I've never started a post before but felt I had to raise a question - and I have no vested interest as I cannot make it this weekend . I am confused as to why there will be no beginner terrian this weekend given that Castlerock and Steins are open? These are steep trails that would presumably get skied off much easier than a green circle. Yes, they are higher, but is the snow accumulation that much different on Easy Rider vs the bottom of Steins? Further, with the natural, even assuming its not enough to open with, it should provide enough of a jump start where 24 hours of snowmaking with temps in the mid teens - and certainly 48 (for a Sunday open) - would allow at least Easy Rider to open, if not Pushover? While I buy the argument of building base on key open terrian (Lower Downspout/Jester/Coffee/etc) given the forecast there would appear to be ample time to do so next week. Or is the base that lacking on those trails? Or is 24 (or 48 hours) of snowmaking time not enough? (if this is so then I agree with Tinwoodsman {?} that snowmaking firepower is a bit lacking - but thats another thread) Or am I missing something else? Win?

You all enjoy the snow this weekend - we've waited for it long enough. I hope to get somewhere next week and up to da 'bush in a few weeks.

THINK SNOW!

Snowmaking temperatures until just now have been up high on the mountain and that is where we have been making snow. The first priority when temperatures are available down low is to get top to bottom and that has happened. Now we turn out total firepower over to the Gate House area to get both beginner and intermediate terrain open. Stein'is an expert trail as is CR and we can open areas like that with the natural snow we have received. They will ski down to grass and rock quickly. Even the 22inches of light snow though isn't sufficient to groom a lot of trails. Within a couple of days we will have a lot covered all over the mountain and by next weekend we will have plenty of beginner and intermediate terrain. The amount of terrain that can be covered by snowmaking is a function of several things. We try to get 3-4 feet down before we move on. This allows grooming and makes it likely that the snow pack will remain skiable even if we have a thaw an rain.

The amount of cubic feet of we can make is a function of the amount of water that can flow through the main artery and the temperature. The lower the temperature the more guns we can turn on until water flow is "maxed out." When temperatures are marginal - say above 25 degrees we have use all five or our electical compressors (three at LP and two at ME) and do not make a lot of cubic feet of snow. When temperatures are in single digits we can have more guns on and make significantly more snow. A trail like Easy Rider in cold temperatures will still take a couple of days because of the cubic feet that need to be covered. A trail like Looking Good might take a day.
By the time you are here next weekend I think we will be skiing and riding most of both mountains.

Expert skiers can easily ski 20+ over grass, rocks and waterbars. Run a groomer over 20" over grass and you end up with 4" of dirt and rocks mixed with snow. Get better up here or wait.

Go Figure wrote:

Expert skiers can easily ski 20+ over grass, rocks and waterbars. Run a groomer over 20" over grass and you end up with 4" of dirt and rocks mixed with snow. Get better up here or wait.

Unfortunately, its not that easy -- Many expert skiers come with families attached. Without beginner terrain, you won't get the family business. To many of you, this might not be a big deal but I think the family dollar is a big deal to the mountain and the valley. You also have many families in seasonal progams that need beginner terrain.

By the way, conditions were great today -- hoping the naturual snow guns keep it going.

Lighten up Go Figure......I think Win already answered the question what would happen if 20+ was groomed. Some of us here are new and bringing young ones to the mountain and need to start on greens before getting better. Now we all understand why some of us need to wait.

It's just not peak family season yet. High priority right now is top to bottom and the expert terrain, because this is much more a "groups of guys" weekend. It's unfortunate for the few families who do come up now, it's true, but I can't fault Win and his snowmaking team for prioritizing based on the majority demographics. And plus there are weather factors also, as Win said.

Thanks for the quick response Win (slatham and sqlatham are the same person). I admit I'm a classic Monday morning, arm-chair quarterback (like many on this forum) and you have the facts/analysis- but I simply like to understand the dynamics. I didn't realize the plan was to laydown 3' before moving on to new terrain. That certainly takes time. I also figured you could groom/roll 20+" of snow, then lay down 5" of man made, and be good to go for the tikes. Then follow up with a base-building effort.

One thing this forum provides you is good customer feedback, which I'm sure is why you pay attention to it (and probably a factor in why you've done so well with the 'Bush?). As others have mentioned, the lack of beginner terrain eliminates customers from your potential universe. I'm sure you've anlayzed this - early season is probably dominated more by intermediates to extreme skiers - and the trade-off of an unassailable top-to-bottom base is more important than beginner terrain.

We plan to be at the 'bush soon so keep up the good work! (you too mother nature.......)

THINK SNOW

The conditions exceeded my expectations yesterday and even though we did a bit of grass cutting in places, it was excellent. I was a ready for skiing through snow guns and the sounds of compressed air guns but all of that was over on gatehouse, so it was a really peaceful day up top. Lots of natural snow up on castlerock.

All in all a good day....my legs are sore! Yahoo!

Next weekend will see beginner, intermediate and advanced and expert terrain at both LP and ME! Spread the word!

muddy_hollow wrote:

The conditions exceeded my expectations yesterday and even though we did a bit of grass cutting in places, it was excellent. I was a ready for skiing through snow guns and the sounds of compressed air guns but all of that was over on gatehouse, so it was a really peaceful day up top. Lots of natural snow up on castlerock. All in all a good day....my legs are sore! Yahoo!

Lots of sore legs all around after this weekend. Saw a lot of smiles over the past 3 days.

Guns were going up on Ripcord when things got "warmer" at the base by the afternoon. Really cold temps all around after tomorrow will be great for snowmaking at the lower elevations. Currently its 33.8 deg at a couple hundred feet in elevation above Lincoln Peak Village.

win wrote:

Next weekend will see beginner, intermediate and advanced and expert terrain at both LP and ME! Spread the word!

As someone who has recently invested in the valley and learning about snowmaking I think opening beginner terrain about a week after top to bottom is reasonable. That has happened this year and I'm sure it has always has been a priority. Can't wait for next weekend and xmas vacation!

Just stepped out onto the deck and heard the guns blasting again on the Gate House/Village side... Ripcord was shut down for snowmaking this morning but its back online at lower elevs... Gate House side should be really nice come this weekend!

After being at the mountain two weekends ago and not making a turn, all these discussions about terrain are simply distractions for me. We went from a brown mountain with two trails to great skiing last weekend. Next week, we get Mt. Ellen and Gate House. Things might not be perfect. It might be cold. There might be dirt and rocks sticking up. But, the whole mountain is white, the temps are low, and the guns are going.

I had three amazing days of skiing last Friday-Sunday. I'm sure I'll have two more fun days this weekend. There's always fun to be found. I have no time to dwell on what isn't open or perfect. I have skiing to do.


GS