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Mount Snow: Inside Track

Jcb890

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Went both days this weekend and had a great time. Conditions Saturday were pretty great throughout the day with snow throughout most of the day. Yesterday was harder, faster and colder. Still fun though.
 

Jully

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Who makes the call on that though? Is that actually what is happening? Hopefully not.

Its not confirmed by any official source, but the NH areas with the exception of maybe Wildcat has seen pretty drastically reduced operations this fall/winter.

In one of the coldest Novembers in recent history Attitash pushed back its opening date and claimed this November had been tough.

Crotched kept pushing back its opening and giving minimal information also claiming bad weather (the 12" Tuesday storm would be all rain they said, and also a 'warm' November). When Crotched did open it was with a paltry amount of trails open (1.5ish) given the days and days of temps in the single digit and teens leading up to their opening. Also this was Crotched 4th latest opening since it reopened 14 years ago. There have been falls way worse than this one and they still got open. Somethings not right.

Given that Crotched was so spotty with their information, I think the reality was that they didn't even know and the decision was coming down from higher up in Peaks.
 

Jcb890

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Its not confirmed by any official source, but the NH areas with the exception of maybe Wildcat has seen pretty drastically reduced operations this fall/winter.

In one of the coldest Novembers in recent history Attitash pushed back its opening date and claimed this November had been tough.

Crotched kept pushing back its opening and giving minimal information also claiming bad weather (the 12" Tuesday storm would be all rain they said, and also a 'warm' November). When Crotched did open it was with a paltry amount of trails open (1.5ish) given the days and days of temps in the single digit and teens leading up to their opening. Also this was Crotched 4th latest opening since it reopened 14 years ago. There have been falls way worse than this one and they still got open. Somethings not right.

Given that Crotched was so spotty with their information, I think the reality was that they didn't even know and the decision was coming down from higher up in Peaks.
I agree that doesn't sound or look good. I doubt anyone here posting from the MountSnow account will know or be able to shed any light on it though.
 

Smellytele

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I have nothing against the Mt Snow folk whom seem to be using the allocated funds as would anyone more so the Peaks higher ups who make the decision on distribution of funds.
 

Jully

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I have nothing against the Mt Snow folk whom seem to be using the allocated funds as would anyone more so the Peaks higher ups who make the decision on distribution of funds.

Exactly. Certainly not the fault of any of the mountain operators and we might be completely off base! Peaks has been very solid operators of the mountains they own. I understand saving money and utilizing the pass reciprocity, but just wish they would be more upfront about it. The lack of communication and lame excuses from Crotched this fall bugged me the most.

If they had said, we will be opening Friday 12/15, can't wait to see you all then! Then I would have little to no problem.
 

Smellytele

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Exactly. Certainly not the fault of any of the mountain operators and we might be completely off base! Peaks has been very solid operators of the mountains they own. I understand saving money and utilizing the pass reciprocity, but just wish they would be more upfront about it. The lack of communication and lame excuses from Crotched this fall bugged me the most.

If they had said, we will be opening Friday 12/15, can't wait to see you all then! Then I would have little to no problem.

They did the same at Attitash
 

GregoryIsaacs

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Mount Snow has been unbelievable this entire year. I will even go as far to say we have crowned a new "Beast of the East" now that West Lake is online and everyone has seen the product first hand. It was almost humorous to see Killington squirm to open to save face (i'm sorry if you need to use stairs it shouldn't count).

To those who are hating on Peaks Resorts you need to remember that it is still pre-christmas and even last year you guys were skiing until May at Wildcat! Spent Sunday skiing Crotched for the first time and it truly is a gem.. most worthwhile day-trip mountain in the Boston area if you ask me. Skis much bigger with a very low key crowd.
 

deadheadskier

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Gregory,

Some of us with criticism of Peaks are coming from a position of having a pass for several years and simply commenting on a reduction in effort / investment in some of the product in NH.

I'd actually say Wildcats efforts this fall have been the best of the past five years. Yes, there has been nights plenty cold enough to blow and they dishonestly blame on the weather (or worse state annoyingly that staff needs the day off) when other local mountains are blowing. Overall though it's been good with pretty quick expansion on snowmaking terrain by Cat standards.

Crotched and Attitash both started a week late and blamed it on the weather. Terrain expansion has been a bit slow for both. Attitash especially will have very limited terrain Xmas week. My main concern with Crotched now is how much effort they make at resurfacing after bad weather. They have been less and less aggressive in that regard in recent years.

So, yeah. Happy for Mt. Snow that they are doing well. Comments made here are mainly that a Peaks employee sees it's not all roses at their other areas and perhaps this feedback gets shared.

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Smellytele

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To those who are hating on Peaks Resorts you need to remember that it is still pre-christmas and even last year you guys were skiing until May at Wildcat! Spent Sunday skiing Crotched for the first time and it truly is a gem.. most worthwhile day-trip mountain in the Boston area if you ask me. Skis much bigger with a very low key crowd.

Not sure where you skied Sunday but your perception is different than mine. The top of the mountain off the rocket was a scraped off mess. Meteor was fine lower down on the edges as was galaxy. Only 2 ways down really.
 

skiur

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Mount Snow has been unbelievable this entire year. I will even go as far to say we have crowned a new "Beast of the East" now that West Lake is online and everyone has seen the product first hand. It was almost humorous to see Killington squirm to open to save face (i'm sorry if you need to use stairs it shouldn't count).

To those who are hating on Peaks Resorts you need to remember that it is still pre-christmas and even last year you guys were skiing until May at Wildcat! Spent Sunday skiing Crotched for the first time and it truly is a gem.. most worthwhile day-trip mountain in the Boston area if you ask me. Skis much bigger with a very low key crowd.

If you really think that Mt snow is now better than K then your smoking so me good shit. For about a week Mt snow offered a better product. Killington was also about to host a world cup race. If they had Superstar and Skylark open they would have been offering a better product than Mt snow. I'm not trying to knock Mt snow who did an incredible job with an unusual cold snap in November, but mt snow is a small boring intermediate mountain that doesn't get very much snow. Right now what Killington is offering is better than Mt snow 100% open.
 

GregoryIsaacs

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If you really think that Mt snow is now better than K then your smoking so me good shit. For about a week Mt snow offered a better product. Killington was also about to host a world cup race. If they had Superstar and Skylark open they would have been offering a better product than Mt snow. I'm not trying to knock Mt snow who did an incredible job with an unusual cold snap in November, but mt snow is a small boring intermediate mountain that doesn't get very much snow. Right now what Killington is offering is better than Mt snow 100% open.

And it is comments like this that will keep my trees empty and not skied off by 9am. It amazes me how much greater you people think K is. Its not that impressive and is surely trending in the downward direction. Yes you have the world cup, but remember that some nice hefty diesel generators in the parking lot come with it to prop up such a "great" snowmaking system. Also, please remind me the last time a new lift was installed?

Coming from someone who has been to both extensively, it is obvious who's actually planning for the future. I dont see Killington representing themselves here/are willing to take the heat from time to time. Keep up the good work, people are noticing.
 

sull1102

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Could not disagree with you more on a new Beast of the East. What would be more accurate is that the #2 spot has been pretty solidified by Snow this season. Both mountains are having great years. Snow started out of the gate hot and has kept it up, but Killington has certainly caught up to them. It's silly to say you think a place with two very successful World Cup events on two years with more to come is trending down (I dislike Powdr as much as everyone else). Then again I just realized you actually said if you need stairs it doesn't count LMAO see you June 1st on Superstar!

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GregoryIsaacs

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Could not disagree with you more on a new Beast of the East. What would be more accurate is that the #2 spot has been pretty solidified by Snow this season. Both mountains are having great years. Snow started out of the gate hot and has kept it up, but Killington has certainly caught up to them. It's silly to say you think a place with two very successful World Cup events on two years with more to come is trending down (I dislike Powdr as much as everyone else). Then again I just realized you actually said if you need stairs it doesn't count LMAO see you June 1st on Superstar!

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Which is exactly why I do my late spring skiing at wildcat. June is for tuckermans, not skiing/hiking on muddy grass.... please
 

Newpylong

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And it is comments like this that will keep my trees empty and not skied off by 9am. It amazes me how much greater you people think K is. Its not that impressive and is surely trending in the downward direction. Yes you have the world cup, but remember that some nice hefty diesel generators in the parking lot come with it to prop up such a "great" snowmaking system. Also, please remind me the last time a new lift was installed?

Coming from someone who has been to both extensively, it is obvious who's actually planning for the future. I dont see Killington representing themselves here/are willing to take the heat from time to time. Keep up the good work, people are noticing.

Killington has as much in house electric air as does Mount Snow - but they augment it with diesel during the World Cup and the usual December/Jan push. If Mount Snow had as much acreage as Killington they would have to: A line every trail with fan guns, or build another air house full of Centacs, or refill their old pad at the base like they used to with diesels.

Not knocking Mount Snow, but let's call a spade a spade here. Two different mountains with different requirements.
 

drjeff

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Could not disagree with you more on a new Beast of the East. What would be more accurate is that the #2 spot has been pretty solidified by Snow this season. Both mountains are having great years. Snow started out of the gate hot and has kept it up, but Killington has certainly caught up to them. It's silly to say you think a place with two very successful World Cup events on two years with more to come is trending down (I dislike Powdr as much as everyone else). Then again I just realized you actually said if you need stairs it doesn't count LMAO see you June 1st on Superstar!

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The reality is that K has a very powerful snowmaking system. K also has more of a reliance on mid and high e guns across their fleet than Mount Snow currently does. K flat out needs more air to run their system at full capacity than Mount Snow does. All of the K3000's and mid E ratnik's that comprise a bunch of K's system use more air per gun than the HKD Impulses that now make up the majority of Mount Snow's gun library (they have more HKD's than fan guns).

K's diesel generators also at times give them the opportunity to make snow, in good conditions, when Mount Snow and their all electric compressors can't run because of restrictions placed on their consumption by Green Mtn Power.

Bottom line, both Mount Snow and K can now pump basically the same amount of water. The type of guns and how the operate are different. Which one is "better"? Who knows as they both have a bunch of strengths and a few weaknesses

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skiur

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And it is comments like this that will keep my trees empty and not skied off by 9am. It amazes me how much greater you people think K is. Its not that impressive and is surely trending in the downward direction. Yes you have the world cup, but remember that some nice hefty diesel generators in the parking lot come with it to prop up such a "great" snowmaking system. Also, please remind me the last time a new lift was installed?

Coming from someone who has been to both extensively, it is obvious who's actually planning for the future. I dont see Killington representing themselves here/are willing to take the heat from time to time. Keep up the good work, people are noticing.

K doesn't post here, but commonly does on kzone where they get plenty of heat. I have around 35 days at Mt snow. It just isn't a big enough mountain. It doesn't have enough terrain. On a Saturday Mt snow is more crowded than k and doesn't have many places to go to avoid crowds. The trees aren't skied off by 9 because there was never enough snow in there to start with. Mt snow is doing a great job with what they have but it is too far south, too flat, not enough elevation and doesn't get enough snow.
 

FBGM

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Peeps thinking mount flat is best in New England be sniffin glue in their Jersey cubicle.

Mount Blow me has gallons to pump but still thin to win and puts out crap product. Get some talent in your mountain devision and learn to use yer new sprinkler system correct. Blowing money out those guns quicker then me at the booty club Saturday night with the boyz

Squad out. Time to drink egg ngg and ski the snows x mas vaca
 
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