Snowmaking Plan for Christmas to New Years

[random_ski_guy]

Win,

Given the latest forecast, what is the snowmaking plan for Christmas through New Years? Do you think you will manage to open Birdland, Murphy's and Lower Grinder by New Years; perhaps even more? How at Mt Ellen's what your vision over their for next week? Just looking to get a sense of what's in store as I'm probably coming up for New Years weekend.

Best of luck in these hard times for snow. -J

[teleo]

Don't know what the the plan is, but they just turned the guns on on Ripcord. Big temp differential top to bottom right now. Feels like spring at the base, winter up top.

[sglatham]

Just looked at Mt Washington web site and the temp change was 5 degrees per 1k feet. Thie "textbook" change is 3.5 degress per 1k feet, so a larger temp gradient than normal. This is probably a major factor in why, with such high base/valley temps, they expect it to snow tonight (in addition to the temp droping as the day goes on)......

[Hawk]

That would be otherwise know as the Adiabatic Lapse rate. We have a cold front moving in so there must be much colder air aloft. Sometimes it takes a while for the cold to settle in in the valleys. I hope they blow a ton for our sakes. ;-)

[ducky]

Just came off Mt Ellen. Snowmaking on FIS (7 guns going), and a few on the top of Elbow. Nothing middle of Elbow where Spread Eagle branches off, expect too warm. Getting colder though.

Given that is was raining hard yesterday, conditions were reasonably good. Rim Run was groomed, Looking Good not so much. Both were skiable and edge-able (sp) if you kept an eye out for gaps between groomer tracks and ice bunnies.

Looking up at LP, there were a few skiing Grinder. Maybe the best choice today.

My guess would be they will blast the maximum snow they can to be as ready as possible for the holiday.

Currently 41.2〫at 1740', level with top of Village Double chair.

[random_ski_guy]

Gang, I love the detailed - live - info. Thanks! Keeping my fingers crossed that the mtn stays below 32 degrees from here on out. Thats all I want for christmas.

[itsallaboutpow]

Yup .. much thanks for the details as I labor away at my desk wondering and dreaming about what tomorrow might be like on the Mnt. Keep the details coming :-)

[Hawk]

Hopefully, if Waitsfield Telecom did thier thing, I will have internet access at my condo and will do some daily reports. Maybe even some pictures.

[win]

Lookiing at our forecast, it is likely we will be staying high tonight and into tomorrow. That means having guns running on Ripcord and trying to get down as low as possible. At Mt. Ellen it will be Elbow and FIS and if temperatures fall enough getting lower on Cruiser. It looks like we will have some colder temps starting Friday night , so we will be trying to complete the middle part of Jester so we have Jester top to bottom. Simultaneously blowing on Coffee Run to get than open, Slowpoke and touching up Easy Rider and the other areas at GH in need of some touch up. Plan to open Village Lift on Saturday. Once that is complete we will move over to Snowball and Spring Fling if temperatures cooperate. At ME our key objective is to get top to bottom by finishing up on Cruiser, Mainstream and Cracker Jack. We also want to get Express Way so beginners can ride Inverness and have an easy way down. We also want to start getting some snow made in Reimergasse for the Terrain Park. Organgrinder by the way is skiing really nice and we don't plan to groom it so we have a nice advanced mogul trail to complement the groomers.

Looks like a couple of inches tonight which will make is look nice and will add to the quality of the snowmaking trails. It did ski nicely this morning and the damage from the rain was not too great.

[random_ski_guy]

Thanks for the update Win. Its official, I'll be up for New Year Years, so my usual heavy interest in ski weather will shift to absolutely compulsive interest.

To give you a sense, if someone could run a log detailing when every snow gun is turned on and off, the air/water ratio, the location and angle of the gun, I'd read it.

[win]

Great base snow this morning and the Valley looks beautiful. We are going to have at least two days of really good snowmaking weather. I just hope Green Mountain Power doesn't do a curtailment and we will be expanding terrain.

[noski]

It was beautiful coming to work this morning. I only saw 2 cars off the road. I think people have forgotten how to drive safely in fresh snow... White Christmas, here we come!

[random_ski_guy]

Wet snow is the best snow...for base building this time of year.

I'm so pumped that at least the ground has returned to white. Halleluiah.

Win, I hope someday you reconsider about adding a sugarbush generator to supplement when GMP mandates curtailment. The ski business is challenging enough as it is. A shortage of local electricity in those short windows of snowmaking weather when you need it most is just cruel. Anywho, still love what you have done with the mtn. Just saying...

Think snow.

[random_ski_guy]

I hope I dont jinx anything but Burlington NWS radar is suggesting, just a bit, that a little bit of the orographic snow cloud maybe setting up. My fingers are crossed.

[HowieT2]

Great base snow this morning and the Valley looks beautiful. We are going to have at least two days of really good snowmaking weather. I just hope Green Mountain Power doesn't do a curtailment and we will be expanding terrain.

no worries Win, I told the kids no electricity usage during snowmaking operations.

[gostan]

Whatever that is......(orographic)........sounds good for the MT.....but are the children allowed to ski in that snow?

[random_ski_guy]

Stan, orographic snow events are family friendly. Often in VT, as a storm departs the region residual moisture from the St Lawrence and Champlain Valley is pushed up the Green Mtn spine dumping out a few extra inches...or more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orographic_lift

[HowieT2]

what's it doing on the mtn? from the webcam looks like its still snowing or some kind of a mix at the base. should be all snow up top.

[Tin Woodsman]

Unfortunately, per NWS radar out of BTV, this looks mostly confined to north of 89. Keep dancing, folks.

http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=CXX&product=NCR&overlay=11101111&loop=yes

[atkinson]

Radar schmadar ... it has been snowing all day up here.

John

[ducky]

Snowed all day and Grinder was better after lunch than before. Upper mtn was awesome. A little sticky down low. 15 so far and best day of the year, hands down.

[ReefBum]

Started the day at LP and finished at North, which had some nice light snow. Great day all around.

[random_ski_guy]

sweet.... appreciate the first hand reporting.

[itsallaboutpow]

Not sure if I can agree with ducky .. I thought Orgingrinder was fairly nasty .. having said that .. there was some fun to be had .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3lmLOcSAYY&feature=youtu.be

[HowieT2]

Got in at 9. 3-4" on the deck and snowing lightly. Bigger flakes now. Snow otg is dense. Scenary is picturesque.

Tomorrow should be nice before the football game. Go giants.

[gostan]

Got in at 9. 3-4" on the deck and snowing lightly. Bigger flakes now. Snow otg is dense. Scenary is picturesque.

Tomorrow should be nice before the football game. Go giants.There is/was a little bit more at top of MT yesterday. Today should be very good skiing and lots of Saturday football. Get out early. Giants v Jets on Fox @ 1 and Pats v. Dolphins on CBS @ 1. Only thing better would be a snowstorm in MRV @1.

[Hawk]

Not sure if I can agree with ducky .. I thought Orgingrinder was fairly nasty .. having said that .. there was some fun to be had .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3lmLOcSAYY&feature=youtu.be

Nice turns dude. Nice to see someone that likes to turn instead of those GS turns all the time.

[random_ski_guy]

Giants won...sweet. Pats too.

What's the good word from today on the slopes; scratchy?

Looks like lower grinder opens tomorrow to provide some fresh manmade pow and top 2 bottom for mt ellen on Monday.

Dear lord, I'm only asking for one little minor christmas miracle this evening; that the Tuesday storm is an all snow event...of the 6 to 8 inch variety. Amen.

[HowieT2]

Giants won...sweet. Pats too.

What's the good word from today on the slopes; scratchy?

Looks like lower grinder opens tomorrow to provide some fresh manmade pow and top 2 bottom for mt ellen on Monday.

Dear lord, I'm only asking for one little minor christmas miracle this evening; that the Tuesday storm is an all snow event...of the 6 to 8 inch variety. Amen.

It was very good at lp when i skied in the morning. Except downspout, although that was more of a lighting issue than the snow surface. Didnt do grinder for various reasons.

[ReefBum]

I loosened some fillings on OG.

[ReefBum]

The guns are going now on Spring Fling and it appears that snow is being made on Snowball.

I do have to say that lower Grinder and Jester were a lot of fun today with all the whales and powder from the guns.

[itsallaboutpow]

The guns are going now on Spring Fling and it appears that snow is being made on Snowball.

I do have to say that lower Grinder and Jester were a lot of fun today with all the whales and powder from the guns.

Any "powder" from the sky today .. Stowe says they got 5" :-(

[ReefBum]

Any "powder" from the sky today .. Stowe says they got 5" :-(

My guess is that we had a couple of inches today.

[win]

If we don't have to resurface any areas where we have already made snow, we plan to start making snow tomorrow on Allyn's Traverse, Snowball and Spring FLing once temperatures drop. We are setting up on Murphy's Glades as well to get there when we can. Over at ME, I think we will have to do some more work on Cruiser and around the Northridge chair and Crackerjack after tonight. Then we will see where it makes most sense to go.

[Yard Sale]

Thanks Win.

[win]

Hoping to have Valley House going tomorrow and skiing on Snowball, Spring Fling and maybe the others over there.

[random_ski_guy]

Great news on Valley House. It was also great to see all the ropes come down elsewhere on the mtn today. Maybe that New Year's day storm in the forecast will mirror the last one but with less rain...but the same amount of snow.

[shadyjay]

We were covering VHT->Snowball->Spring Fling today ... we made lots of snow today. When it opens, be sure to keep up your speed to get across the traverse. I bet Moonshine will be pretty sweet, too. The rest of my crew was tending to the guns over on Murphy's and on Easy Rider.

Amazing what one snow can do to our spirits. And we currently have the highest open trail count in Vermont. Of course that includes hiking-only access to Castlerock.

[win]

Should be back into snowmaking late tomorrow night. We are going to focus on getting Hot Shot and Sleeper done. We need to go back to Upper Snowballl and then we will decide whether to go up to Ripcord or Birdland or Lower Snowball. Depends on the temps. At ME we will be focusing on Riemergasse to try to get the Park open ASAP. Elbow and FIS if we can only make up high. Northstar when the temps are good down low.

[random_ski_guy]

On sunday it looked like you had the guns and hoses ready on Inverness as well which surprised me....but then again, perhaps it could use another round of base building before moving on.

I skied saturday and sunday and thought the soft conditions were great. Anyone sitting on the sidelines at home (which is easy to do living in lower NE where its hardly been Nov weather) should get out this weekend if the cold weather holds all week. There is more snow in northern vt than u think.

[HowieT2]

On sunday it looked like you had the guns and hoses ready on Inverness as well which surprised me....but then again, perhaps it could use another round of base building before moving on.

I skied saturday and sunday and thought the soft conditions were great. Anyone sitting on the sidelines at home (which is easy to do living in lower NE where its hardly been Nov weather) should get out this weekend if the cold weather holds all week. There is more snow in northern vt than u think.

No there isnt. 'nothing to see here. Move along.

[gostan]

Soft rocks...was all my skis found.....

[random_ski_guy]

Yep, I skied those soft rocks, soft moss, hard rocks, pebbles, wet grass, twigs, sticks and logs too. They all ski much better than I ever imagined. I appreciate that Win lets us test the limits of our equipment...which has proven more robust than I had ever realized. I thought the trails where they had made snow skiied pretty well; snowball/spring fling, lower grinder, downspout at south and cruiser and inverness at north.

If you ski 20+ days a year, yeah it sux out there, but if you ski less than 20, then I wouldnt wait any longer for winter to come to get your turns in. Its actually better than you think out there provided you set the bar on the lower side of expectations. Just my two cents...

[random_ski_guy]

Looks like they shutdown snowmaking on the upper mtn for Ripcord and Downspout.....too windy perhaps? or perhaps they are rotating over to hit Snowball. Glad to see natural snow flying in the webcam.

[shadyjay]

Pretty sure the reasoning behind that was to concentrate all firepower/manpower on the Gate House side to get those trails ready, especially while the temps are this cold down low. I believe Birdland is also in the sights at some point soon, as is Ripcord and perhaps Lower Snowball area.

[win]

Hot Shot and Sleeper are finished and there was some fun skiing and riding on them today. Will be groomed out for the weekend, so get on them tomorrow to have some fun on some nice soft snowmade powder.

[random_ski_guy]

Call me wacky, but I love fresh manmade snow. Sugarbush should ski well this weekend....at least as well as any weekend this season.

[gostan]

Call me wacky, but I love fresh manmade snow. Sugarbush should ski well this weekend....at least as well as any weekend this season.Considering the warm weather, the Mountain has done a pretty good job setting up our weekends of skiing this winter. But, I am disappointed to say that my best weekend of the season so far was Thanksgiving weekend. 3 trails open, no crowds & big spring like soft bumps on Downspout.

But, when I consider that it will be 46 degrees today in Boston; 41 degrees (?) @ SB tomorrow & that this is on a January opening weekend (talking about weekends) for the PGA golf tour with Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii.....I can only fully concur with random ski guy....I love manmade snow...make more....keep making it.............

[Hawk]

Hopefully the forecasted Mix will not impact the slopes. I am blowing out of here soon. I can't work today. ;-) See you all up there. My snowmaking perception will be tainted. I spent 3 days over New Years at SR and man did they pile on the man made. Some of the best I have ever seen.

[sgottmann]

Skied Saturday and Sunday. Tale of two seasons. Saturday was spring like, with generally soft snow (excluding upper organgrinder). Had a blast on Springs Fling, lower organgrinder, murphy's, sleeper, waterfall. Sunday was winter-like, with firm but edgeable snow. A little bit of everything out there. I think the groomers did a great job. Sleeper, Waterfall, most of organgrinder were much better than I feared they would be after the freeze. The bumps on birdland and lower organgrinder were bullet proof but skiable. Blowing snow on Ripcord and Organgrinder made these fun and challenging. Visibility was an issue but it was great to ski in some snow. A little help from mother nature throughout the day made if look nice. Hoping this week stays cold enough and mother nature finally does her part.

[win]

Things are looking better. Still blowing tonight on Ripcord, Upper Organgrinder and Snowball and maybe Birdland. Will hope to come off Organgrinder and touch up around the mountain. Forecast is now looking more favorable. Keep your fingers crossed. For those of you waiting for the Terrain Park at ME you time is near.

[HowieT2]

Thx Win. Whats next, Steins, north lynx?
Forecasts today are markedly better for thursday. Keep dancing.

[shadyjay]

Organgrinder today was "velvety".... really sweet and soft. Ripcord had poor visibility at the top, but it was a lot of fun from where the trail splits (by bottom of Spills), down. Some really nice snow is being made.