oakapple
New member
I spent the day at Mount Snow yesterday, my first visit of the season. According to a passholder whom I rode the lift with, conditions had deteriorated since Saturday, since overnight temperatures were too warm to resurface any of the trails. Cover was thin in some heavily-trafficked areas; and where it wasn't thin, it was frequently icy and uneven.
I skied about 90 percent of the open terrain on the main and north faces. I'm sure guests and management are equally frustrated to see so much gorgeous terrain still closed over the second weekend in January. They're doing the best they can with poor weather and limited snowmaking ability compared to their competitors. By midday, the guns were blazing on Roller Coaster and at Sunbrook, so I assume those areas will open in another day or so.
The Grand Summit Express must be the world's best backup lift. Any ski area would be delighted to have it as their main lift, which it was until last year. Early on, lines for the Bluebird Express were quite long, so I lapped the Grand Summit, which had almost no line at all.
Later in the day, once I figured out where the singles line was (it is not obvious when you look at it from the south), I rode the Bluebird Express, which is a joy. Most riders were lowering the bubble, even though it was not an especially cold day. With the bubble down, it is almost as comfortable as a gondola, and far more convenient, since you don't have to remove your skis. Despite signs prominently posted, most riders do not expect the bubble to raise automatically at the top terminal. It happens at the last moment, and you have to reassure people that, yes, it really WILL go up. On the whole, the new lift is working quite well.
It was not terribly crowded, aside from traffic jams in the usual places, mainly on Long John and Little John. It'll only get worse there as they open more of the blues that are fed by those trails. Many people worried about the impact of two high-speed lifts unloading simultaneously at the summit. That is indeed a problem. You need to get off the lift (either one), and out of the way, very quickly.
If you wanted to avoid the crowds, the north face and the trails fed by the Canyon Express lift were the places to go. On River Run, corduroy was still visible in the afternoon, an indication of how little traffic that run had seen. Free Fall and Chute had been recently groomed and were not terribly difficult. I did not attempt Fallen Timbers, which had bumps the size of beached whales.
I skied about 90 percent of the open terrain on the main and north faces. I'm sure guests and management are equally frustrated to see so much gorgeous terrain still closed over the second weekend in January. They're doing the best they can with poor weather and limited snowmaking ability compared to their competitors. By midday, the guns were blazing on Roller Coaster and at Sunbrook, so I assume those areas will open in another day or so.
The Grand Summit Express must be the world's best backup lift. Any ski area would be delighted to have it as their main lift, which it was until last year. Early on, lines for the Bluebird Express were quite long, so I lapped the Grand Summit, which had almost no line at all.
Later in the day, once I figured out where the singles line was (it is not obvious when you look at it from the south), I rode the Bluebird Express, which is a joy. Most riders were lowering the bubble, even though it was not an especially cold day. With the bubble down, it is almost as comfortable as a gondola, and far more convenient, since you don't have to remove your skis. Despite signs prominently posted, most riders do not expect the bubble to raise automatically at the top terminal. It happens at the last moment, and you have to reassure people that, yes, it really WILL go up. On the whole, the new lift is working quite well.
It was not terribly crowded, aside from traffic jams in the usual places, mainly on Long John and Little John. It'll only get worse there as they open more of the blues that are fed by those trails. Many people worried about the impact of two high-speed lifts unloading simultaneously at the summit. That is indeed a problem. You need to get off the lift (either one), and out of the way, very quickly.
If you wanted to avoid the crowds, the north face and the trails fed by the Canyon Express lift were the places to go. On River Run, corduroy was still visible in the afternoon, an indication of how little traffic that run had seen. Free Fall and Chute had been recently groomed and were not terribly difficult. I did not attempt Fallen Timbers, which had bumps the size of beached whales.
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