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Best bets for NH/ME this weekend?

parkmt

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Trying to decide between Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Bretton, Cannon, or Wildcat for a 3 day-er. Short range shows that those could all be picking up 4 or so more inches between today and Thursday. Dreading the President's Day/school vacation crowd and the sub-zero arctic temps but hey, I need to get out there. What does everyone think?

Don't forget your hand warmers and balaclavas this weekend...it's gonna be bone chilling. :eek:
 

deadheadskier

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Sugarloaf got the most out of latest storm and had the most to begin with. They'll probably have the longest lines of all you listed and likely be the coldest.
 

xwhaler

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BMOM $15 Fridays (freshies waiting you until then)
Then Abram the rest of the wknd---crowd avoidance and snow should be good. Unless u need super steep of course....
 

Smellytele

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Trying to decide between Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Bretton, Cannon, or Wildcat for a 3 day-er. Short range shows that those could all be picking up 4 or so more inches between today and Thursday. Dreading the President's Day/school vacation crowd and the sub-zero arctic temps but hey, I need to get out there. What does everyone think?

Don't forget your hand warmers and balaclavas this weekend...it's gonna be bone chilling. :eek:

I would not buy a 3 day ticket to any place. the last 4 places can all be driven between so you could ski any 3 of them on the same weekend
 

SIKSKIER

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Below zero temps are the great neutralizer to big crowds.Sugarloaf will probably have the best snow and coldest temps but I'll bet the lodge has bigger lines.

Here is the Mt Washington Obs forecast for this weekend.

To give you an idea of the cold coming, by the weekend, models have been consistently indicating summits will see temperatures bottoming out near 35F below zero with calculated wind chills so far forecasted to reach close to 90F below zero.
Yowza!
 

skiMEbike

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Below zero temps are the great neutralizer to big crowds.

Agree !!!

SL summit forecast windchills are estimated to be 70 below zero over the weekend!! I plan on braving the elements this weekend...Could be one of those days where you need to go in after every 3-4 runs or so. The big question will be what lifts can they keep turning, which will have a big impact on the lines.
 

dlague

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I agree with the Cannon, BW, Wildcat combo sounds nice!

That being said what a tough season for ski areas - Christmas week was crappy, MLK not so hot and now sub zero day for this weekend. That will keep crowds down. Good for hard cores though!


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
 

Vortex

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Great shots Ed, I bought a pair of the early season $30 tickets. Waiting for a nice warm Friday. Looks like the loaf got the most snow.

I will be at the River Friday through Monday. Mt Abram is a nice easy cheap take for Saturday. I can see it from my yard. All day skiing for a low price. The River will have the best covered groomed terrain. IMO. Its snow making made channel 13 out of Portland's dopler radar last night. Re surfacing and still expanding. Still believe in a low snow winter, the River provides the best conditions.
 

parkmt

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Sunday River's blowers showing up on doppler is hilarious.

Thanks for everyone's input!!

Did the Loaf really get 9-10"?! Even so, I'm hesitant to drive all the way up there just to have the entire mountain on windhold all day. This is such a crapshoot.

Should I consider northern VT at all? Stowe/Jay/Sugarbush all got hit the past couple days too. No idea how much base they have to work with though esp after last week's warm, wet disgustingness. I think I remember hearing that Jay has been an icy bald disaster this season (more so than others, fwiw).

What's everyone's plans?
 

Bumpsis

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Leaving this Friday for a full week at Sugarloaf. As it was already mentioned, the low temps will keep lines short this weekend. It may even snow on Saturday.
I'm more concerned about wind holds. As long as the superquad and the T-bar are running, that opens up a lot of terrain. The walk up from the top of the T-bar to the Spillway X-cut is quite short and from there...lots of choices.
 

frapcap

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I think we're going to brave Wildcat this weekend. We'll have to bring extra bourbon to warm up on the lift.

Sad thing is that it would've been a real test for my new jacket but I sadly had to send it back to Salomon for repairs after ripping it on the AZ Summit trip.
 

Smellytele

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I think we're going to brave Wildcat this weekend. We'll have to bring extra bourbon to warm up on the lift.

Sad thing is that it would've been a real test for my new jacket but I sadly had to send it back to Salomon for repairs after ripping it on the AZ Summit trip.

If it gets too windy and the lift is closed you could always ski Attitrash.
 

180

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i will be at the Loaf all 3 days for a mogul comp if anyone wants to hook up. Any glades open?
 

tnt1234

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i will be at the Loaf all 3 days for a mogul comp if anyone wants to hook up. Any glades open?

Wondering about that too - family trip to sugarloaf end of march. Never been. Picked it mainly for brackets basin....wondering what the odds are of getting to ski that area...
 

skiMEbike

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Did the Loaf really get 9-10"?! Even so, I'm hesitant to drive all the way up there just to have the entire mountain on windhold all day. This is such a crapshoot.
Should I consider northern VT at all?
YES !! Some locals saying possibly higher on top...They did get a solid 10 inches...Check out video/footage from SL website. From what I can tell, summit wind forecasts appear to be 25+ on Saturday, which typically the loaf can handle so doubt “entire mountain” will be on wind hold. Sunday looks to be like the questionable day with summit forecasted winds at 45+, however I got to think something’s spinning like #3 Tbar, but you never say never at the Loaf. Monday & Tuesday look ok, but starting Tuesday night looks like we have some big winds (with the potential of a big storm on Tuesday…shhh).

Do not consider VT….First, they will have the same wind issues as the Loaf. A couple SL regulars recently made a trip over there (Jay Peak & Sugarbush), and they both reported SL has way more snow & better conditions.
 
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