Re: Febuary

[HowieT2]

Here's to a new and better month with massive snow and much cold!

is that snow I'm seeing on the webcam???

[pinnoke]

Here's to a new and better month with massive snow and much cold!

is that snow I'm seeing on the webcam???

With only a little natural snow help from Mother Nature, Sugarbush's Mt. Ops crews have done a beautiful job on snowmaking trails, whether groomed or ungroomed. The manmade snow is silky smooth and fun. Groomed runs today made the thaw/freeze cycle from only a few days ago a fleeting memory. The sun and scenery today were once again, dazzling. Any discussions recently about whether snowmaking was finished for the season were unnecessary. The cold temps that returned only as recently as Thursday have helped generate high-quality manmade on a wide array of trails...thankfully! It was needed, and it was delivered...with much-appreciated results. If you skied or snowboarded today, I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did. Food and beverage at Castlerock Pub was a perfect finishing touch. Josh's specials might have to become staples; and bar-staff know their craft!

[teleo]

+1 - Kudos to mtn ops. Way better than I expected this w/e. Now lets hope we get some natural to get the rest of the mountain back.

[HowieT2]

what a pleasant surprise this weekend was. big thank you to the snowmakers and groomers. They made a lot of snow and it seemed to me to be of very good quality. had a lot of fun cruising and the kids were having a blast skiing the whales on snowball.
I did venture on to one ungroomed trail on saturday, upper organgrinder, and it was "variable". there was a couple inches of light powder in spots. the other spots were well...not so good.

query-on saturday I noticed that on snowball there were ground guns going while the tower guns sat idle. I thought the latter were the more efficient, so I am wondering why they werent being utilized in favor of the older guns.

fwiw-I saw something I had never seen before yesterday on ripcord. I was going up heavens gate when I saw a skier, ski into the hose connected to a ground gun. she moved the hose knocking the gun over and then pulling the gun, still blasting snow mind you, around her. can't imagine that was too pleasant!

This is the week we turn things around!

[djd66]

I have to agree - Mtn. Opps did an incredible job getting the Mtn back into shape. It seemed every trail i skied had new snowmaking on it,... and it was the very "high quality" kind of snow - the dry stuff that feels like styrofoam under your skis. Yesterday was one of the betterdays in a long time - the mountain was empty, it was 25, sunny and no wind! i had a blast with my kids.

What was up with the crowds on Saturday - not what I was expecting given the cold weather. It seemed like there were a lot of Mad River people - given the area is closed.

[shadyjay]

Glad everyone is enjoying the snow we've been making. With the cold temps we've been having these past few days, we've been able to pump out a lot of snow. At times we have maxed out on water so that is part of the reason why the snow has been nice and silky. Regarding the towers vs land guns, on Snowball, our goal was to hit the skier's right side of the trail. Being its such a wide trail, the land gear enables us to stretch it out 75' from the hydrant side (on skier's left) to hit the right side. Then, come our last run of the night (~ 5-6am), we have to pull the gear back so its skiable, especially for the weekend. Plus, we have a lot more room to maneuver with the land gear, as far as the wind. If the wind changes direction with a tower, all the snow we're making goes right into the woods. With the land gear, we can work with the wind and turn the gun wherever we like.

[HowieT2]

Glad everyone is enjoying the snow we've been making. With the cold temps we've been having these past few days, we've been able to pump out a lot of snow. At times we have maxed out on water so that is part of the reason why the snow has been nice and silky. Regarding the towers vs land guns, on Snowball, our goal was to hit the skier's right side of the trail. Being its such a wide trail, the land gear enables us to stretch it out 75' from the hydrant side (on skier's left) to hit the right side. Then, come our last run of the night (~ 5-6am), we have to pull the gear back so its skiable, especially for the weekend. Plus, we have a lot more room to maneuver with the land gear, as far as the wind. If the wind changes direction with a tower, all the snow we're making goes right into the woods. With the land gear, we can work with the wind and turn the gun wherever we like.

Thanks shady.

[Joe Dirt]

DANG!!!!!! Super sweet sunny afternoon laps on Inverness..................

[gostan]

Looks like some snow is coming too!!! Just what they need!!!This one is all over the place. National ABC news is calling for 1 to 2 feet in NE, but local Boston forecasters are calling for 6 to 12 inches in Boston with 3 -8 inches in northern NE. We need the southern storm to collide with the northern storm a bit further north. Bring it!

[skiladi]

+1 - Kudos to mtn ops. Way better than I expected this w/e. Now lets hope we get some natural to get the rest of the mountain back.

Any chance you'll be up Friday? I'm leaving on Thu. Give me a call. ; }

[sgottmann]

I hope the month gets renamed "Februbury." Storm for Friday and Saturday is huge for Boston -- latest model runs look better for the Bush as well. Up to 1.00 of qpf which if true, would be be something like 15-18 inches. Talk of 2-3 feet for Boston area. Warning -- could be a sharp cut-off of precip on fringes of storm (i.e Sugarbush) so keep expectations low.

Looks like an active week with the possibility for another coastal storm. Start your snow dances and sacrifices. The Mountain Ops have earned a reward for all of the work to make the mountain skiable.

Special Thanks to Mr. Smith for blowing snow on Steins in advance of the kids Castlerock Challenge.

[HowieT2]

I think we are in a decent spot. no whammies. we are making the executive decision that school will be cancelled friday and so are heading up thursday night.

boston area is going to get slammed. you folks better get out of there early.

[gostan]

I think we are in a decent spot. no whammies. we are making the executive decision that school will be cancelled friday and so are heading up thursday night.

boston area is going to get slammed. you folks better get out of there early.
Good move Howie. I plan on getting out of Beantown Thursday evening. Go north you still to be formed first snowstorm of February 2013

[sgottmann]

I think we are in a decent spot. no whammies. we are making the executive decision that school will be cancelled friday and so are heading up thursday night.

boston area is going to get slammed. you folks better get out of there early.

Trying to convince wife of the same strategy. For your viewing pleasure -- big bucks, no whammies!!

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/btv/html/StormTotalSnow/StormTotalSnow.shtml

[teleo]

I'm starting to think about that same strategy. Skiladi - Not sure l'll be able to pull it off. Will call if I do.

[win]

Just got back on Monday from my business/pleasure trip to Colorado. Last Wednesday, I watched in horror as the green blob on the weather map approached Sugarbush. Skiing around the mountain on Monday and today, I have to say how proud I am of our mountain team. Both our snowmakers and groomer have done an excellent job at both mountains. We will continue to make snow into the weekend, and the forecast for some reall accumulations is looking better and better. We still need close to a foot of snow to get everything open and to run the Slidebrook express. The snow we have had since last Thursday is very light and while it looks nice, it is nasty underneath. However, we are prepared to be 100% if Mother Nature cooperates.

We had a good time skiing at Beaver Creek, but we were on groomed trails only. They had some recent snow but their ytd totals are way behind out total here.

THINK SNOW and we will see you in the powder this weekend.

[beelze]

Arg.. hate to be a downer but just checked snow forecast and its dropped from about 12 mid mountain to only about 6 or 7 :( At the risk of violating some forum policy I'll put the http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Sugarbush/6day/top link as I have no ties to them. Over the years they have been pretty accurate but damn I hope they are wrong for tomorrow. Better start dancing or sacraficing the small furry ones to Ullr!

And yes, the ops guys did a good job getting the groomers back in pretty good shape at Linc. Haven't hit Mt. E. yet this week, hope same there.

[HowieT2]

Arg.. hate to be a downer but just checked snow forecast and its dropped from about 12 mid mountain to only about 6 or 7 :( At the risk of violating some forum policy I'll put the http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Sugarbush/6day/top link as I have no ties to them. Over the years they have been pretty accurate but damn I hope they are wrong for tomorrow. Better start dancing or sacraficing the small furry ones to Ullr!

And yes, the ops guys did a good job getting the groomers back in pretty good shape at Linc. Haven't hit Mt. E. yet this week, hope same there.

Stay the course!

[ducky]

Low angle woods not so good today. Really little coverage. Looked at the Slide Brook entry but same story - at least another foot to cover the logs. Trails were great.

[HowieT2]

Agreed. Did a recon run into the woods and they are very thin. Otherwise a very enjoyable day. Still snowing lightly. Not Much accumulation.

[win]

We still need some wettish heavy snow to get a good base for the woods. That might be in the forecast this week.

[HowieT2]

We still need some wettish heavy snow to get a good base for the woods. That might be in the forecast this week.

your wish is my command. wet snow coming up. upslope fluff thereafter. and with any bit of luck, that may just be the appetizer. keeping an eye on the weekend.

[HowieT2]

Dont know that there is an answer. The woods i was referring to are not on map and south facing. The on map traverses through the woods i did were passable. I just think everyone needs to tread lightly in there. Hopefully by sunday this will be academic.

[Hawk]

There has been an incredible amount of melt out in the woods at Sugarbush. In some places we were down to bare ground before the snow. I was also told that the snow we got last weekend was very light. Also I think your estimate of 1/2 the snow is a little off. I have skied both this year and I think that SR has just about the same amount on the ground at this point. I guess it all depends on where you ski in the wood. Like Howie says, we might not have to worry about it soon. Hopefully.

[Nick]

this weekend? fingers crossed.

[HowieT2]

I know SB is reporting somewhere in the 180" range, and SR has only received maybe 70-80"? They don't post their season total, but I would be incredibly surprised if its more than 1/2...

That being said, I hope none of us have to worry about it after this weekend!!!

They didnt get the rain we got with the most recent thaw which virtually wiped out the snowpack.

Meanwhile, a bit dissapionted with todays weather results and forecast.

[HowieT2]

I'm not going to argue, but being as I was at SR during said rain/fog/heat wave, I can say that if SB did worse, then it must have been a monsoon. The damage was pretty bad across the board in New England.

I was just questioning why SB, with that much more snowfall was struggling with base when other mountains with far less snowfall seem to be in about the same shape.

Whatever it is, it doesn't matter, it is what it is. I'm just glad that it seems like winter is finally back. I'm hoping February continues along this path.

I might be wrong, but iirc, sb got something like 2" of rain that night. it was a gulley gusher. I dont think they get nearly as much in maine.