Okemo 3.13.11

[gmcunni]

Date(s) Skied: Okemo

Resort or Ski Area: 3.13.11

Conditions: frozen G, packed power, soft wet snow, hard pack, bumps, clouds, sun, wind, rain, snow

Report: Day trip with the kids. The drive up from CT this morning was not pleasant, the further North we got the more rain we encountered. as we approached Ludlow i was sure i'd made a mistake investing in a long drive with a questionable weather forecast. There as a light but constant rain as we drove through town. As i turned on to the access road i noticed a flake or two mixed in. 60 seconds later the frown turned to a smile as we pulled into the drop-off zone and it was snowing, no rain at all. that was the beginning of an odd weather day.

Short version of the day was we started on the South Peak. Headed over to Jackson Gore for lunch and skied the middle of the mountain in the afternoon.

The top of the mountain was covered in clouds all day. Windy, flat light snowing on and off. The lower half of the mountain was partly sunny, no wind and warmer. Basically it was Winter on the top and Spring on the bottom of the hill. As we skied from the top to the bottom the snow conditions changed from hard pack to soft & wet very quickly.

I was very impressed with the snow cover. i didn't see a bare patch anywhere on the mountain

Cloudy top-

Soft snow lower mountain @ Jackson Gore

Soft bumps on Ledges

side note - lots of cops and radar traps today on 91.

 

[powbmps]

Looks like two different days.

Should be a good base all over New England for spring skiing.

 

[powhunter]

Ledges looks tasty

steveo

 

[4aprice]

Ledges looks tasty

steveo

Okemo is not one of my favorites, but your right that looks tasty. Also looks empty.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[gmcunni]

Also looks empty.

good point, forgot to mention that. it was sadly empty all day. most lifts were ski on, including the high speed northstar quad. never waited more than 2 minutes even during peak times.

i was surprised to see a lot of out of state cars heading home while driving in on 103. not sure if the weather scared them off or it was something else.

 

[reefer]

Sweet!

Thanks for the report. Hopefully it holds up into April!

 

[4aprice]

good point, forgot to mention that. it was sadly empty all day. most lifts were ski on, including the high speed northstar quad. never waited more than 2 minutes even during peak times.

i was surprised to see a lot of out of state cars heading home while driving in on 103. not sure if the weather scared them off or it was something else.

I think it has to do with alot of folks getting into warm weather mode. Good and bad for us skiing/boarding nuts. Good that we get the slopes to ourselves, bad that some places will close for other reasons then lack of snow.

Saturday in PA had a moderate crowd with events like Tele-fest, Season pass holders party etc. Sunday was a ghost town. I think many of the not-so-avid and some of the avid have gotten their fill for the season and thus shorten the skiing weekend to one day. Of course nuts like my keep pushing till the snows gone or the wife kills me. I'm lucky that my son is as nutty as me so I always have someone to go with.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[gmcunni]

I think it has to do with alot of folks getting into warm weather mode. Good and bad for us skiing/boarding nuts. Good that we get the slopes to ourselves, bad that some places will close for other reasons then lack of snow.

Saturday in PA had a moderate crowd with events like Tele-fest, Season pass holders party etc. Sunday was a ghost town. I think many of the not-so-avid and some of the avid have gotten their fill for the season and thus shorten the skiing weekend to one day. Of course nuts like my keep pushing till the snows gone or the wife kills me. I'm lucky that my son is as nutty as me so I always have someone to go with.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

you're right, i think the "mainstream" ski season is from Christmas to President's week.

 

[vinnyv11]

I think it has to do with alot of folks getting into warm weather mode. Good and bad for us skiing/boarding nuts. Good that we get the slopes to ourselves, bad that some places will close for other reasons then lack of snow.

Saturday in PA had a moderate crowd with events like Tele-fest, Season pass holders party etc. Sunday was a ghost town. I think many of the not-so-avid and some of the avid have gotten their fill for the season and thus shorten the skiing weekend to one day. Of course nuts like my keep pushing till the snows gone or the wife kills me. I'm lucky that my son is as nutty as me so I always have someone to go with.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Agreed. Saturday Blue had a light crowd and Sunday Bear Creek was virtually empty with the exception of the Pond Skimming. I'm debating whether it will be worth going out next weekend.