Four feet high and rising?? Stowe Snow Stake

[skidmarks]

Did a little touring yesterday and we've got 4 Ft of snow at the stake.
http://www.uvm.edu/skivt-l/?Page=depths.php Looks like we're only about 12 inches below avg for the season.
Is Stowe doing a lot better than the other resorts in this poor season?

 

[k123]

I think I'm going up to Stowe in March, can't wait!

 

[Nick]

It certainly LOOKS like it's doing a lot better!

 

[KevinF]

I was up in Stowe on Thursday / Friday before Pres. Weekend. Traipsed around in the woods a fair amount. Didn't hit anything. Snow is deep up there.

 

[rocojerry]

nice. real nice.

 

[riverc0il]

I would suggest that the stake isn't completely representative of New England as a whole since it sits right under the highest ridge line in Vermont. Summits are going to have less variability than the rest of the mountain. I like to reference the stake as a general barometer, but it is hard to extrapolate much beyond higher elevation in NoVT.

But more importantly, "only" one foot below average when you're at 4' is still 20% below average and we've consistently been that much below average for a while. And looking at the entire season, it certainly is tough overall picture since we were only above average before the lifts started turning. Hopefully we can hit the average before the season is over, if only for one day...

 

[skidmarks]

I would suggest that the stake isn't completely representative of New England as a whole since it sits right under the highest ridge line in Vermont. Summits are going to have less variability than the rest of the mountain. I like to reference the stake as a general barometer, but it is hard to extrapolate much beyond higher elevation in NoVT.

But more importantly, "only" one foot below average when you're at 4' is still 20% below average and we've consistently been that much below average for a while. And looking at the entire season, it certainly is tough overall picture since we were only above average before the lifts started turning. Hopefully we can hit the average before the season is over, if only for one day...

I agree stats can be very misleading! It looks like 50% of your season has been Powder Days!! Has the season really been that good or have you just been lucky?
Total: 14 | Earned: 3 | Powder: 7

 

[riverc0il]

I agree stats can be very misleading! It looks like 50% of your season has been Powder Days!! Has the season really been that good or have you just been lucky?
Total: 14 | Earned: 3 | Powder: 7

Powder days but barely so. The quantity and quality of the powder has been significantly below average. I think two were earned and the other five were all less than a foot, generally right around half a foot. The 50% looks great but reality isn't so hot.

 

[snowmonster]

Just got back from Stowe yesterday. After my adventure on the Bruce, I skied nothing but woods and it's pretty good in there. Really good. If you choose your lines correctly, there was still untracked snow to be marked up.

 

[KD7000]

Just got back from Stowe yesterday. After my adventure on the Bruce, I skied nothing but woods and it's pretty good in there. Really good. If you choose your lines correctly, there was still untracked snow to be marked up.

Agreed, I just got back today after two days up there. The popular trails showed lots of ice, but the lesser used trails were great, and the woods were glorious.

 

[skidmarks]

Just got back from Stowe yesterday. After my adventure on the Bruce, I skied nothing but woods and it's pretty good in there. Really good. If you choose your lines correctly, there was still untracked snow to be marked up.

It was my mistake not to ski the Bruce Trail on Monday. I thought with it's southern exposure and the conditions we saw on the Trapp Traverse it would be breakable crust.

Good job for getting it!

 

[snowmonster]

^ Thanks. Congrats too on the Trapp Traverse. Would love to do that. I plan to hit the Bruce again this Saturday. Let me know if you'll be up. Only disadvantage of the Bruce is that, unless you plan to skin from the cross country center, you have to buy a Stowe lift ticket.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

The meteorologist on WCAX reports the snow depth at the Mansfield stake every night. Last night she reported the average depth for this time of the year is 105" , not the 58" or so your talking about. Thanks for the cool pics.

 

[deadheadskier]

^ Thanks. Congrats too on the Trapp Traverse. Would love to do that. I plan to hit the Bruce again this Saturday. Let me know if you'll be up. Only disadvantage of the Bruce is that, unless you plan to skin from the cross country center, you have to buy a Stowe lift ticket.

best way to ski the Bruce is after a long day riding the lifts at Stowe and take it all the way down to the Matterhorn.

We used to ski the Bruce pretty often back when I lived in town. We'd always stash a car at the Matterhorn and ski the Bruce for the final run of the day.

 

[snowmonster]

^ I considered skiing all the way to the Matterhorn but reconsidered since I wanted to get back to the mountain ASAP. Besides, I didn't have a shuttle back and didn't want to be at the mercy of the mountain bus.