Crotched Mtn. 2016-17

[joshua segal]

The base depths are really thin. Rocks, gravel, and dirt showing all over the place. They blew a bit overnight on Plutos. I would rather have seen them reinforcing the thin areas which are pervasive.
...

The rocks and gravel breakthrough is a grooming issue - not a snowmaking issue. The whales near most of those thin abare spots are of impressive depth.

 

[joshua segal]

Curious about crowds today. I came close to going, but my hangover won the day.

Lines were short. They ran all 5 lifts. The Rocket might have been 2 minutes, but the line was so short, that they weren't even grouping people to see that chairs were going up full.

 

[yeggous]

The rocks and gravel breakthrough is a grooming issue - not a snowmaking issue. The whales near most of those thin abare spots are of impressive depth.

I know the groomers pull up all the gravel, but it was really thin in several areas -- Blastoff, the intersection of Equinox / Shooting Star, and whatever you call the lowermost section of Plutos. There were some really bare spots in the Zero G park too. I noticed some big rocks (not gravel) poking through on Moonwalk and Velocity as things got skied off.

My wife took out her brand new Icelantic skis for their first day today, and I got to do my first p-tex repair to them tonight.

 

[deadheadskier]

Paging Joshua - please tell management to turn off the fan gun at the bottom of the steep pitch on Jupiter's unless they want to ruin the trail for weeks. It is putting out 90% water. All other guns on the mountain are putting out nice dry snow, so I assume this is a malfunction

Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[joshua segal]

Paging Joshua - please tell management to turn off the fan gun at the bottom of the steep pitch on Jupiter's unless they want to ruin the trail for weeks. It is putting out 90% water. All other guns on the mountain are putting out nice dry snow, so I assume this is a malfunction
...

They were told. It's been doing that for at least 2.5 hours. They did that to Satellite Summit last season and it was never not icy until the spring thaw. If that's the case this year on Jupiter, it will (sadly) make the bottom seriously Black Diamond :-(

 

[prsboogie]

The just in - CLOSED FOR OPERATION
TUESDAY, JAN 3, 2017
Due to the forecasted weather cycle on it's way and to protect the snow that we have on the ground, we will not be in operation tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan 3, 2017. Our goal is to provide the best ski conditions possible and in order to do that, we felt that closing for operation during this weather event was the best choice.

Crotched Mtn will be back to normal operation on Wednesday, Jan 4, 2017 with as high quality of a snow surface as possible. The one good thing about wet precipitation is that it will re-charge the snowmaking pond for future man-made snow efforts.

The Adult Race League Kick-off Party, hosted 7:00 pm-9:00 pm in the Onset Pub and Lounge WILL OCCUR with drinks and the pub menu available. This event is not closed to the public, so feel free to swing in and have a cold beer from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm on Tuesday night.

Thanks for understanding, as our only goal is to provide the best snow surfaces possible.

Had a great day with my daughter today and a friend from home. Conditions were very good with an occasional icy area. That is until my 8 year old decided to cut a new trail off Milky Way between UFO and Velocity! One second she was on my heels and the next gone! Dude on a board stopped and climbed in to help pull her out and she was completely fine. She was already out by the time I run up from the west lift to where she was. Gotta say I was scared as hell and couldn't that the guy for helping her (and me) out. Needless to say, mom won't be hearing about this, this season at least! on West

just off the Rocket


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[joshua segal]

Jan. 3, 2017 - Tues.

As per prsboogie's posting, Crotched Mtn. made a very smart call and opted not to open today. The forecast was for freezing drizzle in the AM followed by heavy rain in the PM. That being said, I was not about to give up my "skiing fix" and since I live at the mountain, I began climbing the hill. In anticipation of the rain, the mountain was groomed to pack down and hold as much loose snow as possible when the rain starts in earnest.

I went up Super Nova to Milky Way. As I was just below the jct. of Milky Way and Moonwalk, I saw a boarder ride by, so I wasn't the only one who needed a skiing/riding experience today.

Aside: One of the things I like most about Jay Peak is the fact that it is the only ski area where the Tram is the only way to the top. If one gets off the tram and waits 5-minutes, everyone has skied away and there one is alone on a mountain top.

Not quite the same as Jay Peak, but I sat on the deck of the Ski Patrol Building for a few minutes to catch my breath and to enjoy that sense of being alone on a mountain top.

The way down was frozuroy - not unpleasant but certainly not powdery fluff. I started down Satellite Summit which was not groomed and pretty icy. So I turned off Satellite Summit onto Retro to Moonwalk and finished up on Meteor.

Things here, should be back to normal tomorrow.

 

[dlague]

More power to you guys who make the added effort of skinning/hiking to get some turns in. I do not have the energy or the breath to do that here.

Sent from my SM-G930P using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[Bostonian]

Was at Crotched today, and they had problems spinning the rocket... managed to get up the to the summit later when they fixed it, but had to jet at 1... Some photos

 

[xwhaler]

Pluto's open it looks like? What was up with the Rocket?

Sent from my XT1254 using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[joshua segal]

Sun.- Jan. 8, 2017
With a massive snowmaking push today, I found conditions very variable, going from soft fluffy machine made to very icy downhill sides of whales where one or two of the fan guns were putting out mostly water.

I was told that the problem with the Rocket involved ice build-up on the haul-rope. Nothing serious and a fairly common issue with detachables.

 

[SnoDevil97]

I was @ Crotched today - too good to pass up a kids-pay-their-age day.

The delay in Rocket opening was a bit frustrating, as it threw everyone on the slow fixed grip that seemed to stop every minute. Meteor was in good shape & we lapped it for a bit, but then racers took it over.

Once the Rocket opened UFO /Equinox skied nice for a while. Guns were blazing everywhere- & yes the tell-tale sign of too much water, our goggles froze over.

Once was enough for Jupiters Storm after lunch - total ice sheet.

Lapped Plutos a few times, was actually nice later in the day with the snow guns on them.

Glad I went to Crotched today, given the price. Will go again next month, hopefully some glades will be in play & the trails will be tidied up.

 

[Quietman]

Sun.- Jan. 8, 2017
With a massive snowmaking push today, I found conditions very variable, going from soft fluffy machine made to very icy downhill sides of whales where one or two of the fan guns were putting out mostly water.

I was told that the problem with the Rocket involved ice build-up on the haul-rope. Nothing serious and a fairly common issue with detachables.

My son who works there confirmed to ice/haul rope issue. Glad to hear the they are taking safety seriously.

 

[joshua segal]

...

Glad I went to Crotched today, given the price. Will go again next month, hopefully some glades will be in play & the trails will be tidied up.

Actually, if you weren't on your best skis, Final Frontier and all its chutes and sub-glades skied nicely as did Solstice Glade (both the trail and the glade).

 

[SnoDevil97]

Paging @Joshua for current outlook for Crotched. Thinking of getting some turns in Sunday due to delay of Steelers vs Chiefs (now @ 8:20 due to ice storm). How did it survive rain & high temps? Hopefully ok with all the snow blown last wkend.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'll be there in the morning and give a heads up what to expect for Sunday

Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[Quietman]

Wednesday night when things cooled down it was very firm, although Galaxy had some nice snow. After yesterday's rain and warmed, and the quick freeze tonight, I can't imagine skiing until 3am tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully the pond filled up more yesterday, as it was still low on Wed. The high traffic areas will need a refresh.

 

[yeggous]

Wednesday night when things cooled down it was very firm, although Galaxy had some nice snow. After yesterday's rain and warmed, and the quick freeze tonight, I can't imagine skiing until 3am tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully the pond filled up more yesterday, as it was still low on Wed. The high traffic areas will need a refresh.

When I got home from the AlpineZone beer league I discovered a long, nasty gouge in my new race skis. I was not happy. On the plus side I discovered a new technique for base repair. Use a ptex candle, lightly scrape with a steel scraper, and flatten with a steel rotobrush. Works surprisingly well.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[joshua segal]

Wednesday night when things cooled down it was very firm, although Galaxy had some nice snow. After yesterday's rain and warmed, and the quick freeze tonight, I can't imagine skiing until 3am tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully the pond filled up more yesterday, as it was still low on Wed. The high traffic areas will need a refresh.

Today (Fri, Jan. 13) was difficult. Tuesday's rain was no problem, but Wednesday and Thursday's fog were. With today's dropping temps, the grooming was pretty ineffective.

The good news: The pond looked about 3/4 full and it's already down to 25 degrees. Expect a snowmaking bonanza to begin soon and with the weekend forecast, it should be a good weekend.

Sadly, the woods are almost bare, so the glades will be starting from scratch again.

There seems to be a good crowd for Midnight Madness tonight based on the quantity of cars in the parking lot, but the slopes looked pretty empty.

 

[xwhaler]

Hopefully CM refreshes as much as they can. Next week looks quite warm again. Next Wed night looks like a repeat of the previous two ARL nights. Sharpen those edges boys!

Sent from my XT1254 using AlpineZone mobile app