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  1. #226
    What's going on at Mt Ellen ???


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  2. #227
    [QUOTE=Hawk;225658]So I skied 3 days this weekend and this is my opinion. The quality of the snow was fine for opening weekend. Actually best I have seen so the new guns seem to be an improvement. There were no huge icy whales like past years and coverage was good with no huge areas of icy mess. The temps warmed up on Friday so it was spring skiing. Great day on Friday best so far. ;

    Friday was nice because it was warm but Saturday and Sunday were icy, especially Downspout. I have to refresh my snow report translator- "sharpen your edges" means bring hockey skates. I understand it froze, but can the groomers go out early in the morning to groom, not at 4pm so it's frozen corduroy? At least running the towers on Downspout to refresh would have been nice. The snowmaking down low on Sunday was for show, the amount of running water coming out of the piles was comical, while there were guns on Ripcord that could have been turned on. Slow and steady it is. Hopefully no more downloading, that is the worst.

  3. #228
    I would imagine that they blew down low because they were getting some production, even if it wasn't the greatest. The temps don't look great, even after the warmup this week, for blowing at the bottom, so I imagine they wanted to get whatever they could down at the base because they will have some temps at elevation later this week to finish off Ripcord.


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  4. #229

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Richmond, VT
    Posts
    47
    The plan is to open t2b tomorrow (Tuesday). Skiing today was very nice; Grinder even better than Sunday's good initial groom. Of course, fewer skiers today = conditions that held up well into the afternoon. Noticeably more production from the guns compared to Sunday. Should be a very nice Tuesday morning.


  5. #230
    Thanks for all the suggestions and opinions. First, if we have the same number of skier visits as past three years, we will be very happy. We can grow more and still have a quality experience but the greatest unused capacity is midweek which is why we offered the Boomer Pass. Unlike most other resorts 55%-60% of our skier visits are passholders. They either drive from nearby or have a home or condo or seasonal rental, so lodging needs are different than some other areas. We saw the need for more modern slope side residences and that is why we have built was we have and have planned.

    Comment about Timbers. Yes, we got off to a rocky start with wrong chef, but it is doing well now. Chef Todd Dibkey is great as is rest of staff now and it serves many needs all year around. No restaurant pleases everyone but The Valley has some excellent choices, and it is good to see new entrants like Mad River Barn, Elusive Moose, Blue Stone (former Den) and Fit2bThai at The Sugarbush Inn. The Hideaway also had nice new owners.These complement long time establishments like The Common Man, Chez Henri, Flat Bread and the two restaurants at The Pitcher Inn.
    A
    I enjoy Hawk's passion but his last post has some factual errors. As I and others have already said the new equipment has increased our snowmaking capacity significantly especially early season when temps are marginal. For the past couple of days we had guns running from top of Ripcord to the base putting out in excess of 3,300 gpm. In years past we would have been a third of that. The choice of going to the trails we did rather than resurfacing was based on the forecast. First priority is top to bottom as well as more terrain. We saw a two day window and that had paid off as we will be top to bottom tomorrow. We had sufficient depth to groom what is open and later week temps may only allow peak snowmaking after warm up which will then make sense to do some.
    Resurfacing. We do plan to put. another. 2 millions gallons on Upper Organgrinder to set it up for the season.
    A comment about snow whales. As I have said it the past, it is best to leave these mounds to drain moisture for 24-48 hours before grooming . Otherwise you press moist snow and it can become bullet proof. In the past we made snow just in time to
    open this year with fewer snowmaking hours due to temps we were able to let the snow sit and then
    groom for opening on Thanksgiving. Hope these comments help.

  6. #231
    We had a really good night last night and made quite a bit of snow from bottom of HG down to the base. The amazing thing about making snow is watching a trail go from grass/dirt to skiable in a matter of days.

    I'm planning on going out for the first time this year tomorrow morning. I believe downloading will still be available as lower DS won't be groomed out yet (from what the report says). Need to at least break in my legs on Upper DS and Jester. Plus, going through the piles on the flats probably will be a little "challenging" on my board.

    Hope the upcoming weather doesn't do much damage and we can move on to SB/Fling soon. That'll be a nice fun run.

  7. #232

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Waitsfield, VT
    Posts
    124
    Top to bottom today. Organgrinder skiing well as was Lower Downspout runout. Started raining around 11:30 despite it being 30˚.

    Roads really bad in the Valley with black ice, especially on bridges.

  8. #233
    Quote Originally Posted by winjr View Post
    Thanks for all the suggestions and opinions. First, if we have the same number of skier visits as past three years, we will be very happy. We can grow more and still have a quality experience but the greatest unused capacity is midweek which is why we offered the Boomer Pass. Unlike most other resorts 55%-60% of our skier visits are passholders. They either drive from nearby or have a home or condo or seasonal rental, so lodging needs are different than some other areas. We saw the need for more modern slope side residences and that is why we have built was we have and have planned.

    Comment about Timbers. Yes, we got off to a rocky start with wrong chef, but it is doing well now. Chef Todd Dibkey is great as is rest of staff now and it serves many needs all year around. No restaurant pleases everyone but The Valley has some excellent choices, and it is good to see new entrants like Mad River Barn, Elusive Moose, Blue Stone (former Den) and Fit2bThai at The Sugarbush Inn. The Hideaway also had nice new owners.These complement long time establishments like The Common Man, Chez Henri, Flat Bread and the two restaurants at The Pitcher Inn.
    A
    I enjoy Hawk's passion but his last post has some factual errors. As I and others have already said the new equipment has increased our snowmaking capacity significantly especially early season when temps are marginal. For the past couple of days we had guns running from top of Ripcord to the base putting out in excess of 3,300 gpm. In years past we would have been a third of that. The choice of going to the trails we did rather than resurfacing was based on the forecast. First priority is top to bottom as well as more terrain. We saw a two day window and that had paid off as we will be top to bottom tomorrow. We had sufficient depth to groom what is open and later week temps may only allow peak snowmaking after warm up which will then make sense to do some.
    Resurfacing. We do plan to put. another. 2 millions gallons on Upper Organgrinder to set it up for the season.
    A comment about snow whales. As I have said it the past, it is best to leave these mounds to drain moisture for 24-48 hours before grooming . Otherwise you press moist snow and it can become bullet proof. In the past we made snow just in time to
    open this year with fewer snowmaking hours due to temps we were able to let the snow sit and then
    groom for opening on Thanksgiving. Hope these comments help.
    Timbers is a tough proposition because it has to be open 7/365 even at times when it isn't profitable. so its probably not amenable to outsourcing like skinny pancake and fit2bthai, which btw I am really looking forward to trying.

  9. #234
    Quote Originally Posted by HowieT2 View Post
    fit2bthai, which btw I am really looking forward to trying.
    I'll second that. Apparently they were at Slide Brook Lodge all summer and I had no idea and never even noticed the bunch of times I drove by on German Flats road.

  10. #235
    Quote Originally Posted by cdskier View Post
    I'll second that. Apparently they were at Slide Brook Lodge all summer and I had no idea and never even noticed the bunch of times I drove by on German Flats road.
    same here. had no idea but then again, am not a big fan of the slidebrook lodge. If the thai is good, then the only real void for food in the valley will be sushi

  11. #236
    Quote Originally Posted by HowieT2 View Post
    same here. had no idea but then again, am not a big fan of the slidebrook lodge. If the thai is good, then the only real void for food in the valley will be sushi
    Lets be honest. Only locals will east sushi in the valley. It's a little landlocked and sugarbush is mainly drawing from coastal cities.

  12. #237
    The valley is still lacking in Indian food.

  13. #238
    Quote Originally Posted by HowieT2 View Post
    same here. had no idea but then again, am not a big fan of the slidebrook lodge. If the thai is good, then the only real void for food in the valley will be sushi
    If I want a quick good burger in the winter I'll stop in there.

  14. #239
    Doesn't the Butchery have good sushi? His new place is great.

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  15. #240
    Hawk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Just ahead of you in the woods....
    Posts
    1,823
    Not necessarily true. I certainly can not be considered a local and I have had the sushi from the guys who go to Flatbread. They are like a travelling Sushi Outfit. They are very good. I also had the Sushi at the Butchery. They also do a good job but it is very limited. Let's face it. If you are not in a major Fishing outlet, the sushi can be limited and maybe not up to the standards of a Sushi addict. But for what it is, it is not bad. I will agree that if there was a dedicated Sushi Place that had good quality. I would go quite often. Sushi Oshi at Stowe does a good job. We go there whenever we are passing through.
    Quote Originally Posted by Benski View Post
    Lets be honest. Only locals will east sushi in the valley. It's a little landlocked and sugarbush is mainly drawing from coastal cities.
    Trouble with you is the trouble with me,
    Got two good eyes but we still don’t see!

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