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New England Conditions Roundup for vacation week

Cannonball

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Lots of people are trying to figure out where to go with their limited vacation time and pre-planned family ski trips. Conditions aren't thrilling enough to generate a lot of trip reports lately. So it seemed like a good idea to have a general thread where those of us who've actually put p-tex to the slopes over the past few days can quickly report back what we've seen. Might help a few folks get the most out of their vacation.

Here's what I've experienced in the past few days:

Cannon 12/26 & 12/27. Firm for sure, but decent edgeable sugar snow on top. This is the type of snow that can be pretty fun if you have some confidence because it's very soft. But it's definitely challenging for beginners and intermediates who steer away from the piles and find themselves on the ice in between. 27th was far more crowded and trail intersections were both overcrowded and scraped off majorly increasing the potential for carnage.

Cranmore 12/28. Went over to NC to meet up with old friends and possibly get out for some turns. It was raining fairly steadily until noon which lead to multiple cocktails instead of skiing. By the time it cleared we'd lost interest in skiing. But it looked like some fun spring-like conditions. On-the-ground reports since then say it's firmed up a LOT, but it is well groomed and decent family cruising.

Loon 12/29. I went over and hung out for a while with the dog, although I had no intention of heading up the lift. Snow around the base was sugary and people were having a blast! No shortage of people going for late day turns so it couldn't have been all that bad. The sky was beautiful and the folks around the firepit had obviously been enjoying their day.

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Bretton Woods 12/30. I took a few runs today. Ouch! No way to sugar coat it, it was bad. Solid as a rock and very hard to find a reliable inch of edgeable snow. I felt so bad for the bazillion beginners who were there taking a beating. I saw several beginner snowboarders giving up mid-trail and walking. It's hard to blame them, the thought of falling repeatedly on that ice is horrifying. But the views at BW make it easy to forgive everything else....

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Cannon 12/30. I considered stopping for a few runs, but decided against it. I did swing by to have a look though. They certainly aren't holding back on the Snowmaking....

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We have family up for the rest of vacation. They will want to go regardless of conditions. We will probably be at: 12/31 Cannon, 1/1 Cannon, 1/2 Burke, 1/3 BW, 1/4 who knows.

Hopefully people are finding fun wherever the end up and aren't worrying too much about 'what could have been'.
 

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xwhaler

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Good report and awesome pics. I skied Crotched yesterday and it was very firm but u could get an edge in if you knew were to look.
Am planning to be at Gunstock tomorrow....key I've found is to scout out the open runs checking out either side of the trail. Once u find a decent pitched spot u like hammer away at that section of run until it gets too boring.

The exploration of a mtn and hitting a different trail every time down is probably not worth it given the limited patches of good skiing.
I found a great stretch lapping on skiers left of the under chair run yesterday at Crotched and it was quite enjoyable.
 

Tin

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You're braver than I. Nice pics and glad to know someone is enjoying it. Know if Mittersill had any base left?

I found a great stretch lapping on skiers left of the under chair run yesterday at Crotched and it was quite enjoyable.

Skier's left of Plutos? The sides of the trails at Crotched always have tons of loose stuff on them and make for some fun. Any bumps forming under the Rocket or other quad?
 

xwhaler

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Skier's left of Plutos? The sides of the trails at Crotched always have tons of loose stuff on them and make for some fun. Any bumps forming under the Rocket or other quad?
Yes, skiers left on Plutos I felt had the best stretch of snow u could get an edge into on the entire hill. I didn't see any bumps per say...a few push piles of sugar snow forming on Satellite Summit skiers right but it was mixed in with very hardpack ice so not something you would wanna get after.
 

Cannonball

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You're braver than I. Nice pics and glad to know someone is enjoying it. Know if Mittersill had any base left?

Mittersill base is pretty smoked compared to when you were there last week (still can't believe I missed that!!). BUT I've seen it a LOT worse at this time of year. Unfortunately It's not going to be in play for any of vacation week. But there is a impenetrable base right now of 2-10" that will make things open up very quickly with some accumulations.
 

Tin

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Mittersill base is pretty smoked compared to when you were there last week (still can't believe I missed that!!). BUT I've seen it a LOT worse at this time of year. Unfortunately It's not going to be in play for any of vacation week. But there is a impenetrable base right now of 2-10" that will make things open up very quickly with some accumulations.

Thanks for the info. Can't wait to hit it again.
 

VTKilarney

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Bummer about Bretton Woods. I was hoping to hear that they had refreshed the snow on a few trails.
 

yeggous

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wildcat is hit or miss. Lynx is good and resurfaced up top. Polecat starts good but gets smoked by noon. catapult is okay. Upper Wildcat and Lift Lion are good when warm but rock solid now. I've enjoyed Bobcat, but lots of people are complaining. You need good edges.

attitash was also hit or miss today. Tightrope and Humphreys Ledge were better than I expected. Cathedral was sketchy. Thad's Choice was a mess. illusion had been resurfaced and was remarkably good all day.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app
 

dlague

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Bummer about Bretton Woods. I was hoping to hear that they had refreshed the snow on a few trails.

Can we say refreeze? This will be perfect for scraped off conditions everywhere! But that is skiing in the East!

We were there on Christmas and the conditions on areas where there was snow making were in pretty good shape but got soaked for sure!
 

JDMRoma

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Great Report, thanks Alex !

Bummer hearing the BW wasn't so good, they usually rebound pretty well after these events !
Certainly looks like Cannon is making a good effort......will be interesting to see how it plays out over the weekend
I won't be skiing until Saturday......
 

darent

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Skied Bretton Woods Monday, was Ok early morning hard with a little sugar on top, but when the crowds bombed it after 10am things got slick, had to stay off to the sides of the runs. big crowds , got crazy and headed home after lunch
 

4aprice

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All I can say is that I'm sure glad I got out before Christmas and enjoyed that good snow. Not New England but I went to my local home bump (CBK,, Pa) last Saturday and the conditions were the worst I've skied in probably 5 years. No fault of the mountain as they struggle along but it totally took out my desire to ski. Thinking about giving it another shot tomorrow, definately Thursday then over the weekend. It will recover but that (the melt down) was a body blow.

Alex

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Go to the Burke thread - may want to rethink about spending a day at Burke until the get some fresh. Doesn't look pretty up there and they seem to have reduced snowmaking capacity.
 

VTKilarney

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The Burke thread is a) virtually unbearable and b) driven by so many agendas it's impossible to trust any of the information.
While I don't disagree on what you have said, the lack of snowmaking is mentioned everywhere by everyone. It is an absolute fact that they haven't turned the guns on a trail that goes down the main mountain since the thaw. Even Burke itself does not dispute that.
 

Puck it

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After skiing Saturday with Cannonball, it was decent skiing. I sharpened three sets of skis today for the first.
 

SkiFanE

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Sunday River is holding up well. Tons of snowmaking so last couple days have been great. Basically, follow the guns and you'll be happy. Some bumps from the new stuff - either very new/soft or old crusty ones filled in with blown snowgun snow. But I'm a bump lover so it's been kinda boring, kids and I taking today off. Base is 100% ready for the natural stuff though.

Have a feeling the snow making is slowing down on trails In favor of building course for Frozen Rush baloney. {eye roll}
 

VTKilarney

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If anyone can give a Brettwon Woods report on Saturday I would be very appreciative. We are thinking about skiing there on Sunday.
 
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