Euler
Active member
Great trip report Bill! What an amazing day...
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Magic Mountain VT, 24-Feb-10 Uber-Pow-Day
- Thread starter billski
- Start date
jrmagic
New member
Damn I am so bummed I couldn't get up there for yesterday or today.Hopefully there will be some sloppy seconds for me this weekend. Great writeup and I'm glad you guys had a fantastic day.
No, sir, you are VERY lucky. Count those blessings before they are gone. :beer:
Nice write up!
reefer
Well-known member
Great pics Billski! Sweet memories..............
dmc
New member
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Re-freshies!
polski
New member
Great, awesome, pics & report, Bill. Sorry I did not have the flexibility to catch this one, but I'm reasonably (surprisingly?) sanguine about it - my time coming any day, as the saying goes.
Love this quote: "Don’t make work for patrol on a powder day"
One thing though:
Is the weight difference between say a 94 (your Wateas) and a 105 (my Gotamas) really enough to make a noticeable difference? (Not talking about skinning up here, just the downhill.) And might the additional float of the fatter ski - i.e. possibly easier skiing, especially in wet snow - at least offset any weight differential in conditions like you had Wednesday?
As I've noted previously, this season I jumped from 66 underfoot (quiver of one) to 105s that I now use under all but predominantly hardpack/groomer circumstances. My legs get beat after a while but they used to get beat with the skinny boards too. The Gotamas actually have pretty good range (ok on groomers for instance) and since I've gotten accustomed to them, I haven't noticed the weight making them any harder to work. Of course there are other variables involved in the weight of the ski, and I'm not looking up specs now to know the real differences on that score.
Love this quote: "Don’t make work for patrol on a powder day"
One thing though:
Is the weight difference between say a 94 (your Wateas) and a 105 (my Gotamas) really enough to make a noticeable difference? (Not talking about skinning up here, just the downhill.) And might the additional float of the fatter ski - i.e. possibly easier skiing, especially in wet snow - at least offset any weight differential in conditions like you had Wednesday?
As I've noted previously, this season I jumped from 66 underfoot (quiver of one) to 105s that I now use under all but predominantly hardpack/groomer circumstances. My legs get beat after a while but they used to get beat with the skinny boards too. The Gotamas actually have pretty good range (ok on groomers for instance) and since I've gotten accustomed to them, I haven't noticed the weight making them any harder to work. Of course there are other variables involved in the weight of the ski, and I'm not looking up specs now to know the real differences on that score.
billski
Active member
I began wondering as well. I know I'm not in as good a shape as a year ago. However, it seemed to be a bit much. So I took the bathroom scale out the the garage. My Volkl 724s with bindings weigh in at 12 lbs, the Atua are 15 lbs. So I'm not convinced it the weight of the ski. Big diff is the 724 length is 163, Atua length is 186. I think it's more a matter of increased surface area, which means, on powder days, a lot more snow to push around, since "skid turns" become more effective in pow. Just an observation, I'm no pro on theory of operations here, I'm a user.
DoubleEject
New member
Awesome Billski, just awesome! Does anyone know how Magic is fairing after the rain on Thur? Any frozen crust on top of the Packed Pow?
billski
Active member
Matt's reports have been brutally honest IMO. See what he was saying this morning
http://magicmtn.com/snowreport.php
billski
Active member
Matt this afternoon posted this:
That is the name of the game this week as it seems Mother Nature wants us to be skiing well into March and hopefully April. We have picked up anywhere from 34-48" of new snow over the past 4 days and there is more on the way tonight and tomorrow. It has been an amazing stretch of weather and it will lead to the best conditions of the season. This weekend we will be 100% open with powder and packed powder skiing mountain wide. Our biggest dilemnma is how to get it all groomed in time, but our grooming team is going to be working around the clock to get as much terrain buffed out for the weekend as possible. We will have more details on the grooming and conditions in the morning snow report as well as (hopefully) another report of 3-6 more inches of snow by first tracks Saturday.
SNOW! SNOW! And more SNOW!!
That is the name of the game this week as it seems Mother Nature wants us to be skiing well into March and hopefully April. We have picked up anywhere from 34-48" of new snow over the past 4 days and there is more on the way tonight and tomorrow. It has been an amazing stretch of weather and it will lead to the best conditions of the season. This weekend we will be 100% open with powder and packed powder skiing mountain wide. Our biggest dilemnma is how to get it all groomed in time, but our grooming team is going to be working around the clock to get as much terrain buffed out for the weekend as possible. We will have more details on the grooming and conditions in the morning snow report as well as (hopefully) another report of 3-6 more inches of snow by first tracks Saturday.
RootDKJ
New member
Glad you guys up north are finally getting some pow time.
riverc0il
New member
Glad to hear that they only had a brief hit of rain followed by about half a foot of fresh to freshen things up. Good to hear also that they plan to groom a lot of their terrain. I love Magic all natural but they need to pack down that base on at least the greens and the blues and perhaps even some of the blacks like Talisman.
polski
New member
Appreciate any firsthand reports from Magic today. Think I've narrowed my choices to 1) tomorrow rather than Sunday, and 2) Magic or Wildcat (which apparently got no rain but sold out today with their $9 special, so bound to be skied off - which may not be a bad thing if it was cement-y, but still, could be crowded with the second-day-for-$39 folks). Another consideration: NWS forecast for lowlands in Magic area: 3-6" tonight and 1-3" tomorrow; Wildcat, 1-2" tonight, 1-2" tomorrow.
polski
New member
Trigger pulled. Magic it is. Hitting the road asap.
I asked the proprietor at Motel in the Meadow about snow vs rain and she told me what she'd heard from people who skied Okemo. I told her I'm headed to Magic and she said "Oh we had a fellow here the other day who skied there." "Yeah, Bill," I said. She laughed and said you're welcome back anytime, as long as you bring 20" of snow with you. :lol:
ktnxbye
I asked the proprietor at Motel in the Meadow about snow vs rain and she told me what she'd heard from people who skied Okemo. I told her I'm headed to Magic and she said "Oh we had a fellow here the other day who skied there." "Yeah, Bill," I said. She laughed and said you're welcome back anytime, as long as you bring 20" of snow with you. :lol:
ktnxbye
jrmagic
New member
Absolutely. i spend 35+ days a season there and the reports are usually spot on. I may have to stop down at Snow Wizards and rent his real fat skis. I think they are 110 or 115 underfoot... forgot the make.
riverc0il
New member
Thinking Magic again for tomorrow. Was going to go NoVT where ever the lifts were held. Looks like SoVT will get the snow AGAIN! That drive down to Magic kills me and I rarely do it more than once a season. Twice in one week and the third time in one season would be a true testament to the snow down there. Rare is the day I drive south to ski!
Still looking for a solid updated forecast with a little more info. I'll go for 6" or more overnight for sure if it is not going to expand northward. I think tomorrow may be a good day to avoid the crowds as well. Not sure if the epic reports of snow will entice people or the heavy rains will keep people away. What a crazy season... all the normal "go to plays" in the book are straight out the window.
Still looking for a solid updated forecast with a little more info. I'll go for 6" or more overnight for sure if it is not going to expand northward. I think tomorrow may be a good day to avoid the crowds as well. Not sure if the epic reports of snow will entice people or the heavy rains will keep people away. What a crazy season... all the normal "go to plays" in the book are straight out the window.
polski
New member
Steve or anyone else who may be there - I'll be the Man in Black (or charcoal gray) from helmet to '09 Gotamas, with one of my sons, who'll be mostly in blue. Say hi if you spot us. Offline now until tomorrow night. WOOO HOOOOO!
roark
New member
I'll be there tomorrow with djspookman. Currently puking large wet parachutes in SW, presumably the same a bit to the northwest 
billski
Active member
In case the collective memory fails one day, here are links to copies of the National Weather Service Snowfall for the two days Wed-Thurs. from last week.
I've copied them to my private web, because they will be gone by this Thursday, they recycle the dates.
Note that the time 12Z refers to 12 noon Greenwich Mean Time, which is 5 hours ahead of us.
Wednesday:
Thursday:
You'll need to add the accumulations for both days to get the two day snowfall total.
It's pretty obvious where the bulls eye is, which is what make these charts so interesting.
I've copied them to my private web, because they will be gone by this Thursday, they recycle the dates.
Note that the time 12Z refers to 12 noon Greenwich Mean Time, which is 5 hours ahead of us.
Wednesday:
Thursday:
You'll need to add the accumulations for both days to get the two day snowfall total.
It's pretty obvious where the bulls eye is, which is what make these charts so interesting.
billski
Active member
Congrats to Winnchill's www.snowforecast.com for nailing this one cold!
