JP, Jan 26, 2013

Another day with temps hovering at 0* all day. No lines with the exception of the Tram (surprise, surprise), which was to be avoided. Started the day off right with ACE club vouchers for the crew. Started at the Boni, trails were good in the AM. They've done a good job grooming, but when the "crowds" finally awoke and stumbled outside around eleven, the blues scraped down fast. Time to move on.

The "Danger Ice" signs were warranted for anyone who started skiing in the past 20 years and get fussy. Those trails skied pretty sweet, but this was not a day for lower-intermediates. Lots of pretty fast, young skiers out today. JP is groomed with less effort than Stowe, but good nonetheless.

The funniest combinations of signs was somewhere on top, "danger ice", next to "easiest way down". :-o

The creme-de-la-creme of the days were any and all woods trails. Sweet packed powder. Not as much base as I would have hoped for (met one pretty vicious snow snake), but quite ski-able just the same. I couldn't get enough of the woods - Jay is Jay, that's what I go there for.

We had to go in twice due to the beginnings of frostbite. Better to ameliorate the frostbite now for the sake of another day of skiing. No wind to speak of except on the freezer, which was pretty nasty over the first ridge, as usual. Even the lifties were wearing gogs.

Nice day all around at JP. We made memories, even at 0*. If nothing else, we have another good story to tell.

Oh yeah, we saw hundreds of "snow rollers" today. Very rare site around here, but thanks to the high winds, they were everwhere around Hyde Park. Very cool.

What ARE those? How do they form?

Snow rollers - a small clump of ice begins to roll in the wind and there you have it. Very unusual and very rare.

billski said:

Snow rollers - a small clump of ice begins to roll in the wind and there you have it. Very unusual and very rare.

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Like a wind blown snowball?

Nick said:

Like a wind blown snowball?

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Sort of. But the inside is rather weak and the wind blows it out as it rolls. It requires just the right moisture content and surface. "Vermont Pastries" That's my term





And to think, this started as a trip report!

Also hit Jay on Saturday. Pretty much seconded what was said here -- thought the base listed was way overstated. Morning report said something like 52". I did not see 52" of base personally.
Nice snow all around in the morning, less so (although still pretty good if you stuck to the sides) as the day wore on. Upper sections of of Jet and Haynes were nice. Vermonter was icey.
No frostbite issues for me but I did have to call it a day around 3:00 due to goggle fog freezing up.

Didn't see any snowy cinnabons though sadly.

timm said:

Didn't see any snowy cinnabons though sadly.

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Confectioner's sugar only

The range of snow depth is something I've been watching for a while. The depth varies widely. As a generalization, I'd say the highest amount is on the top and lowest on the bottom. Of course there are many exceptions. Y'all are smart enough to figger that one out.

Cool.

Nice billski.....

That's awesome, I learned something new today, thanks for sharing.

Yes, thumbs up to the snow rollers. I had no idea.

As for base depth, way back when I used to think that was an important metric but now all that matters to me is that there is enough base so I don't hit bare ground when I turn. The more the merrier when looking ahead to spring of course, but the surface is what matters. Obviously snow depth matters more in the woods but the numbers reported by the resorts don't help there as those include snowmaking.

I'm skiing like I did in 1980. rocks, grass, ice, water. All simply things to work around. Skiers and boarders have gotten really spoiled with wall to wall blemish-free trails. It may be, that, like it or not, we are going back to the future

I've read about those snow rolls before, cool stuff. Thanks for sharing