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View Full Version : Now this is just stupid!



Treeskier
03-19-2012, 01:46 PM
I'm sorry but mother nature is just out of hand! 80+ degrees today in part of MA. Mad River closed. Lots of bare spots on FIS. But you watch some time soon after this really stupid warm spell we will get a big storm that will add insult to injury and bring down lots of early blooming and leafing plants and trees. Plus Alpine Meadows reports 88" new from the latest storm. Next thing you know it will be raining cats and dogs! Ho Mi!

gostan
03-19-2012, 05:43 PM
Tree, but i did enjoy removing our skis and walking carefully into Bravo and Exterminator yesterday to ski in the 80 degree bumps! Lots of snow, once we got in there. Only issue was that it was a month too early.

And I just received a text from SB about pond skimming now being scheduled for this Saturday March 24th. If I recall, this was originally going to be a March 31st event.

Happy 2011-2012 ski season!

boze
03-19-2012, 06:59 PM
Guess I should pull the trigger and buy some new golf clubs...w/ my luck that should have a chilling effect on the weather. Love Spring skiing but usually I love it best when it's actually Spring...

boze
03-19-2012, 07:05 PM
While we await the return of Winter here in the NE, consider joining a few of us on this deal (I've been trying to convince Howie to pull the trigger but that's nearly impossible):
http://www.ski.com/specials/special_deal.aspx?id=13783

4 nights @ a sweet Rock Resort property @ base of Jackson Hole tram plus 3 day lift tix for $484pp, dbl occupancy. 5 of us flying out next Thurs late afternoon

Hotel: http://snakeriverlodge.rockresorts.com/

JH ski porn: This COULD be YOU - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE5_QVzNhEQ

HowieT2
03-20-2012, 07:42 AM
While we await the return of Winter here in the NE, consider joining a few of us on this deal (I've been trying to convince Howie to pull the trigger but that's nearly impossible):
http://www.ski.com/specials/special_deal.aspx?id=13783

4 nights @ a sweet Rock Resort property @ base of Jackson Hole tram plus 3 day lift tix for $484pp, dbl occupancy. 5 of us flying out next Thurs late afternoon

Hotel: http://snakeriverlodge.rockresorts.com/



JH ski porn: This COULD be YOU - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE5_QVzNhEQ

love that video. hoping im on that flight with you.

itsallaboutpow
03-20-2012, 08:12 AM
There is nothing I like more then skiing POW .. but when your handed lemons .. make lemonade :-)
Time to move on ... http://vimeo.com/38754495

Treeskier
03-20-2012, 06:55 PM
North Lynx closes today and tomorrow will be the last day for Gatehouse. We may still run Village on the weekends but that has yet to be determined. Sounds like we are still pushing to get Mt. Ellen through 4/1 with downloading if necessary. Exterminator also closed!

teleo
03-22-2012, 11:40 AM
Get's even stupider. NWS has issues a FIRE weather watch.

Issued by The National Weather Service
Burlington, VT
Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 11:26 AM EDT
Local Temperature Map
Updated Mar 22, 2012, 12:25pm EDT
Weather in Motion® | Enlarge Map
Get WeatherReady

When a Wildfire Threatens
What to Do After a Wildfire
Prepare for Wildfires
Facts About Wildfires
More Information About Wildfires

... FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING FOR LOW HUMIDITY AND GUSTY WINDS FOR NORTHERN CENTRAL VERMONT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON HAS ISSUED A FIRE WEATHER WATCH... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA... ALL OF VERMONT FROM RUTLAND AND WINDSOR COUNTIES NORTH TO THE CANADIAN BORDER.

* WINDS... NORTHWEST 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH.

* TIMING... WINDS WILL PICK UP BECOMING GUSTY FRIDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE GUSTY UNTIL SUNSET FRIDAY.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY... WILL BE AS LOW AS 20 PERCENT.

* TEMPERATURES... WILL RISE INTO THE 60S.

* LIGHTNING... IS NOT EXPECTED ON FRIDAY.

* IMPACTS... WITH VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER AND DRY FUELS... ANY GRASS OR BRUSH FIRES THAT ARE STARTED COULD SPREAD AND BECOME OUT OF CONTROL RAPIDLY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FIRE WEATHER WATCH MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST TO OCCUR. LISTEN FOR LATER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE RED FLAG WARNINGS.

Plowboy
03-22-2012, 12:27 PM
Mt. Ellen is closed.

notorious
03-22-2012, 02:08 PM
Mt. Ellen is closed.

...for today, so as to (hopefully) reopen for weekend.

beelze
03-22-2012, 05:26 PM
Get's even stupider. NWS has issues a FIRE weather watch.



Better tell the Ski Patrol no bbq's tomorrow. Just what we need, for them to set fire to the mountain and melt what little snow is left!

Treeskier
03-22-2012, 07:59 PM
Skied today. Bumps on Ripcord, upper Organgrinder, Steins where great! But getting around is getting dice-y. Walking required at one point. Definitely enough snow for a fun weekend. Probably enough to ski at least Steins the following weekend. But this should be a May 1 report. Not March 22. Best get up here ASAP. Roomer is their pushing things around at North to re-open it for tomorrow or Saturday. But FIS and Black Diamond are shot.

Hawk
03-22-2012, 08:18 PM
I'm thinking there is a snowboarder with a beer out there somewhere for me. ;-)

Treeskier
03-25-2012, 08:50 PM
Jay, Sunday River, Loon & Sugarloaf all plan to blow snow. Plus just announce Wild Cat also. What ever happened to us being King of Spring :( ....Seems like we did not blow the same amount of snow as lean years past. (last year does not count as it was a very snowy year and did not require much snow making)

pcampbell
03-27-2012, 11:50 AM
so what is everyone doing .. now that colder weather is back but just about all the snow is gone.

Hawk
03-27-2012, 05:16 PM
Sunday River Where there is 50+ trials and they are making snow. ;-)

HowieT2
03-27-2012, 05:26 PM
Sunday River Where there is 50+ trials and they are making snow. ;-)

That's is a curious decision on their part. How much money, ballpark, are we talking about to make snow now???

Hawk
03-27-2012, 05:44 PM
They have a commitment. 800 Brits are showing up for the first week in April. All that lodging, lift tickets, rentals and food is a big loss if they cancel. Anyway they have always done this kind of thing. I would add that snowmaking may not be as expensive as we here have been led to believe. The message is crafted by people who don't believe in snowmaking. Just a thought. Howie you know were I stand. They are skiing a lot of terrain at a lower elevation and less natural snow than we got. With global warming producing this kind of climate result more ofter, wouldn't you think that investment in an antequated system be a priority? I do. ;-)

HowieT2
03-27-2012, 07:30 PM
They have a commitment. 800 Brits are showing up for the first week in April. All that lodging, lift tickets, rentals and food is a big loss if they cancel. Anyway they have always done this kind of thing. I would add that snowmaking may not be as expensive as we here have been led to believe. The message is crafted by people who don't believe in snowmaking. Just a thought. Howie you know were I stand. They are skiing a lot of terrain at a lower elevation and less natural snow than we got. With global warming producing this kind of climate result more ofter, wouldn't you think that investment in an antequated system be a priority? I do. ;-)

I think we should break this out into a separate thread to discuss/assess the snowmaking issue.

Personally I thought the snowmaking was adequate since the mtn was 100% open by mlk which was better than any other eastern mtn. That being said, I think things could have gotten cranking sooner to start the season. While the new guns may be the right way to go overall, their performance in marginal temperatures was lacking and therefore there was a gap in capacity in November/December. Maybe a phalanx of fan guns for the lower elevations early in the season is warranted. Maybe these can be rented as needed.

I can't really comment on the "quality" of the man made snow, although I dont have any complaints there. And I have no idea what the cost is of late season snow making but whatever it is, doesn't seem to make much sense in late march.

Treeskier
03-27-2012, 09:19 PM
I am also amazed at what the fine crew at North were able to pull together between Friday and Saturday.

This is what Ski Patrol did with shovels

http://clubxtaski.com/120324_Melt_Down_web/photos/047_120323_Melt_Down_Sugarbush.jpg
http://clubxtaski.com/120324_Melt_Down_web/photos/048_120323_Melt_Down_Sugarbush.jpg

See what the fine groomer was able to do between Friday and Saturday harvesting snow and covering all that terrain

http://clubxtaski.com/120324_Melt_Down_web/photos/055_120324_Melt_Down_Sugarbush.jpg
http://clubxtaski.com/120324_Melt_Down_web/photos/056_120324_Melt_Down_Sugarbush.jpg

You would think with all the groomers at South they could have harvested some snow off the sides of Spring Fling and Lower Snow Ball to fill in upper Snow Ball so we could ski Spring Fling. Plus pull the snow off the high traverse.

Look all the intermediate skiers who enjoyed Spring Fling

http://clubxtaski.com/120324_Melt_Down_web/photos/070_120324_Melt_Down_Sugarbush.jpg

HowieT2
03-27-2012, 10:09 PM
Those pictures from the upper elevations illustrate how extreme and anomolous this torch was. That is what it ordinarily looks like in late may- june. Crazy.

You can try and put humpty dumpty back together again with some snowmaking, but to what end? Time to move on.

JayBird
03-27-2012, 11:30 PM
Hola MRVer's

Hope your season was as good as could be ! ... (Ma Natural not-withstanding ;)
Looks pretty beat up now, but still relishing a couple short weeks ago !
Newbie here ... needing guidance.

Searched but not found... any announcements on planned developments this summer to the mountain infrastructure?
Wrestling with a pass purchase and the fence is leaning pretty good. Appreciate any link to info that you might share.

Thanks much.

Hawk
03-28-2012, 06:55 AM
I think they are starting the next phase at the base of the mountain? Or are we still in the approval phase? I remember talk of the meetings but have not really heard if they actually got this bid out and have contractors on board. Anyway this will be more improvements to the base of the mountain with more condo's, retail shops, landcape improvements and the relocation of the Village Chair. I heard they also got approval for an expansion of Mountain Bike trials this summer. I have not heard any other info on infrastructure. This is probably also a separate topic for discussion.

JayBird
03-28-2012, 09:07 AM
Understood on topic relevance.
(seemed that was the only topic generating buzz)
Hope they fund a cloud seeder next year.
Thanks for what you reported 8)

gostan
03-28-2012, 11:44 AM
With 58 trail sections open, 336 acres & 23 miles of skiing open & 103 snowmaking days, even the diehard Sugarloaf skiers on Sugarloaf Today are in agreement with this statement; albeit with a somewhat grudgingly acquiescence to SR being the New King of Spring. I never really enjoyed skiing at SR, but I guess I might have to this particular spring.

ski_resort_observer
03-28-2012, 08:24 PM
Searched but not found... any announcements on planned developments this summer to the mountain infrastructure?
Wrestling with a pass purchase and the fence is leaning pretty good. Appreciate any link to info that you might share.


Not sure what your definition of mountain infrastructure is but here is info from the Sugarbush website about the next phase of the base developement.
http://www.sugarbush.com/vermont-real-estate/sugarbushliving/blog/rice-brook--the-latest-stage-of-development-at-sugarbush-100

HowieT2
03-28-2012, 08:51 PM
Not sure what your definition of mountain infrastructure is but here is info from the Sugarbush website about the next phase of the base developement.
http://www.sugarbush.com/vermont-real-estate/sugarbushliving/blog/rice-brook--the-latest-stage-of-development-at-sugarbush-100

Any news on whether they are actually breaking ground on this?

ski_resort_observer
03-28-2012, 10:06 PM
Any news on whether they are actually breaking ground on this?

http://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/en/news/news/367-rice-brook-residences-slated-for-spring

HowieT2
03-29-2012, 06:01 AM
http://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/en/news/news/367-rice-brook-residences-slated-for-spring

Old news.

gostan
03-29-2012, 06:27 AM
And, this new construction old news does not belong in this 2012 ski season "melt down" thread.

http://forums.skimrv.com/showthread.php/10376-Plans-for-Shortening-Village-Double-and-Its-Implications

Hawk
03-29-2012, 06:53 AM
With 58 trail sections open, 336 acres & 23 miles of skiing open & 103 snowmaking days, even the diehard Sugarloaf skiers on Sugarloaf Today are in agreement with this statement; albeit with a somewhat grudgingly acquiescence to SR being the New King of Spring. I never really enjoyed skiing at SR, but I guess I might have to this particular spring.
If you knew me when you were skiing there you would have had fun. ;-) I am going there for the rest of the season how ever long it lasts. I have an endless supply of 2 for 1 deals to draw from. Actually AHM relocated there last year. I think he is having some fun.

HowieT2
03-29-2012, 08:18 AM
They have a commitment. 800 Brits are showing up for the first week in April. All that lodging, lift tickets, rentals and food is a big loss if they cancel. Anyway they have always done this kind of thing. I would add that snowmaking may not be as expensive as we here have been led to believe. The message is crafted by people who don't believe in snowmaking. Just a thought. Howie you know were I stand. They are skiing a lot of terrain at a lower elevation and less natural snow than we got. With global warming producing this kind of climate result more ofter, wouldn't you think that investment in an antequated system be a priority? I do. ;-)

my understanding is that the number of Brits is actually over 2,000

Brew Ski
03-29-2012, 08:46 AM
my understanding is that the number of Brits is actually over 2,000

Sounds like an invasion. Hawk, better bring some ordnance and defend the home turf!!!;-)
Or at least win the Bust n Burn competition!

Anyone notice that the picture on the webpage looks like they blew snow???...
Just say'n blown snow drifts between bumps suggests more than just flurries.

Weekend might be a bit more magical than expected. If that is the case. Thank you very much Win!!!!

Brew Ski.

ahm
03-29-2012, 11:32 AM
Hawk is right, I relocated to the River in 2009-2010 due to a transfer for my job & will be here until I retire. Overall, it is a groomer hill and not a lot of natural, but.........it is 45 min from my house & work & I can ski every Friday as well as any powder day, comfortably being there for lift open. If I had my choice............I would be at another area with more character to the trails or bigger terrain, but I cannot beat the short commute and easy access to pow days. It certainly beats my 4+ hour commute that I did to the bush for well over a 15+ years. What the River provides is consistent, committed snow making, hence the guns being on now and this late in the season and a very solid lift system. For that, I give them a bunch of credit, but in terms of the trail quality, it is lacking some character that is Tumbler, Hammerhead, Castlerock and the numerous bush woods stashes.

What I find is that when the snow is decent, if I stick to natural snow trails (Locke Line--especially the parts they rope off due to snow making pipes, Ruby Palace, Carumba,most of the Barker stuff, their woods runs on the map and off trail areas) I can keep myself entertained for about 3 or 4 hours. Probably the biggest advantage to the relocation besides the short commute is my close access to both the Pinkham and King trailheads, as well as Rumford whitecap. I am typically in these areas on my weekends, avoiding the river crowds.

What am I doing now: I'll be there for the Friday afternoon laps. With the NH backcountry most likely frozen solid for the weekend, I'll probably go put on the cold weather paddling gear and head out to Casco bay (25 min from home) and see the early seal calfing, eagles nesting and the ocean getting ready to move to spring. After that, it's a bit of knee surgery next week..............so that could end this season. Enjoy the rest of the season and the river to all who go.

JayBird
03-29-2012, 12:35 PM
And, this new construction old news does not belong in this 2012 ski season "melt down" thread.

http://forums.skimrv.com/showthread.php/10376-Plans-for-Shortening-Village-Double-and-Its-Implications

Thanks for providing direction via this link !
Topic subject left a lot open for interpretation...but looked better trafficked than the others.
Won't happen again.

Enjoy the Weekend and Ski You Next Fall !

jwt
03-30-2012, 04:03 PM
Could you give me info on Kings please? Climbed/skied most of then rest of the ravines, and was headed to the north face this spring, snow or no snow.
Comparing it to other ravines, Ammo, Gulf of Sliides,etc. longer? Steeper? Should be better coverage w/no sun. Anything to stay away from the Tuckerman circus.

Hoping to spend the night before too. Anything plateau around 3000'?

Really appreciate any feedback. After exposing this and Ammo in Powder exposé last fall, it is no longer unknown.

Treeskier
03-31-2012, 06:28 PM
Went to Stowe yesterday. Skied from 9:30 to 1:00 and did not ski the same trail the whole time!
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/551611_171723606282218_100003337395380_260487_1848 610864_n.jpg
They had to have had 5 to 10 times more snow making!
Several trails with the same aspect as Snowball and upper Jester.. Theirs where wall to wall covered with 3-4' of snow. Plus with only the four runner chair open on that side of the MT the runs are top to bottom....like the distance top to bottom at North.
They even closed and did not count this trail due too it having too icy bumps (wish we had that problem)
http://clubxtaski.com/120330_Stowe_web/photos/007_120330_Stowe.jpg
And all we have is Steins on Friday!

gostan
04-01-2012, 06:54 AM
Went to Stowe yesterday. Skied from 9:30 to 1:00 and did not ski the same trail the whole time! They had to have had 5 to 10 times more snow making!
Several trails with the same aspect as Snowball and upper Jester.. Theirs where wall to wall covered with 3-4' of snow. Plus with only the four runner chair open on that side of the MT the runs are top to bottom....like the distance top to bottom at North. And all we have is Steins on Friday!Stowe shows 211 inches of snowfall versus 161 for Sugarbush. Glad you had a great day there yesterday. you better go back today because today is the last day of lift service skiing at Stowe.

PS: My 1st day of the season was at Stowe on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, when they opened the new Forerunner. They definitely started Deeper manmade coverage early and often, but 50 inches is 50 inches. And the stake at Mt. Mansfield still shows 30 inches.