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Mount Snow: Inside Track

chuckstah

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I read on Instagram that the announcement has been put off til tomorrow. Again.

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sull1102

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This morning I was worried I would be the only one getting aggravated by being told "soon" over and over again for going on five days. It's not even Opening Day is soon it's just that they will make an announcement soon. Now it'll be six days of "soon" and I'm pretty sure they are a bit screwed. The weather is not looking great coming up here. Meanwhile they are acting like trolls over on Instagram so much so that Killington Instagram account actually made a comment on Snow's post. If they had never said there will be an announcement soon last Thursday then I don't think people would be starting to turn on them.

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Jully

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This morning I was worried I would be the only one getting aggravated by being told "soon" over and over again for going on five days. It's not even Opening Day is soon it's just that they will make an announcement soon. Now it'll be six days of "soon" and I'm pretty sure they are a bit screwed. The weather is not looking great coming up here. Meanwhile they are acting like trolls over on Instagram so much so that Killington Instagram account actually made a comment on Snow's post. If they had never said there will be an announcement soon last Thursday then I don't think people would be starting to turn on them.

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It's a catch 22 though. Don't announce early enough and you don't get much of the hype. I don't primarily ski Snow, so YMMV, but I'm not miffed at all by a ski area being aggressive and trying to make an early announcement.

Maybe better communication about the delays (e.g. a post on here by the Snow rep explaining the weather didn't go as well or a line burst or whatever) would be appreciated/cool and transparent for the mountain.

Overall since their strategy is newly revised and we just don't know how many hours it takes for them to open at different temps, it can be frustrating. All K has to do is post videos of snowmaking starting and everyone on these boards can look at a forecast and approximate a window in which they'll be able to open (SR too, though they tend to keep their snowmaking a bit more under wraps at first... Which I dislike to some extent). We just don't know with Snow yet. It'll be different in 5 years assuming they stick to this strategy.

My ideal strategy is a mountain telling us their short term goals with the understanding that things get in the way of those goals (like weather). However, if they post "we are aiming to open the weekend of the 27th" and then don't make it, they get roasted rather than applauded for being ambitious and transparent. It creates this "announcement soon!" culture that can be mega frustrating.

TL:DR is I think Snow should be cut some slack. Ops (especially trying to blow TTB) in the fall is wicked hard and uncertain. I'm excited they're being aggressive and trying to make an announcement.
 

drjeff

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Of interest to a question/comment on the Carinthia Parks Instagram page I made today when the original post, showing a video clip of one of their team riders launching off some of the whales on the too of Cascade today, and saying that he was checking out potential locations for an opening day MAIN FACE Park location, is that *if* opening day happens this week, Long John and a Carinthia park trail WON'T be in the mix, and apparently it has nothing to do with the lodge construction at Carinthia.

October potential opening "issues" ;-)

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ss20

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I am also in the annoyed camp of people hearing "soon". Today was the tipping point. I figured they'd blow til they couldn't anymore in the afternoon and then make an announcement. What are they waiting for now? Guns are silent and they'll be silent for a while.

And...beggars can't be choosers...but the Mount Snow rep on here keeps us hyped every week or so through the summer and has done a GREAT job!...but there's been very little communication at what is one of the most important periods for hardcare ski enthusiasts like ourselves- when will the mountain open? Lot's of eyes on this thread from people who don't normally go to Mount Snow but very little info besides teasers...
 

drjeff

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I am also in the annoyed camp of people hearing "soon". Today was the tipping point. I figured they'd blow til they couldn't anymore in the afternoon and then make an announcement. What are they waiting for now? Guns are silent and they'll be silent for a while.

And...beggars can't be choosers...but the Mount Snow rep on here keeps us hyped every week or so through the summer and has done a GREAT job!...but there's been very little communication at what is one of the most important periods for hardcare ski enthusiasts like ourselves- when will the mountain open? Lot's of eyes on this thread from people who don't normally go to Mount Snow but very little info besides teasers...
It's pretty obvious looking at the base camp picture that there's not enough snow yet in the base area, and I'm guessing that that same statement applies to a portion of the bottom section of Canyon.

They've got a few windows to put some more snow down later this week. They've also got a bit of an uncertain forecast now for the weekend with the remnants of the hurricane that's going to hit the West Coast of Mexico today very likely going to be bringing wind and precipitation of some yet to be determined kind on Saturday and Sunday through the region that could very well throw a monkey wrench into snow quantities down low.

It's still late October, a time where in my 25+ years as a Mount Snow loyalists, we've rarely ever been talking about multiple day snowmaking output totals and possible openings. Yes, the communications about opening could of been handled better. I would of loved to have heard what we eventually did last week after some snowmaking that they weren't going to open earlier, and something akin to this week such as "our hope is to open this X, we will know for sure on Y" because there certainly have been times when the air of secrecy that the communications folks have used, both this year and in the past has made it difficult and frustrating, even for a die-hard fan/consumer of Mount Snow as I am to try and plan out what me and my family may or may not be doing at Mount Snow the following weekend. It's not always easy, even for a ski addict family like mine is, to try and rearrange the schedules of everyone in the house on very short notice to deal with some of vague inferences about openings and some other events as have occurred in the past

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sull1102

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Get ready for something pretty soon here, Parks Crew has posted some videos about loading up and carrying some boxes and rails over to the main face with a loader. I'm getting a feeling Thursday could be the day here. Anyone else notice they've really started talking about Freefall a lot more. Wouldn't surprise me if they go Freefall, Cascade, River Run with downloading on the Bluebird(something they do all summer long so we know the lift can handle it). Hell if crowds are nut-so they could likely run both North Face triples to eliminate wait times.

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FBGM

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Haha haha...soon. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Maybe surprise.

$50 million dollar sprinkler system is really living up the hype!
 

drjeff

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Haha haha...soon. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Maybe surprise.

$50 million dollar sprinkler system is really living up the hype!

Considering that only Killington and Sunday River have done anything more than testing their systems this year, and that there's still over a week left in OCTOBER, and Mount Snow is realistically in the will opening day happen this week conversation, I'd day that the 30 million spent on the West Lake Project as well as related snowmaking system upgrades are living up the the hype.

Then again, with your bias against Peak, I'm guessing that if they were open with say 20 trails TODAY, you'd still be complaining that they don't have every snowmaking trail open yet.

The communications end around the fluid situation that surrounds opening day I agree could of been better, the effort that the mountain is putting into getting open has been impressive and as most anyone knows at this time of the year especially, sometimes that extra degree of 2 of temperature over a particular portion of the mountain makes a big difference in being able to make a decent amount of snow for opening verses not
 

sull1102

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Just announced the 27th. Bad mistake unless the idea is the craptastic weather will keep crowds away. They really should have opened Friday when there is no rain forcasted.

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njdiver85

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Today's press release: "Mount Snow Ushers in Ski Season on October 27 With Earliest Opening in Resort’s 64-Year History"
 

ss20

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Get ready for something pretty soon here, Parks Crew has posted some videos about loading up and carrying some boxes and rails over to the main face with a loader. I'm getting a feeling Thursday could be the day here. Anyone else notice they've really started talking about Freefall a lot more. Wouldn't surprise me if they go Freefall, Cascade, River Run with downloading on the Bluebird(something they do all summer long so we know the lift can handle it). Hell if crowds are nut-so they could likely run both North Face triples to eliminate wait times.

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On the Somerset cam you can clearly see unconnected snow patches on the bottom runout of Freefall. Still a lot of blowing left to go. It looks like they just have Thursday night and Friday night where it will be cold enough to blow down to the base.

I'd say Saturday at the earliest and that is 50/50 with the weather...could be sunny, raining, icing, or snowing.
 

ss20

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Today's press release: "Mount Snow Ushers in Ski Season on October 27 With Earliest Opening in Resort’s 64-Year History"

YEP!!!

https://www.mountsnow.com/media-room/opening-day-2018-2019/

Mount Snow, VT. – October 23, 2018 – Mount Snow, which was recently named Best Snow in The East by Ski Magazine, is pleased to announce that it will open for skiing and riding at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 27 with the most skiable terrain in The East.

“Mother Nature came through with the right temperatures allowing our team to utilize the $30 million investment we made in our snowmaking system during our West Lake Water Project to celebrate the earliest opening day in our 64-year history,” said Erik Barnes, vice president & general manager of Mount Snow. “We know that skiers and riders all over The East are champing at the bit to get out there and enjoy the slopes, and we can’t wait to welcome them all on Saturday.”

On Saturday, October 27, Mount Snow will open for skiing and riding with lifts running from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Please note that there will be no beginner terrain available. Additional terrain may be added as temperatures allow for further snowmaking operations, with up-to-date trail, terrain, and conditions information available on the Snow Report. Mount Snow will start the ‘18/19 season with weekends-only operations before welcoming guests seven days a week at a date to be announced.
 

sull1102

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On the Somerset cam you can clearly see unconnected snow patches on the bottom runout of Freefall. Still a lot of blowing left to go. It looks like they just have Thursday night and Friday night where it will be cold enough to blow down to the base.

I'd say Saturday at the earliest and that is 50/50 with the weather...could be sunny, raining, icing, or snowing.
The cam is almost totally frozen over. The picture they are using as a thumbnail is not from after the latest run of snowmaking. They were able to make a lot of progress on the run-out area in the 2nd run.

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p_levert

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So Mt.Snow opens with top to bottom on the main face, right? How long does it take to expand over to the north face? The north face does seem like the best place for early season skiing, given the northern exposure and higher altitude.
 
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