Mad River

[skibum1321]

STARTING TOMORROW THE MOUNTAIN WILL SUSPEND ALL MID-WEEK OPERATIONS. WE ANTICIPATE OPENING FOR THE WEEKEND WITH REGULAR OPERATING HOURS OF 8:30 AM- 4:00PM. ALL PASSES WILL BE HONORED.

Does anyone know why they are doing this? Maybe lack of midweek skiers? It's only mid-March and I don't think the rain hurt them THAT bad.

 

[smootharc]

Skied Sat and Sunday this past weekend...

STARTING TOMORROW THE MOUNTAIN WILL SUSPEND ALL MID-WEEK OPERATIONS. WE ANTICIPATE OPENING FOR THE WEEKEND WITH REGULAR OPERATING HOURS OF 8:30 AM- 4:00PM. ALL PASSES WILL BE HONORED.

Does anyone know why they are doing this? Maybe lack of midweek skiers? It's only mid-March and I don't think the rain hurt them THAT bad.

....and it's THAT bad. Remember....basically no snowmaking, and a base that's been just brutalized with the freeze / thaw cycles and lack of snow. There was almost no evidence on Saturday of the previous weeks stellar friday/early saturday dump, and what was visible in the woods was glop on dirt.

And MRG with it's natural terrain has many trails that have access areas or "bands" across them that go to dirt well before the other 80 or 90%, making the whole trail a no go. I made the mistake yesterday of trying Partridge to Slalom hill, and the top 20% was dirt or ice...near unskiable, until I got below that part, and, yum, sweet soft bumps.

The low angle terrain for beginner/intermediates....that's where the worst ice is.

I think they looked at the forecast for Sunday-Tuesday....and made the call based on the grimness of that. They can always revisit, and a good temp drop and snow at least temporarily turns things around.

 

[skibum1321]

That's actually kind of surprising to me. I didn't realize that this warm weather melted that much base. I was up at MRG last Friday and it was 100% and was pretty good cover.

 

[thetrailboss]

There WAS no base to melt.

 

[skibum1321]

It wasn't necessarily a large base but there was pretty good coverage all over the mountain. Anyway, it should be interesting to see what happens this week and what MRG comes back with this weekend. I wouldn't be surprised to see the $30 bad conditions pricing come back again.

 

[PowderDeprived]

Fourtionatly the temps havent been insane, 40's and 50's are a heck of alot bettter than 60's and 70's. However wind and rain are what kill snowpak, and they must have decided based on todays storm.

Hopefully this weeks wether, brings some decent accumulation, and hopefully the weather stays cool well into next week, that last thing we need is another thaw.

 

[thetrailboss]

Two words: Flood Watch.

Another: Thunderstorms.

This is NUTS! :x

 

[riverc0il]

i think saying there was no base at MRG is slightly overstating things. they have bad enough snow on their natural snow trails to have the entire mountain open right up until this weekend. i am puzzled by the entire week decision. historically, mad river dependably closes down the mountain the day or two after a NCP event. but wed-fri will be cold and calls for snow showers. given that the web site does not cite the NCP for the reason of closure, i suspect it is financial which really sucks. i expected better from MRG than to shut down mid-week and jip their pass holders (and mad card holders!!!) on mid-week skiing just cause visits are down. maybe later in the season, weekend operations are okay and understandable. but it is march 13th! my only beef is that they did not provide an explanation which is VERY unlike MRG.

 

[smootharc]

Riv...re: Mad River Glen.....

given that the web site does not cite the NCP for the reason of closure, i suspect it is financial which really sucks. i expected better from MRG than to shut down mid-week and jip their pass holders (and mad card holders!!!) on mid-week skiing just cause visits are down. maybe later in the season, weekend operations are okay and understandable. but it is march 13th! my only beef is that they did not provide an explanation which is VERY unlike MRG.

...I can understand your observations....valid concerns. But having been there last weekend, and seen the negative change in conditions just from Saturday to Sunday....well, I wasn't surprised at what they did with the forecast for temps and precip. Their plan was circulating the resort as early as Sunday morning....and not one comment I heard from the passholders was negative with regard to any "mercenary/jip the passholder" factor. The lifties, Stark Pub waitresses, and ski school instructors all spoke of it in my presence....these are folks who wouldn't be getting their paychecks....and there wasn't a negative comment or spin from any of them. It only took looking up the hill, and skiing the place, to see the handwriting on the wall.

I'm no expert at analysis of maintaining base conditions from a mountain ops standpoint, but just the skier traffic saturday and sunday torched the snow and left bare spots that grew larger from run to run.

I, for one, believe in the sincerity of their decision making process as being purely ski conditions, and not financially, based.

 

[AdironRider]

Youd be suprised just how much snow you can use when the weather has been as bad as it has.

 

[thetrailboss]

i expected better from MRG than to shut down mid-week and jip their pass holders (and mad card holders!!!) .... but it is march 13th! my only beef is that they did not provide an explanation which is VERY unlike MRG.

Who would WANT to ski at MRG after this weather? :-? Oh wait, I am responding to riverc0il! :lol:

Seriously, I think it is the right decision. Why spin the lifts and lose money? Why watch the terrain erode even more? FWIW Magic closed as well with no explanation, but that is Magic.

 

[riverc0il]

TB, your selective quotation of my post changes its meaning. i think it was definitely the right decision for today and tomorrow and probably wednesday. as i wrote above, it is typical for MRG to close down lifts following NCP. i am completely in favor of that. but snow is forecasted for weds-fri and a recovery before the weekend is entirely possible. i also would have preferred a more detailed explanation.

magic really has nothing to do with this topic. magic hasn't gotten half the snow MRG got this season. i would have been surprised magic even operated in march for that matter. communications and magic are two words not normally seen in the same sentance, i wouldn't expect magic to be open nor to announce the fact that they are closed.

i suddenly feel very defensive given the comments here, but i will repeat my stance on the issue for those thinking i am suggesting it was not the proper decision to close today and tomorrow. it is par for course for MRG to shut down operations following NCP. no problem, i completely agree! but with snow forecasted and cold weather moving in, a full week closure seems excessive and especially in combination with the lack of forthcoming information that was absent from the announcement regarding the specific reasons for a full week closure, "suggests" that it could be financially motivated. they more than likely could possibly get enough snow by thursday or friday to make opening later mid-week a worth while option. that is just me wondering why they shut it down completely for the week so far in advanced with snow on the way, word?

 

[thetrailboss]

I was being more tongue and cheek, Riv :wink:

 

[PowderDeprived]

I am sure money has something to do with it, but face it there isn't much snow pack below 1500' feet, and I guess for MRG snow is worth its weight in gold right now. So closing helps preserve what they have left. They can also keep the groomers off the mountain, and just patch it all up once, later this weekend, preserving even more snow.

Mad rivger glen does have some snowmaking arround the base area, so things have been in decent shape there, thoug eleveation has been a huge factor in terms of base over this season.

Hopefully MRG will be back strong for the weekend, and hopefully they will get their fair share of buisness.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

pretty clear to me

From MRG "The bad news is that due to warmer temps and precip over the weekend we are going to be closing down midweek operations starting today. The forecasts, however, indicate that while we may take another hit from the R-word tonight, there's a very good chance for some more of that fluffy white stuff come Tuesday night & Wednesday. Assuming Ma let's Winter out to play again we're planning on having Mogul-Mania here on Saturday with both The Mogul Challenge and Jr. Mogul Challenge".

I was there on Sat. Never seen so many people enjoying the beautiful day, except for the occational rain showers, and the Telmark Festival.

 

[riverc0il]

i think the jr mogul challenge was originally scheduled for the following week, so pending an incredible amount of snow, this weekend will be it. any one skiing mrg that wants a ticket on the cheap, shoot me a pm. i have three tickets to burn on my mad card but seemingly only two days to do it.

 

[skibum1321]

From MRG "The bad news is that due to warmer temps and precip over the weekend we are going to be closing down midweek operations starting today. The forecasts, however, indicate that while we may take another hit from the R-word tonight, there's a very good chance for some more of that fluffy white stuff come Tuesday night & Wednesday. Assuming Ma let's Winter out to play again we're planning on having Mogul-Mania here on Saturday with both The Mogul Challenge and Jr. Mogul Challenge".

I was there on Sat. Never seen so many people enjoying the beautiful day, except for the occational rain showers, and the Telmark Festival.

That is the second update. The original one was far more vague.

 

[smootharc]

Today the MRG website says if....

"The decision on whether we can open for the weekend will be made tomorrow, Thursday. In the event that we cannot open this weekend, the mountain will be closed for the season."

It's crunch time, Ullr.....c'mon !!!!!!

 

[WWF-VT]

Mad River Today Mar 16, 2006 at 12:15:00

WE HAVE ANOTHER 4"-6" OF SNOW UNDERFOOT AND MORE ON THE WAY!!! The mountain has been thoroughly evaluated and without further snowfall we would not be able to open for the weekend. The snow totals range from 0” to 12” with many of the trails windblown clean of snow with nothing more than a glacier base. We will re-evaluate the mountain in the morning and a “Final” decision on the weekend operations will be made by mid-morning. The Jr. Mogul Challenge, Mogul Challenge, and Vertical Challenge are CANCELED! Due to the safety of the mountain we are also discouraging people from hiking.

 

[thetrailboss]

Not looking too good... :roll: