A recent 2ndThaw refresh with the incoming storm of 2/25 or "Oaklee"(lol) bringing a very much needed foot of snow :) to the Northeast

[MidnightJester]

He we go snow lovers. How much snow repair can mother nature do for this weekend??

With a second early-week rain storm of a half a inch of warm rain or more I see this weekend storm being such a blessing. It wont be a total natural terrain start from scratch but very close Maybe we will have 30% to 50% of trails open after the early Tuesday pond refill depending on the mountain.

 

[MidnightJester]

At a early storm read it is looking like from Southern VT to Mid VT is the bullseye for this storm with 12-18" possible. While northern VT will still get close to the foot dumping we all hope for

 

[slatham]

Don't trust "bullseye's" for storm #2 when storm #1 hasn't come through yet.

 

[MidnightJester]

Ok Ok, Southern VT to Middle VT is the local area of "possible" most impact

 

[BenedictGomez]

Don't trust "bullseye's" for storm #2 when storm #1 hasn't come through yet.

Yup. Cant trust a "bullseye" 4 days out to begin with, but with all that energy coming in ahead of it it adds even more variability.

 

[Kingslug20]

The weather report for our storm here in idaho...has changed by the hour...for the worse

 

[MidnightJester]

I am going to just to use the power of hope, belief and mother natures current multiple storm set up to say a foot or more is coming for lower VT to middle VT with snow spread throughout VT. Lower VT got ice blasted and rain-melted and about to be rain-melted and frozen again as this week rolls on. Upper VT got most of the last snow love and are in the best condition with trail counts before this warm rain heading there way today into tomorrow.

SO I have a truck on a jack and a jack stand due to a seized brake caliper and bubbly brake line waiting on parts for the next 48hrs planning and hoping they come as another front wheel drive car and a foot of snow don't usually go to well.

I am thinking about middle of VT(Killington) to Northern-ish VT(?????????) maintaining both best trail counts and having best snow management. I really feel like the lower VT mountains(Vail sucks + others) are going to mess up their opening(lift and trails) of a possible 12-18inch dump and also be overwhelmed with people.

 

[ThatGuy]

If the storm Friday pans out everywhere will be insanely busy this weekend, Killington won’t be escaping any crowds.

 

[cdskier]

If the storm Friday pans out everywhere will be insanely busy this weekend, Killington won’t be escaping any crowds.

Yup...agreed. End of a holiday week plus all (or at least most) of the blackouts from last weekend are over plus fresh snow will surely bring lots of crowds everywhere.

 

[MidnightJester]

Busy with most lifts and most trails open can be acceptable at Killington I feel as well as most other well run larger mountains more north. But busy and lack of lifts and trails is not acceptable just look at Mt snow and Okemo which were run so badly after the last storms due to everything. Could try and push till next weekend but missing out on what could be 12-18inches or more is hard lol

Southern VT mountains are going to make the ski and snow feeds this weekend for all the wrong reasons unless something changes from their last storm fucking up they did. If they have to move more employees around lifts should be their priority. If they do only 2 or 3 lifts to half a mountain its going to be the same mountain skiing and riding disaster down south

 

[drjeff]

Busy with most lifts and most trails open can be acceptable at Killington I feel as well as most other well run larger mountains more north. But busy and lack of lifts and trails is not acceptable just look at Mt snow and Okemo which were run so badly after the last storms due to everything. Could try and push till next weekend but missing out on what could be 12-18inches or more is hard lol

Southern VT mountains are going to make the ski and snow feeds this weekend for all the wrong reasons unless something changes from their last storm fucking up they did. If they have to move more employees around lifts should be their priority. If they do only 2 or 3 lifts to half a mountain its going to be the same mountain skiing and riding disaster down south

Are you referrring to the storm a about 2 weeks ago where Mount Snow especially (as well as Stratton, Bromley and Magic) were coated in 2-3" of ice from freezing rain? If so, I am curious as to what you think they could of done better to deal with an ice storm like they hadn't had in about 15 years, as all 4 of those mountains had significant impacts on theei lift systems for de-icing needs?

There are times when you simply have to be realistic when mother nature throws you a big, fat pile of crap weather wise, and how long it takes to de-ice a lift covered in multiple inches of ice. Heck, not even a fixed grip can just simply be turned on to break up the ice when it's that thick

Bottomline, is if this storm hits, especially since it seems like it will put some snow down as well in the population base that is the I-95 corridor in the Northeast to get the "there's snow in my backyard! Let's go skiing!" few times a year crowd out, you may be looking as the busiest weekend of the season coming up.

There's just lots of folks, and not all with mega passes, who want to get out and ski/ride these days

 

[ceo]

If you haven't booked your kid's lesson by now you're basically SOL, at least for anywhere within reasonable day trip range of Boston. Ask me how I know this. Barely managed to get them in for a private lesson at Berkshire East on Saturday. Sunday is a little better but we had a conflict.

 

[ThatGuy]

But busy and lack of lifts and trails is not acceptable just look at Mt snow and Okemo which were run so badly after the last storms due to everything. Could try and push till next weekend but missing out on what could be 12-18inches or more is hard lol

Not a fan of Vail but they have been doing a solid job at Mt. Snow this season to be honest. Up to par with Peaks so far in everything but early season base building. They have more lifts running then Peaks would a lot of the time.

 

[MidnightJester]

So I am trying to find the best natural fun terrain(trees and glades) at other mountains down south by looking at the current Magic mountain as a guide to what trails or areas without snowmaking might look like(they are mostly closed with only 50" natural so far), Okemo(75" season total). I see things as being "almost" a ground up with natural terrain bases down south after this Tuesday/Wed rain. Especially if it comes in as they so far are saying(mid 40's and more then a 1/2"rain then freeze blasted). Up more north Killington they are in the low 120" inches of natural snow which might hold a little more natural bases to be covered later Friday

Due to trip limitations with where VT Ski4passes are not blacked out this weekend I am looking at Killington on Saturday and possibly Okemo on Sunday(Hmmm). I wanted to go to Sugarbush on Sunday but that is a blackout wash . I could go more north but I have been saving that for a Stowe/Smuggs back to back riding time later in the season. Maybe mix them up and do Killington and Stowe this weekend and Sugarbush and Smugglers together later

By Friday evening you hope that personal mountain reports of Thursday and Friday and what opens Friday terrain wise will give a hint to a better weekend.

 

[JimG.]

If the storm Friday pans out everywhere will be insanely busy this weekend, Killington won’t be escaping any crowds.

I'll be at Plattekill.

 

[drjeff]

So I am trying to find the best natural fun terrain(trees and glades) at other mountains down south by looking at the current Magic mountain as a guide to what trails or areas without snowmaking might look like(they are mostly closed with only 50" natural so far), Okemo(75" season total). I see things as being "almost" a ground up with natural terrain bases down south after this Tuesday/Wed rain. Especially if it comes in as they so far are saying(mid 40's and more then a 1/2"rain then freeze blasted). Up more north Killington they are in the low 120" inches of natural snow which might hold a little more natural bases to be covered later Friday

Due to trip limitations with where VT Ski4passes are not blacked out this weekend I am looking at Killington on Saturday and possibly Okemo on Sunday(Hmmm). I wanted to go to Sugarbush on Sunday but that is a blackout wash . I could go more north but I have been saving that for a Stowe/Smuggs back to back riding time later in the season. Maybe mix them up and do Killington and Stowe this weekend and Sugarbush and Smugglers together later

By Friday evening you hope that personal mountain reports of Thursday and Friday and what opens Friday terrain wise will give a hint to a better weekend.

The way mother nature has been this season weatherwise, you may want to use some of the days/places you've been saving for "late season" sooner than later unless things change dramtically weather pattern wise in March

 

[Dickc]

Sitting upstairs in my house with ALL the windows open. Its 70 degrees outside!! I'm boiling maple sap too, my sugar maple is yeilding sap like mad. 45 gallons in the last 11 days.

 

[180]

I'll be at Plattekill.

Was thinking that too, but the webcam is pretty bleak

 

[JoeB-Z]

I was thinking of driving up on Friday. CT to 50 miles north of Brattleboro on 91. That is looking like a tough go so maybe Th evening? Am I a chicken or will it be a 6 hour plus slog on Friday?

 

[drjeff]

I was thinking of driving up on Friday. CT to 50 miles north of Brattleboro on 91. That is looking like a tough go so maybe Th evening? Am I a chicken or will it be a 6 hour plus slog on Friday?

The combined CT/MA/VT DOT's usually keep I-91 in good shape in most storms (reduced speeds in the 45-50mph range, if not higher, has been my experiences in most storms). The lower elevation of 91 in the CT River Valley for most of its length, tends to keep it on the lower ends of snowfall totals.

With a storm like this one seems like it will be, 91 isn't likely to be a say wet roads only 75mph+ trip for you, but it's also very unlikely to be a 20mph crawl either given the duration of the storm and the snowfall estimates along what seems like most of your travels will be.

Take what I say with a bit of perspective that my 91 storm experiences have been in AWD/4WD vehicles that run snowtires