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  1. shwilly

    Does it always piss hot rain right before or on Christmas in eastern ski country or does if just seem that way?

    I am surprised that SR is back to "pretty decent groomer day" conditions on the trails that are open. Many trails are under the guns today. On trails without new snowmaking, it's...you know, pretty standard Eastern groomers, though with some dips, bumps, and obstacles that weren't there...
  2. shwilly

    Does it always piss hot rain right before or on Christmas in eastern ski country or does if just seem that way?

    Sunday River getting crushed, too. The river itself is running high and Barker Brook is roaring. Looks like many of the groomers are holding up kind of OK so far, but everything without a big base is torched. Major patches around the base areas. Prior to this it's been decent groomer days this...
  3. shwilly

    Who is OPEN Still

    It wasn't terribly reassuring to read the top story in the Globe today. MA officially has 218 cases, but the story seems to count around 300 hospitalizations of suspected COVID patients in eastern MA. It's difficult to tell the real number or its rate of change right now.
  4. shwilly

    Skiing Sunday River 2019-2020

    It does look more like a rage quit than an unpaid bills situation. Hope he changes his mind! Things have been such a shit show lately, an entire forum getting nuked fits in with the week. Saturday was a wind hold day, though people were climbing and skiing White Heat all day. Yesterday was a...
  5. shwilly

    Fly vs Drive: Break even point

    For the foreseeable future our rare trips out West will be flying. I have a retirement fantasy of winterizing a small camper and spending all winter roaming around the Rockies and Sierras, wherever is good.
  6. shwilly

    Easiest snowfields run at Sugarloaf?

    It's been years, but I always liked this one. Steep bumps, but seems to hold snow well.
  7. shwilly

    Skiing Sunday River 2019-2020

    The official name is the White Cap Quad, but everyone calls it Tempest.
  8. shwilly

    Skiing Sunday River 2019-2020

    My guess is that they view loading-related stoppages and slow downs on Tempest to be a major problem. I agree! It's a slow lift, but intimidating for beginners (and kids) on loading. It can stop multiple times on a single ride because of loading problems. If they think they could mitigate that...
  9. shwilly

    This weekend

    Looking like a weekend to take a nice long run Saturday morning, schedule play dates for the kids, and catch up on some volunteer stuff that I uh signed up for but haven't done. Monday night's forecast calls for steady beer during the national championship game, so it's just as well that I...
  10. shwilly

    Crowd factor Sunday River on Saturdays - advice please

    Certain spots on the big groomers definitely get scrapey. How big the scrapey spots are and how quickly they get scraped depend on conditions and how much is open. Usually it's just specific spots, not everything. If the whole place is hardpack I quickly call it a day, but that almost never...
  11. shwilly

    Where to go Sunday? K or SR?

    The limiting factor lapping SR today was lines, which were apocalyptic at the base of the Locke lift and bad at the midstation. The snow was good, particularly on top, and crowds on the trails weren't too bad. You could lap Sunday Punch top to bottom, but the lift line was really long. Hopefully...
  12. shwilly

    What is the most challenging glade trail here in the East coast?

    Yeah. Bowling's weird because there's a max perfect score that isn't *that* far out of reach for mere mortals, but I get the impression that there are similar, multiple levels of unworldliness for most of the major sports. A great high school QB might even be able to throw the ball farther in...
  13. shwilly

    Best & Affordable Shimla Manali Tour Package by Indian Travel Store

    Man, this brings back more memories than the average spam post. Manali and Vashisht are indeed tons of fun and a great jumping-off spot for treks in the surrounding mountains. I would love to go back that way some day.
  14. shwilly

    Proposed 6 pack and 8 seater coming to NH soon??

    For real. Has anyone ridden an 8-pack before? I've never seen a chair bigger than a 6-pack. I'd prefer a gondola/tram for 8 or more. I have to think most trail pods would be overwhelmed with the traffic from a high speed 8.
  15. shwilly

    Sunday River improvements for 2019/2020

    Hiking trail which apparently will be used as part of a half marathon course next month. I'd be very surprised if it's ever an on-map ski trail again. It requires too much snow and would get scraped off too quickly.
  16. shwilly

    Sunday River improvements for 2019/2020

    Thanks for the pics, guys. It is cool to see how things are looking, although seeing the Crossbow sign...oh, never mind. The Ridge to River course looks fun and extremely strenuous. That will be the toughest thing I have ever run.
  17. shwilly

    2018/19 Skier visits

    It doesn't give you the whole story for operating P&L, but I'd say it's very important for the health of the sport and industry. The more people have more good days, the more people will fall in love with skiing. Many of the fanatics getting tons of days on their passes are buying real estate...
  18. shwilly

    New to You in 2018-2019

    Sure, choices different from what you'd do are absolutely ludicrous. Other people doing things, I tell ya :rolleyes: No new ski areas for me this year. I found many new lines at SR that I didn't know before. I must have found most of them by now, but don't seem to have run out yet. The season...
  19. shwilly

    2018-2019 Sunday River

    Funny weekend. Wind hold day yesterday, then a really nice spring day today with a variety of fresh snow properties from one area to another. The only downside was that the mountain has initiated late season lift shutdowns, resulting in apocalyptic lift lines when crowds showed up for the good...
  20. shwilly

    2018-2019 Sunday River

    This sums up my feelings about that peak very well. I really like that area, and I do White Heat maybe three times a season. The funny thing about the terrain at the very top is that it's only around 2600' elevation! It certainly feels higher.
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