Mount Snow 12/13/23 Breezy and Cool

[reefer]

Resort or Ski Area

Mount Snow

Date

Dec 13, 2023

Snow Conditions

1. Cord

The rain did not hurt Mt Snow. They were in pretty good shape last week and I was thinking the worse.
Very impressive snowmaking assault. I’m assuming they were at capacity. Top to bottom on Plummet, Lodge all the way from top of Ego lift to bottom, all over the base areas, heading over to Sunbrook.
I didn’t go to Carinthia. The open trails are deep. The place is in great shape (not like Stowe but). Should be a decent amount of terrain available for the weekend.
The very cheap midweek pass and the great conditions at Mount Snow this early despite the non-favorable weather have me happy with Vail.
I’m sure when paid parking kicks in I may have a different opinion. Going to have to see how this goes midweek. Probably be back for the last “free” parking day Friday.

A WTF moment:
I don’t know if it is all Epic lodges but Snow is over the edge with their recycling effort. The Main Lodge does not have one trash bucket. There are some just outside the doors, none inside anywhere except the bathroom. You bring any trash you have to a counter like a bag check and they sort it for you into proper containers. Can see this getting ugly.

 

[drjeff]

The rain did not hurt Mt Snow. They were in pretty good shape last week and I was thinking the worse.
Very impressive snowmaking assault. I’m assuming they were at capacity. Top to bottom on Plummet, Lodge all the way from top of Ego lift to bottom, all over the base areas, heading over to Sunbrook.
I didn’t go to Carinthia. The open trails are deep. The place is in great shape (not like Stowe but). Should be a decent amount of terrain available for the weekend.
The very cheap midweek pass and the great conditions at Mount Snow this early despite the non-favorable weather have me happy with Vail.
I’m sure when paid parking kicks in I may have a different opinion. Going to have to see how this goes midweek. Probably be back for the last “free” parking day Friday.

A WTF moment:
I don’t know if it is all Epic lodges but Snow is over the edge with their recycling effort. The Main Lodge does not have one trash bucket. There are some just outside the doors, none inside anywhere except the bathroom. You bring any trash you have to a counter like a bag check and they sort it for you into proper containers. Can see this getting ugly.

That recycle everything thing has been going on since last season. True, they have removed some recycling cans that were in the lodge, but the bring your trays with whatever leftover food remnants/utensils/paper products on them to the "recycling station" where employees will sort them for proper recycling/composting, was there last season. All part of their "Commitment to Zero" green plan they have. I thik that some of the extreme nature of this is that VT, technically on the books, passed a law where all food leftover scraps are supposed to be composted and not just thrown away..... I know my condo complex across 100 from the mountain has 1 small trash can for composting next to the 2 large, 30 yard dumpsters for general waste and recyclable items... I guess that tecnically makes our condo association compliant with the law/regulation

Saw on this morning snow report that Hop gets it's inagural rope drop of the season this morning, Lodge/Lower Ex looks to be happening very soon, and if the next 24 hrs or so before snowmking temps go away for a bit are prodictive enough, Drop, Plummet, a loop through Sunbrook, and Inferno (if they choose to actually open it as a trail for a bit verses make enough snow on it for a full size build before opening it, as they did with Gulch and soon to be Nitro).

While on the surface it may seem like they've been slow with their snowmaking efforts based on trail count, what it appears they're actaully doing is burrying the trails they've been working on with another couple of days or so of snowmaking over years past prior to opening them, More water through less total guns vs less water through more total guns. Same total output, just seems slow because of the extra base they seem to be putting down over years past

 

[reefer]

That recycle everything thing has been going on since last season. True, they have removed some recycling cans that were in the lodge, but the bring your trays with whatever leftover food remnants/utensils/paper products on them to the "recycling station" where employees will sort them for proper recycling/composting, was there last season. All part of their "Commitment to Zero" green plan they have. I thik that some of the extreme nature of this is that VT, technically on the books, passed a law where all food leftover scraps are supposed to be composted and not just thrown away..... I know my condo complex across 100 from the mountain has 1 small trash can for composting next to the 2 large, 30 yard dumpsters for general waste and recyclable items... I guess that tecnically makes our condo association compliant with the law/regulation

Saw on this morning snow report that Hop gets it's inagural rope drop of the season this morning, Lodge/Lower Ex looks to be happening very soon, and if the next 24 hrs or so before snowmking temps go away for a bit are prodictive enough, Drop, Plummet, a loop through Sunbrook, and Inferno (if they choose to actually open it as a trail for a bit verses make enough snow on it for a full size build before opening it, as they did with Gulch and soon to be Nitro).

While on the surface it may seem like they've been slow with their snowmaking efforts based on trail count, what it appears they're actaully doing is burrying the trails they've been working on with another couple of days or so of snowmaking over years past prior to opening them, More water through less total guns vs less water through more total guns. Same total output, just seems slow because of the extra base they seem to be putting down over years past

Thanks for the input. Haven't been here in a couple years. The cheap midweek pass has lured me to the epic dark side. So I if you are ever there during the non-holiday midweek send me a note and we'll have a beer at the Station. Although after the $25.00 tab for chili and a beer I'm currently making some chicken salad and packing the cooler for tomorrows tailgate. And I do not blame Vail for this. It is the same everywhere within a couple bucks. Nothin' even reasonable anymore. But everyone's eating something in the Lodges.......
Hop was open yesterday with a caution sign. Three foot glacier. Tooth-rattler. The death cookies were a pleasure after avoiding the death cakes
Was one and done. I'm sure another groom will help. Hoping for Lodge and Plummet tomorrow but what they have will work.
I guess the recycling is working fine then. It was a first for me. I get it however. I can't even have separate trash/recycling bins at a home party and they are both trash in 15 minutes, (until I used 12" lettering!).
Snowmaking comments are definitely true. I used to ski here quite a bit and I have never seen it so buried in so many places this early from snowmaking. A favorable storm would be nice.

 

[skimagic]

Hop was open today with the guns blazing so at least there was some soft surfaces to be found. The rest of the mountain was pretty good , the north face a bit firm but not overly scratched up given the constant resurfacing. They were grooming quite a bit on Lodge today and over on Carinthia. Setting up for a good weekend for sure.