May 9th for SB

[mattlucas]

What about downloading off the bravo and skiing HG if weather allows. The cover up there looked VERY solid minus one patch on Jester.

Grinder and Ripcord were still midwinter.

Plus, if that patch around the Valley House lodge is big enough to ski steins and coffee run to the lift, I don't see where the bottle neck would occur traversing to VH anyway.

If it's worth skiing, it's going to be worth skiing the top!

[win]

The problem is that Jester and Downspout won't hold up!

[shadyjay]

Skiing from Bravo to HG requires quite a bit of elevation drop. And returning to Bravo requires Upper Jester to Allyn's. While it may look good up top, you have to maintain a way to get to/from the lift. It's not like the Mt Ellen setup where you step off GMX and onto Summit and you're already at a high elevation there. Maybe someday we can resurrect the gondola and have a midstation where OG meets Downspout.

Other problem is that by April/mid April (definetely by May 8/9), the mindset of many is not on winter activities, and if the warm weather stretch we've been having is any indication, its time to break out the bikes, golfclubs, etc etc. While it would be great to stay open as long as possible, it has to be economical for the mountain to do so.


This does bring an interesting question.... what is the latest the mountain has been open? Closing first weekend in May seems to have been the norm for as long as I can remember. Even back in the early 90s.

[mattlucas]

unless you have the numbers, it's impossible to speculate about the economic sense. There looked to be about 60-80 cars on sunday which was drizzly and uninspiring, I would think that at least that many come out again as long as the day is nice and the lifts turn - especially if big K and Jay are closed.

The coverage was very good on downspout. I don't know if you skied but it wasn't opening weekend WROD at all. One section at the very bottom was going, with plenty of snow to push around. To me it would depend on ticket sales, and whether the passholders felt it was a worthy service for the mountain to offer.

I would think any skier would have the ability to walk from allyns to bravo. Maybe you can station a sugar sherpa to carry skis for little old ladies. It's not that much harder than the stairs at the bottom.

Mostly it is up to the weather. One more week of 80 degrees would make this all look like nonsense. Cold nights and a flurry or two, not so much.

[Lostone]

I would think any skier would have the ability to walk from allyns to bravo. Maybe you can station a sugar sherpa to carry skis for little old ladies. It's not that much harder than the stairs at the bottom.

Go hike that trail and tell me it isn't much harder than the stairs.

And in ski boots?


And I really doubt you'd find a Sherpa that would want that job, tho one might ski it whether or not there was snow.

[mattlucas]

you know, i was on the bravo with a bunch of guys who had backpacks and dukes this year when HG went down.
I asked them, who's hiking up for a run on Paradise? All of them backed out. Three able bodied youngish
"geared up" skiers on a powder day, so I get your point.

But out of all the shuttered areas in the northeast to think that there aren't 60-80 cars of people that would make that
80 vert hike to ski bumps all day in mid may just seems wrong to me.

Better yet, do an AT clinic and teach people to skin over there. Scarpa / dynafit demo day! BBQ at allyns!
A band on the Lincoln Glacier! Show those west coast resorts who is boss!

[Hawk]

How about let's get past May 2nd and 3rd first. I may be wrong but it seems that Win hasn't committed on next weekend thus far.
I was there last weekend also and the cover is getting thin in some key areas. With the predicted temps and rain in the forecast, I would bet that by the 9th there will be no snow at the base of HG and Jester will be a problem. One the other hand I think that there is plenty of snow on Steins and they could harvest the snow from spring fling to maintain coffee run and the base for the VH double to stay open.

See you this weekend......I hope.

[summitchallenger]

I'm not sure where folks got the idea that SB is opening May 8-9th....that has never been on the table AFAIK. We're talking about this weekend...and when I skied Deathspout on Sunday at 4pm, the lower 1/2 was shot...down to the ice base that was thin and had rocks poking out. Jester was pretty much done as well. Even more concerning is that the snow from VH to the base of Bravo was going fast and there was no snow built up around the VH Double. I thought that Coffee Run looked thin, but pushing some snow from Stein's is an option. Snowball will require some TLC to survice as well...the section around Moonshine entrance was gone.

And not to sound even more pessimistic, but Roger Hill is forecasting a gray, foggy, drizzly weekend. I'm not sure where someone got the idea that there were 80 cars in the lot on Sunday, I'd say more like half that....

Hate to be a naysayer, but I guess I'm trying to be realistic.

[vonski]

This is why we need to open the top of North again!!! Is there still enough snow up there to download off GMX? Ah, but then the Claybrook cutters could not cut the line. LOLOL!! And yes I know that this will not happen. But it sure makes sense. I wiil be up for one last hurrah if the mountain does open this weekend. So lets mine and push around the snow!!!

[mattlucas]

why be realistic? The internet is a place for dreams and arguing, man!

[gone.skiing]

North is open, lift ticket is $150 times 12 or something like that.

[flakeydog]

Back in the day (early 80's?), sugarbush and killington were locked in the annual end of season battle to stay open. Killington usually won, going into June most every year and Sugarbush would shoot for Memorial day. The latest I remember skiing Sugarbush was around may 22nd? I think. I do not believe they ever made it until June.

Killington had superstar and sugarbush had FIS. Killington was able to stay open longer because they had one trail directly served by the lift, no runouts... and they made an absolute a$$load of snow on that one trail. During the season it was said that you would look up at the trail as you rode up the lift. Sugarbush could do the same on Steins if they wanted to spend the money to do it.

[Strat]

Back in the day (early 80's?), sugarbush and killington were locked in the annual end of season battle to stay open. Killington usually won, going into June most every year and Sugarbush would shoot for Memorial day. The latest I remember skiing Sugarbush was around may 22nd? I think. I do not believe they ever made it until June.

Killington had superstar and sugarbush had FIS. Killington was able to stay open longer because they had one trail directly served by the lift, no runouts... and they made an absolute a$$load of snow on that one trail. During the season it was said that you would look up at the trail as you rode up the lift. Sugarbush could do the same on Steins if they wanted to spend the money to do it.

Just not worth the expenditure, as Win has said. By that point on the calendar, skiing is not on the minds of the majority of people, and since Sugarbush has other facilities more appropriate for this time of year, why pour money that won't come back into preserving a slice of winter?

[Hawk]

Being fiscally responsible is the right thing to do this year for sure. I heard that business was down slightly and cost cutting will ensure that the future will be a bright.

But for the record they already spent the money blowing the snow. Steins is still 5 to 10 feet deep in most places and from all observations they could certainly run the double and have skiing for at least two more weeks on Steins. So the cost to do that would be power, a couple of lifies, a couple patrollers and a few other people to watch over base area. I am sure that there are full time employees that could cover most of the responsibilities. All I know is that I would definitely be there if they were open.

[summitchallenger]

From what I could see having enough snow to cover the loading area of VH Double and the run out is the problem.....