Late October Snowmaking?

[Greg]

(And you guys say K zone is bad).

Please. This thread is sort of an anomaly. The discussions here are generally nowhere near what they are like on K-zone.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

From what Killington has said, they will be doing the full K-1/Glades/Snowdon opening as they have done in years past....which is alot of terrain and tends to be fun, if a bit crowded. However, they have also said that they will not expend lots of energy to make snow in marginal temps in an attempt to "open early". They have also stated an opening date of Nov. 16th.

As is becoming the norm with Killington these days, these 3 statements seem to be in conflict. As stated previously, it requires 100+ acre feet of snow to open all that terrain. It is unlikely they will see a solid window of sub-20F temps down to the the K-1 long enough to do all the production, and then there are no promises it won't simply melt. If they get into a bad situation with the weather like last year, will they pull the plug on snowmaking and not even open for thanksgiving? Or will they push an opening because it's a holiday?

We'll see...but it would be highly embarassing if Killington didn't open until December, with other resorts opening in mid-Novemeber......really, really bad PR.

I agree with Jim...great post! Yup, alot of if's, that's why this is so dam interesting.

 

[drjeff]

A pic to put the thread back into a more civil perspective.

This is from skilifts.org, taken by an employee of Snow Valley, CA, whose been living in the base lodge there with his family (wife, 3 kids, dog, etc) for the last few days due to fire evacuations.

The pic is of a helicopter dipping a water bucket in Snow Valley's snowmaking pond for fire fighting purposes! Plus look how low that reservoir is, and most of the water level is drought related, NOT firefighting, and apparently per this person, across the ridgeline from Snow Valley, the Trinity Mountain ski area (www.trinitymountainresort.com) was completely burned by the slide fire out there!

Now back to the bickering

 

[wa-loaf]

The pic is of a helicopter dipping a water bucket in Snow Valley's snowmaking pond for fire fighting purposes! Plus look how low that reservoir is, and most of the water level is drought related, NOT firefighting, and apparently per this person, across the ridgeline from Snow Valley, the Trinity Mountain ski area (www.trinitymountainresort.com) was completely burned by the slide fire out there!

Didn't Sun Valley recently use their snowmaking system to help put out a forrest fire?

Here's the article: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2640970420070827

 

[The Sneak]

Because my cousin is a hydrologist at the NWS, and because I built a crude snow gun from home depot sourced plumbing materials last winter, I will draw upon my considerable knowledge and experience to predict top to bottom skiing within 200 miles of Boston by Veteran's Day.

And I've seen the loaf open with Spillway first --- in October. It has been done.
I've skied the front side of Mt Snow on November 11th.

Hell, in 1992 I skied Jiminy Peak in pouring 45 degree rain, wearing a trash bag. On November 11th.

Hang in there. It's coming.

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

I had sunny side UP
I had sunny side DOWN
I had sunny side ALL ZEE VAY AROUND.

sorry, i had to get in on this somehow.

"You toad sucking son of a bitch" H.Banks

"Hey Rudi, why don't you ask the rookie here about his bubble bath with Silvia last night Whooa Hooo!" S.Murphy

"That's right Rudi, you've been back doored again, but this time right in the same house" D. O'Callahan
"you just ain't on Sylvia's top forty shorty" S.Murphy

 

[snowman]

Well, last year, they were able to get skiable coverage on Tote Road in "3 days" on two separate occasions in November. I'm not sure if that was round-the-clock snowmaking or not:

http://news.alpinezone.com/11009/
http://news.alpinezone.com/11319/

I still say an opening late next week is very possible.

It took them 3 continuous days, or 72+ hours to make enough snow for a staff photo op in round one. They had really good conditions in round one, as low as 10F at night. In round 2, they were at it for another 50 hours continuous to get open with really marginal skiing conditions...building on top of what little was left from round one, and a couple of nights inbetween. That = 150+ hours to get open in 2006, exactly as I said. It also equals more than 60 hours of snowmaking to get a marginal base regardless of weather disasters. Also, exactly as I said. They also had much better weather conditions for round one than are currently forecasted in the BEST forecast for the next 2 weeks at the loaf. I rest my case.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

It took them 3 continuous days, or 72+ hours to make enough snow for a staff photo op in round one. They had really good conditions in round one, as low as 10F at night. In round 2, they were at it for another 50 hours continuous to get open with really marginal skiing conditions...building on top of what little was left from round one, and a couple of nights inbetween. That = 150+ hours to get open in 2006, exactly as I said. It also equals more than 60 hours of snowmaking to get a marginal base regardless of weather disasters. Also, exactly as I said. They also had much better weather conditions for round one than are currently forecasted in the BEST forecast for the next 2 weeks at the loaf. I rest my case.

Snowman how far do you live from the Loaf? BTW I like your pink pole shirt...it's mad steezy yo...lol

 

[Greg]

It took them 3 continuous days, or 72+ hours to make enough snow for a staff photo op in round one. They had really good conditions in round one, as low as 10F at night. In round 2, they were at it for another 50 hours continuous to get open with really marginal skiing conditions...building on top of what little was left from round one, and a couple of nights inbetween. That = 150+ hours to get open in 2006, exactly as I said. It also equals more than 60 hours of snowmaking to get a marginal base regardless of weather disasters. Also, exactly as I said. They also had much better weather conditions for round one than are currently forecasted in the BEST forecast for the next 2 weeks at the loaf. I rest my case.

It seems if they were "building on top of what little was left from round one", that means they were basically starting over so it doesn't have to take 150 hours to get a skiable surface, but rather only ~72, evidenced by their results from round 1, correct?

 

[Highway Star]

It took them 3 continuous days, or 72+ hours to make enough snow for a staff photo op in round one. They had really good conditions in round one, as low as 10F at night. In round 2, they were at it for another 50 hours continuous to get open with really marginal skiing conditions...building on top of what little was left from round one, and a couple of nights inbetween. That = 150+ hours to get open in 2006, exactly as I said. It also equals more than 60 hours of snowmaking to get a marginal base regardless of weather disasters. Also, exactly as I said. They also had much better weather conditions for round one than are currently forecasted in the BEST forecast for the next 2 weeks at the loaf. I rest my case.

ROFL...again, your logic sucks. Try coming back to reality here. They blew snow for 3 days, then let it melt for 2 weeks.....OOOPS!!!!!!! A claim of 150 hours is not valid. With all the rain in those two weeks, Killington was down to nothing left aside from a few snowballs. Sugarloaf was starting over from scratch, basicly, and they got open in two days...no problem. That's alot closer to my estimates than yours.......

 

[Highway Star]

It seems if they were "building on top of what little was left from round one", that means they were basically starting over so it doesn't have to take 150 hours to get a skiable surface, but rather only ~72, evidenced by their results from round 1, correct?

Greg, per the article you linked, they started making snow on Saturday afternoon and then opened less than 48 hours later, on Monday around 1-2 pm.

 

[Greg]

Greg, per the article you linked, they started making snow on Saturday afternoon and then opened less than 48 hours later, on Monday around 1-2 pm.

Right. With lows Monday and Tuesday night of 18F and 22F respectively, I'm still optimistic.

 

[Vortex]

Facts have no place in this discussion.

 

[bobbutts]

Snowman how far do you live from the Loaf? BTW I like your pink pole shirt...it's mad steezy yo...lol

yeah I'm digging the short, scrawny, bald steeze on Snowman too

 

[Highway Star]

Right. With lows Monday and Tuesday night of 18F and 22F respectively, I'm still optimistic.

I think it's highly likely that they will try to make snow those nights.....and maybe even try to open on it.


But I certainly don't put any weight on long term forcasts....you can barely trust them about 48 hours out, but beyond that, it's purely guesswork.

 

[hammer]

Right. With lows Monday and Tuesday night of 18F and 22F respectively, I'm still optimistic.

Keep the faith...from http://www.mattnoyes.net/new_england_weather/:

"Behind Sunday's disturbance, the flood gates for cool air will open, and a shot of below normal air will spill into New England, bringing sunshine but holding high temperatures only in the lower 50s, on average, for Monday, with the higher terrain of Northern and Western New England holding in the 40s! This pattern of cool daytime highs and chilly overnight lows will return in surges every few days for the next couple of weeks, it seems, as a jet stream trough will remain carved out across the Northeast...allowing for swings in temperature between below and near normal values."

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

yeah I'm digging the short, scrawny, bald steeze on Snowman too

haha..well I'm relatively tall, husky, and have a full head of hair..lol..and I would never wear a pink polo shirt...ahahahaha

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Keep the faith...from http://www.mattnoyes.net/new_england_weather/:

"Behind Sunday's disturbance, the flood gates for cool air will open, and a shot of below normal air will spill into New England, bringing sunshine but holding high temperatures only in the lower 50s, on average, for Monday, with the higher terrain of Northern and Western New England holding in the 40s! This pattern of cool daytime highs and chilly overnight lows will return in surges every few days for the next couple of weeks, it seems, as a jet stream trough will remain carved out across the Northeast...allowing for swings in temperature between below and near normal values."

me likey...below normal to normal temps in early November means......Snowmaking..

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

Has this thread turned into the cyber-geek personals? I bet GSS and Snowman don't have compatible astrological signs.:lol:

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Has this thread turned into the cyber-geek personals? I bet GSS and Snowman don't have compatible astrological signs.:lol:

That reminds me, I need to update my profile on match.com I've got to add some grass skiing pictures...lol

On topic...wow I can't wait to ski...in a little over 2 weeks..