"Artificial" Open Bowl Skiing in the East

[ALLSKIING]

Are you junior?

No he is not Junior :lol:

 

[mediamogul]

The problem is that we don't have the same weather patterns in the east as those that support bowl skiing out west. It would be non stop ice all the time.

Also, imagine if K cut all the trees from escapade to royal flush. It would be one giant horrendous sheet of ice. Double dipper is bad enough.

I don't see the big attraction.

 

[bvibert]

Sugarloaf offers the only lift serviced above tree line skiing. It is a big difference between the terrain being convex vs concave.

Yup, there's definitely not much that's concave or bowl like about the terrain up there. I was going to mention that, but it seemed the OP was really more interested in wide open, above tree line, skiing vs actual bowl skiing.

 

[AndyEich]

Blue Knob, PA created an artificial bowl:
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=stembogan+bowl&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=vsaYtmxwao0hjM:&imgrefurl=http://www.dcski.com/articles/view_article.php%3Farticle_id%3D1244%26mode%3Drss&docid=6GDoNJuISlXQiM&w=600&h=400&ei=NZN6TsrRGIPG0AGW9pSkAg&zoom=1

Keep in mind that this is in the middle of Pennsylvania. Simply crazy.

They have had some erosion problems, but I'm not sure how severe they are.

 

[Geoff]

The winds out here that typically follow / happen during storms would scour any open area like that in a heartbeat.

This.

If you're going to cut a big wide bowl, you need to do it on the lower mountain out of the wind.

And Sugarloaf ain't a western-style bowl.

 

[deadheadskier]

What about Jordan 'Bowl' at Sunday River :lol:

 

[snoseek]

I would just accept eastern skiing for what it is. It can be very good, just different.

The bowls at my goto mtn out west receive 400+ inches of snow average and sometimes stay bony as hell till February. Wind speeds are about the same as somewhere like Cannon/Loaf ect.....it would take at much more snow than most areas in NE get to fill in all that granite. The few areas like the snowfields take everything mother nature has and a little luck just to open for a few days. This would be a complete waste of resources and the end result would be horrible. Skinny trails and trees are where its at.

Just fly or move west if you want to ski open bowls

 

[snoseek]

What about Jordan 'Bowl' at Sunday River :lol:

The "bowl" part has nothing to do with skiing:beer:

 

[ALLSKIING]

Blue Knob, PA created an artificial bowl:
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=stembogan+bowl&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=vsaYtmxwao0hjM:&imgrefurl=http://www.dcski.com/articles/view_article.php%3Farticle_id%3D1244%26mode%3Drss&docid=6GDoNJuISlXQiM&w=600&h=400&ei=NZN6TsrRGIPG0AGW9pSkAg&zoom=1

Keep in mind that this is in the middle of Pennsylvania. Simply crazy.

They have had some erosion problems, but I'm not sure how severe they are.

Looks like a good little hill....but 6 hrs from me...Not going to happen

 

[snowmonster]

All this talk about artificial bowl skiing reminded me of what some good ole boys tried to do up at Big Jay a few years back.

 

[UVSHTSTRM]

Sugarloaf is the only ski area in the East that offers open bowl skiing a la what's offered in Western resorts. And still, it's not exactly like Western resorts, as the area of above the tree line skiing is not really that extensive. You can, of course, go to Tuck's or some other backcountry to have the experience, but I'm talking about lift served open bowl skiing.

Why don't more eastern ski areas remove all the trees from the summit of some of their peaks in order to replicate an open bowl skiing experience. Don't get me wrong, I love tree skiing and classic New England trails. Much more character than wide freeways. However, there is something quite exhilarating and beautiful about wide open bowl skiing.

Is it just illegal to do something like this or do ski areas just have no interest in doing this?

Just think about this, those wide freeways you speak of, how good are they really? Imgaine those multiplied by oh I don't know 300 or 400 hundred or more. I think most would agree that while good on a powder day (only for a little while) wide trails are one of those things a lot of mountains wish they could fix. Think how much more snowmaking those trails need, think how much more wind they recieve, think how much more icy they get then those classic NE trails you ski. I remember growing up and riding at Big Squaw, which rarely used snowmaking, recived less snow then Sugarloaf and the trails were usually in 10 times better shape then any of the wide freeways at Sugarloaf during dry spells and days after a powder day.

 

[MadPadraic]

Agree on the misinformed notion of the OP. Technically, only the SL backside snowfields are not lift served since you need to walk a bit from Timberline. The front snowfileds are skiable form the lift. Agree that the backsides of Mansfield and SB would give you the same bowl-like terrain. If you're going into the backcountry looking for open bowls, why limit yourself to Tux. In the same neighborhood, there's Hillman's Highway, the Gulf of Slides, Huntington Ravine, Ammonoosuc Ravine, Burt Ravine, Monroe Brook, King Ravine, the Great Gulf, etc.

You are too cool to hang with. Take me to stink bug gully next year. Please!

Anyway... I don't consider sugarloaf's snowfields to be bowl-like. For me, to be bowl-like, it has to be long and concave as you are facing it from the lift. In other words, it has to look like the inside of a bowl. It should start out super steep and then then mellow as you dig in hard toe-side and rip across the face.

By the way, why don't more Western resorts have trails that emulate Misery Whip?

 

[TheBEast]

All this talk about artificial bowl skiing reminded me of what some good ole boys tried to do up at Big Jay a few years back.

And found themselves in jail.......

 

[TheBEast]

By the way, why don't more Western resorts have trails that emulate Misery Whip?

That trail kicks some serious a$$!!

 

[Nick]

And found themselves in jail.......

I'm gonna have to google that...

 

[from_the_NEK]

I'm gonna have to google that...

Riverc0il has a really good collection of info on the Big Jay cut here:

http://www.thesnowway.com/category/big-jay-coverage


Another good link here:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/081007jay/index.html

 

[Black Phantom]

I'm gonna have to google that...

Nick-

I think you need a 'skiing' tutor.:razz: billski will homeskool you providing a fast paced environment designed around your learning needs.

 

[thetrailboss]

I'm gonna have to google that...

Pretty simple facts. Two morons couldn't ski the natural terrain on Big Jay and decided that they needed to cut their own trail. A few hikes, two chainsaws, and about 300 down trees later, they cut a long wide swath down protected state forestland and now are facing hefty fines and jail time.

 

[bvibert]

I'm gonna have to google that...

Riverc0il has a really good collection of info on the Big Jay cut here:

http://www.thesnowway.com/category/big-jay-coverage


Another good link here:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/081007jay/index.html

We had a thread or two on it ourselves:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=17268&highlight=big+jay+cut

 

[Nick]

Pretty simple facts. Two morons couldn't ski the natural terrain on Big Jay and decided that they needed to cut their own trail. A few hikes, two chainsaws, and about 300 down trees later, they cut a long wide swath down protected state forestland and now are facing hefty fines and jail time.

Figured it was that simple. I read some of the comments by Harvey and Riverc0il over on the Snowway post that was linked to earlier.

Without being an ecologist in general I think it's like anything else - moderation is key right? Cutting down a few trees is not going to destroy anything. Widespread removal of vegetation though causes runoff, erosion, etc.

are there any photos of what they did?