LP Opening Weekend: Weather Updates and Discussion

[Tin Woodsman]

The other thread was getting a little tired and more than a little off track. Thought I'd start a new one to discuss the impending clipper/upslope event for Wednesday through Friday and then whatever happens on into the weekend.

Have at it people.

[Tin Woodsman]

For openers, this looks good, but I think the big blob of snow is headed to our North. Also, all that lake effect off of Ontario is getting eaten by the Dacks. F'ers.

http://www.intellicast.com/IcastPage/LoadPage.aspx?seg=LocalWeather&loc=usa&Product=RadarLoop&prodgrp=RadarImagery&prodnav=none

[CapeSkiGuy]

I'm a newbie to the MRV and SB, but I've been waiting for this much-needed local dumping. Come on, snow. I am driving up tonight, so hopefully Saturday will be a decent day to start my season. Time to get off the barstool and onto the chairlift. Anybody know the latest on that clipper system that was supposed to give us a hit? I live on the Cape, and it is pretty hard to get a good MRV weather forecast down here!

[Lostone]

Nobody has an idea what is happening up here with the weather! :wink:

Today, they have pretty well. Tomorrow, a fairly good idea. 2 days and beyond... They're guessing! :roll:

Lots of us use this site (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?site=BTV&llon=-73.047083&rlon=-72.119583&tlat=44.717917&blat=43.792917&smap=1&mp=1&map.x=42&map.y=160).

Right now, it is looking good for the weekend, but if you follow what I said above... the weekend is still more than 2 days. :lol:

And welcome to the board. :wink:

[CapeSkiGuy]

Thanks for the info. Suddenly, it's winter again. The cancellation has been cancelled.

[random_ski_guy]

Back to another dead horse issue (Tin, I'll carry the torch this time). Again, this morning's snow report says nothing about the 2-4 inches that fell at the base yesterday and the 4+ that fell atop the mtn. Instead they go with the ultra conservative figure of zero!

Maybe the snow reporter is working from home this week. Somewhere in Boston, Southern Cal (the guy does have the surfer tone going on the recording) or Key West.

[Tin Woodsman]

Back to another dead horse issue (Tin, I'll carry the torch this time). Again, this morning's snow report says nothing about the 2-4 inches that fell at the base yesterday and the 4+ that fell atop the mtn. Instead they go with the ultra conservative figure of zero!

Maybe the snow reporter is working from home this week. Somewhere in Boston, Southern Cal (the guy does have the surfer tone going on the recording) or Key West.

Such weak sauce.

I want uncrowded slopes as much as the next guy, but SB's inability or unwillingness to keep a properly updated snow report is beyond my ability to comprehend, especially at this time of year.

[Mike_451]

I will be heading out the slopes about 11, will have a reoport this afternoon........ The temps here are holding out for snowmaking still bordering 20 degrees, hopefully the marginal temps will be mostly durring the afternoon.

[BushMogulMaster]

Back to another dead horse issue (Tin, I'll carry the torch this time). Again, this morning's snow report says nothing about the 2-4 inches that fell at the base yesterday and the 4+ that fell atop the mtn. Instead they go with the ultra conservative figure of zero!

Maybe the snow reporter is working from home this week. Somewhere in Boston, Southern Cal (the guy does have the surfer tone going on the recording) or Key West.

Such weak sauce.

I want uncrowded slopes as much as the next guy, but SB's inability or unwillingness to keep a properly updated snow report is beyond my ability to comprehend, especially at this time of year.

As much as I agree........ often the snow reports are done from Lincoln Peak, and in many cases (such as yesterday) Mt. Ellen gets snow when Lincoln Peak doesn't. Sometimes it's vice-versa. I'm not saying that excuses inaccurate reports, but there is at least some basis for the oversight.

[Tin Woodsman]

MRV Peeps -

Um, is it snowing there right now? I ask b/c the composite radar indicates that it is coming down at a decent clip, but I think I've read that a lot of the precip is virga (not hitting the ground). Looks like Bolton to Jay is getting crushed, but the discussion from BTV didn't mention anything really for tonight.

[Mike_451]

sorry, aint nothing happening here......, there were some fluries for an hour or so arround noon, but I guess there aint going to be anything untill tomorow....

[win]

Tin,

Hardy and I on on top of the report. We are going to be accurate and not overstate. The amount of snowfall is dramatically different at different places on the mountain. I personally think that the hyperbole like Okemo (awesome conditions the Tuesday after Thanksgiving?) and Jay use are bad for the entire industry. We are going to really try to get accurate readings at different elevations and not just guesses. This requires people to get up there. As far as forecasts, no one on our Mountain Ops team has confidence in Roemer, so we are not using him. Like all he occasionally gets it right. If any of these guys were really knowledeable they would have made a fortune in commodity futures! The best forecast is still looking out the window. Hope is never a method, but it is still fun to hope!

Win

[Strat]

Tin,

Hardy and I on on top of the report. We are going to be accurate and not overstate. The amount of snowfall is dramatically different at different places on the mountain. I personally think that the hyperbole like Okemo (awesome conditions the Tuesday after Thanksgiving?) and Jay use are bad for the entire industry. We are going to really try to get accurate readings at different elevations and not just guesses.
Win
So why aren't there Base, Mid-Mountain, and Summit snow totals on the report? More than 1" has fallen at the summits of both mountains, it's simply indisputable.

[Lostone]

Ya know... If you guys were complaining about a foot, that would be one thing. But 1-4"??

You're talking about how much of nothing we got. :roll: :wink:

[Tin Woodsman]

Tin,

Hardy and I on on top of the report. We are going to be accurate and not overstate. The amount of snowfall is dramatically different at different places on the mountain. I personally think that the hyperbole like Okemo (awesome conditions the Tuesday after Thanksgiving?) and Jay use are bad for the entire industry. We are going to really try to get accurate readings at different elevations and not just guesses. This requires people to get up there. As far as forecasts, no one on our Mountain Ops team has confidence in Roemer, so we are not using him. Like all he occasionally gets it right. If any of these guys were really knowledeable they would have made a fortune in commodity futures! The best forecast is still looking out the window. Hope is never a method, but it is still fun to hope!

Win

Thanks Win. That's good to hear. As in most things in life, you have to strike a balance. Sensationalism is in no one's interest. On the other end of the scale, neither is inattention to detail. It seems pretty clear that somewhere on the upper mtn, be it ME or LP, roughly 4-6" was received from Sunday onwards. That isn't/wasn't reflected in the report. Because of the ridge/spine topography enjoyed by SB, as you aid there is going to be a large disparity in snowfall between the upper mtn and lower mtn, and sometimes between ME and LP. It would be good to have a general understanding of what fell where, within the bounds of reason. And I know I beat this drum all last season and will continue to do so - if you are updating the snow report online during a snowfall (and I think you should b/c as little as 2-3" matters in the middle of the day), please slap a time stamp on there so we can know when the info is current as of.

As for the more qualitative comments section I've been urging. It would be great if your post here regarding Cruiser and the status of snowmaking made its way onto the site so that the entire SB community of interested parties (and not just the diehards who have found there way here) could see what's up and what's next (instead of just bare ground on Cruiser come Saturday, potentially, with no context)

Thanks, as always, for listening.

[ski_resort_observer]

The forecast calls for a high of 33F today for my place(elevationwise), but it's 42F right now and this warm wind has melted all the snow. Low tonight is supposed to be 5F which will freeze everything up. good for snowmaking, not so good for the snow surface. They are calling for snow today(after 12pm), tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully, the forecast for snow will turn out better than their temp forecasts. Lot of folks in the valley who normally would be working by now but are not and their getting alittle surly...:lol:

Edit: (2:30PM)Just heard it's snowing hard in Burlington, not at my house yet but hopefully it's started on the mountain. Hello lostone, mike, plow or bmm? The temps are slowly going down.

Edit: (3:15)where are those guys, this is not my job.. :lol: :wink: They are probably either sleeping, working or skiing. I can only offer that's it's puking snow at my house. Keep going treeskier!!!!!

[boze]

:D

Snow, baby, snow!

http://upload4.postimage.org/1848359/Norms_120706_303pm.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1848359/photo_hosting.html)

[Plowboy]

Here ya go SRO.

Wet snow heavy at times here near the base of ME. Mix of rain and snow in the valley.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i273/MX51/IMG_0600.jpg

[boze]

http://upload4.postimage.org/1848872/Norms_120706_401pm.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1848872/photo_hosting.html)

Don't stop now!

[ski_resort_observer]

Here ya go SRO.

Wet snow heavy at times here near the base of ME. Mix of rain and snow in the valley.

Thanks Plow...couldn't help noticing your sander...is that a Downeaster per chance?

[Plowboy]

SRO, it's a Snoway.

:lol: A couple of years ago I was in the Mehuren's lot and a couple of elderly flatlanders were looking @ the sander. They came to the conclusion it was a Manure Spreader. "Ahyup"

[Mike_451]

It was absolutly puking at the top of MT Ellen, at lest 3" so far..... it isn't doing anything at my house, maby an inch or so, but up top it was snowing at least an inch every 15 minutes. That said, last few runs of the day were POWDER BABY!!!!!

[ski_resort_observer]

Here's a good sign..the town plow just went by my place, plowing not sanding, I think the first one this year. :D

[win]

We are working on a new page for the site which will address many of your thoughts. Once the season gets into full swing we are also going to show base, mid and summit snow falls. It requires bringing in someone early who can get up to read the stick. Right now we have a lot to do getting ready for everything, so this is not my highest priority this week, but it will be up shortly.

Snow is falling, and it looks like it is a good base builder. Temps are coming down. I am going to update everyone sometime after 1pm tomorrow about the status of everything - including whether beer will be flowing in the Castlerock Pub on Saturday. It is crunch time tomorrow and many of our teammates are full out getting ready for Saturday.

[Tin Woodsman]

We are working on a new page for the site which will address many of your thoughts. Once the season gets into full swing we are also going to show base, mid and summit snow falls. It requires bringing in someone early who can get up to read the stick. Right now we have a lot to do getting ready for everything, so this is not my highest priority this week, but it will be up shortly.

Snow is falling, and it looks like it is a good base builder. Temps are coming down. I am going to update everyone sometime after 1pm tomorrow about the status of everything - including whether beer will be flowing in the Castlerock Pub on Saturday. It is crunch time tomorrow and many of our teammates are full out getting ready for Saturday.

Good stuff, Win. Obviously everyone is full out to get ready for the big opening this weekend. I really look forward to seeing the new page when it's done.

Good base building snow - very niiiice. Actually, I'll bet this is the perfect base builder - wet on the bottom 5-6" and then lighter as it cools down and dries out. Maybe if we really get lucky, the cold air and new snow will enable T2B via Cruiser at North. Any chance we see a grassy, somewhat high-elevation natural trail like Upper Birdland open up? Nothing really to hurt your bases lurking below.

[Treeskier]

Tin Woodsman, Win said they are switching to Exterminator because of a pipe failure on FIS in an earlier post today. I suspect there will be a little natural on the edges and or they may open upper Brovo which holds early snow really well. I've been privileged in the past of getting early first tracks on it...even last year in November if memory serves me right.

Just keep dumping Mother Nature!

[Tin Woodsman]

2"?

Where did they measure? Waitsfield?

[Plowboy]

Well, I was up @ 4:30am(Yes, out to make a buck this time Noski). So much for that storm. It's white out there but, it snowed sideways all night. Less snow than there was @ 9:00pm. :?: :?: :?: :cry: :cry: :cry: Dec 8th and not 1 driveway plowed this year. Just a couple of private rds. that are on contract. :(

2" @ the base of ME. Snow guns are cranking @ the base.

[noski]

Well, I was up @ 4:30am(Yes, out to make a buck this time Noski). So much for that storm. It's white out there but, it snowed sideways all night. Less snow than there was @ 9:00pm. :?: :?: :?: :cry: :cry: :cry: Dec 8th and not 1 driveway plowed this year. Just a couple of private rds. that are on contract. :(

2" @ the base of ME. Snow guns are cranking @ the base.

I promise to call you first if my driveway needs plowing, honest. I got 4" at Ctr Fayston 1800' and must have been sheltered from the wind (facing due east) since it stayed all in one place. I had to shovel this morning.

[ski_resort_observer]

http://www.snocountry.com/snowclient/srlist.php?from=effectsMap&state=VT

Jay reported big snow last 2 days, 27" the last 6 days but still have less than 10% open with a base of 15", other reports show some decent snow last 2 days but pretty much everybody has less than 10% of their terrain open.

[freeheel_skier]

Something tells me the 27" is an exaggeration :?