Friday 24th Sat 25th

[billski]

Yeah, the front end stuff poo-pooed and lowered amounts for southern areas this morning--less moisture overall for them with them dry slotting a bit more and some mixing but didn't change northern areas too much due to the storm developing tonight. That's why I kept NNH thru NME amounts on the higher side as they transfer to upslope into Saturday.

Thanks Winn. I kept hitting snowforecast.com looking for updates - so you can see I look for your expertise early and often.

 

[billski]

Car packed, SR bound after work tonight... If the winds are honkin' tomorrow morning I'll sleep late and hang out in the hot tub, maybe go snowshoeing with the gf and chase whatever's left on Sunday... If the wind isn't bad, I'll pay the full walk up rate... I don't even care!

GO SNOW!!!

-w

Are there no fixed grips left there?

 

[WJenness]

Are there no fixed grips left there?

There are plenty of FG, yes:

Little White Cap
White Heat
White Cap (Tempest)
Locke
Spruce
Quantum Leap
Aurora

HS-detach lifts:
Barker
Chondola
South Ridge
North Peak
Jordan

I'm just being paranoid, we'll see what happens...

-w

 

[billski]

Wonder how will the drive up be like...

What's the time frame of the precip? As much as I crave powder, I have a fairly long drive ~5hr. Doing all of that in heavy snow could turn it into an all-nighter and I won't be in any condition to ski...

I like to use the NWS Hourly Weather Graph, located off the main forecast page for a selected geo point.
For example, Londonderry VT, at the NWS weather page

Scroll down to "Hourly Weather Graph". click it.

You'll see something like this:

So pick locations along your way and view the graphs. I have found this to be far more reliable than any graph or broad brush forecast. It also gives you more (but not precise) timing.

Look at those Saturday gusts and sustaining winds. I think I know where the upslope and the snow will be on Sunday

 

[billski]

There are plenty of FG, yes:

Little White Cap
White Heat
White Cap (Tempest)
Locke
Spruce
Quantum Leap
Aurora

HS-detach lifts:
Barker
Chondola
South Ridge
North Peak
Jordan

-w

So why wait? When it's windy, go up the fixed, head for the woods. Peace and snow.

 

[mlkrgr]

So why wait? When it's windy, go up the fixed, head for the woods. Peace and snow.

I'm hoping SR will be on windhold on Saturday don't mean to be too rude but that'll make for even better conditions and fresh pow when I'll be up for the day on Sunday for sure. Did see the wind forecast was upgraded back to mid 20s on weather.com. But I find the more wind prone lifts tend to be Jordan, Aurora, upper White Cap, and then the chondola and then the rest of the upper lifts like Barker, etc to leave lower White Cap and South Ridge rolling at a bare minimum. So I don't think the thinking of fixed grips being more resistant then hs lifts quite applies to SR. I was at SR on a midweek day couple years ago and there wasn't that much wind; probably gusting in the teens, and the chondola (NPQ open instead), upper White Cap, Aurora, and Jordan were all on hold

But sometimes you never know as holds depend on the speed and direction of wind. I passed up on a day at Loon last year in which there was gusts predicted to be in the 50s; there were warnings the lifts may be on hold on their site and sure enough I checked for my curiosity and everything was running.

 

[abc]

hmmm... that snow graph for Londondery points to very likely snow DURING the entire evening drive. That doesn't look too pleasant to be driving up at those hours.

I'm not sure I feel too strongly about hitting the road after work today, and turning a 5 hr drive into a 7-8 hr one...

 

[St. Bear]

hmmm... that snow graph for Londondery points to very likely snow DURING the entire evening drive. That doesn't look too pleasant to be driving up at those hours.

I'm not sure I feel too strongly about hitting the road after work today, and turning a 5 hr drive into a 7-8 hr one...

Better than not driving up at all.

 

[abc]

Better than not driving up at all.

Why?

 

[Vortex]

I'm hoping SR will be on windhold on Saturday don't mean to be too rude but that'll make for even better conditions and fresh pow when I'll be up for the day on Sunday for sure. Did see the wind forecast was upgraded back to mid 20s on weather.com. But I find the more wind prone lifts tend to be Jordan, Aurora, upper White Cap, and then the chondola and then the rest of the upper lifts like Barker, etc to leave lower White Cap and South Ridge rolling at a bare minimum. So I don't think the thinking of fixed grips being more resistant then hs lifts quite applies to SR. I was at SR on a midweek day couple years ago and there wasn't that much wind; probably gusting in the teens, and the chondola (NPQ open instead), upper White Cap, Aurora, and Jordan were all on hold

But sometimes you never know as holds depend on the speed and direction of wind. I passed up on a day at Loon last year in which there was gusts predicted to be in the 50s; there were warnings the lifts may be on hold on their site and sure enough I checked for my curiosity and everything was running.

Rooting for tempest, locke,northpeak and spruce tomrrow. Plenty on locke for me.

If the lifts open I will be there right after the first rush at 8.05. white knuckle ride tonight with rewards at the end. I love black out days. Crowds down.

 

[St. Bear]

Why?

Because not driving up at all implies not skiing, and that's the position I'm in.

 

[ScottySkis]

Because not driving up at all implies not skiing, and that's the position I'm in.

I understand that, It is not easy to work full day then drive hours, in normal weather, then take snow, trucks, and passenger cars it can be a safety issue, consider Platty they got four inches last night, I hope they can get the hole hill open now.

 

[tipsdown]

It seems like Jay Peak is jackpot...

Hold for Jay, Also looks like Saddleback due to enhanced upslope snow...Fingers crossed on no holds!

 

[BenedictGomez]

Im sitting at Magic waiting for it to fall. Waking up to a bare deck and the downward revision was a bit of a bummer but Im looking forward to whatever we can wring from this one.

Par for the course this "winter", even when it looks like we're in store for something great, it turns out "less great" than expected. :x

 

[abc]

I understand that, It is not easy to work full day then drive hours, in normal weather, then take snow, trucks, and passenger cars it can be a safety issue, consider Platty they got four inches last night, I hope they can get the hole hill open now.

Platty hasn't had a lot of base so I'm not sure if this 4" will be enough to change the character. And there's still the slight worry of mixed precip.

And with even Magic still iffy, I'm kind of SOL to get to much decent snow with manageable drive.

I'm slowly and painfully coming to a conclusion that I will miss out Saturday because I simply can't get there from here. Still undecided about Sunday. On dry roads, I can dash up Saturday afternoon and ski Sunday, then drive back. A lot of driving for a day of skiing. But if every mountain is on wind hold Saturday, Sunday could be a powder day that would warrant the madness!

 

[Cheese]

I'm hoping SR will be on windhold on Saturday don't mean to be too rude but that'll make for even better conditions and fresh pow when I'll be up for the day on Sunday for sure.

I'm tracking it all out on Saturday, is that too rude? Probably be tearing up the corduroy on Sunday morning after they churn it all in.

:beer:

 

[BenedictGomez]

I'm slowly and painfully coming to a conclusion that I will miss out Saturday because I simply can't get there from here. Still undecided about Sunday. On dry roads, I can dash up Saturday afternoon and ski Sunday, then drive back. A lot of driving for a day of skiing. But if every mountain is on wind hold Saturday, Sunday could be a powder day that would warrant the madness!

I dont think you're going to miss much, if the wind predictions hold true, Saturday is going to blow (pun not intended), and many lifts will 100% be on wind hold anyway. There will still be plenty of snow left on Sunday (likely most of it), and even Monday.

Frankly, if places are going to be hauling in 13 to 24 inches of snow, this will probably set up TEN days of great conditions. Just what the mountains needed. And there's still a chance that there could be another substantial storm hitting on March 1st.

 

[Riverskier]

So why wait? When it's windy, go up the fixed, head for the woods. Peace and snow.

Fixed grip lifts are affected by wind too, at least in Maine anyway! Windholds on fixed grip lifts are par for the course at SL, and quite common at SB and SR too.

 

[billski]

Fixed grip lifts are affected by wind too, at least in Maine anyway! Windholds on fixed grip lifts are par for the course at SL, and quite common at SB and SR too.

Depends how exposed they are. splain me Magic?

 

[Tooth]

Fixed grip lifts are affected by wind too, at least in Maine anyway! Windholds on fixed grip lifts are par for the course at SL, and quite common at SB and SR too.

I'm planning on hiking all tomorrow. Or the T bar. Riding the T bar with a splitboard opens up a whole new world for us snowboarders.