Just how good was skiing in the NE this year?

skiNEwhere · May 2, 2015

I'm curious to know what I missed out on. My Dad was joking with me that I should've stayed here and I would've experienced much better conditions than in Colorado.

Was it in the top 5 best season for most people here? Skiing is skiing, but with that said Colorado skiing was definitely sub-par this season, temps in the 40's and 50's most of the season, and big storms were few and far between.

drjeff · May 2, 2015

I've been a New England skier since the '79-'80 ski season. This was one of the better ones that I can recall for sure - solid start - a bit of a lull in late December - mid January, but then about the longest run of consistently very good to great conditions that I can recall with a very solid, and still going spring season

darent · May 2, 2015

I have lived here for over 40 years and can remember a few winters with a lot of snow. But I can't remember one like this winter where the snow stayed on the ground for so long here on nantucket. ski wise, A good start early, then kinda normal till late january then it just snowed and snowed and kept piling up.Did a ten day trip first of march in maine, boy was it cold but the snow was deep.went spring skiing 2nd week in april and it was mid winter like, cold temps ,deep snow.

steamboat1 · May 2, 2015

Consistent cold & no rain was key this winter. Natural snowfall was a tad below average.

snoseek · May 2, 2015

I was not here in winter but seeing how insanely deep the snowpack was off spillway x-cut I'm going to say REAL good. I've only seen it as deep in may in 07 (but as you may recall it started awful that year) and 01(?), the big one. The base up high was deeper than any consolidated base I skied this year in Colorado or California. Saddleback looked wall to wall covered right to the base.

Also the ice in Rangeley lake is still holding strong which tells me it was probably ridiculously cold.

skiNEwhere · May 2, 2015

steamboat1 said:
Consistent cold & no rain was key this winter. Natural snowfall was a tad below average.

Really? Even in Southern Vermont?

deadheadskier · May 2, 2015

Southern VT was at about 200 inches. So, maybe slightly above average. Most of New England was indeed a bit below average. It really was the consistent cold that made it so good this year.

2001 stands out as best in my lifetime. This year was top 10, maybe top 5. I would take a winter like this past one every year and be happy.

snoseek · May 2, 2015

deadheadskier said:
Southern VT was at about 200 inches. So, maybe slightly above average. Most of New England was indeed a bit below average. It really was the consistent cold that made it so good this year.

2001 stands out as best in my lifetime. This year was top 10, maybe top 5. I would take a winter like this past one every year and be happy.

will never forget that year.....crazy. I was here for most of 10-11 and it was pretty consistent also

wa-loaf · May 3, 2015

The lack of any real melt was key this season.

fbrissette · May 3, 2015

wa-loaf said:
The lack of any real melt was key this season.

Correct. Otherwise it would have been a very average season for Northern Vermont. it was a good season for Northern New England, but nothing special otherwise. Different story when you go further south.

ss20 · May 3, 2015

Good start, mediocre middle, then from MLK through all of February was amazing. No mega March dump (or any significant snow for most areas). Just too damn cold. I had to get pretty creative with some layers of clothing. But I never did miss a day or end my day short because of cold.

steamboat1 · May 3, 2015

Killington's average annual snowfall is 250". So far YTD they've received 197" this season. On the other hand Mount Snow's average annual snowfall is 150". They received 193" this season. Sugarbush is only about 20" under average while Stowe is over 50" under average. I don't count Jay because I don't believe their snow reports.

Meanwhile the natural snow only trail Escapade at Killington is still open as of today as is Ridge Run.

bigbog · May 3, 2015

We got 6"+ on November 2nd(pic below)...which I've never seen before, so I had a good feeling something out of the ordinary was in gear. From last week in January through February every system that touched Maine dumped on the northeast central part of the state, just in from the coast by ~30-40miles. Great for the skiing on the local hills around the area. Would've been an unreal February and March for the Western Mountains(SL/Saddleback) even moreso than what they got, which was good, but I stayed around the local area, at first from lack of spending $$, but for most of February we got snow every other-to-3rd day..with every new system...and the local hills just kept on piling up, and I imagine nearby little Hermon Mtn had the goods for the kiddies as well. The mounds out by the road, combining plows and my snowblowing, got to ~10' by mid-February. Thought I took a few pics but can't find em'...
From the road you could hardly see anyone's house... The (late leaf-dropping) tree from hell(left one in pic) lost one of its rear main branches on Nov 2nd from the weight on the leaves...waited ~4hrs to use broom to sweep off lower branches....was hoping more would come down, but no such luck. Was truely beautiful driving around the area in February to 2nd week in March.
It was one February to remember around here, have never seen the frequency of snow at every ~3rd to 4th day...

Bumpsis · May 4, 2015

I'd say that this was an exceptional snow shoveling season (Boston). I was keenly aware that snow conditions in the mountains were quite good, but family/work commitments did not allow me to get out as often as I would have liked. So I feel that I missed out a bit.
Having said that, I did catch a few good days, including a minor powder day at Sugraloaf and a couple of really nice spring skiing days.
Overall, I'm fairly happy.

JimG. · May 4, 2015

deadheadskier said:
I would take a winter like this past one every year and be happy.

I think this sums it up best for me.

dlague · May 4, 2015

I think over all this season ranked right up there with some of the best seasons in the past - heck I am still skiing. As others mentioned in some parts snowfall was a little below average but that did not really seem to matter since the temps consistently stayed below freezing. A short warm up and refreeze period in early January but that was followed with many snow events through to the beginning of March. March and early April also never really warmed up preserving both conditions and snow pack.

Was it cold - hell ya! But I would rather have cold than a thaw and refreeze. Ideal temps for me are 10-25 degrees but the coldest days below that range did not bother us and we just layered up!

Yup - this ski season ranks up there with one of my favorites!

ScottySkis · May 4, 2015

I had good season for sure helps skiing with friends from here.

Domeskier · May 4, 2015

steamboat1 said:
Killington's average annual snowfall is 250". So far YTD they've received 197" this season. On the other hand Mount Snow's average annual snowfall is 150". They received 193" this season. Sugarbush is only about 20" under average while Stowe is over 50" under average. I don't count Jay because I don't believe their snow reports.

Meanwhile the natural snow only trail Escapade at Killington is still open as of today as is Ridge Run.

Pretty incredible what a cold winter and spring can do for a below average snow year. K's coverage was amazing this weekend.

dlague · May 4, 2015

Domeskier said:
Pretty incredible what a cold winter and spring can do for a below average snow year.

I agree! I would rather have a year like this where the cold stayed around longer with a decent snowfall than to have a season where there maybe normal or better snowfall and a scorcher spring. There are all kinds of winning combos - this season happen to be one of them.

4aprice · May 5, 2015

As good as it was, I would still take the west over the east. Went to Utah in March despite all the doom and gloom reported and it was still great (and even got a powder day). Rockies still rule IMO.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Just how good was skiing in the NE this year?

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