# Burke - 12/29/14



## VTKilarney (Dec 29, 2014)

I had cleared my schedule this week to spend some time skiing with my family.  Mother Nature did not agree with this plan.  Nonetheless, I was determined to get out there.  We headed up to the mountain right after lunch.  It was not crowded, but it was not as dead as I expected.  It was definitely a family vacation period.  The lodge looked like a crowd from an iCarly appearance at the local mall - which is to say that there were lots of kids and especially tweens.  A large proportion of these families were beginners.  There was a VERY large percentage of skiers with rental equipment.

We decided to stick to the lower mountain and had low expectations.  This turned out to be a good thing.  The conditions were not good at all.  There was a layer of loose granular on top of rock hard boiler plate.  The loose granular had been scraped off in a lot of places leaving a lot of ice to contend with.  The less the slope, the better the conditions.

The thaw has definitely hit the mountain hard.  The snow guns were going on Dashney Mile (on the lower hill) with a couple of additional guns blowing in other places on the lower hill.  

We took six runs before calling it quits.  None of us were upset to be leaving.  

Even though the conditions were less than ideal, I am glad that I got out.  Now that I have seen the conditions, I am not nearly as upset to be staying home for the remainder of the week as I would have been.

The people that I feel the most sorry for are the true beginners.  The weather we have been having may discourage many of them from continuing with the sport, and that's not a good thing for anyone.  I also feel sorry for the families that are only able to ski a couple of times per year.  

As far as Burke is concerned, I'm starting to think that they just don't have nearly enough snow blowing capacity as they need.  They got caught with insufficient man-made snow when the thaw hit, and their ability to rebound appears to be extremely poor.  It seems like the best they can do is blow snow on one lower mountain trail, or on a small portion of the upper mountain - and not at the same time.  Once they are done with focusing on the lower mountain, their plan is to blow on Lower Willoughby.  While that's nice, that's like putting a Band Aid on a huge gaping wound.  

So in the meantime I'll be wishing for some natural snow and hoping that temperatures continue to allow snow making. 

The staff seems to have good spirits, and the guests seemed to be making the most of an unfortunate weather situation.  Hopefully things will get better sooner than later.  I'm just glad that I can make my own work schedule and that my children ski with their school.  This will hopefully help to make up for a lost opportunity this week.


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## dlague (Dec 29, 2014)

My guess that is a common theme across northern VT and NH even south of there!  After skiing similar conditions at Gunstock, my wife requested we focus on home tasks rather than ski boiler plate at Cannon which I suspect was the case!  We are hoping that the mountains make a lot of snow this week with these colder temps!


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## VTKilarney (Dec 29, 2014)

Binney Lane from the Sherburne chair.  




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## VTKilarney (Dec 29, 2014)

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## VTKilarney (Dec 29, 2014)

Top of Sherburne Express.  




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## VTKilarney (Dec 29, 2014)

Bunker Hill to the left.  Binney Lane was closed below the intersection with Bunker Hill.



If you wanted to avoid the HKD fan gun, you had to go through this icy chute to ski down Bunker Hill.




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## VTKilarney (Dec 29, 2014)

Upper Warren's Way in the top background needs LOTS of snow.




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## VTKilarney (Dec 29, 2014)

Loading area for the Sherburne Express. 




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## Tin (Dec 29, 2014)

They look Qscrewed.


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## VTKilarney (Dec 29, 2014)

Tin said:


> They look Qscrewed.


I don't think that they got hit worse than anyone else.  My real concern is that with ideal snow making temperatures, they are making snow at a snail's pace.  Does anyone know if the switch to electric compressors has affected their overall capacity to blow snow?


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## WoodCore (Dec 29, 2014)

Looks like Team Beaverkill fell asleep at the Qswitch!


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## thetrailboss (Dec 29, 2014)

Wow, just wow.  That rivals the terrible conditions that I saw there in December 2006.  Please tell me that they aren't charging full holiday rate for that.  

I wonder how much of this is due to them being shortstaffed and "cost cutting" measures that means less snowmaking than previously.


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## thetrailboss (Dec 29, 2014)

WoodCore said:


> Looks like Team Beaverkill fell asleep at the Qswitch!



So I know some of the snowmaking guys...call me biased...but from what I have seen the Team Beaverkill consists of maybe six guys.  That is just not enough to cover the mountain when needed.  That's an issue that falls in the lap of the Little General and his lack of leadership IMHO.

At the end of the day when Q runs in the red Little General will have to explain it to Daddy.


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## freeski (Dec 30, 2014)

Looks like good coverage where the chairlift loads. 

edit: Sorry I meant Q-lift.


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## thetrailboss (Dec 30, 2014)

freeski said:


> Looks like good coverage where the chairlift loads.
> 
> edit: Sorry I meant Q-lift.



You mean Quad?


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## freeski (Dec 30, 2014)

thetrailboss said:


> You mean Quad?


Q-Quad??


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## thetrailboss (Dec 30, 2014)

freeski said:


> Q-Quad??



Yes, exactly.


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