Catamount-12/31/13 (lot's o' pics)

[ss20]

Time Skied: 9-4
Conditions: Granular and hardpack
Weather:
AM: 10-15 degrees with clouds and flurries
PM: 15-20 degrees with a snow shower

Pulled into the first row of the parking lot at 8:40. Saw that Off Stage was being groomed after a dose of snowmaking last night. Snow was fast all day. A classic Northeast ski day conditions wise. Fast groomed to a slippery, icy surface that gets worse throughout the day. I made the most of it. Lot's of laps down Glade and Catamount. I did Off Stage twice. On a scale from 1 to 10 it was a 2 in the am run, then a 3 in my afternoon attempt. It was horribly groomed. Death cookies to the sides and an unedgable groomed center. After lunch a persistent snow shower started. Coated the ground and made it feel more like winter. Crowds were never that bad, even when the Medows triple closed midday (I don't know why), but it reopened. Was skiing up the load line by 2.

FYI: The halfpipe has been removed and is now a new beginner trail, Bobcat.

BIG NEWS: The snowmaking onslaught has commenced on Catapult! Saw the magical snowmakers performing their pre-snowmaking rituals in the morning (checking hoses, pipe connections, etc.). At 1pm they had the top 1/4 of the trail lit up, and by 4 they had every gun going! Love you guys

The silent guns await




And so it begins...




Glade and Chute look'in good

 

[ss20]

5 file limit eh? Too bad...

Walter's Way


Snowmaking in the Meadows


Panoramic from the top of Sidwinder


Gotta hate those holiday crowds :-D

 

[Snowlover]

Thanks for report. Where in ct do you live? Might I ask why you would drive all that way and pay nearly 60 bucks for such crap conditions. Wouldn't it have just made sense to save the gas for later and ski in ct and save a drive to that place when it's better?

 

[ss20]

It's an hour and a half away. Tickets are 49$ for CT ski club members. Catamount has 1,000 vertical and 130 acres. The CT areas are half that size. Catamount is also much steeper. It wasn't "crap" conditions. It was a typical northeast day with granular and machine groomed that wore away to ice by noon. That happens at Mohawk, Sundown, and Southington, as well as any other ski resort in the Northeast.

Was it worth the $49? Depends on the skier. I don't have any regrets about going. A solid B grade day.

 

[Snowlover]

It wasn't "crap" conditions. It was a typical northeast day with granular and machine groomed that wore away to ice by noon. That happens at Mohawk, Sundown, and Southington, as well as any other ski resort i

Oh no question it would have been same conditions in ct.

"typical northeast day with granular and machine groomed that wore away to ice by noon"= Crap

That's crap conditions. Even if it happens to be "average". I find anything less than packed powder to be crap and def not worth 3 hours of driving. I would never go to a ski are with anything less than packed unless I had a season pass. No way I'd pay for a lift ticket and drive 3 hours. Just stay close until it gets good. The extra vertical doesn't really mean a lot to me when conditions aren't good. Not like there's lift lines in ct. But that's just me. What I personally find fun

Glad you had a good time though and it was worth it for you.

 

[ScottySkis]

$40 anytime tickets for the mount from potterbrothers.

Nice report glad you got out there today. I bet the place will be awesome after this next storm comes through.

 

[Snowlover]

Nice report glad you got out there today. I bet the place will be awesome after this next storm comes through.

+1 on that

 

[Snowlover]

Just to be clear. I'm not hating on you for going or anything. Was just wondering why you wouldn't ski ct. You gave me your reasons. All the best

 

[twinplanx]

Snowlover, you don't happen to sell tombstones in Pennsylvania do ya?

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[Snowlover]

Snowlover, you don't happen to sell tombstones in Pennsylvania do ya?

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I don't get it?

 

[twinplanx]

Just a reference to someone else who used to post here a lot... We like to have fun here ;-)

welcome aboard.

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[skiking4]

No natural? Hopefully this storm changes things up. Learned to ski at Catamount and it's my childhood home mountain. Great place with really fun terrain.

 

[andrec10]

Oh no question it would have been same conditions in ct.

"typical northeast day with granular and machine groomed that wore away to ice by noon"= Crap

That's crap conditions. Even if it happens to be "average". I find anything less than packed powder to be crap and def not worth 3 hours of driving. I would never go to a ski are with anything less than packed unless I had a season pass. No way I'd pay for a lift ticket and drive 3 hours. Just stay close until it gets good. The extra vertical doesn't really mean a lot to me when conditions aren't good. Not like there's lift lines in ct. But that's just me. What I personally find fun

Glad you had a good time though and it was worth it for you.

You don't get to ski much do you?

 

[hrstrat57]

Nice report, thanks for the extra effort with the pics.

Catamount is on my must do list.