# How bad will it really be this weekend?



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

New guy here.

So I've been watching the weather all week and I am very bummed. I've had a trip up to Gore planned for this weekend all winter and I was really excited about all the snow they were getting.

Now they are saying 53 degrees and raining on Friday followed by 25 degrees on Saturday!!

Now, I am pretty new to skiing, so can anyone explain to me exactly how bad the conditions are going to be on Saturday morning? I am really worried that for a novice like me it will be pretty difficult.

How about Sunday and Monday? Do you think it will get better since they will have more time to groom?

Thanks! :beer:


----------



## deadheadskier (Feb 17, 2011)

depends on how much rain they get.  They might choose to let a lot of the trails drain on Saturday.

I was planning on skiing Saturday, I've switched to Sunday.  I'm not someone who loves skiing groomers, but that's probably the only thing that will be decent until either:

A. we get new snow.

B. we enter into a spring corn cycle.

Hoping A comes soon and B doesn't come until April.


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

Yeah, I am definitely going Sunday and Monday. I was thinking about going super early on Saturday and getting in just a few runs because I have a three day lift ticket gift card that I need to use. 

I'm just hoping that the rain somehow misses the mountain. My fingers are tightly crossed.

I just don't want to be skiing on ice all weekend. That would be a bummer.


----------



## drjeff (Feb 17, 2011)

watchoutbelow said:


> Yeah, I am definitely going Sunday and Monday. I was thinking about going super early on Saturday and getting in just a few runs because I have a three day lift ticket gift card that I need to use.
> 
> I'm just hoping that the rain somehow misses the mountain. My fingers are tightly crossed.
> 
> I just don't want to be skiing on ice all weekend. That would be a bummer.



A little patience will be key this weekend, if the anticipated weather happens.  On Saturday you'll find that the mountain has groomed out a bunch of trails, which more than likely during the 1st couple of hours will ski decently.  Realistically since this will be a very busy ski weekend, those nice early AM groomers will get a bit scraped off by late morning.  There more than likely will be some trails closed Saturday if they do get a good thaw and then a hard freeze back up.

Come Sunday, things will be better do to more grooming and more water draining out of the snowpack, and if the possible storm comes on Monday,  things will be getting back to decent pretty quickly.

Gotta remember as a mountain is managing their snowpack, sometimes the best thing they can do for the longterm benefit is to keep all equipment and people off a trail in the day or so immediately after a freeze up, to get as much water to drain out of the top layer of the snowpack as possible.

Also, we need to hope that the front comes through as early as possible Friday afternoon to start the cooldown, as the mountains won't want to start grooming the runs they decide to until after they freeze back up.  The earlier they freeze back up, the more terrain they can groom out before 1st chair Saturday AM


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

Sounds like it won't be a total wash, but Sunday will be crazy busy I assume. I'm just hoping people decide to stay away for the whole weekend because of the weather. Either way I will be with friends, so I'm sure it will end up being fun.


----------



## Greg (Feb 17, 2011)

Bummer. My one and only trip to Gore was under similar circumstances. Warm, spring-like leading up and then a deep freeze. All the good stuff was out of play. The steep groomers were okay, but pretty fast and flat, not my favorite conditions. Sounds like you prefer groomed intermediate terrain? That stuff might not be so bad. What made our trip worse was that we drove home into the St. Patty's Day storm we had a few years ago. Took 5+ hours driving in heavy snow after skiing frozen gran all day. Yuck!


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

Yeah, I was there early last February before they had any good snow and now I'm going up late February this year and all the good snow is gone! Guess I can't win.

I'm just hoping it's not as icy as it was last year. By lunchtime there were a lot of dangerous patches of ice on the intermediate trails and even the experienced skiers I was with were having a hard time.

Like I said, fingers crossed. Should get a little snow from 6pm to 10pm Friday night after the rain and then some more snow showers Saturday during the day.


----------



## tjf67 (Feb 17, 2011)

watchoutbelow said:


> Yeah, I was there early last February before they had any good snow and now I'm going up late February this year and all the good snow is gone! Guess I can't win.
> 
> I'm just hoping it's not as icy as it was last year. By lunchtime there were a lot of dangerous patches of ice on the intermediate trails and even the experienced skiers I was with were having a hard time.
> 
> Like I said, fingers crossed. Should get a little snow from 6pm to 10pm Friday night after the rain and then some more snow showers Saturday during the day.



If you get out there early there is going to be pretty decent conditions.  They have a decent base so they will churn it up good to put a decent product down.   I dont exactly what time the cold weather is getting in here but there may be a chance that it stay warm enough friday night not to set everything up solid.   The conditions are going to be bette for an intermediate than a expert.  Gore expanded there terrain quite a bit so they shoul dbe able to disburse the crowds.  Go for first chair and ski your ass off without taking any breaks until you are done.   I would not stop for breaks as condtions are going to deteriate as the days go on.    Get a good buzz on a go tubing while you are down there is a blast.


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

tjf67 said:


> If you get out there early there is going to be pretty decent conditions.  They have a decent base so they will churn it up good to put a decent product down.   I dont exactly what time the cold weather is getting in here but there may be a chance that it stay warm enough friday night not to set everything up solid.   The conditions are going to be bette for an intermediate than a expert.  Gore expanded there terrain quite a bit so they shoul dbe able to disburse the crowds.  Go for first chair and ski your ass off without taking any breaks until you are done.   I would not stop for breaks as condtions are going to deteriate as the days go on.    Get a good buzz on a go tubing while you are down there is a blast.



Sounds like a plan to me! Thanks!


----------



## Warp Daddy (Feb 17, 2011)

3 of us will be at Gore sat , sun and mon -- it will be whatever it is and THAT is better than siting on the sidelines watching life go by .

 The "weather - guessers" do their best but , over many yrs i can't tell u how many times i've been out skiing when they said it would be less than great .  Life ain't a dress rehearsal  relax and enjoy


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

Warp Daddy said:


> 3 of us will be at Gore sat , sun and mon -- it will be whatever it is and THAT is better than siting on the sidelines watching life go by .
> 
> The "weather - guessers" do their best but , over many yrs i can't tell u how many times i've been out skiing when they said it would be less than great .  Life ain't a dress rehearsal  relax and enjoy



I like that. Definitely going to go with the flow.


----------



## marcski (Feb 17, 2011)

Warp Daddy said:


> 3 of us will be at Gore sat , sun and mon -- it will be whatever it is and THAT is better than siting on the sidelines watching life go by .
> 
> The "weather - guessers" do their best but , over many yrs i can't tell u how many times i've been out skiing when they said it would be less than great .  Life ain't a dress rehearsal  relax and enjoy



I kind of agree....you can't outguess the weather....and you got to be in it to win it!

With that said we are headed to my bro's in Burlington and I was planning to get out to thebush on sat with my bro and the bolton sunday with my girls and neices.  We probably still will ski sunday......not sure now about sunday ....make a game time decision but I will being both my downhill skis and mh BC XC ones and do something on saturday.....outside and enjoy the company of my family!


----------



## Bumpsis (Feb 17, 2011)

This upcoming ice glazing event seems to be yearly event, at least for the past two years now.
We've been doing the school vacation trip to Sugarloaf almost every year so what's coming is is an exact replay of events from 2009 and 2010:
just as the Presidents weekend comes up, so does a warm up, showers and immediate freeze. What a pisser!

I know that Sugarloaf has had some really superb conditions, great moguls, that new tree skiing area that (Bracket ? basin) they opened up this year - all that stuff will be taken out of play.
Sure, the mountain will do a good job working the groomers, they always do, so not all's lost, but so much of what makes Sugarloaf great fun will be just crap.

Oh well, I guess I won't feel bad taking time off downhill and snowshoe to top of Burnt Mt or XC.


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

Warp Daddy said:


> 3 of us will be at Gore sat , sun and mon -- it will be whatever it is and THAT is better than siting on the sidelines watching life go by .
> 
> The "weather - guessers" do their best but , over many yrs i can't tell u how many times i've been out skiing when they said it would be less than great .  Life ain't a dress rehearsal  relax and enjoy



Hey. Quick question. Do you think they will have to shut down the lifts if the wind gusts are actually 40mph like they are predicting? Hope not.


----------



## rocojerry (Feb 17, 2011)

you don't know until you go --

That being said, I'm gonna pass.


----------



## HowieT2 (Feb 17, 2011)

I'd be surprised if the conditions are even decent on saturday  what with the thaw freeze and winds.  Should improve on sunday to the point where the groomers are OK.  
Quite the bummer given how great things have been the last few weeks.  But this has happened the last 3 Presidents day weekends IIRC, followed by copious snow and powder days at the end of the week.  Here's to a repeat of the late week heroics.


----------



## WinnChill (Feb 17, 2011)

Winds are definately going to be a concern this weekend...anytime from Friday PM thru early Sunday AM.   Strongest would likely be Saturday night.  We'll be fine tuning this in our forecasts before the weekend.


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

WinnChill said:


> Winds are definately going to be a concern this weekend...anytime from Friday PM thru early Sunday AM.   Strongest would likely be Saturday night.  We'll be fine tuning this in our forecasts before the weekend.



Yeah, I'm worried about the wind the most. If there are no lifts then it doesn't really matter what the snow conditions are.


----------



## from_the_NEK (Feb 17, 2011)

WinnChill said:


> Winds are definately going to be a concern this weekend...anytime from Friday PM thru early Sunday AM.   Strongest would likely be Saturday night.  We'll be fine tuning this in our forecasts before the weekend.



At least the worst of the wind will be cold. Strong warm wind =  :flame: for snow.


----------



## billski (Feb 17, 2011)

It will be so bad, I'm heading to NJ  :blink:


----------



## crank (Feb 17, 2011)

Bumpsis said:


> This upcoming ice glazing event seems to be yearly event, at least for the past two years now.
> We've been doing the school vacation trip to Sugarloaf almost every year so what's coming is is an exact replay of events from 2009 and 2010:
> just as the Presidents weekend comes up, so does a warm up, showers and immediate freeze. What a pisser!
> 
> ...



You should perhaps shift ski areas?  President's week 2009 we skied very good packed powder conditions near Quebec on Pres. weekend and a major storm moved in on Wednesday that had us skiing in a foot by Thursday and progressively deeper after that as we moved down to Jay Peak. It snowed steadily for over 3 nights and 2 days.  

Feb. 2010, I went up to Jay on Pres weekend and skied about 6" of fresh on top of a soft surface... It snowed another 6" that night.

Not to say that I haven't been in that neck of the woods for bullet proof followed by dust on crust... Heading up Saturday - Thursday and keeping fingers crossed and skiing options open.


----------



## frozencorn (Feb 17, 2011)

I'm headed to Disney World with the kids next Friday for 5 days. You can expect an epic dump during that timeframe.


----------



## WinnChill (Feb 17, 2011)

billski said:


> It will be so bad, I'm heading to NJ  :blink:



Uh oh, that'll do it!  

Thread Hijack:  I had a great time at Tuesday's meeting Bill--thank you for letting me chat weather!  :beer:


----------



## billski (Feb 17, 2011)

In the 50's right now from Mass. all the way to Stowe and 48 at Saddleback.  Ouch.


----------



## billski (Feb 17, 2011)

Strikes me the best conditions may be at Rangely and and Carrabassett Valley.


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

How high do winds have to be for a mountain to shut down their lifts?


----------



## John W (Feb 17, 2011)

Well said Warp Daddy!  I think it is great to hear from those that are closest and most knowledgeable about local weather, but the outlook you receive should not deter you.  Get out there, get cold, warm, wet, fast, slow etc, but MAKE SURE NO MATTER WHAT THAT YOU GET OUT THERE.  Because sitting here is WAY more boring.  See all you Ladies and Germs in the rain or snow at Jay peak this starting tomorrow.


----------



## 2knees (Feb 17, 2011)

watchoutbelow said:


> How high do winds have to be for a mountain to shut down their lifts?




all depends on the lifts.  type, exposure etc.

trams and boxes are usually the first to go down, for obvious reasons.  detachable chairs next and then fixed grips.


----------



## WJenness (Feb 17, 2011)

watchoutbelow said:


> How high do winds have to be for a mountain to shut down their lifts?



What 2k said + wind direction is VERY important... cross winds bad... winds blowing directly up the lift line, not so bad...

Also, gusty unpredictable winds are MUCH worse to deal with than steady winds.

-w


----------



## Black Phantom (Feb 17, 2011)

billski said:


> It will be so bad, I'm heading to NJ  :blink:



Are you heading to Mountain Creek or to Campgaw? Both will have pins available.


----------



## Vortex (Feb 17, 2011)

I have a pass, have gear, will be out Sat through Monday night. What the hell is the big deal its skiing.  Some nice weather days, some bad.  Don''t like the weather move.:razz:;-)
or pick another sport.  ow yea I have the following week off when its going to snow.  :beer:


----------



## from_the_NEK (Feb 17, 2011)

Its getting quite a bit hotter than predicted today. Was only supposed to get into the mid thirties. St J is looking at 47 right now. Even the hilltops are pushing 50.
At the 4000' station on Mt Washington, the temp is 44!

It would actually be pretty nice out on the slopes in the sun today.


----------



## WJenness (Feb 17, 2011)

from_the_NEK said:


> Its getting quite a bit hotter than predicted today. Was only supposed to get into the mid thirties. St J is looking at 47 right now. Even the hilltops are pushing 50.
> At the 4000' station on Mt Washington, the temp is 44!
> 
> It would actually be pretty nice out on the slopes in the sun today.



Yeah, I hope it cools off quick, don't want to see too much snowmelt yet... But I agree, I wish I was out skiing today instead of behind this desk... </grumble>

-w


----------



## Puck it (Feb 17, 2011)

from_the_NEK said:


> Its getting quite a bit hotter than predicted today. Was only supposed to get into the mid thirties. St J is looking at 47 right now. Even the hilltops are pushing 50.
> At the 4000' station on Mt Washington, the temp is 44!
> 
> It would actually be pretty nice out on the slopes in the sun today.


 

Is the front moving sooner since the temps are higher or is it just warmer temps being pulled more?


----------



## from_the_NEK (Feb 17, 2011)

Puck it said:


> Is the front moving sooner since the temps are higher or is it just warmer temps being pulled more?



I think the sun has been out from behind the clouds a lot longer than expected. It is really baking things out there. At least the winds are light.

The cold front is still 30+ hours away :x


----------



## watchoutbelow (Feb 17, 2011)

Well, I'm looking forward to Sunday and Monday. Praying for shortish lift lines.


----------



## gladerider (Feb 18, 2011)

HowieT2 said:


> I'd be surprised if the conditions are even decent on saturday  what with the thaw freeze and winds.  Should improve on sunday to the point where the groomers are OK.
> Quite the bummer given how great things have been the last few weeks.  But this has happened the last 3 Presidents day weekends IIRC, followed by copious snow and powder days at the end of the week.  Here's to a repeat of the late week heroics.



2008 prez was the worst. plan was to ski from mon-thurs. rain forcast sunday nite at stowe. convinced wify to go up saturday to ski sunday. sunday was great. monday and tuesday sucked. wed and thurs were OK. this one looks similar.

prez week thaw. think i'm gonna head out west next year.


----------



## snoseek (Feb 18, 2011)

Awesome corn this evening at crotched!

I'm now taking the next 7-10 days off in skiing. I can't say as I've done that in the last ten or so years in the middle of winter. Think I'll do some ice fishing (drinking).


----------



## iSki (Feb 18, 2011)

NECN reported 3-6" of snow for the Northern White MTNs over the weekend and a return to winter conditions for the entire week. Enjoy fishing I'll be enjoying the POWDAH


----------



## riverc0il (Feb 18, 2011)

crank said:


> You should perhaps shift ski areas?  President's week 2009 we skied very good packed powder conditions near Quebec on Pres. weekend and a major storm moved in on Wednesday that had us skiing in a foot by Thursday and progressively deeper after that as we moved down to Jay Peak. It snowed steadily for over 3 nights and 2 days.
> 
> Feb. 2010, I went up to Jay on Pres weekend and skied about 6" of fresh on top of a soft surface... It snowed another 6" that night.
> 
> Not to say that I haven't been in that neck of the woods for bullet proof followed by dust on crust... Heading up Saturday - Thursday and keeping fingers crossed and skiing options open.


Its going to rain/freeze everywhere in New England and in the Eastern Townships. I think absolutely everything south of the St Lawrence is getting in on this rain/freeze action. Choice of area is pretty much irrelevant for this weekend.

Everyone else covered it pretty well. Get out there for first chair and ski until it gets scraped down. Expect all of the ungroomed terrain to be off line. And that still effects you even if you don't ski ungroomed terrain. Because that means people who do are forced onto the groomers scraping an already delicate snow pack down faster. The great long lasting packed pow everyone got used to this past month will be gone replaced by quickly deteriorating face pack. Enjoy!


----------



## riverc0il (Feb 18, 2011)

iSki said:


> NECN reported 3-6" of snow for the Northern White MTNs over the weekend and a return to winter conditions for the entire week. Enjoy fishing I'll be enjoying the POWDAH


Fingers crossed that it will be enough to reopen ungroomed terrain. Depends if the freeze is just hard pack or icy. Six inches just might be enough for an immediate rebound for open terrain. You can be sure most mountains are going to groom any new snow for as many trails as possible to aid with the recovery. Saturday night into Sunday, now we are talking (hopefully).


----------



## RootDKJ (Feb 18, 2011)

Warp Daddy said:


> 3 of us will be at Gore sat , sun and mon -- it will be whatever it is and THAT is better than siting on the sidelines watching life go by .
> 
> The "weather - guessers" do their best but , over many yrs i can't tell u how many times i've been out skiing when they said it would be less than great .  Life ain't a dress rehearsal  relax and enjoy



50% chance of rain also equals 50% chance you'll have a great time :beer:



billski said:


> It will be so bad, I'm heading to NJ  :blink:


Wow, that's bad.



frozencorn said:


> I'm headed to Disney World with the kids next Friday for 5 days. You can expect an epic dump during that timeframe.


Blizzard Beach is calling you.


----------



## snoseek (Feb 18, 2011)

3-6 won't convince me to buy a ticket and deal with crowds. It would take a couple little snows for me to deal with that. If I my pass wasn't blacked out it would be a different. 

A four inch snow would be just enough to make things busy as hell.


----------



## Cannonball (Feb 18, 2011)

iSki said:


> NECN reported 3-6" of snow for the Northern White MTNs over the weekend and a return to winter conditions for the entire week. Enjoy fishing I'll be enjoying the POWDAH



I don't understand this.  Are you saying they 'reported' 3-6" for the weekend (meaning last weekend).  Or that they are 'forecasting' 3-6" for the coming weekend?  If it's the former it's long since melted away.  If it's the latter it'll be a welcome but minor difference on the surfaces we are looking at.

Cannon's website is saying " .... 5-10 inches new snow possible by Sunday AM!".  Which is really stretching the allowance for marketing hype since that doesn't appear to be in ANY forecast that I've seen.


----------



## WinnChill (Feb 18, 2011)

Cannonball said:


> I don't understand this.  Are you saying they 'reported' 3-6" for the weekend (meaning last weekend).  Or that they are 'forecasting' 3-6" for the coming weekend?  If it's the former it's long since melted away.  If it's the latter it'll be a welcome but minor difference on the surfaces we are looking at.
> 
> Cannon's website is saying " .... 5-10 inches new snow possible by Sunday AM!".  Which is really stretching the allowance for marketing hype since that doesn't appear to be in ANY forecast that I've seen.



Most N VT/NH/ME resorts will be under some good upslope snow through Saturday--we've had a few inches in the forecast for Cannon for a while...we bumped it up just a little today and may continue to fine tune but you get the gist.


----------



## WJenness (Feb 18, 2011)

Looking to get out Sunday, maybe Monday also... we'll see how it goes.

i'll be spending tomorrow helping a buddy replace the clutch in his BMW 3-series.

-w


----------



## drjeff (Feb 18, 2011)

Frankly right now, especially on Saturday, I'm far less worried about the freeze up that will happen Friday night then I am about the winds that will be howling across the region.  Wind holds will likely be an issue at many resorts across the Northeast on Saturday


----------



## John W (Feb 18, 2011)

drjeff said:


> Frankly right now, especially on Saturday, I'm far less worried about the freeze up that will happen Friday night then I am about the winds that will be howling across the region.  Wind holds will likely be an issue at many resorts across the Northeast on Saturday



Well all it is pouring here at jay.  Not like a little bit.  It's a complete wash out. AND they want 50 bucks for a half day pass.  Resort people are saying snow starting at 2 and it's 45 degrees right now.  If there is a wind hold tomorrow I want a refund!!!


----------



## JimmyPete (Feb 18, 2011)

Having skied in the East regularly since 1986, I can tell you , just go "Dont worry, be happy" , If it's really cold the night before have an egg sandwich in the Lodge till about 10am other wise getting out first chair is the best way to enjoy the slopes after the bad weather conditions, Newer Grooming has made all the difference in the world and while you won't have Champagne Powder experience, you can get some good skiing . That being said, once you start to notice the ice get to the bar, have a beer. Tomorrow is another day. More often than not now-a-days the conditions will be at least OK , just expect not to have a  full  8 hour day on the mountain


----------



## crank (Feb 18, 2011)

John W said:


> Well all it is pouring here at jay.  Not like a little bit.  It's a complete wash out. AND they want 50 bucks for a half day pass.  Resort people are saying snow starting at 2 and it's 45 degrees right now.  If there is a wind hold tomorrow I want a refund!!!



Wow, that sucks.  Keep us posted please.  Heading up to Boston tomorrow morning then north from there Sunday.  Sounds like we may be in for classic dust on crust conditions.  If so we may choose to drive from our condo at Jay to ...hell I don't know, Bretton Woods or Okemo for skiing 'cause I've skied Jay in similar conditions and don't want to do it again.


----------



## mondeo (Feb 18, 2011)

Hmmm...wind holds Saturday? Maybe a turn earning hardpack groomer day. My Wateas are the only skis with edges anyways.


----------



## iSki (Feb 18, 2011)

Cannonball said:


> I don't understand this.  Are you saying they 'reported' 3-6" for the weekend (meaning last weekend).  Or that they are 'forecasting' 3-6" for the coming weekend?  If it's the former it's long since melted away.  If it's the latter it'll be a welcome but minor difference on the surfaces we are looking at.
> 
> Cannon's website is saying " .... 5-10 inches new snow possible by Sunday AM!".  Which is really stretching the allowance for marketing hype since that doesn't appear to be in ANY forecast that I've seen.



Correction "forecasted". But really not enough to make for any enjoyable skiing on Mittersill so everybody should stay on the groomers.
Also this from Dr Chill: http://www.snowforecast.com/CannonMountain


----------



## tjf67 (Feb 18, 2011)

We got very little rain @ whiteface.  It rained yesterday in the afternoon for a while.  Today was sunny and 53 degrees.  May be we pick up two inches before the lifts start spinning.  I think it is going to be better than the doom an gloom I am hearing.  The wind is my only concern.  As long as they have the quad and little whiteface chair spinning the skiing is going to be ok.


----------



## riverc0il (Feb 19, 2011)

Its not as bad as I thought it would be here in Ashland, NH. Just took the dog out. Where the snow was packed down already, its frozen over pretty good. The unpacked/untracked snow was a little crusty on top but I could still post hole (not nearly as deep as yesterday though!). I think many ski areas will be able to roll with ungroomed terrain today.


----------



## mlctvt (Feb 19, 2011)

After looking at the wind holds this morning,  I'm so glad I decided to take this weekend off.
Strange weather here in CT. Yesterday it was 60 degrees and right now it's dumping snow. Probably just a small sqall but it's already accumulating ,the road in front of my house is coated white.

Edit - that was short lived, the snow stopped and the sun is out now... New England "Wait 5 minutes and it's a different season"


----------



## roark (Feb 19, 2011)

windy enough to knock out power in SW NH until a few minutes ago. Think I'll wait til tomorrow for Harris Hill - can't imagine they're jumping today.


----------



## kingslug (Feb 19, 2011)

3 to 5 inches predicted for the Catskills by Monday..winters back !


----------



## tjf67 (Feb 19, 2011)

5 inches and the lifts r spinning.  Not bad


----------



## KevinF (Feb 19, 2011)

There are only two kinds of conditions -- good and "good for you".  We had the good for a while, now it has most decidedly shifted towards "good for you".

The only reason I'm not out there today is because I was worried about the high winds shutting down every lift around.  Heading out tomorrow with very sharp edges.  Skiing icy groomers beats not skiing.


----------



## ScottySkis (Feb 19, 2011)

I think tomorrow will be a great powder day up in northern vermont


----------



## bigbog (Feb 19, 2011)

Probably said previous......try not to muscle, just ski relaxed with an active upperbody to get out over those edges...however the trees have it hands down.


----------



## polski (Feb 19, 2011)

I'd be grateful for any ground truth today or tomorrow from Wildcat, Attitash or Black. Just got invited up to stay with friends in that area and will be skiing somewhere Monday with kids. A holiday at a resort with potentially bombproof surface is not something I'd normally seek out but sounds like there will be at least a little new snow by Mon a.m., and light wind. At worst I'll work on my survival skiing skills.

I'm thinking Black might be less likely to be utterly mobbed? 

If for whatever reason the choice came down to Wildcat vs Attitash, any thoughts? Assuming our focus is primarily on groomers, I'd consider Attitash, in part to ski somewhere almost "new" to me (I've only been once, many years ago). Might it be less crowded than Wildcat?


----------



## BenedictGomez (Feb 19, 2011)

Ugh.... Hope this weekend isn't a complete loss.  Conditions at Jay/Smuggs etc.. seemed brutal when I awoke, so didn't ski, but at the time Sunday looked promising.  Now it's looking crazy cold and windy for tomorrow too, not sure if it's even going to be worth heading out to Bolton.

At least I'm staying with friends that are locals (i.e. Free), but I feel awful for all these tourist families.


----------



## billski (Feb 20, 2011)

snoseek said:


> 3-6 won't convince me to buy a ticket and deal with crowds. It would take a couple little snows for me to deal with that. If I my pass wasn't blacked out it would be a different.
> 
> A four inch snow would be just enough to make things busy as hell.



My untrained gut tells me a couple inches a day in NVT may come, and by later in the week, things should improve quite a bit. My $0.02. That and $2 might get you coffee.


----------



## riverc0il (Feb 20, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> Its not as bad as I thought it would be here in Ashland, NH. Just took the dog out. Where the snow was packed down already, its frozen over pretty good. The unpacked/untracked snow was a little crusty on top but I could still post hole (not nearly as deep as yesterday though!). I think many ski areas will be able to roll with ungroomed terrain today.


Uh oh... that was Saturday morning. A lot has happened since then. The wind Saturday afternoon was wicked and bitter. Here in Ashland, the snow is now hard as a rock. Where I was post holing deeper than a foot a few days ago, I can now stand on firm without any compaction. 

Things are worse than I feared on the slopes. Skating rink out there today. Worst conditions of the season. But snow tomorrow so it is short lived. Time to get back to business next week now that this nastiness is over.

:beer:


----------



## rocojerry (Feb 21, 2011)

So, to anyone that took the shot at it, was it better than expected anywhere?  The only favorable report I've kinda heard was that Bretton Woods was pretty good --


----------



## thetrailboss (Feb 21, 2011)

Well, the skiing yesterday was skating rink at SB North.  Today it was better thanks to grooming and some new snow.  What has added insult to injury has been the week and a half of high winds that have closed lifts, stripped snow, and made for bitter cold conditions both yesterday and today.


----------



## Glenn (Feb 21, 2011)

Based on some text messages from Dr Jeff...and FaceBook updates, this weekend wasn't that great. My wife and I were blacked out, so we didn't miss a heck of a lot.


----------



## riverc0il (Feb 21, 2011)

rocojerry said:


> So, to anyone that took the shot at it, was it better than expected anywhere?  The only favorable report I've kinda heard was that Bretton Woods was pretty good --


Personally, I am glad we got the weekend with the worst conditions of the season out of the way. I'd take a WROD over conditions this past weekend. Seriously, T2 on the first day of the season skied better. But its over now, game on!


----------



## tjf67 (Feb 21, 2011)

Sat was getting shin deep powder runs till 11:00.   Sunday the wind died down but the groomers were wind blown .  Crusted Powder on cloudspin up to knees.  No one was in there  all the regulars were blacked out.  Today the guns werfe fired up and MR was a manmade powder run.  Worst weekend of the new year but still decent for a couple of hours. Its cold when you r not in the sun.  No snow in the forecast till Friday.  Glad its a holiday week they will be blasting the guns.  After that the guns will be put away for the year.


----------



## snoseek (Feb 21, 2011)

I origionally said I wouldn't go this week but the pass is good tomorrow so off to the river i go. It looks like they have been blowing aggresively.


----------



## MommaBear (Feb 21, 2011)

Glenn said:


> ...this weekend wasn't that great. My wife and I were blacked out, so we didn't miss a heck of a lot.



Just said that same thing to my spouse...lol!  Doesn't sound like we missed much and starting tomorrow, our passes are good for the rest of the season.   :beer:


----------

