Mount Snow 12/27

[C-Rex]

Put in a herculean effort to get up and meet my boss at 5:30 after drinking in West Hartford until 2:30 and not getting to bed until 3. I made it to our meeting place only a couple minutes late and luckily he was willing to drive. I caught some z's on the way and we pulled into the lot a little after 8. The morning was fantastic. The man made was nice and dry and the sun was out for a while to soften things up. I'd say they've recovered nicely after that warm, wet spell. We bounced around from Sunbrook to Carinthia, and then to the North Face doing a few runs at each. The line for the Bluebird was awful so we never even bothered. The only problem was all the beginners not able to figure out the magic carpet to get on the Grand Summit causing it to be stopped A LOT. After lunch things were getting pretty scraped off but there was still plenty of good snow on the edges. It did get a little crowded on the main face but that was expected being a holiday week.

Day #8 on the books!!! Shooting for 10 by Jan 1.

 

[Savemeasammy]

Just curious - how busy was it on the north face?


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[Euler]

Just curious - how busy was it on the north face?


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Not busy at all...lift was ski on in the afternoon. trails aren't really worth going over there for, though. I braved the crowds since it was my daughter's b-day and she wanted to ski...we had a great time, but I have to say conditions were among the worst I've ever experienced at Mount Snow (or any area for that matter). Between the scraped off trails and the crowds it was only my daughters joy that kept my spirits up out there today. It was a good reminder of why I prefer not to ski on peak crowd days.

 

[drjeff]

First chair, first bar stool is my plan for tomorrow!

Lots of folks in restaurant parking lots on my way in tonight and one of the owners of the ski shop where I get the vast majority of my families gear told me it was "crazy busy" in the shop today when we picked my sons skis up after a tune tonight!

Great for the local businesses to see so many people up in the Deerfield Valley tonight!!

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[skifree]

First chair, first bar stool is my plan for tomorrow!

Lots of folks in restaurant parking lots on my way in tonight and one of the owners of the ski shop where I get the vast majority of my families gear told me it was "crazy busy" in the shop today when we picked my sons skis up after a tune tonight!

Great for the local businesses to see so many people up in the Deerfield Valley tonight!!

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What's the beer of choice in the tap room so far?

 

[drjeff]

I'm currently partial to the brewed by Harpoon exclusively for Mount Snow Barrel Aged Belgian Brown Ale - this was the "Beartrap Brown" last season, but (and here's where it gets REALLY good!) Harpoon held back a few barrels of it last year and aged them on Woodford Reserve Bourbon Casks for about a year!

I loved the Beartrap Brown last year, but this Bourbon Barrel Aged version takes it to another level! The supply is running low, and I will be sad when it's label is pulled down off the big beer board soon

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[Glenn]

Not busy at all...lift was ski on in the afternoon. trails aren't really worth going over there for, though. I braved the crowds since it was my daughter's b-day and she wanted to ski...we had a great time, but I have to say conditions were among the worst I've ever experienced at Mount Snow (or any area for that matter). Between the scraped off trails and the crowds it was only my daughters joy that kept my spirits up out there today. It was a good reminder of why I prefer not to ski on peak crowd days.

I've been looking at the webcams all week. After seeing the lines and full chairs, I never feel bad about being blacked out between the 26th and 31st.

Did some ice skating on Retreat Pond in Bratt this weekend.

 

[ScottySkis]

I am here today singles line in bubble was about 15 minutes. Shorter lines at other chairs. Most important great packed powder today.

 

[slatham]

Looking at the situation from afar, and being a big fan of the North Face, I am surprised how little terrian they have and how unfocused they seem to be on that side of the mountain.

FWIW, Bromley was good 27-29 and very good 30/31 post 8" of snow. Most notably it was not overly crowded. Sure, the HSQ had a line, but Alpine, Sun and Blue Ribon were all manageable to non-existant. Only challenge was when HSQ was down, but even then the Blue Ribbon was fine. One reason why Bromley is my holiday go to mountain, at least when Magic is not an option......

 

[drjeff]

Looking at the situation from afar, and being a big fan of the North Face, I am surprised how little terrian they have and how unfocused they seem to be on that side of the mountain.

FWIW, Bromley was good 27-29 and very good 30/31 post 8" of snow. Most notably it was not overly crowded. Sure, the HSQ had a line, but Alpine, Sun and Blue Ribon were all manageable to non-existant. Only challenge was when HSQ was down, but even then the Blue Ribbon was fine. One reason why Bromley is my holiday go to mountain, at least when Magic is not an option......

Only 3 snowmaking trails aren't open on the Northface yet.

Plummet, which because of the side of the trail the snowmaking pipe is on they need a southerly wind blowing so as not to bury the equipment, and as such it's usually one of the last snowmaking trails on the entire mountain to open. And then the Committed to Ripcord route. All the others, Olympic, Challenger, PDF, Jaws are natural snow trails. Given the amount of resurfacing Mount Snow had to do right before Christmas and the knowledge that they needed intermediate acreage for the Christmas week masses, it doesn't surprise me the choices they made, and where to send the relatively limited compressed air supply they have, and need for Northface work. They did get both Chute and Fallen Timbers open last week, and I'd expect that the annual "layering" of snow on the glorified cliff that is Ripcord will start very soon

 

[ScottySkis]

Trail all the way to the left was closed on north face the other day that didn't stop me from skiing great new snow with small stems sticking out happy days.