Berkshire East, 12/14/7 Powder Day!

[billski]

Holy Schmoly! Today had to rank as one of the top 10 days of my ski career. I didn't see my boots all day, save for on the lift and in the lodge. I am NOT exaggerating. The new snowfall had NOT been groomed anywhere but a single blue trail from the top. I spent the entire day on trails with pow deeper than my boots. Comes close to being called "epic", but not quite. Certainly better than last week. In fact, I'll bet this is the best the Berks have had it in a very long time. I hope we are on a (snow) roll.

I took the contrarian route - I picked a "smaller" area where I knew there wouldn't be many people to share the powder with - Success! I liked my strategy, dead on right. In fact, there were so few people that the trails literally did NOT have the opportunity to bump up. By 2PM most folks had bailed, it was me and ~30 of my closest friends for the whole mt. By 3 pm I was skiing alone; I mean alone on the whole damn trail. Simply dreamy. And all of this for $25, holy lift ticket, Batman!

I finally conquered skiing powder rhythm today - quite a break through for an easterner. I just stayed out until the very end. Practice, practice, practice. There was no need for edges today and I'm glad I used my midfats; made all the difference. float away...

My mid fats and I were finally starting to get along together (I'm such a cruiser and glades guy,) that blasting through virgin pow, I mean really virgin, and really a LOT, not just a small 30 second burst... well, I WAS a vigin. By the way, I was not on the designated trails.8)

It seemed every where that Billski went, the sheep were sure to follow. I make very first tracks down one trail; gosh it was ecstasy. When I came back for round two, several more tracks had followed. Went to another place, ditto.

I am glad I went there rather than a larger, more popular area where they race for fist tracks. Honest to God, I was finding first tracks ALL DAY. The snow is still spectacular, but it's all chopped up now, so you'll have to settle for leftovers on Saturday, sorry...:???:

Sorry guys, Hunter was just too far to day-trip.

I will write more in the morrow. Right now, I am absolutely beat. I have to rest up. Mon or Tues look like another pow day.

----------------------
PART II - UPDATE FROM 12/15 (WHEN I ACHIEVED CONSCIOUSNESS ONCE MORE)
Random Thoughts

- Clark Kent and Lois Lane of WGGB-TV, Springfield, MA were doing reportage of the first day's opening. They looked as out of place as a nun at Hooters. Lois stood around with her Burberry's scarf and coat, acting like she really didn't want to be there but smiling like Miss America nonetheless. They got the requisite cute kids in ski school picture.

- There was so much snow that people were skiing right onto the Lodge patio deck. Granted, it's not that far off the ground, but...

- I have never heard a lodge so quiet as when I returned to unbuckle at 4pm. It was nearly deserted and they have night skiing going. I thought I'd see some after-schoolers. Too busy at the mall, I suppose.

- By about 2 pm, about every 8th chair of the quad had 1 or 2 people on it.

- The sun shines late in the day on many trails. At 3pm it was still a direct hit.

- Seemed like most of the skiers were college kids, getting a few runs in for part of the day. Geez, I wish they wouldn't pick up that bad habit of cigarette smoking. Filthy.

- The day started with light, fluffy pow everywhere. The trees were magnificent. A bit later in the day, i noticed the pow was slightly more moist on the wider, more exposed trails.

- As the day progressed, Ullr began his unique activity of lobbing snow mortars at defenseless chairlift riders. The snow would begin to slide from the treetops, cascading its way along. KABOOM, Ullr hurled mortars at his victims with incredible speed. Upon impact, it exploded, as if a miniature snowstorm had descended. Fun.

- It's hard to describe just how delightful the snow was. Western skiers are certainly used to this, but for an easterner, this was a treat usually reserved for glades and woods.


pics:

It's hard to tell, but this snow was deeper than my boots.

My second or third run down this one:

Holy cow, look at the crowds!

You could do all pow runs top to bottom. By early afternoon, I was so beat that I was doing pow runs only half-way.

p.s. could not change icon to pics, after the fact.

 

[billski]

added photos. bump

 

[2knees]

damn.

damn damn

damn damn damn.


great pics, good call.

 

[wa-loaf]

Wow, I was feeling really good about Hunter today until I saw your pics. Still had a blast though. Glad you scored!

 

[Greg]

BEast is best after some natural. Good timing it appears. Ever make it over to Jug? One of my favorites.

 

[billski]

Jug

BEast is best after some natural. Good timing it appears. Ever make it over to Jug? One of my favorites.

Jug was closed. That's where I got first tracks. it was about 10" deep everywhere. Outstanding part of my circuit 8) (still in good shape at end of day.) Interesting, touching bottom at BE is does not cause concern. I think they picked up every rock on the trail, all I ever hit was grass when I did. Now, contrast this to Cannon where I had the biggest damage ever (is this why they call it the "granite state"???

Ski Patrol is waaaaay to cautious/conservative at opening natural trails.

p.s, I usually don't pay attention to signs, I just go these days, so I have to go home and look at a map to figure out where I was.

p.p.s., I noticed that nearly nobody wears helmets over there. It must be a cultural thing, or Yankee frugality to the max. Didn't see much duct tape though:roll:

and---- damn is it hard getting back into a binding when the snow is so deep. Anyone have any tricks other than stepping on your "good" ski?

 

[riverc0il]

and---- damn is it hard getting back into a binding when the snow is so deep. Anyone have any tricks other than stepping on your "good" ski?

Use ski to pack down a landing area, lift ski and clean out binding with hand, drop ski and hit your boot with your pole, if needed rock the bottom of your boot on top of your other boot, then click in and repeat with other ski. Best to follow the process and not go too quickly or get too excited about clicking back in... it gets hard when you go too fast and start flailing around and loosing your balance and getting frustrated.

 

[severine]

Very nice!

 

[billski]

bump. updated report with more details.

 

[Grassi21]

sweet. love that place.

 

[bvibert]

Sweet! Sounds awesome, I love that place. I hope I'm able to make it up there for a similar day this year...

p.s. could not change icon to pics, after the fact.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Kerovick]

Any advice on Skiing powder? I need to find my rythm.

 

[billski]

just the basics, sir.

Any advice on Skiing powder? I need to find my rythm.

Just the basics - a) up down up down up down as you turn, b) keep your tips up, c) long radius linked turns of 4 or more are the only way to get the hang of it, d) no short radius turns, ever, of course, e) steeper pitches are better - the deep stuff slows you down, you won't rocket the way you do on hard pack, f) skiing closer to the fall line is a little less work rather than traversing the entire trail, but you'll develop your own style.
Commit to your run and don't quit early. Get an early start on the mountain, try to find a place that doesn't groom everything.

I also found that my GS carver skis (waist of 71 mm) absolutely stink in the deep stuff - I was always sinking. So I got some midfats (Volkl 724s off ebay). The skis and I fought with each other a lot last year. I was an absolute klutz with the midfats on hardpack, I felt like a beginner again. It was all because I had gotten used to that radical cut. It didn't matter how sharp the edger were on the midfats. If I think it's a pow day, I'll bring both pairs and decide. It's a rare luxury in the northeast. I skied out west the last two years in powder with midfats (I'm not ready for fats) and was very happy.

So remember, you have to be comfortable with your skis and you have to have the right skis. I didn't believe this until I started demo'ing a lot. I also learned that it takes me about 20-30 hours of skiing before I'm fully comfortable with a new pair of sticks.

Now don't ask me about boarding in the deep - I will leave that to the experts here.

 

[Greg]

Any advice on Skiing powder? I need to find my rythm.

I'm no powder expert, but I've found a tight stance like you would use in the bumps helps. Also, let them run a little bit and just kinda cruise it out. No hockey stop type turns.

 

[Grassi21]

I'm no powder expert, but I've found a tight stance like you would use in the bumps helps. Also, let them run a little bit and just kinda cruise it out. No hockey stop type turns.

Squeeze the knees together. ;-)

 

[Greg]

Squeeze the knees together. ;-)

Yep. Squeeze the knees and the feet will follow...

 

[OppositeGeorge]

12/20 Quick Update

Skied at BE Thursday, 12/20. Wonderful day for cruisers, more work on the ungroomed (though that varied by trail.)

About me: Advanced skier (that's "advanced" as in not an "expert,") Level I ASIA instructor, still learning (after 25 years, on and off!), especially in steeper moguls and junk. At home on the smooth stuff, hero conditions and ice at any pitch. Ran yesterday on Volant Machete Sin 165s. Unless I state otherwise, if I talk about a trail I hit it, which yesterday would've been about 3/4 of what was open.

About 90% open; 4 of 5 lifts, with the "high-speed double" off line. As usual, practically nobody there during the day (100-150 max -- yes, it was a bit busy) until the racers rolled in ~3:30

A couple/few inches of snow the night before. Sadly, no pics but billski's pictures still apply -- white as far as you could see on the ground. A very, very few weeds still poking out but Ullr and the snow guns have beaten the mountain pretty well into submission. Just the slightest dirt patches; really only on the steeper ungroomed and bumping-up stuff.

In general a great day for the groomers. Probably 75% of trails had been groomed, and with the fresh snow on top these felt like teflon-coated silk. Smooth, smooth, smooth and great for leisurely turns of any radius and admiring your tracks. Surprisingly, lower (officially Middle?) Wilderness Peak had been groomed out and though short was the perfect pitch IMO for enjoying the conditions. I saw a couple of kids (but not me) hit the ungroomed Upper Wilderness (is that even an official trail?) and get gummed up -- see below.

The powder of billski's visit had turned into heavy, somewhat crusty stuff on some ungroomed trails, while still softer and more skiable on others. Temps in the mid-30s all day which probably contributed to this. Better skiers could probably handle the heavy stuff no problem but it was a little much for me. They left the area directly under the Exhibition lift, except at the very top, untouched. I spent a few runs practicing on crust under the Exhibition lift but didn't get very far. The crusty-ish stuff definitely favored pitch and speed for turning, and that section just wasn't that steep. When I inevitably wiped, I found the surface under the crust to be at least 1 1/2 - 2 feet deep.

A little bit on the "Front Five:" Flying Cloud, though ungroomed was nice and soft and starting to bump up nicely. Very manageable even for a bump wimp like me. Upper and Lower Competition were nicely groomed and racers were hitting 'em both in the morning (though the trails stayed open to all) -- in particular, UC wasn't as hard and icy as it usually gets, though it was still fast (and it killed me watching those kids making one turn where I was making three...) GS gates set up on LC most of the day, stayed up after the racers went in and open for anybody to ski up 'til the school racers started rolling in ~ 3:30-4pm. UMass was heavier but not crusty and therefore doable but also bumped up and a bit on the workish side. Minnie Dole and Grizzly also ungroomed but looked crusty and heavy and I didn't go in -- neither was getting much play yesterday. Upper Minnie Dole, off the lift, was closed. A few kids were doing Liftline in the morning but not so much in the pm. Upper LL, though a bit crusty looked softer than Lower LL, which looked crustier and I didn't even bother with.

To the East, Mohawk into Roy's Way was pretty untouched and heavy and thus was challenging for a green/blue. Roy's, especially in the twisty parts, was more like a blue/black. Some other minor, narrow runs in that section also looked ungroomed. The rest of that side was groomed and cruiser/GS heaven.

None of the marked woods were open, that I could tell. Probably wouldn't have gone in anyway given the conditions.

Safety comments: Just a couple things that might not be a huge deal on a slow day but could stand some attention. One icy section hidden under fresh snow by equipment at the end of Katie's could've been marked or chopped up. It's at the end of a short but straight and narrow green and I could just see a beginner with some speed hit that and smack the ground or the snow gun pretty hard. The ungroomed area of Exhibition on skier's left had a snow gun and unmarked, non-obvious hoses stretched out under the fresh stuff on the edge by the groomed stuff. Given that this is a beginner's/intermediate run they probably could have marked off the transition area better and done something about the equipment to caution new skiers. Finally, they were running the Summit Triple nice and fast (that's good) but the late morning lifties didn't seem to care that the chairs were smacking most folks in the calves (that's bad -- holding chairs for the customers is always appreciated.)

Top service on all other lifts (esp. Exhibition triple.)

Other comments: like the new BE website, but their conditions report could use some more work. They did some work on the cafeteria over the summer, simplifying the layout -- looks good (but they kept the ancient BE sign hanging there which is cool.)

As always, everybody I spoke with, employees and customers alike, was friendly and helpful -- love the attitude-free atmosphere at this place and this and the terrain keep me coming back. Sure, there were a few runs too tough for me but overall it was a top day.

 

[threecy]

I saw a couple of kids (but not me) hit the ungroomed Upper Wilderness (is that even an official trail?)

Wilderness Peak above Little Spruce is not yet an official trail. It was cut all the way to the summit of that peak, but likely won't open until a lift is put in over there. There are a few other unfinished trails in that area.

 

[billski]

George, Nice details, from an instructor's perspective, it is very valuable to many on this forum. I'm not surprised George. Pow was heavy further up north too (Black Mt. report coming on Saturday)

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Pow was heavy further up north too (Black Mt. report coming on Saturday)

Yeah, coming back through the precip Weds night the conditions varied from big flakes in N Conway around 4:30 to wetter, and wetter until finally mostly rainish in upper MA ~10pm (made a few stops on the way.) There wasn't any snow on my car parked overnight in S Deerfield Thurs a.m. Guess it got a little wet, but with mostly snow @ the BEast.

Anyway, if it was warm during the week the way it was Thursday heaviness was probably inevitable. Makes a great base, though.

Looking forward to your Black Mtn. trip report, never been there but got a free ride on the CHAD/NE Ski & Save Card so I'm eager to see what that place is all about.