riverc0il
New member
don't usually post TR's here, but given the high amount of folks that ski loon and a particular tie in regarding the quantity vs. quality post, i thought a post here would be interesting to drum up some continued conversation about that issue.
this morning, i rolled outta bed at 7am and fired up my computer to check conditions. things didn't seem too bad until i stuck my head out the door, and boy was it cold! i slacked around online until about 9am when i decided i might as well give it a shot today. after my powder day at saddleback on thursday, i knew i was in for disappointment, but i figured it would at least be worth the drive... hehe!!!
i knew jays woods wouldn't be pretty after the rain and a freeze. still had a voucher for loon and i suspect a place with good grooming would be the best option today. not even loon's grooming could save the day, ouch! pulled up to a relatively empty mountain, sherman adams lodge was sporting high school racers who either already finished their run or were waiting for their run, i couldn't tell. but i could tell even these racers would rather be indoors than taking a free run, ouch.
loon's coverage is very impressive considering what i encountered last sunday at cannon's last day (4-5 trails). loon still has the same number of trails open as a month ago with what i would guess be between 6-12" of solid base everywhere though a few thin spots were showing. an admirable job at snow making to say the least to still have that much tterrain open this late in the game given the year we have had.
snow conditions were crapola. i didn't even board a lift until around 11a, but things were still cold with a stiff breeze and no warm up in sight despite the partially sunny skis. one guy i rode the chair commented that things were "starting to soften up a bit" :blink: :blink: :blink: to which i replied my first run was my worst run of the entire season, hands down, no doubt in my mind. i guess when you are used to skiing scraped off man made snow, you get used to it!
i couldn't dig in an edge to save my life. what i would not have gived for a pair of volkl six stars freshly tuned. i felt like a freaking amateur out there. given that my skis haven't been tuned in four weeks/eight ski days, my edges were pretty dull... but even will dull edges i can normally dig in to most conditions. there simply was no "snow" to turn on, it was an icy groomer tread all over the mountain, no thanks. i took three runs and called it a day, wasn't even worth the one hour drive except that would have been wondering if i was missing out had i not gone.
so back to the QvQ discussion, this is the second weekend in a row that i showed up, skied three runs, determined it sucked and wasn't going to warm up, and took off. granted both of those days i was skiing for free. if i had paid for a lift ticket, i probably would have requested a voucher to come back for another day. it was that bad. some days just are not worth skiing, today was one of them, so was last sunday. when the quality is that bad, no amount of quantity could ever make up for it. it just wasn't fun.
all that said, tomorrow looks like a banner day with sunny skies and warming temps. if you are looking for groomers with softening snow, i suspect loon would be a good sunday option. depending on conditions, looks like either jay, wildcat, or tucks for me sunday. i think i will pack all the gear and head over to pinkham and make the call when i get there. worst case, i could skin up to the bowl, and if it stinks, ski down to pinkham and cross the road for the sunday afternoon cruise.
this morning, i rolled outta bed at 7am and fired up my computer to check conditions. things didn't seem too bad until i stuck my head out the door, and boy was it cold! i slacked around online until about 9am when i decided i might as well give it a shot today. after my powder day at saddleback on thursday, i knew i was in for disappointment, but i figured it would at least be worth the drive... hehe!!!
i knew jays woods wouldn't be pretty after the rain and a freeze. still had a voucher for loon and i suspect a place with good grooming would be the best option today. not even loon's grooming could save the day, ouch! pulled up to a relatively empty mountain, sherman adams lodge was sporting high school racers who either already finished their run or were waiting for their run, i couldn't tell. but i could tell even these racers would rather be indoors than taking a free run, ouch.
loon's coverage is very impressive considering what i encountered last sunday at cannon's last day (4-5 trails). loon still has the same number of trails open as a month ago with what i would guess be between 6-12" of solid base everywhere though a few thin spots were showing. an admirable job at snow making to say the least to still have that much tterrain open this late in the game given the year we have had.
snow conditions were crapola. i didn't even board a lift until around 11a, but things were still cold with a stiff breeze and no warm up in sight despite the partially sunny skis. one guy i rode the chair commented that things were "starting to soften up a bit" :blink: :blink: :blink: to which i replied my first run was my worst run of the entire season, hands down, no doubt in my mind. i guess when you are used to skiing scraped off man made snow, you get used to it!
i couldn't dig in an edge to save my life. what i would not have gived for a pair of volkl six stars freshly tuned. i felt like a freaking amateur out there. given that my skis haven't been tuned in four weeks/eight ski days, my edges were pretty dull... but even will dull edges i can normally dig in to most conditions. there simply was no "snow" to turn on, it was an icy groomer tread all over the mountain, no thanks. i took three runs and called it a day, wasn't even worth the one hour drive except that would have been wondering if i was missing out had i not gone.
so back to the QvQ discussion, this is the second weekend in a row that i showed up, skied three runs, determined it sucked and wasn't going to warm up, and took off. granted both of those days i was skiing for free. if i had paid for a lift ticket, i probably would have requested a voucher to come back for another day. it was that bad. some days just are not worth skiing, today was one of them, so was last sunday. when the quality is that bad, no amount of quantity could ever make up for it. it just wasn't fun.
all that said, tomorrow looks like a banner day with sunny skies and warming temps. if you are looking for groomers with softening snow, i suspect loon would be a good sunday option. depending on conditions, looks like either jay, wildcat, or tucks for me sunday. i think i will pack all the gear and head over to pinkham and make the call when i get there. worst case, i could skin up to the bowl, and if it stinks, ski down to pinkham and cross the road for the sunday afternoon cruise.
i have absolutely no connection with that bad day of skiing is better than a good day at work saying. some days just plain bite it. if i don't complain much, it is because i usually pick good days 
