their best foot forward with a full crew to erase the memory of last year's shortcomings.
> 
> ...



That's great news man. 

Do you think Aurora and Spruce will be open on Friday, or would they wait until the weekend to open them up?


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## machski (Nov 21, 2018)

I would tend to think Friday they will open at least Spruce if not Aurora too.  Especially given the Saturday night/Sunday AM forecast.

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## machski (Nov 21, 2018)

Spruce and South Ridge Quad join Barker/Locke Chondi Turkey Day, Aurora joins the fun Friday.  All 4 days lifts spin at 8am!

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## Jully (Nov 22, 2018)

I feel like they HAVE to replace it if they're having this many issues so early. Hopefully it gets better, but this is real rough.


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## machski (Nov 23, 2018)

Absolutely fantastic conditions, is it really just November 23?  Aurora opened today though Paradigm did not, meaning Sirius/Aludra only way in.  Had to hike up to Northern Lights as the Aludra extension wasn't yet open.  OR you could drop into an all natural Airglow and Black Hole!!  Natural runs and woods everywhere, untracked natural a but windblown crust from yesterday.  Crazy good.

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## Zand (Nov 24, 2018)

Monday night storm looks like a SR/Loaf special. Gonna have to make it 3 straight powder Tuesdays.


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## machski (Nov 24, 2018)

Zand said:


> Monday night storm looks like a SR/Loaf special. Gonna have to make it 3 straight powder Tuesdays.


Yup, I have to be up to do some work on the condo mon/tues, oh darn....

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## Zand (Nov 24, 2018)

Report says snowmaking on State Fair and Cyclone...any chance those Oz woods open up on Tuesday?


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## machski (Nov 25, 2018)

Zand said:


> Report says snowmaking on State Fair and Cyclone...any chance those Oz woods open up on Tuesday?



None, lift served anyway.  Side country touring is in though.


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## mriceyman (Nov 26, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> I went skiing this morning, booted up at Barker, none of my usual ski buddies were present, so I skied over to the Chondie and got in line for THE first chair up! From there, I took Paradigm over to Aurora and got THE first chair there as well!
> 
> The groomers had been out and that wet snow was packed down and quite fast. From about the Locke Mid station or the top of the Sunday River express, it was foggy and difficult to see where you were going. Really needed to check you speed.
> 
> ...



Bucket list lol


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## tumbler (Nov 26, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> I went skiing this morning, booted up at Barker, none of my usual ski buddies were present, so I skied over to the Chondie and got in line for THE first chair up! From there, I took Paradigm over to Aurora and got THE first chair there as well!
> 
> The groomers had been out and that wet snow was packed down and quite fast. From about the Locke Mid station or the top of the Sunday River express, it was foggy and difficult to see where you were going. Really needed to check you speed.
> 
> ...



Lot of brown in that pic.  This year should be much different.


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## Edd (Nov 27, 2018)

We actively avoided the untouched at Wildcat today, which is weird but it sucked you in and took your control. Amazing conditions out there. Tomorrow will be great. 


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## chuckstah (Nov 27, 2018)

Edd said:


> We actively avoided the untouched at Wildcat today, which is weird but it sucked you in and took your control. Amazing conditions out there. Tomorrow will be great.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone


Thanks for the Wildcat update Edd. Probably going to land there tomorrow. 

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## Jully (Nov 27, 2018)

chuckstah said:


> Thanks for the Wildcat update Edd. Probably going to land there tomorrow.
> 
> Sent from my moto e5 cruise using Tapatalk



Absolutely incredible today. Woods are choked with snow.


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## Edd (Nov 27, 2018)

chuckstah said:


> Thanks for the Wildcat update Edd. Probably going to land there tomorrow.
> 
> Sent from my moto e5 cruise using Tapatalk



I came awful close to staying for a 2nd day but it didn’t work out. Have a blast tomorrow!


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## machski (Nov 27, 2018)

Jully said:


> Absolutely incredible today. Woods are choked with snow.


Ditto at Sunday River.  On map, off map and everywhere in between.  When Vortex is completely open on natural snow alone, it is a pretty deep and dense snowpack for sure.  Unbelievable skiing today and it was still nuking at 5pm when I left for home.

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## MEtoVTSkier (Nov 29, 2018)

Break out the skins... :wink:


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## machski (Nov 29, 2018)

MEtoVTSkier said:


> Break out the skins... :wink:


Just don't forget to get your uphill pass and sign the waiver first.  Oh wait, that's right, none of that new policy stuff is yet available to get/sign.

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## Zand (Nov 29, 2018)

Was gonna take Monday off to get a 3 day weekend in at Loaf/SR, but that Sunday forecast is a huge buzzkill and then everything will freeze solid behind it.


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## WWF-VT (Nov 29, 2018)

Zand said:


> Was gonna take Monday off to get a 3 day weekend in at Loaf/SR, but that Sunday forecast is a huge buzzkill and then everything will freeze solid behind it.



Welcome to skiing in New England


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## MEtoVTSkier (Nov 30, 2018)

Yep, got to get it while the getting is good!


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## Zand (Nov 30, 2018)

WWF-VT said:


> Welcome to skiing in New England



After the last 2 months of last season and the first month of this season I forgot what New England is supposed to be like


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## Zand (Nov 30, 2018)

Trend for Sunday is positive right now. Looks like the majority of precipitation will fall before temps rise above freezing, then the dry slot moves in. Also looks like temps at SR won't get much above the mid 30s anyway. Hopefully we can avoid a huge freezeover so everything stays skiable.


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## Smellytele (Nov 30, 2018)

Zand said:


> Trend for Sunday is positive right now. Looks like the majority of precipitation will fall before temps rise above freezing, then the dry slot moves in. Also looks like temps at SR won't get much above the mid 30s anyway. Hopefully we can avoid a huge freezeover so everything stays skiable.



Not seeing that with the GFS nor the NAM.


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## Smellytele (Nov 30, 2018)




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## Smellytele (Nov 30, 2018)




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## Zand (Nov 30, 2018)

All of those prove me correct lol....that last panel at 18z is still sleet then the dry slot is lurking about 100 miles away. Most precip should shut off before it warms above freezing.


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## crazy (Nov 30, 2018)

Snow-forecast.com is showing 1.2 inches of rain and then freeze-thaw. I checked a few hours ago and Sunday River was only supposed to get 0.4 inches of rain or something along those lines. Of course, I hope this is wrong and it's all snow .


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## skiMEbike (Nov 30, 2018)

Go to the LOAF...The extra hour drive is worth it !!   From those models, it looks like the Loaf will hang onto mostly snow, however I don't think anyone is escaping the mixed precip (and some r@!#) this weekend.


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## Zand (Nov 30, 2018)

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-70.90584068151655&lat=44.4602393519294#.XAGthfZFyM8

Forecast for 2500' doesn't look all that bad right now. And it's been trending colder so hopefully they'll escape the liquid altogether and only be above freezing for a few hours so the snow doesn't soften up too much. If it does I suppose they'll have a hell of a base even though it would be unskiable till the next snowstorm.


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## Jully (Dec 4, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> I skied some 3 hours this morning. Fast and crisp after all the rain and the cold temps. Short lines, never mind that, no lines. Windy however, which meant wind holds. But what was open was good.
> 
> This weekend, they are aiming for access to the Jordan, there is already access to the Summit, ungroomed though. Today, that means a tough slog back. They are spreading out and blowing snow, notably on Dream maker and Obsession.



TTB on Obsession or still just Snowbound and below?


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## Cat in January (Dec 4, 2018)

Ungroomed all crust?


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## machski (Dec 6, 2018)

Jully said:


> TTB on Obsession or still just Snowbound and below?


TTB, White Heat Quad opens this weekend

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## machski (Dec 7, 2018)

Bring your skis with edges.  If not, park at White Cap.  Everything there accessible today was nice and soft.  Hit Barker, Spruce and Escapade late, edges of trail ok but middle, ehh.  Risky was good as it has had some Snowmaking.  Aurora was on wind hold.  Based on what I saw today, I would recommend staying to newly opened terrain.

For all the park fans, T72 was lit up today.

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## machski (Dec 8, 2018)

Freshly opened trails skied great today.  Nice to have a glad back in play too.  A bit crusty but silky snow beneath in Wizard's Gulch.  The benefits of no traffic in there until now.

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## machski (Dec 10, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> The skiing was surprisingly good today. A couple inches of fluff and groomed. We tried a little bit of the ungroomed areas, and they were..... well, not rock hard, but not soft either. Some folks were lapping Ai Karumba as we rode the Jordan lift. Cold and windy, colder than expected, but nice and sunny.


You should have skied the naturals in Jordan, they were much better than I thought possible this weekend.  Not fluff, but soft after the crust got broken up.

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## catherine (Dec 12, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> I just want to say that if you need some better than average skiing, this is the year! The River is opening terrain and it is just nice!
> 
> I didn't ski too much today as I left a ski behind in a snowgun pile and twisted my other leg coming out of it. (Okay, I'll admit it, I wiped out twice yesterday and it was at Bretton Woods! LOL!) I felt it inside the joint last night and was a little nervous I had really done it now. But this morning and it's only the tendons on the outside of my leg that are sore. It is healing up nice and I can traverse the stairs tonight no problem. I skied just enough to work out the leg and not let it get stiff. A lot of open terrain I want to try out!
> 
> Tomorrow is a new day!



Seriously considering Wed next week.  Love reading your reports!  Thank you!


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## Jully (Dec 13, 2018)

Amazing. Getting back up there for the first time since the rain. Was worried I'd be sorely let down, but sounds like gromers are in great shape. Natty trails closed everywhere but Jordan is kind of a bummer still, but nothing the resort can do about that.

Seriously considered dropping my pass there this year, but glad I didn't with the effort and improvements.


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## machski (Dec 13, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> I gotta say that I am nothing but pleased with what Sunday River is doing this year. I skied around from Barker to Jordan. They are continuing to blow snow to open up more trails, but they are also blowing maintenance snow onto heavily used areas. Punch, Risky Business, Broadway, Sundance, Grand rapids, and others are getting more snow!
> 
> Just an FYI, they replaced the water line from the pond to the pump house this summer, doubling water capacity, though they only added on pump so they can't yet take full advantage of that capacity. But, they can count on having water to work with for the snowblowers, a great improvement over last year. Additionally, I saw two groups of snowmakers one day, about 8 workers each, last year, I only ever saw a single group of 3 or 6 snowmakers. Increasing their pay to $20.00 an hour seems to be paying off!
> 
> ...


Ok, first off the doubling of water capacity has not yet happened.  It only will if the western water line from the river gets installed as has been on the board for almost a decade now.  They boosted water by 15% this year with the new primary line and feed pump.
Second, a lot of what we see is because that new line is solid and has not cut off the system.  Additionally, mother nature has been super beneficial with terrific natural snow for this time of year and good, long cold.  Very difficult to compare to the last several seasons given the change in weather.
Finally, if Sunday River was way ahead of the competition I would give there investments cuddos.  The reality is they are basically on par with the rest of the Northeast.  And some areas (Aurora) are still not getting the type of love they should.  To me, they are about where I would expect, nothing to get excited about (other than mother nature's early giving that is).

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## machski (Dec 13, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> _"Just an FYI, they replaced the water line from the pond to the pump house this summer, doubling water capacity, though they only added one pump so they can't yet take full advantage of that capacity."
> 
> Maybe you missed this statement from me, so I'll re-post it.
> 
> _It is only December 13th, and look what we have. Granted mother nature is the largest part of it. But look at what they are doing snow making wise. It is so much more than they did last year. I am plenty happy with what they are doing. I was at Bretton Woods Tuesday. They only had half of their trails open and maybe half of those were groomed. Basically 1/4 and that's being generous. The river has 55 out of 135 groomed. About 40%. Just my perspective. (I admit it, I am cheer leading for the River!)


Again, very hard to compare year over year.  We would not be this far along without the generous help from mother nature.  They have benefitted for sure by being able to run full throttle every day this season, which they weren't able to last year due to water feed line breaks.  With all that said, I still don't think it is much off their usual aggressiveness.  We have the weather for sure and they are taking advantage of it.  Plenty of terrain to cover yet by snowmaking.

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## Jully (Dec 13, 2018)

machski said:


> Again, very hard to compare year over year.  We would not be this far along without the generous help from mother nature.  They have benefitted for sure by being able to run full throttle every day this season, which they weren't able to last year due to water feed line breaks.  With all that said, I still don't think it is much off their usual aggressiveness.  We have the weather for sure and they are taking advantage of it.  Plenty of terrain to cover yet by snowmaking.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app



One year doesn't make a trend, but the ingredients of full staff+seemingly reliable infrastructure (though on mountain pipes weren't changed at all to my knowledge) are now there. Leaves mountain philosophy to really begin to shine and that is where I trust Sunday River management.

Not quite an industry trailblazer right now, but everything points to a big step forward this year even beyond the sheer results.


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## Hawk (Dec 14, 2018)

machski said:


> Again, very hard to compare year over year.  We would not be this far along without the generous help from mother nature.  They have benefitted for sure by being able to run full throttle every day this season, which they weren't able to last year due to water feed line breaks.  With all that said, I still don't think it is much off their usual aggressiveness.  We have the weather for sure and they are taking advantage of it.  Plenty of terrain to cover yet by snowmaking.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app


I'll say this, the snowmaking is nothing like when Les Owned the place.  They would have guns going 24/7 8 trails at a time and they would have extra compressors in the barker parking lot.  Things went much faster.  That is the issue with your new corporate owner Boyne.  Budgets Budgets.


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## Smellytele (Dec 14, 2018)

Hawk said:


> I'll say this, the snowmaking is nothing like when Les Owned the place.  They would have guns going 24/7 8 trails at a time and they would have extra compressors in the barker parking lot.  Things went much faster.  That is the issue with your new corporate owner Boyne.  Budgets Budgets.



They don't want to go the way ASC did...


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## Hawk (Dec 14, 2018)

Smellytele said:


> They don't want to go the way ASC did...



I am not talking about ASC.  I am taking about 1987 to 1995 and a little beyond.  Sunday River was the fastest growing and most profitable area in the east at that time.  I will agree that forming ASC and the start of the huge debt financing era did him in.  But when I skied there from 86 onward we got a new lift or mountain area almost every year and they blew snow like no one else.  I skied there 60 to 100 days year and know what I experienced.


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## machski (Dec 14, 2018)

Jully said:


> One year doesn't make a trend, but the ingredients of full staff+seemingly reliable infrastructure (though on mountain pipes weren't changed at all to my knowledge) are now there. Leaves mountain philosophy to really begin to shine and that is where I trust Sunday River management.
> 
> Not quite an industry trailblazer right now, but everything points to a big step forward this year even beyond the sheer results.


That it does.  Been an amazing season, just too much help from Ma Nature this year to pile on too much credit to mountain ops yet.

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## Riverveteran (Dec 14, 2018)

Do you ski there now?  I feel like skier numbers are way down.  Its probably harder to gauge with all the pass products but I feel like the place is a ghost town most of the time.  Other than Saturdays, things are really quiet. 

I think their snowmaking is on a good pace.  They really need to invest money in infrastructure, lifts and lodging.  Lifts are terrible, lodges gross no where near modern standards. 



Hawk said:


> I am not talking about ASC.  I am taking about 1987 to 1995 and a little beyond.  Sunday River was the fastest growing and most profitable area in the east at that time.  I will agree that forming ASC and the start of the huge debt financing era did him in.  But when I skied there from 86 onward we got a new lift or mountain area almost every year and they blew snow like no one else.  I skied there 60 to 100 days year and know what I experienced.


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## Riverveteran (Dec 14, 2018)

Last Sunday ski on every lift.




uphillklimber said:


> Fridays tend to busy as well, though they don't come anywhere near a Saturday. Friends tell me Sunday afternoons are pretty quiet.


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## machski (Dec 14, 2018)

Riverveteran said:


> Do you ski there now?  I feel like skier numbers are way down.  Its probably harder to gauge with all the pass products but I feel like the place is a ghost town most of the time.  Other than Saturdays, things are really quiet.
> 
> I think their snowmaking is on a good pace.  They really need to invest money in infrastructure, lifts and lodging.  Lifts are terrible, lodges gross no where near modern standards.


Skier numbers are down from their peak in the mid 90's for sure.  But still around 500K a year.  It is harder to tell when it is crazy busy now because of how many pods and lifts we have to spread them out.  Lodges could use some love over the long term, they aren't good awful yet.  Lifts, well that could use some investment (ahm, Barker to start).  Glad to see the snowmaking getting the love first.  It's what put the place on the map.  They need to get that back to game changer level to redraw peak skier visits IMHO.  They used to draw big numbers in the early 90's with just 1 HSQ (Barker in it's original Yan configuration!)

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## Smellytele (Dec 17, 2018)

Hawk said:


> I am not talking about ASC.  I am taking about 1987 to 1995 and a little beyond.  Sunday River was the fastest growing and most profitable area in the east at that time.  I will agree that forming ASC and the start of the huge debt financing era did him in.  But when I skied there from 86 onward we got a new lift or mountain area almost every year and they blew snow like no one else.  I skied there 60 to 100 days year and know what I experienced.


I skied there a lot 1989-1997 when it was expanding as well. Before the forming of ASC he must have been leveraging as well though just not as much as the ASC years.


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## machski (Dec 17, 2018)

Smellytele said:


> I skied there a lot 1989-1997 when it was expanding as well. Before the forming of ASC he must have been leveraging as well though just not as much as the ASC years.


Not really at that point.  SR's growth allowed him the ability to leverage build up ASC.  Had he been highly leveraged on LBO holdings (when he had SR, Attitash and SB) I don't think he would have had the ability to form up ASC.  Even with the loose lending practices in the late 90's.

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## Smellytele (Dec 18, 2018)

machski said:


> Not really at that point.  SR's growth allowed him the ability to leverage build up ASC.  Had he been highly leveraged on LBO holdings (when he had SR, Attitash and SB) I don't think he would have had the ability to form up ASC.  Even with the loose lending practices in the late 90's.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app



Wasn't saying highly leveraged but leveraging can lead to more leveraging to increase revenue.


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## machski (Dec 18, 2018)

Smellytele said:


> Wasn't saying highly leveraged but leveraging can lead to more leveraging to increase revenue.


I would think at some point, but my understanding was SR's growth was not leveraged with debt late into it's growth but prior to ASC being formed.

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## machski (Dec 19, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> .
> 
> We've got a day of skiing available before the 1-2 inches of rain comes tomorrow and spoils our fun for a couple days. And it's pretty good right now!



And after this we will see how good and aggressive SR plans to be with the improved snowmaking water line.  Holiday week, I pretty much expect every main trail to get recovered, including Oz.

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## Riverveteran (Dec 19, 2018)

I really hope you're right but I wouldn’t be surprised if they hit Heat and some of the steeps and continue expanding.  We were in this position a few years ago and rather than resurface they went at Oz.




machski said:


> And after this we will see how good and aggressive SR plans to be with the improved snowmaking water line.  Holiday week, I pretty much expect every main trail to get recovered, including Oz.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app


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## Edd (Dec 20, 2018)

Scored a free voucher for today which is a nice treat buuut this lift ticket line is slooooww


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## machski (Dec 20, 2018)

Riverveteran said:


> I really hope you're right but I wouldn’t be surprised if they hit Heat and some of the steeps and continue expanding.  We were in this position a few years ago and rather than resurface they went at Oz.


Oz opened today.  I had hoped they would wait til closer to the Holiday week or slightly into it to try and avoid the coming scenario.  They don't like to groom out Oz so I am hoping their efforts don't go to waste and they just close it for the week after the r@!n.

With the cold coming in, they should be able to put a good recovering on and expand a bit.  Mostly blacks left to hit now, so any would be welcomed after this nastiness.

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## Edd (Dec 20, 2018)

I hit Wildcat yesterday and SR today. Both amazing weather days for late December. Great sun and no wind. Glad I was able to grab them before the year is out. 


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## Dickc (Dec 20, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> I only had 2 1/2 hours today, so I headed over to Tin Woodsman and Lost Princess to ski on the whales. Very rewarding, challenged me at my level and for the life of me, I can't find that invisible line that separates Lost Princess from Tin Woodsman. I'm sure I crossed that line many times today! Groomers were good, but Oz was awesome!



LP used to be gladed, TW was an open trail.  If you look close, there are a few stumps left.  A bad Ice storm in the later 90's took out most of the trees.  Same over on Emerald City and Eureka.


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## deadheadskier (Dec 20, 2018)

While it can still be fun, OZ might be the most horrendous trail design f ups in New England skiing history.  As I understand it, Les wanted to create a terrain pod with a western bowl type feel.  Not a great plan for an area that averages 150" of snow a year.  

I haven't skied that terrain for probably five years, but I was a passholder there 05-07 and know it well.   I always felt they should rope off several large areas of terrain in Oz to allow trees to regrow.   

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## crazy (Dec 21, 2018)

Dickc said:


> LP used to be gladed, TW was an open trail.  If you look close, there are a few stumps left.  A bad Ice storm in the later 90's took out most of the trees.  Same over on Emerald City and Eureka.





deadheadskier said:


> While it can still be fun, OZ might be the most horrendous trail design f ups in New England skiing history.  As I understand it, Les wanted to create a terrain pod with a western bowl type feel.  Not a great plan for an area that averages 150" of snow a year.



I'm confused. Did the Oz terrain pod turn out the way it did because of Les Otten's vision, a bad ice storm, or both? 

I don't think it's the 150" of snow a year that makes it not a great plan. A handful of Western resorts only get about that much snow a year, including Lake Louise, Marmot Basin, and Sun Valley. The difference is that we have a maritime snowpack here in New England where snow preservation is not great thanks to thaw-freeze and rain not being uncommon. If Sunday River was on the continental divide, 150" would certainly be sufficient for "bowl skiing", with "bowl" in quotes because I've never thought of Oz as resembling a bowl, though now that you mention it I can kind of see it.


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## machski (Dec 21, 2018)

crazy said:


> I'm confused. Did the Oz terrain pod turn out the way it did because of Les Otten's vision, a bad ice storm, or both?
> 
> I don't think it's the 150" of snow a year that makes it not a great plan. A handful of Western resorts only get about that much snow a year, including Lake Louise, Marmot Basin, and Sun Valley. The difference is that we have a maritime snowpack here in New England where snow preservation is not great thanks to thaw-freeze and rain not being uncommon. If Sunday River was on the continental divide, 150" would certainly be sufficient for "bowl skiing", with "bowl" in quotes because I've never thought of Oz as resembling a bowl, though now that you mention it I can kind of see it.


Mostly due to Les's vision for the area.  There were a few more trees on skiers right of LP, TW had more of a tree line on the left of the open run and Emerald City up high had better trees.  But mostly it was cut too open.  They could have left a few more healthy trees up and still made snow on Eureka, TW/LP.  The biggest problem with the trails are the waterfall/flow sections, right at midtrail on LP/TW and a bout 2/3 down Eureka.  Add wind scouring in due to how open it is, tough to hold natural in there now.  

IMHO, the vision was not correct for that particular area or the East in general.  Needed a lot more trees.  A bit thinner gunside and a bit thicker as you move away would have been perfect.  As an aside, these were cut with the intention of using SR7 ground guns, not the towers TW/LP has now.

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## skinowworklater (Dec 22, 2018)

I realize it's a labor intensive task, but perhaps they should experiment with snow portable snow fencing like Sunshine Village does above tree line?  (Catch the snow before it's blown into the woods) :???:


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## machski (Dec 22, 2018)

skinowworklater said:


> I realize it's a labor intensive task, but perhaps they should experiment with snow portable snow fencing like Sunshine Village does above tree line?  (Catch the snow before it's blown into the woods) :???:


They have talked about a lot of things to try to make it better, including planting trees.  But you would be unable to make snow where they do that and you'd need to keep skiers/risers away from them for a few years to let them take hold.  Tough to do with an open boundary to boundary policy.  So nothing has happened (other than Poppy fields, which is awesome on green/orange/blue lines).

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## Jully (Dec 25, 2018)

Interesting about Barker. Didn't even notice it being down today. Rode it a bunch around 10 and sporadically throughout the afternoon.

Glad it's nothing serious!


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## machski (Dec 28, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> Last night, I was just looking over the River's interactive ski map, to see what I was missing out on and what they managed to open for the holidays. I saw Green Cheese, Upper and Lower Moonstruck, Starlight and Assumption open. But not the Little White Cap chair that services that area.
> 
> I sent a message on FB to the River inquiring. Here is their reply:
> 
> ...


Well, they did make snow on the entire area a week or 2 ago.  I had heard the lift was suppose to be ready back then, but must have run into another delay.  Hearing load check was suppose to be today, not sure that gets/got done with the weather.  They were hopeful it would be up for the weekend.  The base bull wheel has been on the ground all fall to this point.  Not sure what went/needed, but must have been something in the motor or drive.  Hopefully it is ready for the am, with the NW winds forecast tomorrow, they might need it as it is one of the most wind protected lifts on the hill.

I have no problem if they want to call fully prepared trails open if the lift is down.  Easy hike from WH up assumption.  Not going to do it myself for that terrain, but can be done.  I also personally don't care if that "POD" is open or closed.  Trail count doesn't matter to me, what trails are actually open is what I personally look at.

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## urungus (Dec 28, 2018)

uphillklimber said:


> Last night, I was just looking over the River's interactive ski map, to see what I was missing out on and what they managed to open for the holidays. I saw Green Cheese, Upper and Lower Moonstruck, Starlight and Assumption open. But not the Little White Cap chair that services that area.
> 
> I sent a message on FB to the River inquiring. Here is their reply:
> 
> ...



Other resorts do this too ... Pico (Outpost) and Sugarbush (Castle Rock) come to mind.


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## thetrailboss (Dec 28, 2018)

urungus said:


> Other resorts do this too ... Pico (Outpost) and Sugarbush (Castle Rock) come to mind.



True.  Little White Cap isn’t a big deal IMHO.  But I do understand the frustration.


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## benski (Dec 28, 2018)

urungus said:


> Other resorts do this too ... Pico (Outpost) and Sugarbush (Castle Rock) come to mind.



And often people pick a resort a few days in advance. If a lift only runs weekends or will only be closed for a few days a lift very well be open when many of those customers looking actually ski. Though Castlerock lift is closed due to thin snow there so people have to hike, which many people are doing.


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## deadheadskier (Dec 29, 2018)

If it were my family, I'd take the resort shuttle from the Grand to South Ridge and be happy there is a groomed trail to at least get back to our hotel.  I'd recognize that things happen. Lifts break from time to time.  

This certainly wouldn't have an impact on my loyalty to the mountain unless it were a repeated occurrence.

This really isn't that big of a deal. I think you are over thinking things. 

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## deadheadskier (Dec 29, 2018)

I guess I don't really care or think too much about trail count.  I mean Wildcat will often list and have 40 trails open when more than a dozen have conditions that are virtually unskiable.  You could look at it like they are baiting people in or just know that that's how it goes there.  Same is true for places like Magic or MRG.  Personally, I prefer places that open up everything they can even during marginal conditions. 

Sunday River is a very large mountain that more often than not is reliably going to have some of the most skiable terrain open in New England.  I don't think having 82 trails open vs 77 is really going to make that much of a difference to most people going there.  

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## machski (Dec 29, 2018)

As an update, no Little White Cap quad again today though I am not surprised.  Yesterday would have been tough to do a load test in that weather.  I can say the Bull Wheel is back on so should be ready to go very soon.

Also, the New Year's Eve storm looks to be shifting a bit, reminiscent of some of our early November storm tracks where Wildcat and North East into Maine stay mostly snow.  I won't be around but fingers crossed!

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## Jully (Dec 29, 2018)

machski said:


> As an update, no Little White Cap quad again today though I am not surprised.  Yesterday would have been tough to do a load test in that weather.  I can say the Bull Wheel is back on so should be ready to go very soon.
> 
> Also, the New Year's Eve storm looks to be shifting a bit, reminiscent of some of our early November storm tracks where Wildcat and North East into Maine stay mostly snow.  I won't be around but fingers crossed!
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app



I saw that. Just a few inches for SR last I saw though. Any more and it'll throw off my plans of not skiing (not that that would be a bad thing though).


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## skiur (Jan 3, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Sunday River is getting it back! All this rain has caused issues, of course. Yesterday, the wind basically had south Ridge and Little white cap as your options, but today, they had almost every groom able trail open (no lift lines or glades) except for Oz and Salvation off of White Heat.
> 
> There was fresh manmade on Upper Punch, Cyclone, Double Dipper, Flow State, Kansas and others. I love that they are making snow!




You act like they are doing something special by making snow, How could they not make snow?


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## kbroderick (Jan 3, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Sunday River is getting it back! All this rain has caused issues, of course. Yesterday, the wind basically had south Ridge and Little white cap as your options, but today, they had almost every groom able trail open (no lift lines or glades) except for Oz and Salvation off of White Heat.



The hour or so before the wind came in on New Year's Day didn't suck, either. Minimal people for a holiday, soft snow on top of the early grooms, and they even opened some natural-snow trails before the wind shut things down (I got a pretty damn good run down Locke Line to Crossbow/Tightwire, passing patrol as they coiled the Crossbow rope, which was quite nice).

Overall, I've been pretty impressed with the skiing this year—it's been a while since I've been around, and it's been a bit of an adjustment moving back from Montana snow conditions, but the grooming has been pretty damn good overall, and the quantity and quality of snowmaking have both been what I'd expect from a top-tier New England resort.

I'd prefer it if they'd take some lessons from the MRG patrol on what to open and what to leave closed, but I suspect the difference in clientele would make that a bad decision in the long run.


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## machski (Jan 3, 2019)

kbroderick said:


> The hour or so before the wind came in on New Year's Day didn't suck, either. Minimal people for a holiday, soft snow on top of the early grooms, and they even opened some natural-snow trails before the wind shut things down (I got a pretty damn good run down Locke Line to Crossbow/Tightwire, passing patrol as they coiled the Crossbow rope, which was quite nice).
> 
> Overall, I've been pretty impressed with the skiing this year—it's been a while since I've been around, and it's been a bit of an adjustment moving back from Montana snow conditions, but the grooming has been pretty damn good overall, and the quantity and quality of snowmaking have both been what I'd expect from a top-tier New England resort.
> 
> I'd prefer it if they'd take some lessons from the MRG patrol on what to open and what to leave closed, but I suspect the difference in clientele would make that a bad decision in the long run.


They have actually become much more lenient about what to keep open/open in the last two years or so.  Mad River really does not have a choice if they want to be open many times as they have almost nothing snowmaking wise.  Lately, if it has been closed at SR, you really don't want to ski it.  Not saying it might not be "skiable," but if it's closed it likely isn't really any fun to ski it in any fashion.

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## thetrailboss (Jan 6, 2019)

https://gouldacademy.org/give/the-c...J7MJFfOeEvOfwWhHMWu4DL_Gk2-nCG6doitus79UKIJSQ

Looks like the T-Bar is a go.


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## thetrailboss (Jan 6, 2019)

deadheadskier said:


> While it can still be fun, OZ might be the most horrendous trail design f ups in New England skiing history.  As I understand it, Les wanted to create a terrain pod with a western bowl type feel.  Not a great plan for an area that averages 150" of snow a year.
> 
> I haven't skied that terrain for probably five years, but I was a passholder there 05-07 and know it well.   I always felt they should rope off several large areas of terrain in Oz to allow trees to regrow.
> 
> Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app



Yes.  Always seemed odd and half-done.


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## nanjil (Jan 6, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> That 4-6 inches of light fluffy powder has the River opening glades and lift lines. It's only going to get better with next week's snow on Tuesday! On a personal note, I skied Karumba under Jordan for the first time today. It wasn't pretty but I didn't crash. Next time will look better!
> 
> Basically, the mountain is in mid season form as you might expect it to be. IIRC, they are calling for 111 trails tomorrow and every lift except North Peak scheduled for tomorrow.


Skied upper blind ambition was great. Did Ruby place that was harsh Al the way not just steepest parts

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## machski (Jan 7, 2019)

According to today's morning report, snowmaking last night and today on Top Gun, Quantum Leap and Eureka.  If true, that represents pretty much all of the snowmaking terrain (only things not hit with any length are Polaris and Backside which honestly, who cares) being hit and we are not even to January 10th yet!  That is the fastest they have gotten to everything in maybe a decade and they have remade several trails to boot as well.  Now I think I can join uphillklimber and say I'm impressed with the effort and dedication this year.  Can't wait to get back out Wednesday!! 

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## machski (Jan 8, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Did some skiing today, second run, we were looking to ski the lip of the half pipe, maybe inside the pipe. We get there, and there is an awful lot of grass growing there. They have not even begun to coat it to get it ready. All I can think is that they are going to have to run hoses from 3 D(???) if they bother at all. The rest of T-72 is up and running, as well as 3D.
> 
> I gotta say, that despite the recent rains which give some scratch beneath the corduroy, they are doing a great job getting the mountain skiable at night. They shut the guns off of Top Gun and we skied over the whales and it is bumping up real nice. Just the challenge I need to improve. Ere.... I mean, Top Gun is terrible. don't waste your time, find something else to ski you may enjoy more! LOL! 4 1/2 hours later, I was done, and grateful to the River for wearing me out!


With regards to the half pipe, they have dragged hoses through the woods off 3-D before.  They have also closed Upper T72 and dragged hoses that way from the T72 line.  I don't think the pipe is a very high priority anymore for SR.  Or Gould for that matter.

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## Newpylong (Jan 9, 2019)

Been a while since they've made snow on Quantum Leap hasn't it?


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## machski (Jan 9, 2019)

Newpylong said:


> Been a while since they've made snow on Quantum Leap hasn't it?


No, they have gotten to it the last few years, but usually much later.

Great skiing today but as of 130pm, winds are starting to crank up out of Northwest.  Jordan went/is going on hold and looks like WH is too if app can be believed.  Barker appears on hold too, betting not wind there yet if so.

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## machski (Jan 10, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I just read that the River will be 100% open starting tomorrow. Not sure how I can ski Bim's whim if they don't open the Locke Triple though....
> 
> I see Barker is on wind hold right now so the triple is running. We'll see what can be accessed tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I can't ski it all anyways in a day!


Wind holds cut down Jordan/Aurora/Barker and WH to start today.  Doesn't appear they will turn Oz today but Quantum is open as is Jordan Double for guest access out and Locke.

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## Dickc (Jan 10, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I just read that the River will be 100% open starting tomorrow. Not sure how I can ski Bim's whim if they don't open the Locke Triple though....
> 
> I see Barker is on wind hold right now so the triple is running. We'll see what can be accessed tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I can't ski it all anyways in a day!


Go up Barker,  Ski down Jungle Road to Sunday Punch.  Walk UP Sunday Punch to top of Spruce and around the corner to Bims.  Its not THAT much of a hike.


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## Dickc (Jan 10, 2019)

Dickc said:


> Go up Barker,  Ski down Jungle Road to Sunday Punch.  Walk UP Sunday Punch to top of Spruce and around the corner to Bims.  Its not THAT much of a hike.



By the way, this will also get you over to White Heat when that lift is on wind hold.


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## skef (Jan 12, 2019)

Had a great day there Thursday.



A little uphill travel was most definitely worth it.


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## machski (Jan 14, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Wow!!! What a day for skiing today. When I parked, it registered a minus 11 degrees, so that kept many people away. They had deep groomed packed powder that lasted all day! It simply didn't scrape down as I have come to expect the past couple weeks. If you passed by today, you passed a great day. No wind, so the cold was less of an issue.
> 
> The morning started with Jordan on hold, don't know why But it opened up shortly and was some fun!
> 
> ...


Wow, Agony again!  Would love to see them bury that deep for late spring turns on it this year.  Been a while since it was deep enough to last to last day. 

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## Hawk (Jan 16, 2019)

machski said:


> Wow, Agony again!  Would love to see them bury that deep for late spring turns on it this year.  Been a while since it was deep enough to last to last day.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app


Actually Agony for the first time this season.  I do not call blowing that 100 yd stretch at the bottom below south paw blowing agony.  I also agree that they should cover that thing with a deep base for the spring since that is the best trail once they close all the lifts.


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## Hawk (Jan 16, 2019)

I consider Monday and yesterday to be one Blowing.  Not two.


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## machski (Jan 16, 2019)

Hawk said:


> Actually Agony for the first time this season.  I do not call blowing that 100 yd stretch at the bottom below south paw blowing agony.  I also agree that they should cover that thing with a deep base for the spring since that is the best trail once they close all the lifts.


Felt to me this past weekend that it had seen snowmaking sometime prior to it, the whole length.  Pretty sure they hit it some point for the holiday week.  The only trails that haven't been hit this year are backside and Polaris.

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## kbroderick (Jan 17, 2019)

machski said:


> Felt to me this past weekend that it had seen snowmaking sometime prior to it, the whole length.  Pretty sure they hit it some point for the holiday week.  The only trails that haven't been hit this year are backside and Polaris.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app


I forget when it was, but my recollection is that they had made snow overnight and shut the guns off around lift opening (quite possibly because people like snow magically appearing on the trail, not coating them as they ride up the lift).


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## machski (Jan 17, 2019)

kbroderick said:


> I forget when it was, but my recollection is that they had made snow overnight and shut the guns off around lift opening (quite possibly because people like snow magically appearing on the trail, not coating them as they ride up the lift).


Not just customers, lift ops always gets pissed at snowmaking when the hit Agony.  DB would love to bury Agony because of it's visibility, but the lift is an issue and getting plastered.  Maybe when it gets replaced, they at least install a chair rack to clear the line when they blast Agony.

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## skicub (Jan 17, 2019)

Too bad today was cold - yesterday the the 16th was great! Accuweather said 1-2” and cloudy. Turned out to be partly sunny and perfect. High 20’s and groomy, with great coverage, though it was a bummer Heat quad was closed. Otherwise, a nice 35k+ Vert day. 


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## machski (Jan 18, 2019)

Yes, another peak weekend/period with another major lift closed at SR for unscheduled maintenance.  Boy, this is becoming a broken record and an eye sore for the resort.  For us powder fans, IT IS the perfect lift to be down for the weekend though.  Easy hike to side country like terrain now.  Just hate how this looks with all these lifts being closed when the crowds actually show up.  Bad first impressions are not good, Boyne take note.

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## crazy (Jan 18, 2019)

machski said:


> Yes, another peak weekend/period with another major lift closed at SR for unscheduled maintenance.  Boy, this is becoming a broken record and an eye sore for the resort.  For us powder fans, IT IS the perfect lift to be down for the weekend though.  Easy hike to side country like terrain now.  Just hate how this looks with all these lifts being closed when the crowds actually show up.  Bad first impressions are not good, Boyne take note.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T830 using AlpineZone mobile app



In a perverse way, this makes me want to go to Sunday River more for Sunday's dump. I would rather hike and get a few untracked/less tracked runs in than have the whole thing get tracked out in minutes.


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## MEtoVTSkier (Jan 18, 2019)

crazy said:


> In a perverse way, this makes me want to go to Sunday River more for Sunday's dump. I would rather hike and get a few untracked/less tracked runs in than have the whole thing get tracked out in minutes.



It'll be re-freshed every few minutes...


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## MEtoVTSkier (Jan 19, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I see White Heat Quad is down for unscheduled maintenance, which is another way of saying it broke down. Realistically, you gotta expect that with anything that has moving parts, and is darn near impossible to warehouse every part that might break on site, especially with all the lifts they have and different manufacturers.
> 
> But......
> 
> ...



Wait until they have 2 or 3 down at once...


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## machski (Jan 19, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I see White Heat Quad is down for unscheduled maintenance, which is another way of saying it broke down. Realistically, you gotta expect that with anything that has moving parts, and is darn near impossible to warehouse every part that might break on site, especially with all the lifts they have and different manufacturers.
> 
> But......
> 
> ...


Nope, not an easy fix.  Top bullwheel main bearing went, need to detension off the top bull wheel, drop it, replace bearings, remount and reattach and tension the line.  Might need a load test after, not sure on that.  Likely down for the balance of next week.  Kind of stinks, they may have the part on hand (they do have 4 of these FGQ's after all) but even if they did, this change out is time consuming and requires heavy(er) equipment to the top for the job.

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## Newpylong (Jan 19, 2019)

It is very rare for a bullwheel bearing to fail without notice. Usually you begin to hearing knocking from the bullwheel long before the point of failure. A trained ear fan even use a stethoscope. Most installers go with a 10,000 hour lifetime between proactive replacement now.


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## parahelia (Jan 19, 2019)

There was one piece of heavy equipment at the top of the White Heat lift when we made the hike this afternoon.  Sounded like something was on but didn’t examine it closely.

Conditions were quite good all across the mountain.  All the woods were in play, Oz was fun, the closed lift on white heat made for peaceful turns.  Icy spots were limited to the high-traffic areas in late afternoon.

Oddly, there were fewer people than on a typical Saturday, let alone a holiday weekend.  Nice for those of us who were there for sure.

Can’t wait to see how it skis with a foot+ of new snow!


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## catherine (Jan 21, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I went skiing early today. Wind holds and the holiday crowd sent me packing after a couple hours. The groomers have done their magic, as usual!
> 
> So, planning for tomorrow, I checked their website
> 
> ...



I’m heading there on Thurs for 4 days.  Is the White Heat Quad out for an extended time?


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## catherine (Jan 21, 2019)

Thanks.  I’m sure we’ll have a great time even if it isn’t open.


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## machski (Jan 22, 2019)

catherine said:


> Thanks.  I’m sure we’ll have a great time even if it isn’t open.


I know they are working like crazy, they brought a lift up on a crazy route (had to have used a cat to "tow" it up) to the top to do the work.  Weather is not being kind with the deep freeze and winds currently or the damn r@!n coming tomorrow night into Thursday before maybe snapping back around to snow late Thurs.  I would plan on it being down.

As a side note, I am still very disappointed they are not running Locke in WH's stead midweek.  WH is scheduled every day, so it's not like they wouldn't have the lift staff to run Locke with WH down unplanned.

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## thetrailboss (Jan 22, 2019)

Hopefully now that Boyne has full reins of the place they can make some improvements.  Sunday River is a great place.


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## machski (Jan 22, 2019)

thetrailboss said:


> Hopefully now that Boyne has full reins of the place they can make some improvements.  Sunday River is a great place.


Honestly, WH is a pretty reliable lift (aside from wind which with how open the top is, no way to avoid that unless they went surface lift).  It does seem like big items that have certain expected life limits are left to get to the bitter end rather than be proactively replaced by the resort.  WH didn't start spinning until after the start of December, so one has to wonder how much life that bull wheel bearing had left starting the season.  It hadn't quite had 6 weeks of service before it failed/reached its serviceable limit.  I would be curious to know if it failed prematurely or around life expectancy.

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## catherine (Jan 23, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Today was fun. We had the locals race challenge first thing, then we met at North Peak and headed out after a break. Went to Jordan, did a few runs, then coming back, Flying Monkey looked nice, and since it going to get ruined tomorrow, we did that and took the Jordan lift back to the top. The we saw Karumba was nice, and since it's gonna get ruined tomorrow... Did the same for Ruby Palace, Hollywood, Gnarnia, Last Tango, Locke line, Crossbow and tightwire. My legs gave out after 6 hours of this, but what a day!
> 
> Rain tomorrow, consider this if you are planning on coming up. Friday it may well freeze hard, sharpen those edges!



Will they stay open even with the rain?  Already booked 4 days, starting tomorrow.


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## 2Planker (Jan 23, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Today was fun. We had the locals race challenge first thing, then we met at North Peak and headed out after a break. Went to Jordan, did a few runs, then coming back, Flying Monkey looked nice, and since it going to get ruined tomorrow, we did that and took the Jordan lift back to the top. The we saw Karumba was nice, and since it's gonna get ruined tomorrow... Did the same for Ruby Palace, Hollywood, Gnarnia, Last Tango, Locke line, Crossbow and tightwire. My legs gave out after 6 hours of this, but what a day!
> 
> Rain tomorrow, consider this if you are planning on coming up. Friday it may well freeze hard, sharpen those edges!



Ohhhh - Locke Line, Crossbow, Tightwire.  Was one of my favs 30 years ago, and still is today !!

 Catherine, They should be open, at least the snow will be soft...
Although The Cat just pulled the plug on Thursday...


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## catherine (Jan 23, 2019)

2Planker said:


> Ohhhh - Locke Line, Crossbow, Tightwire.  Was one of my favs 30 years ago, and still is today !!
> 
> Catherine, They should be open, at least the snow will be soft...
> Although The Cat just pulled the plug on Thursday...



As did Attitash.


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## Edd (Jan 23, 2019)

2Planker said:


> Although The Cat just pulled the plug on Thursday...



3rd day this week I think.


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## 2Planker (Jan 23, 2019)

Edd said:


> 3rd day this week I think.



2nd day this week.  They were closed Tues and will be on Thursday also


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## chuckstah (Jan 23, 2019)

2Planker said:


> 2nd day this week.  They were closed Tues and will be on Thursday also


And MLK day. 3. 

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## catherine (Jan 23, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I think you'll find that places with hotels tend to stay open, regardless of the weather to take care of their guests. Pretty much, the River doesn't shut down for rain. Wind my stop soem lifts and icing on the cables is an issue for the detachables, but rain, meh...



I’m ready


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## machski (Jan 26, 2019)

Grrrr, snowcats have hit Oz.  Hate that, just light up Lost Princess again and re-bury it.  I don't mind when they make good, dry man-made and don't groom it, natural enough to me   Looks like they did not groom Eureka, doubt they put enough man-made on it to groom it.  Hopefully they relight that trail up too, especially with WH down.  Would also like to see at least Upper Downdraft and Top Gun recovered soon and Shockwave once the Heat Quad is ready without being groomed.

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## machski (Jan 26, 2019)

Actually, 1-3" coming tomorrow supposedly.  No snow blown on Agony last night per the report and they do not groom skiers right on TW/LP.  It is skiers left closest to the guns (deepest base).  Yes, they obviously wanted Oz open this weekend TTB for the Quad to spin, especially with WH still out and all the terrain off the top off limits this weekend (no hiking allowed due to the nature of the work on the Quad).  But LP usually covers up very good without the cats if they turn the guns back on.  Oz is suppose to be a "natural area" and while snowmaking is not truely natural, it skis batural a bit when it is never groomed.  I'm ok with it, as long as they remake TW/LP within a week or so now. They also never touched any of the upper runs with Cats off the top of White Cap the last two days, Obsession yes but only from Snowbound down.  Might be a good thing, let them freeze then give it a good groom for a few days before the lift is re-opened.  Hopefully they will just re-blow SW.

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## machski (Jan 28, 2019)

WH still down and summit off limits due to "Utility Work.". That sounds electrical work on the lift to me now too.  Hmm....

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## Hawk (Jan 28, 2019)

Summit off limits.    HA HA HA

Translation:  More pow for the good guys and way less traffic.


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## machski (Jan 28, 2019)

Hawk said:


> Summit off limits.    HA HA HA
> 
> Translation:  More pow for the good guys and way less traffic.


Funny.  Probably, just don't get caught.  They were advertising the hiking prior to the last few days, so if they asked to keep out, they are probably enforcing it.  Boyne has become a bit more insistent on this since last year's late night sledding incident.

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## Hawk (Jan 29, 2019)

Mach, I know what you are saying but most of my group and most of yours will skirt the lift shack and ski over there.  What you don't think that monkeybrook and wheeler will be over there if it snows?  You would be mistaken.


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## machski (Jan 29, 2019)

Hawk said:


> Mach, I know what you are saying but most of my group and most of yours will skirt the lift shack and ski over there.  What you don't think that monkeybrook and wheeler will be over there if it snows?  You would be mistaken.


I'll probably be right there with them.  I think the issue for the mountain is probably that they are using a Cat to maintain line tension while the top return wheel is dropped and is probably sitting behind the terminal next to the patrol shack.  I have to figure there are cables stretched from it to the haul rope and since the hiking trail comes over the top that way, that is the concern.  Add to it, I don't think they ever groomed anything up there after last week's liquid, so the woods will be good but the trails could still be ugly.

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## machski (Jan 30, 2019)

All was good today.  The "No hiking of White Cap" did not seem to be enforced and offered amazing runs over there.  Looks like all the equipment is gone from The summit and ops was spinning the White Heat Quad this afternoon.  Thinking it is close to being back.

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## machski (Jan 31, 2019)

White Heat is back up today barring any wind hold issues.

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## kbroderick (Jan 31, 2019)

It was interesting that the woods seemed to get hit a lot harder, a lot quicker Wednesday vs. Sunday of MLK Weekend despite a relatively low number of people on the hill...until I remembered black-out dates.

Spent a couple hours looking for the 10" reported at the summit. I don't think we managed to find it, but the skiing we did find was still pretty damn good.


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## Razor (Feb 1, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> That 10" on top? You won't find it. Even on their website, they were saying 5-8" on the mountain. Knowing how ski resorts love to fudge the numbers, if that's as much as they could claim..... Realistically, they got a good 5 Inches (I had 11 at my house, 18 miles away. Not that it does me any good there.)
> 
> I saw White Heat spinning a bit today, though I didn't see anyone actually on it (Wasn't looking all that hard). The glades are nice today, gets you out of the cold and works you a little warmer!




Wednesday was one of the best days of Eastern skiing I've had in ages.  Not sure about 10", but plenty of powder to go around.  We stayed at Jordan, and had untracked powder for over an hour before the hoards arrived.  First run Excaliber, then Rogue,then multiple runs through Blind Ambition.  Later skied the trees above BA entrance from Excaliber for the first time.  Moving over to the main area, the Yeti woods and North woods were amazing along with Last Tango.  Only problem was that you never got to relax on a groomer as every trail except at South Ridge was bumped up.  Went 9-3 until totally exhausted.


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## machski (Feb 1, 2019)

Wednesday was amazing.  Tons of snow, end of day followed the hoard trekking over to White Cap summit, Chutzpah untouched and not sure if just from Wednesday's storm, but more than a foot of fresh in there.

Jump forward to today, darn cold but the conditions cannot be better.  Not sure I have seen this amount of snow pack at this junction of the season ever up here.  Groomed runs are packed powder for sure and barely snow any wear by the end of the midweek day.  Naturals and glades still have untracked lines waiting.  If you are undecided, make the choice to get you here!  Given the trend for next week, there is no excuse to miss out this weekend!!

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## machski (Feb 5, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I had opportunity to ride with the super from the parks program today. I got the skinny on the half pipe. The half pipe at T-72 eats up all kinds of resources and time and really doesn't get much use. Over recent years, they have had events scheduled and had to cancel due to lack of participation. So they are done with it.
> 
> Then I asked about the mini pipe by the groomer parking. He said that they need to stockpile snow to keep Broadway open and keep some snow to park the groomers on later in the season and keep the mud and rock off the trails. Since they need to stockpile snow anyways, they go ahead and make a mini pipe!
> 
> Total slushfest today, gonna turn to freezing weather about 7 PM tonight. Likely gonna be some fast skiing tomorrow, sharpen your edges.


If that is the case, get a dozer up there and knock down the earthen walls then.  Thing is an eye sore if no longer used!

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## machski (Feb 6, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I think the reason they are not dozing it in is because they have so much time invested in building it. There was an excavator all summer long building it. They never filled in the one on Monday Morning.


True, but MM one was just a scooped out divot by comparison.  Level the T72 pipe and they could have dual jump lines on the trail (freeing up lower 3D for a beginner bump park like it was originally intended for).

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## machski (Feb 6, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I like that idea. Raise your hand if you think the river will do it. Anyone???
> 
> Today's skiing was crisp and fast. The locals challenge was particularly trying. Couldn't hold an edge on the course, and I got poor times. But I watched the leader go down the course. He didn't seem to have a problem.
> 
> Otherwise, a nice sunny day and some pretty decent skiing on the groomed trails.


I tend to think they will hold off on leveling the Earthen pipe for at least a few years, just in case it comes back in Vogue.  For all I know, there could be an agreement with Gould to keep it around in case that ramps up again within their programs.

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## catherine (Feb 10, 2019)

Any reports from today.  Thinking about heading there tomorrow but really don’t want to make the drive if it’s going to be too icy.


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## Jully (Feb 11, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Short day for me today, I was sick last week, so....
> 
> Anyways, Conditions were crisp and fast today. Ice showing there here and there, scrapey. A little wind, but all lifts running. If you come tomorrow, sharpen your edges, you'll need that.



What is the snow depth (not quality) in the trees right now? Any chance we're skiing trees (or even ungroomed trails with snowmaking - like Agony/Shockwave) in the storm this week in your opinion?


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## shwilly (Feb 11, 2019)

Jully said:


> What is the snow depth (not quality) in the trees right now? Any chance we're skiing trees (or even ungroomed trails with snowmaking - like Agony/Shockwave) in the storm this week in your opinion?



Absolutely. I couldn't believe it, but there were people in Supernova / Celestial (which were open) yesterday! You could hear big scrapes followed by cascades of pellets sliding down the glazed crust. Not my bag, but I respect those crazy nuts for taking the Eastern skier mentality to the extreme.

The surface is bad now, but cover is good. It should be nice after another storm.


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## Jully (Feb 11, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> In my opinion, this storm should reopen every bit of the mountain. The base is there. It looked glazed from the lit today, but not a whole lot of rock or ground showing thru. I'm just hoping it is not a total light powder snow that'll get pushed or blown off fast, like the last one.
> 
> Today off groomer, it was rough. Shucks, even walking into North peak today was tough where they couldn't groom the ice next to the patio.



Phenomenal. Wild news about Celestial this weekend.

Probably going to ski there Wednesday. Hoping for a non sleet situation the whole day, but even with a few hours of sleet it should be great


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## Smellytele (Feb 11, 2019)

See they are having an online flash ticket sale ending 2/14


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## machski (Feb 11, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> In my opinion, this storm should reopen every bit of the mountain. The base is there. It looked glazed from the lit today, but not a whole lot of rock or ground showing thru. I'm just hoping it is not a total light powder snow that'll get pushed or blown off fast, like the last one.
> 
> Today off groomer, it was rough. Shucks, even walking into North peak today was tough where they couldn't groom the ice next to the patio.


Doubtful, seeing storm day temps into the low 30's.  Should have decent density to it.

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## Jully (Feb 13, 2019)

Can second that. Everything was incredible today. The western (higher elevation) stuff was better. Barker was a little wet, but hardly worth complaining about as it was still killer.


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## machski (Feb 14, 2019)

Jully said:


> Can second that. Everything was incredible today. The western (higher elevation) stuff was better. Barker was a little wet, but hardly worth complaining about as it was still killer.


I assume the base is solid and very little bottoming out still?

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## Jully (Feb 14, 2019)

machski said:


> I assume the base is solid and very little bottoming out still?
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app



Very minimal. Base is great.


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## Zand (Feb 16, 2019)

Plans got changed from SL to Sunday River for me on Monday. How much of a disaster will the lines be? I've never been to Sunday River later than the first week of December so I have no idea what to expect. I assume the shortest lines will be at lifts like Oz, Aurora, and Locke but correct me if I'm wrong.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 16, 2019)

Barker, Jordan and the lifts out of South ridge really are the only ones at Sunday River that can have major lines during a holiday week. Everywhere else is mostly tolerable.   Sunday River's lift system is vastly superior to Sugarloaf's at handling crowds.  

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## parahelia (Feb 16, 2019)

If today is any indication, I wouldn’t worry about crowds on Monday.  The lines weren’t bad at all - if anything, they were shorter than a typical midwinter Saturday.  Oz and Aurora only had waits of a few chairs and even Barker wasn’t bad from the times I saw it.  Everything around the resort is hopping and busy, but on the snow it’s fine.  

The mountain is wide open, including all the trees, and it seems like people are getting spread out very well.  Conditions are fantastic, especially in the woods.  You should have a great time!




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## machski (Feb 19, 2019)

Lines were just about non-existant Monday and even fewer folks out today.  It was cold, but the wind wasn't all that bad.  Great conditions, ungroomed steeps are getting very icy between the moguls, which is why I can't call conditions awesome.  That said, they woods are in terrific shaape, just be ready to duck!!  The snowpack is stacking up so deep that we are starting to get into the sections of trees that haven't been pruned!  It is shocking the amount of snowpack on the hill and even off.  Out hiking with my dog on packed trail this afternoon that was at least a foot below surrounding pack, if I stepped off just a bit, I went right up to at least my waist.  The dog was snorkeling when he went off the packed and he's not a small dog.  Very surprised the pack is still that soft that deep.

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## parahelia (Feb 25, 2019)

Skied both days this weekend.  Could the woods be any better?? The base in there is ridiculous and there were still fresh lines to be had even before Sunday’s snow arrived. You hardly need to go on a regular trail unless you’re connecting somewhere. It snowed all Sunday with a brief mid afternoon sleet interlude. 

Although we skied both weekends of vacation week the crowds weren’t bad at all.  With everything open and few wind holds, SR just soaked everyone up.

A few pix from Sunday:














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## Edd (Feb 26, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Nothing the River can do about the wind, tomorrow is another day.



Yeah, SR is in the running for most wind-affected ski area in New England, right up there with Sugarloaf and Jay Peak.


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## kbroderick (Feb 26, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> But still, who is not affected by wind holds to some degree or another, today?



Well, the direction of the lift versus the prevailing wind, as well as the protection afforded by terrain and trees, both play a big role.

Take lift 9, for example—it generally only gets interesting above the top of Jibe. If the haul line was below tree-top level, it might not be as affected. Lift 11 tends to be more sheltered, but if it's going to get iffy, it's usually as it goes by the hotel where it's higher and more exposed with a very wide trail below. Having two fixed-grip quads (9 and 11) not going to the top does help a lot in providing some terrain even when none of the peak lifts are open.

The number of Sunday River lifts that are on wide trails, at least for short distances, probably hurts it in the wind-affected department, but I'd expect the relatively low summit elevation to be helpful. It's hard to compare to other areas because (aside from Mt. Abram and Black, which isn't much of a comparison, especially on a Monday), there's nothing close enough geographically to provide a contrast (unlike Stowe/Smuggs or MRG/Sugarbush in Vermont).


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## Jully (Feb 27, 2019)

This is a big reason why there are over 5 million car crashes a year in the US. Good to have your head on a swivel. Even scarier when that happens on a weekend with 3x the number of people on the trail.


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## skiur (Mar 5, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> https://www.facebook.com/leslie.nitkiewicz/videos/10219141449474215/?t=0
> 
> Folks, the River lost a groomer on T-72. Sorry, this was last week, I should have reported it sooner.
> 
> Should be a great day out there today, looking forward to it.



Care to elaborate for us non facebookers?


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## cdskier (Mar 5, 2019)

skiur said:


> Care to elaborate for us non facebookers?



I have Facebook and even for me that link didn't work. I'm assuming though that this is the same thing that was posted in the "Beastly Groomer Porn" thread which was a video of a groomer at SR on fire.


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## ss20 (Mar 5, 2019)

I'm going back to SR for the first time in 5ish years next week for three days!!!  Stoked!  Last time I went was my only time and it was an icy mess all three days I was there. Looking forward to a lot of tree skiing.  I splurged and got three nights at the Snowcap Inn.  Ski instructor discount yields me $49 tickets.  So my total coast for skiing and lodging is $120 a night...pretty hard to beat that!!  I've driven my car literally everyday since December and I'm looking forward to just parking it for three days and walking to the slopes, and taking the shuttle into town.


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## Hawk (Mar 5, 2019)

Hopefully the storm this weekend will yield some snow for you.  Not looking good for here in VT but you never know.  By the way, the snowcap is on the opposite side of the access road from the slopes.  The walk to the trails is about 200 yards or there abouts.  Not that bad.


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## ss20 (Mar 5, 2019)

Hawk said:


> Hopefully the storm this weekend will yield some snow for you.  Not looking good for here in VT but you never know.  By the way, the snowcap is on the opposite side of the access road from the slopes.  The walk to the trails is about 200 yards or there abouts.  Not that bad.



Yep, stayed there years ago.  So I guess there's no breakfast there anymore?  

Anyone know a grocery store that's easy on/off 495 north of the Turnpike or 95?  I'm an I91 corridor/Vermont skier, and rarely drive east of it.


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## Edd (Mar 5, 2019)

ss20 said:


> Anyone know a grocery store that's easy on/off 495 north of the Turnpike or 95?  I'm an I91 corridor/Vermont skier, and rarely drive east of it.



Are you taking the Maine Turnpike and getting off at the Gray exit? You’ll pass right by a Hannafords in Gray if so.


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## Dickc (Mar 5, 2019)

Edd said:


> Are you taking the Maine Turnpike and getting off at the Gray exit? You’ll pass right by a Hannafords in Gray if so.



Not only a Hannaford's in Gray, but another in MEchanic Falls by Route 11, and a third one in Oxford just short of the Norway town line.  Lastly there is a Super Walmart in Oxford too.


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## Dickc (Mar 5, 2019)

cdskier said:


> I have Facebook and even for me that link didn't work. I'm assuming though that this is the same thing that was posted in the "Beastly Groomer Porn" thread which was a video of a groomer at SR on fire.



Correct, that is the groomer burning!


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## ss20 (Mar 5, 2019)

Edd said:


> Are you taking the Maine Turnpike and getting off at the Gray exit? You’ll pass right by a Hannafords in Gray if so.



Whoops..."Turnpike" for me is the Mass Pike.  Forgot 95 in Maine is a Turnpike. 

Y'all know anything off 495 north of the Mass Pike?  I won't be entering Maine until at least 8pm Sunday night...so I don't want to rely on a store that closes at 9.  Thanks for the good details.


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## Hawk (Mar 5, 2019)

The last exit on 495 before you hit 95 in Amesbury (Route 110) there is a Stop and Shop.  Head East towards Salisbury and it is on the Left.


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## ss20 (Mar 5, 2019)

Hawk said:


> The last exit on 495 before you hit 95 in Amesbury (Route 110) there is a Stop and Shop.  Head East towards Salisbury and it is on the Left.



Just what I'm looking for, thanks Hawk.  Now get back to the Sugarbush thread!!


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## skiur (Mar 6, 2019)

Do we know what caused the groomer to go up in flames?


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## machski (Mar 6, 2019)

Snow was good, winds put Jordan on hold after 11 but all others stayed up (Barker went to half speed).  Looked to me the Crossbow and Tightwire were closed due to the GS race on T2 to MM.  The finish line fencing was positioned tight to the treeline at the end of Tightwire, not allowing an exit.  And since you can't exit Crossbow onto Over Easy due to the start box for the boarder cross run, that has to be closed too.  And 1500 road is useless as they won't open it with the cross course setup on Rocking Chair.  

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## ss20 (Mar 10, 2019)

Holy shit it's deep here!  At least 5" in the parking lot of the Snow Cap when I pulled in with some light freezing mist.  After last year when I hit Sugarbush/Stowe/MRG for a 5 day trip when each mountain received 3-4 feet that week I thought I'd never have another ski week that awesome.  But tomorrow is a powder day, a  couple inches again tomorrow night, and then some serious spring skiing Wednesday into Friday.  

I am PUMPED.

Week schedule is SR, SR, SR, Wildcat, Cannon, maybe Killington for the weekend depending on Friday's weather (more worried about re-freeze Saturday than lack-of-snow.)


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## machski (Mar 11, 2019)

The mountain has just pissed off a bunch of regulars today as we have discovered they have quietly moved up the closing date to April 21 from the 28th.  None of us are too happy, especially given all the snow and that it appears to have been changed AFTER the flash sale for next year's season passes closed.  Starting to get tired of paying more each year and seemingly getting less.  I will grant that we were skiing much earlier into October this year than several past years, but they always try for that if nature will cooperate.  Ski Mania used to be called that because it fell on May Day!!!  Glad I bought my Beast Spring pass now!!!

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## machski (Mar 11, 2019)

Oh, and if you enjoy Crossbow and Tightwire, better get your fill if they reopen them this year.  Crossbow sounds like that trail is a definite loss to the racing T-Bar and likely Tightwire too unless they cut a new exit.  Lots of bad juju this week from the mountain.

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## ss20 (Mar 11, 2019)

That 3" skied much deeper in the AM.  Super dense snow made me ski aggressive as ice and hitting debris was pretty much a non-issue.  Spent my entire AM on Jordan Bowl and Aurora.  Got a TON of first tracks.  Sunday River definitely suffers from what I call "the Okemo phenomenon" as the clientele does not go off groomers.  I hit the trail under the Oz lift and got 2nd tracks at 10:20am.  I was lapping fresh powder in Blind Ambition til the Jordan lift went down.  Lots of people today but very few off trail or off the beaten path in the glades.  After a late lunch I hit Spruce Peak and did Downdraft and Grnarnia.  Grnarnia lives up to its name.  Tomorrow I will hit Barker and Whitecap. 

Had a lot of fun today.  Kind of enjoying staying at the "resort" for a change.  It is also sad as you can tell everything is from the 80s and 90s...no new money flowing in.  However a ski patroller said on the lift they were having a banner year and the bartender at the restaurant I visited in town said the same.


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## parahelia (Mar 11, 2019)

I also spent the morning in Jordan/Oz until the wind hold.  The snow was excellent everywhere, and agreed about lots of first tracks, true even in the afternoon.  Poppy Fields and the eastern side of Blind Ambition were highlights, kept getting fresh lines.  While I did see people in the woods from time to time, there is just so much open that everyone got spread out. 

ss20, you’ll find the snow heavier when you go to White Cap tomorrow.  Finished my day on Chutzpah and while it was fun, it was definitely more work than the western woods.  My legs are beat.

A few pix from today below.



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## 180 (Mar 11, 2019)

nice reports


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## kbroderick (Mar 12, 2019)

machski said:


> Oh, and if you enjoy Crossbow and Tightwire, better get your fill if they reopen them this year.  Crossbow sounds like that trail is a definite loss to the racing T-Bar and likely Tightwire too unless they cut a new exit.  Lots of bad juju this week from the mountain.



While I'm bummed for those trails to go away and I'd love it if they found a way to keep Tightwire in play—I think the Crossbow / Tightwire combo is a relatively hidden jewel in that trail pod—the t-bar is a good thing. It's incredibly helpful for the competition programs, both in terms of turnaround time and in terms of not losing days to wind, but it should also help take pressure off the Barker and Locke lifts as well as Ecstacy on peak days because racers will be using the t-bar rather than adding another 30-200 bodies to the congestion (numbers will vary, but on a race day it could well be over 200, all of whom are trying to get on the lift at the exact same time; on a training day, 30-60 at a time would be more normal).


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## Hawk (Mar 12, 2019)

machski said:


> Oh, and if you enjoy Crossbow and Tightwire, better get your fill if they reopen them this year.  Crossbow sounds like that trail is a definite loss to the racing T-Bar and likely Tightwire too unless they cut a new exit.  Lots of bad juju this week from the mountain.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app


That is complete and utter BullSh*t from Boyne.  Without a doubt, those two trails are my favorite on the mountain.  I guess I will be poaching the t-bar line on a regular basis as a form of protest.  screw them.


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## Edd (Mar 12, 2019)

Hawk said:


> That is complete and utter BullSh*t from Boyne.  Without a doubt, those two trails are my favorite on the mountain.  I guess I will be poaching the t-bar line on a regular basis as a form of protest.  screw them.



Yeah, that sucks for sure. Great hits on a pow day.


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## machski (Mar 12, 2019)

kbroderick said:


> While I'm bummed for those trails to go away and I'd love it if they found a way to keep Tightwire in play—I think the Crossbow / Tightwire combo is a relatively hidden jewel in that trail pod—the t-bar is a good thing. It's incredibly helpful for the competition programs, both in terms of turnaround time and in terms of not losing days to wind, but it should also help take pressure off the Barker and Locke lifts as well as Ecstacy on peak days because racers will be using the t-bar rather than adding another 30-200 bodies to the congestion (numbers will vary, but on a race day it could well be over 200, all of whom are trying to get on the lift at the exact same time; on a training day, 30-60 at a time would be more normal).


I agree the T is a boost for the comp program.  HOWEVER, it was sold to donors and the public it would go up on skier's right of MM.  They changed the plans after they had the funding.  My guess is because SR did not want to extend the Race Arena snowmaking line all the way up, which would make reliably covering the upper part of the T-Bar line difficult, at least in the early going of the season.  Now the line is right by the primary MM snowmaking line and they can use SR-7 guns to blast up and down the line.

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## WWF-VT (Mar 12, 2019)

machski said:


> The mountain has just pissed off a bunch of regulars today as we have discovered they have quietly moved up the closing date to April 21 from the 28th.  None of us are too happy, especially given all the snow and that it appears to have been changed AFTER the flash sale for next year's season passes closed.  Starting to get tired of paying more each year and seemingly getting less.  I will grant that we were skiing much earlier into October this year than several past years, but they always try for that if nature will cooperate.  Ski Mania used to be called that because it fell on May Day!!!  Glad I bought my Beast Spring pass now!!!




Gotta love it - bragging rights for being open in October.... but bitching for closing too early in Aoril.


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## ss20 (Mar 12, 2019)

Spent my day at Barker and Whitecap (between windholds).  I got 2nd tracks down the moguls on Agony.  Hollywood is a great glade.  The real winner though was Whitecap.  Chuzpah and Hardball glades are some of the best tree runs I've done on this coast.  Both have great technical, steep upper sections, and then a variety of pitches and tree types the rest of the way down.  Any glade over 1,200 vertical gets an A in my book.  The whole area skis like a longer (but certainly not steeper) Bear at Killington, but with less southern exposure and more snow/elevation.  The "above treeline" thing is kinda cool on the top hundred feet, and the wind today made for fresh tracks up there.  Shockwave (and its cliff) skied fabulous.  I did not ski White Heat at 100 seconds down skidding groomed turns did not sound too enticing with _real_ terrain right there in the pod.


Planning an all-out assault for tomorrow with mid-winter conditions in the AM and then spring in the PM.  Going to hit my favorites on all 8 peaks tomorrow.  Wish me luck!


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## nanjil (Mar 13, 2019)

there are unofficial glades you may want to try. for example htere is a glade on skiers right on shockwave. SR gas been promoting some of these unofficial to "official" in the last few years. hollywood is one such which received some 'glade' management. but some of these like poppy fields in the west are still pretty steep, tight and hard to find a line (at least for a old foggy like me). have fun!


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## shwilly (Mar 13, 2019)

ss20 said:


> Spent my day at Barker and Whitecap (between windholds).  I got 2nd tracks down the moguls on Agony.  Hollywood is a great glade.  The real winner though was Whitecap.  Chuzpah and Hardball glades are some of the best tree runs I've done on this coast.  Both have great technical, steep upper sections, and then a variety of pitches and tree types the rest of the way down.  Any glade over 1,200 vertical gets an A in my book.  The whole area skis like a longer (but certainly not steeper) Bear at Killington, but with less southern exposure and more snow/elevation.  The "above treeline" thing is kinda cool on the top hundred feet, and the wind today made for fresh tracks up there.  Shockwave (and its cliff) skied fabulous.  I did not ski White Heat at 100 seconds down skidding groomed turns did not sound too enticing with _real_ terrain right there in the pod.



This sums up my feelings about that peak very well. I really like that area, and I do White Heat maybe three times a season. 

The funny thing about the terrain at the very top is that it's only around 2600' elevation! It certainly feels higher.


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## machski (Mar 13, 2019)

WWF-VT said:


> Gotta love it - bragging rights for being open in October.... but bitching for closing too early in Aoril.


They once paced Killington on both ends, going as late as Memorial Day in the LBO era.  Now they keep cutting weekends off the end and yet our season pass process are still the most expensive in the East.

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## ss20 (Mar 13, 2019)

nanjil said:


> there are unofficial glades you may want to try. for example htere is a glade on skiers right on shockwave. SR gas been promoting some of these unofficial to "official" in the last few years. hollywood is one such which received some 'glade' management. but some of these like poppy fields in the west are still pretty steep, tight and hard to find a line (at least for a old foggy like me). have fun!



I did that "backside" glade off Shockwave today.  Wow.  Thank you so much!!!  It began with a windblown slab (5ft vertical drop, nothing crazy) into a 50-75 foot chute of windblown delight.  Then the "canyon" area had stayed snow keeping the snow fresh and light...also some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in the woods.  Good amount of technical terrain in there opening up to classic NE hardwoods skiing.  

I had a great trip.  I really liked the feel of the terrain and the mountains.  All the fixed-grip lifts went pretty fast and had very few stoppages.  Navigation between peaks was easy.  Not too much traversing required save for Jordan back to the top of North Peak.  Grooming was impeccable.  Much less slickness than one would expect given only 3" has fallen in a week.  Not too sure why people hate this place for overgrooming....lots of terrain both natural/snowmaking had bumps.  As expected, I didn't find anything very technical/steep (although I'm sure Whitecap glades and Spruce cliff under the chair would be much more challenging with less snow).  Trees are Sunday's biggest asset, and most of the reason why I came.  From Whitecap to Jordan there was a great variety of well-maintained tree runs.  Crowds were honestly larger than I expected for mid-March widweek.  The wait for Jordan and Barker reached 10-20 chairs at times.  South Ridge parking was filled, even parked a couple rows in the big lot by the Snow Cap.  I knew the mountain did not handle wind well but had no idea how bad it was.  On Monday and Tuesday there were windholds.  Not even a breath of wind at the base but powerful gusts up top.  Why is there no wind fencing atop Jordan or White Cap?????

Really not too much to complain about (within the mountain's control) other than that there was no soap two days in a row in the upstairs bathroom of the base lodge.  Lifts ran in circles, snow surfaces were good, no BS lift closures as one may expect late season, and no groomers on fire.


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## skinowworklater (Mar 17, 2019)

Let's hope that Boyne had the forethought or financial clout to "reserve" a spot with the lift manufacturers in that there are only a few, and the demand to replace aging lifts is sky high!


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## machski (Mar 17, 2019)

skinowworklater said:


> Let's hope that Boyne had the forethought or financial clout to "reserve" a spot with the lift manufacturers in that there are only a few, and the demand to replace aging lifts is sky high!


I have a feeling Boyne probably has a few slots with Dopp they can pull at any time.  When you become the first to install and debut their new technology line (Ramcharger 8 D-Line), you probably get some privileges.

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## ss20 (Mar 17, 2019)

skinowworklater said:


> Let's hope that Boyne had the forethought or financial clout to "reserve" a spot with the lift manufacturers in that there are only a few, and the demand to replace aging lifts is sky high!



Outside of Barker what needs replacing within 10 years???  Maybe Locke?  SR was developed super late... mostly late-80s/early 90s lifts.  Lot of life left in them.


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## 2Planker (Mar 18, 2019)

ss20 said:


> Outside of Barker what needs replacing within 10 years???  Maybe Locke?  SR was developed super late... mostly late-80s/early 90s lifts.  Lot of life left in them.



The Whole Barker Lodge needs to be replaced. It's basically the orig structure from the 60's w/ a couple additions.
 Parking lot also needs to be addressed

 Not to mention the sorry state of the White Cap lodge for the LAST 10 YEARS

NEW HS Six Pack for Barker.
 Loading Carpet for Aurora
NEW Tempest and Lil White Cap lifts


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## MEtoVTSkier (Mar 18, 2019)

I would expect the remaining lift manufacturers to be scaling up production, in response to increased demand.


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## machski (Mar 18, 2019)

2Planker said:


> The Whole Barker Lodge needs to be replaced. It's basically the orig structure from the 60's w/ a couple additions.
> Parking lot also needs to be addressed
> 
> Not to mention the sorry state of the White Cap lodge for the LAST 10 YEARS
> ...


Yes on your list except for Little White Cap, they won't spend money there.  And honestly, the only hope for Tempest is for Jordan to be replaced by a HSS and they refurb and reuse Jordan on Tempest.

After the mob scene this Saturday at South Ridge when the Chondi went on wind hold, I honestly think the SRQ needs to be upgraded to a HSS to have adequate carrying capacity for the numerous times the Chondi goes on wind holds.

As to Locke, would love to see a detach replacement with a full midstation to ease the pain of downloading season, but that is a pipe dream.  We'll be lucky enough for Boyne to replace Barker in a few years, we'll never get them to spring for a new Locke chair, especially with the money just spent to install a new too return station a few years ago.

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## 2Planker (Mar 18, 2019)

machski said:


> Yes on your list except for Little White Cap, they won't spend money there.  And honestly, the only hope for Tempest is for Jordan to be replaced by a HSS and they refurb and reuse Jordan on Tempest.
> 
> After the mob scene this Saturday at South Ridge when the Chondi went on wind hold, I honestly think the SRQ needs to be upgraded to a HSS to have adequate carrying capacity for the numerous times the Chondi goes on wind holds.
> 
> ...



I hear ya...

 South Ridge Quad (Lift #2) was in need of replacement as soon as the Chondi (#7) went in.   
One quad is NOT adequate when the Chondi goes down.

 Locke is ancient, BUT doesn't serve much (Upper Punch, Bims, Upper Cut) that isn't accessable from Barker

White Cap used to be the best place to park, and ski out of...

 BEST case scenario is a New Barker Lift and Lodge. 
Everything else will rot in place until it breaks down or someone gets hurt


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## Jully (Mar 18, 2019)

As someone that does not own on mountain, I love White Cap as beat up and not used. Given the uptick in crowds at Wildcat this year on holidays, I honestly think one of the best places to ski peak holiday periods and avoid parking and lodge mayhem is White Cap at SR. White Heat Quad is rarely backed up and if the woods are skiable, there is a lot there.


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## 2Planker (Mar 18, 2019)

Jully said:


> As someone that does not own on mountain, I love White Cap as beat up and not used. Given the uptick in crowds at Wildcat this year on holidays, I honestly think one of the best places to ski peak holiday periods and avoid parking and lodge mayhem is White Cap at SR. White Heat Quad is rarely backed up and if the woods are skiable, there is a lot there.



I agree w/ you.

 When I worked there (for 20 years) I always asked to be assigned to the top of White Cap.
     Best trails
     Best lift lines
     Best skiers

On days off/family days we  always did and still do go to White Cap.
Although Wildcat is our true home Mt now, there will always be a place for SR


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## deadheadskier (Mar 18, 2019)

When SR was the home hill when I lived in Portland for a few years, I always started my day at Whitecap.  Uncrowded lodge with level parking.   Two peaks I spent the most time skiing were Whitecap and Aurora.  No interest in Barker/Locke/Jordan on weekends except early or late in the day. 

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## machski (Mar 18, 2019)

Since we own at Brookside, White Cap is home base.  I too Love White Heat Quad and the terrain it accesses.  With the snow year we have had, terrain really is hard to beat off of it.  I love that it is quiet but as someone who wants to see SR succeed for years to come, I feel like the mountain is not doing itself right with the current state of White Cap Lodge.  Weekends and Peak days, the two other lodges are jam packed.  But White Cap offers almost no services (Shipyard and Coffee Hound these days), not fast to get out of the base and move anywhere, just seems like a missed opportunity.

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## Jully (Mar 18, 2019)

machski said:


> Since we own at Brookside, White Cap is home base.  I too Love White Heat Quad and the terrain it accesses.  With the snow year we have had, terrain really is hard to beat off of it.  I love that it is quiet but as someone who wants to see SR succeed for years to come, I feel like the mountain is not doing itself right with the current state of White Cap Lodge.  Weekends and Peak days, the two other lodges are jam packed.  But White Cap offers almost no services (Shipyard and Coffee Hound these days), not fast to get out of the base and move anywhere, just seems like a missed opportunity.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T830 using AlpineZone mobile app



I absolutely agree with you. Hence my saying as someone who doesn't own at SR in the previous post. I can be a little more selfish when I'm a free agent year to year.

That said I want all mountains to succeed and thus do support revitalizing white cap, I'll just be a bit bitter about it for very selfish reasons.


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## deadheadskier (Mar 18, 2019)

No doubt about it Whitecap lodge is a dump.  But it's got to be LOW on the priority list.  If you were going to drop $5M tomorrow on a base lodge upgrade, rank which of them in terms of ROI you could expect the best return provided there are no changes to parking.  

I'd say maybe a tie between South Ridge and Barker with Whitecap a distant 3rd.  I'd guess slight edge to South ridge because it has the most parking, but Barker does have a longer season, it is small and is obviously very high traffic middle of the day.  

That opinion is based off what SR was like ten years ago though.  Ive probably averaged 1 day a year there since then. I could be way off base.



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## machski (Mar 19, 2019)

deadheadskier said:


> No doubt about it Whitecap lodge is a dump.  But it's got to be LOW on the priority list.  If you were going to drop $5M tomorrow on a base lodge upgrade, rank which of them in terms of ROI you could expect the best return provided there are no changes to parking.
> 
> I'd say maybe a tie between South Ridge and Barker with Whitecap a distant 3rd.  I'd guess slight edge to South ridge because it has the most parking, but Barker does have a longer season, it is small and is obviously very high traffic middle of the day.
> 
> ...


A larger Barker would be welcome but the parking space there is always an issue.  But given how racing at the mountain has grown, several weekends a year we need a much larger Barker to house the race teams and general patrons in a semi-civilized fashion.  Being on mountain, we just avoid Barker those weekends.  But that lodge gets packed often without a huge increase in vehicles parking at Barker (thanks to teams being bused in).

Plus, South Ridge has always been a bit of an add on lodge, growing here and there.  I think some of it is good enough to just renovate, the add on up the slope portion could probably be ripped down and built back up new with a better flow/ level to the main Lodge portion.

Will be interesting to see if money flows from Boyne to the Eastern 3some.  I know the Loafer's want some investment and Loon is still long in waiting on South Peak being completed finally, not to mention rumors of a new Gondola even after the new cabins for the current.

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## machski (Mar 22, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Talked to another black jacket. The location of the upper and lower bull wheel for the high speed T bar next to Monday morning has not yet been ironed out. He said they are hopeful they can cut a new entrance for crossbow so we can keep that trail. He wasn't so hopeful for tight wire.



I'm not surprised, all the clear cutting I had heard about had amounted to at most a survey line trimmed out by last weekend.  Still shocks me they are debating closing Tightwire.  Close it below 1500 road if you must, but trim a slightly different exit from 1500 onto RC and it should miss the first bank turn and down lower, skiers right is always open behind the lower banks.  The other interesting thing with putting the T-Bar on that side of MM is that Over Easy from MM will not need to be permanently closed as well.  This year they had used Over Easy for the competition starts on the cross trail.  Will that mean they actually make snow and groom the upper section of Tightwire from Punch to Over Easy to access that cross start point moving forward?

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## shwilly (Mar 24, 2019)

Funny weekend. Wind hold day yesterday, then a really nice spring day today with a variety of fresh snow properties from one area to another. The only downside was that the mountain has initiated late season lift shutdowns, resulting in apocalyptic lift lines when crowds showed up for the good day today.

It is really stupid to have 20 minute lift lines because you wouldn't pay an additional ~6 lifties on a March weekend. Today was a good day that could have been totally epic if you could lap things without long lines.


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## machski (Mar 25, 2019)

shwilly said:


> Funny weekend. Wind hold day yesterday, then a really nice spring day today with a variety of fresh snow properties from one area to another. The only downside was that the mountain has initiated late season lift shutdowns, resulting in apocalyptic lift lines when crowds showed up for the good day today.
> 
> It is really stupid to have 20 minute lift lines because you wouldn't pay an additional ~6 lifties on a March weekend. Today was a good day that could have been totally epic if you could lap things without long lines.


And apparently they don't have to pay any lifties this summer as they have eliminated DH mountain biking.  They are really starting to truncate the season far too much.  I can see the Jordan Double not running, but if Oz is in good shape, that/Locke/North/Quantum should be running all weekends in March.  No one else shuts off that many lifts this early.

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## 2Planker (Mar 25, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> They are already contracting. Little White Cap lift is done for Mid week service, but they are listing the Little White Cap area as open, as one could skate over to it after going down White Heat. I'm just thinking the people who want/need to ski littel white cap won't do so well coming down White heat...
> 
> Today's skiing was groomers everywhere, hard and fast early, softening as the day went on. One guy in our group wanted to do Shockwave. Okay, we said. Hard and crisp at 2 PM. We did it, can't say we enjoyed it much.... LOL!
> 
> ...




 Looks like they may have pulled the plug on the (moved  to) 4/21 Ski Mania.... It is now NOT listed on the events page.....
Hmmmm.....


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## machski (Mar 29, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> I find it interesting that Jordan will be open this coming week, then closed Monday and Tuesday, open Wednesday, then closed Thursday and Friday of the following week. Must be something going on at Jordan Wednesday, though I can't find it.


They must have a group or conference booked at the Jordan that wanted to ski as well.  Must be a fairly large group to trigger that I would think, but bonus for midweek skiers!

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## machski (Apr 5, 2019)

Finally, a move by SR management to cheer about!  Tomorrow inaugurates Happy Hour days, select spring days select lifts stay open until 5pm!  Tomorrow it's Chondi, Barker, White Cap!  About time!!

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## skicub (Apr 6, 2019)

Hey Uphill, I’ve skied SR since I was a kid, and have been a River fanatic for many years, but I don’t remember them ever staying open late in years past. Have there been Any past attempts at this “happy hour” practice at the River? Surely a welcome sign, after their recent Pre-mature scheduling cutbacks. 


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## 2Planker (Apr 6, 2019)

skicub said:


> Hey Uphill, I’ve skied SR since I was a kid, and have been a River fanatic for many years, but I don’t remember them ever staying open late in years past. Have there been Any past attempts at this “happy hour” practice at the River? Surely a welcome sign, after their recent Pre-mature scheduling cutbacks.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone



YES they have. I worked there for 20+  years and they used to do it more often, years ago.... 

 Notice that 5-6 other Mts are also advertising the same this weekend.  

More influence from social media, rather than actual people who ski there frequently or even 100% of their time


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## machski (Apr 6, 2019)

Bummer the sun didn't break through for the late turns today, even a bit of drizzle around then.  Not a big crowd at Barker post 4pm and for whatever reason, Agony/TG/Hollywood were closed for the late sessions.  That is the whole idea of late turns in the spring, let the bumps soften (which they did)!

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## machski (Apr 6, 2019)

machski said:


> Bummer the sun didn't break through for the late turns today, even a bit of drizzle around then.  Not a big crowd at Barker post 4pm and for whatever reason, Agony/TG/Hollywood were closed for the late sessions.  That is the whole idea of late turns in the spring, let the bumps soften (which they did)!
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app


Apparently the closures were due to momma bear and her cubs roaming those areas late in the day.

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## 2Planker (Apr 10, 2019)

SR just announced they will be *OPEN for the weekend of 4/27 & 4/28*
Orig last day was supposed to be 4/21..... 
Although I do think it's weekends only after 4/15


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## chuckstah (Apr 10, 2019)

2Planker said:


> SR just announced they will be *OPEN for the weekend of 4/27 & 4/28*
> Orig last day was supposed to be 4/21.....
> Although I do think it's weekends only after 4/15


It's nice that they will open for the 27/28, but it is NOT an extra weekend. That is the original closing weekend advertised on trail maps, in the lodges and online, all season long. SR tried to shorten the season to 4/21 and received a lot of flack for it, and are now staying open as advertised. 

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## 2Planker (Apr 10, 2019)

chuckstah said:


> It's nice that they will open for the 27/28, but it is NOT an extra weekend. That is the original closing weekend advertised on trail maps, in the lodges and online, all season long. SR tried to shorten the season to 4/21 and received a lot of flack for it, and are now staying open as advertised.
> 
> Sent from my moto e5 cruise using AlpineZone mobile app



By then it's WildCat or SL anyway....


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## machski (Apr 10, 2019)

2Planker said:


> By then it's WildCat or SL anyway....


Not for those of us with property at SR!

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## chuckstah (Apr 10, 2019)

2Planker said:


> By then it's WildCat or SL anyway....


That weekend will now be Wildcat Saturday and Sunday River Sunday for me as long as no rain. 

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## 2Planker (Apr 11, 2019)

uphillklimber said:


> Skiing was awesome today, short lines, I think the British invasion was half of the people here, about 290 people. We skied oz and Blind Ambition multiple times, then took a break about 1:30 or so, then went back out and skied Yetiville and North woods. Done at 3, left it all out there! Awesome day of skiing!




 Hot off the SR press...
  OPEN across ALL 8 peaks this weekend !


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## machski (Apr 11, 2019)

2Planker said:


> Hot off the SR press...
> OPEN across ALL 8 peaks this weekend !


Not hot off the press, has been their plan all along for this weekend since they put up the spring operations plan link off the mountain report.

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## 2Planker (Apr 11, 2019)

machski said:


> Not hot off the press, has been their plan all along for this weekend since they put up the spring operations plan link off the mountain report.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app



I know they're serving up the Kool Aid over there.....

  Yes, that was the original last weekend, BUT we are all well aware of the Boyne BS they tried to get away with, immediately after the flash sale ended w/ the move up of the last day to 4/21. NOT cool !

Glad that people spoke up, and glad that the conditions will still be excellent.

3-4 weekends left at the Cat, may make a SL trip as well...


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## thetrailboss (Apr 16, 2019)

So not 2018 or 2019, but a recent find of mine that is a gem. 


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## machski (Apr 16, 2019)

Classic trail guide for sure!

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