Ever skied on really good, ungroomed, man made snow?

[Marc]

I did last night. At Wachusett amazingly enough. (Oh, by the way, 7th time out this season).


On Smith, which is the steepest trail there, and has a moderately steep pitch on one part of it. There were huge mounds of man made snow built up and between them it was still deep enough to stick my poles in up to the handles (ok, enough innuendo you sickos).

It was fantastic, there was a big jump on the first pile and the landing was feather soft.

I think the reason it was so good was because it was so cold, the man made stuff wasn't sticky in the least. It was light, fluffy and wonderful. I coulda skied all night...

:beer:

 

[thetrailboss]

No. Not really. Sometimes after it has sit it can be fun. But mainly it is frankensnow. You know? Can turn on it but not really get an edge?

 

[RuffusCorncobb]

I love to ski on freshly blown snow

Newly opened trails that are all covered with whalebacks that feel sort of like skiing on styrafoam is fun but its best when the guns are still going and there is 6"s to a foot of crud forming soft bumps. Days like this my brain wants to ski far harder and longer than my poor ole legs can handle.

I love natural snow but till mother nature provides it on a more regular basis, skiing fresh man made is a great substitue. I would rather ski with the snow guns blasting in my face all day than to just ski groomers.

Can't wait till tomorrow. got the day off and I am headed to Sunday River with dreams of 6 inches of natural in my head.

 

[Crock]

i was at Wachusett on tuesday and saw all the ungroomed stuff. It looked really good, but was all roped off, and being my first time there, i didn't feel like ducking any ropes. I'm headed there today around 4 to ski for the night. After skiing Killington and Pico my whole life, Wachusett made me realize how spoiled I have been. That place is TINY, but it's close by, so skiing is skiing. I Just couldn't believe how they lable really flat trails as intermediate blue's.

 

[Marc]

i was at Wachusett on tuesday and saw all the ungroomed stuff. It looked really good, but was all roped off, and being my first time there, i didn't feel like ducking any ropes. I'm headed there today around 4 to ski for the night. After skiing Killington and Pico my whole life, Wachusett made me realize how spoiled I have been. That place is TINY, but it's close by, so skiing is skiing. I Just couldn't believe how they lable really flat trails as intermediate blue's.

Remember trail ratings are not an absolute measure, they are relative to the trails on the particular mountain.

I'll be there around 5, myself. And, while compared to a huge mountain like Killington, Wachusett is small, but as far as "small" resorts go, it is fairly sizeable, hell it has a full 1000' of vertical off the summit.

Meh, I have a love-hate relationship with that place. They love to take my money and I hate to give it to them. I'm kinda like a crack addict though.

This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?

 

[riverc0il]

man made whales geerally aren't that much fun. i did have one day of turn earning at jay peak this seaon tha was good though. the sun was out all day and it was 55 or so which set the snow up nice.

 

[Treeliner]

I've actually had two different experiences with this. One night last season, I poached a trail that they had been blowing snow on all day. It was soft, and felt something like thick, weird powder. This season though, I went on a patch of ungroomed sman-made snow, and it was hard as a ice pretty much (even though it deceivingly looked like soft snow).

 

[NHpowderhound]

Sneaux has more personalities in it than my last girlfriend. But when the dew point and humidity are low, it can fall as a nice soft velvety carpet. I love hitting the snowpark at Jay during late december when they are blowing thier pipe and park. Tons of soft sneaux along the sides
((*
*))NHPH

 

[skibum1321]

I skied fresh manmade snow last week at Jay and various other time in the past. IMO, it is nothing to write home about. I would rather ski packed natural snow any day of the week.

 

[dmc]

Yesterday at Hunter was amazing.... Tons of snowguns on... All producing a thick cloud that showered the trails with a light, dry powder...

It was awesome for practicing my tele turns...!

Last night - I came home around 3AM from a concert.. the whole valley was in a cloud from the snowmaking.. It was amazing..
I think the cold dry air just holds a lot of the moisture in the air...

 

[ga2ski]

I have had many good manmade snow days/mornings at Sunday River. It isn't as good as the real stuff, but the "retail snow" they sprinkle around the peaks on Friday and Saturday nights all season is usually sweet first thing in the morning.

 

[Marc]

Well, I was back at Wachusett again last night and the goodness of the huge mounds of man made fresh was gone. It had been packed back down to frankensnow. At least on Tenth and Smith.

The snow on Conifer was beautiful because they have made much so most of the top stuff is still natural, as opposed to on Tenth and Smith where they made on top of the natural. Today won't be a good day for them.

Funny how perceptions change with skill level. When I first started skiing 6 years ago, Smith was near suicide. A few years passed and Smith was a challenge, something to use extra caution on and gave a little bit of that 'gulp' feeling standing at the top of the steep.

Now that I've been skiing for 5+ years, it's kind of a yawn trail. I mean, it gets me up on my edges but and is fun, but doesn't really challenge me. I fly by the people who stop at the top now and ride down smooth like there was nothing there. Damn that is a good feeling of accomplishment though.

:beer:

 

[Zand]

I'm headed up there tonight. I'm scared thinking what kind of precip is falling right now. It's 34 and pouring rain here. They opened the Vickery Bowl today, so that adds to the new terrain that I'll be able to ski. They had to wait to open everything the day AFTER I go (Tuesday).

 

[Marc]

I'm headed up there tonight. I'm scared thinking what kind of precip is falling right now. It's 34 and pouring rain here. They opened the Vickery Bowl today, so that adds to the new terrain that I'll be able to ski. They had to wait to open everything the day AFTER I go (Tuesday).

I'd say, rain is a safe bet. Killington looks like they're getting clobbered though, as does N. Conway.

I actually nevered skied the two new trails last year. Are they any good? I always kinda laughed about them calling it a "bowl." Oh well, they had a good base so a few cold nights of snowmaking and they should be fine for Christmas anyhow, which is their first concern at this point.

 

[Zand]

Frannie's Folly is a straight shot with a pitch similar to Challenger. It's VERY short (as short as the Racecourse) and consistently had the worst conditions on the mountain last year. Hell, it had bare spots a week after the blizzard.

Piece Of Cake is a medium length winding blue with a pitch similar to Ralph's Run. No one skis it and it usually has groomer marks left over all day. It's my escape from the rest of the crowded trails every night around 5 or 6.

The Vickery Liftline, an unmarked trail, is the trail under the lift (obviously). It was open for a few days last year. It's the closest you'll ever get to natural glades skiing at Wachusett. the trail is loaded with stumps and rocks and tree roots and crap like that.

The lift itself is a 4 minute ride, slow as a snail, but there's never a line and barely anyone even goes in there. It's a great escape from the crowds for a few hours.

 

[Crock]

i'm also afraid to head back over there after all this rain. Report back if you go though, i'm still curious.

 

[ski_adk]

When the temps and humidity drop low, Whiteface of all places blows some great man-made snow. Wed. was awesome on Paron's Run, with soft, sluffing snow whales that were just an absolute blast.

 

[NYDrew]

Ive skied natural terrain at jay many a times, but I just got back from sugarbush and was one of the first people skiing Castlerock's liftline trail when it opened. Now that was the best, despite the fact that every time I uncovered a rock I could hear my new racing skiis going cha-ching with dollar signs floating out from under the tails, and it was worth every single stick of p-tex

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

I was at The Crotch yesterday. The air temp was about 12F in the morning.

They had a spectacular base, groomed so smooth, it was like it had been shaved. They were still running a dozen or so SMI Polecats. Granted, they had the low air temps, no wind, and had the guns pointed almost straight up. Amazing snow.

COmpared to the sludge coming out of the run at K-mart and SR the last few visits, this was unbelievable.

 

[Mark_151]

I spent the morning at Wachusett today. I must say the conditions were quite sweet, considering it was all man made snow for all intents and purposes. The summit trails were covered pretty much with "hero snow" -- you just couldn't do anything wrong in the stuff! Pity about the crowds.