Mt Snow 20-21 Intel

[MikeDeJ]

Id assume the Carinthia area will be much less park then previous years. Vail will scale back parks. Especially there with that new lodge. Maybe 2 trails of park and rest normal. They fired that idiot peak resorts park guy right off the bat. Less snow needed. Less money. Better terrain for the people that actually pay over there

Parks are going to be roughly the same with no 3 jump lines, and smaller jumps on Inferno

 

[MikeDeJ]

Pre Vail, Mount Snow used to open trails with straight up dust on dirt. 1 marginal snowmaking night and they would call it good. Vail wants a decent product down, not the crap old Mount Snow Mountain oops used to do.

not true, the past 8 years or so the trails they opened early season were edge to edge. I dont even bring up my rocks skis early season anymore.

 

[SLyardsale]

Question about Mt Snow's parking.

The most obvious way to get a parking spot close to the lift is to arrive earlier than everybody else. But failing that, what's the strategy to avoid having to ride the silly shuttle bus? Would parking on the South entrance be a little easier to find?

1) Parking has not been an issue yet. It maybe by next weekend when day tickets are in the mix. They have been blowing snow on Cooper's, so Sundance Lodge is an option maybe with a slow FG Tumbleweed or a somewhat easy walk past Grand Summit to the main base.

2) no extra porta potties as of now. I've been here over a week and have not set foot in a lodge yet

3) I do remember when Freefall was opened with whales as was Chute, as was Plummet, as was Ripcord. None of that happen last year post Peaks so I agree with FBGM. Freefall's conditions change daily. When they resurface it has been good. Today, it was shitty. Freefall was the first NF trail to nix the whales, though a few years ago.

4) snowmaking has been aggressive, so that is good. Terrain expansion just in time for weekend liquid.

 

[FBGM]

not true, the past 8 years or so the trails they opened early season were edge to edge. I dont even bring up my rocks skis early season anymore.

Your definition of “edge to edge” must be different then mine....cuz that dump zone never has wall to wall early season. You’re telling me that they open that wide ass trail lookers right wall to wall when it opens? You must be just as high as half the employees there.

 

[MikeDeJ]

Your definition of “edge to edge” must be different then mine....cuz that dump zone never has wall to wall early season. You’re telling me that they open that wide ass trail lookers right wall to wall when it opens? You must be just as high as half the employees there.

No they dont open Snowdance edge to edge, the skiers right of that trail does not have coverage. The trail is 100 yards (or more wide) they cover 50-60 yards of it.

If you dislike the place so much why do you waste your time talking/writing about it?? MOVE ON!!!! We dont need you there. In this discusion you bring no inside info only negativity.

 

[pauldotcom]

I've never skied Mt. Snow and was wondering how it compares to Killington & Sugarbush. I have an Ikon so not likely to get there, but just curious.

I've skied Mount Snow for years along with Killy and the Bush. Here are my thoughts;

1- It's close
2- Front side is blah with the exception of a few pretty fun trails (ledge/hop). In my opinion, Mount Snow doesn't have great groomers so the frontside but Killy, in my opinion, doesn't either (not sure about Bush)
3- Glades - Not enough glades but the glades they have are pretty good. Trials are super fun and there are some nice glades on the Sun side and a really nice ripper at Carinthia. Some steeper, tighter glades off Ripcord.
4- The quad on Carinthia is a fantastic lift. Lot's of big jumps to be viewed from the chair and it's just plain fun. I like watching the kids rip it up.
5- Terrain is good on the North Face. You can do laps back there and some of the terrain is fantastic. Runs like Jaws and Challenger are bumped up all the time and just as challenging as some of the best at Killy and Bush. I like the fact that Snow leaves some natural snow trails ALONE!
6- Can feel crowded at times

 

[FBGM]

No they dont open Snowdance edge to edge, the skiers right of that trail does not have coverage. The trail is 100 yards (or more wide) they cover 50-60 yards of it.

If you dislike the place so much why do you waste your time talking/writing about it?? MOVE ON!!!! We dont need you there. In this discusion you bring no inside info only negativity.

To spread the truth and actual issues and happenings that have gone hidden for years. And to fuel the fire from people like you in denial.

 

[njdiver85]

We should move this thread up a little. Great conditions today with #17 and #9 spinning from the base, plus Challenger. No delays in opening which was a great surprise. Looks like Friday still open on the reservation system. Saturday booked now.

 

[skimagic]

We should move this thread up a little. Great conditions today with #17 and #9 spinning from the base, plus Challenger. No delays in opening which was a great surprise. Looks like Friday still open on the reservation system. Saturday booked now.

How's the snow depth,& consistency? Lot of bottoming out?

 

[abc]

We should move this thread up a little. Great conditions today with #17 and #9 spinning from the base, plus Challenger. No delays in opening which was a great surprise. Looks like Friday still open on the reservation system. Saturday booked now.

And the lift line wait not too bad?

 

[njdiver85]

Ski on all day on Lift 9. Max wait time for Challenger was about 7 min. Maybe 10 min max for #17. Excellent consistency of snow depth with maybe the very top of Chute the only exception.

 

[MikeW]

Skiid the last few days here. Some observations. They are still terribly understaffed, but getting better. More new lifties, and people working the lines. They took a big hit with the rain on Christmas, but I remember them being able to recover quicker in the past. Lots of guns going, but grooming is not up to the usual snuff. It's an issue, as none of the natural snow trails are open. Don't know what the racers are doing since Ego, Countdown, South Bowl, are all closed. Seems that many of the trails which should be open at this point in the season are still down. NB-the boot shop in the Main Base Lodge is no longer Mt Snow Bootworks, which had been a premium shop. Cape house demo center is also not running, that had also been a very helpful and convenient feature. I know it's a tough year, I don't know if these issues are related to Covid or the Vail transition. We rode up the BB with one of the Vail higher-ups (socially distanced!), he said they're trying, they're trying. We shall see. All this said, got in a bunch of good runs with the (grown up) kids, and most of the folks we encountered were in good spirits. Always good to be on the snow!

 

[drjeff]

Skiid the last few days here. Some observations. They are still terribly understaffed, but getting better. More new lifties, and people working the lines. They took a big hit with the rain on Christmas, but I remember them being able to recover quicker in the past. Lots of guns going, but grooming is not up to the usual snuff. It's an issue, as none of the natural snow trails are open. Don't know what the racers are doing since Ego, Countdown, South Bowl, are all closed. Seems that many of the trails which should be open at this point in the season are still down. NB-the boot shop in the Main Base Lodge is no longer Mt Snow Bootworks, which had been a premium shop. Cape house demo center is also not running, that had also been a very helpful and convenient feature. I know it's a tough year, I don't know if these issues are related to Covid or the Vail transition. We rode up the BB with one of the Vail higher-ups (socially distanced!), he said they're trying, they're trying. We shall see. All this said, got in a bunch of good runs with (grown up) kids, and most of the folks we encountered were in good spirits. Always good the be on the snow!

I have noticed that what they've been doing snowmaking wise this year is that in the past when they made a run on a trail, it tended to be in the 48-60 hour range. This year, it seem like its in the 72-96 hour range.

Some of the grooming has been because they're grooming out the whales on most trails less than 24 hours after the guns are shut down, so they're not draing as much and getting the semi chunky surface so as to likely not have some of the masses crash after launching off of a fresh whale. I do agree though that the width of the groomed area seems to be less than usually, in particular when making your way back from Carinthia down Long John, the short pitch just past where Heavy Metal lets you in, is maybe 2/3rds width, with netting keeping people from going down the side.

The racing programs for the Mountain itself, not Mount Snow Academy, start this Saturday, which will further put a strain on folks running the lift lines as many of the coaches for the Mount Snow programs have been scanning passes the last 2 weekends.

Nick Blaylock, the main guy behind Mount Snow Bootworks, opened up his own shop, Nick's Boot fitting, on route 100 across from the Silo, next to the Dover Bar and Grill. He was kind of vague if he was ready to branch out on his own or if Vail didn't want him to continue on, even though some of the old staff is still there fitting boots

This is quite a challenging year to figure out all the logistics, for sure, and doing so in a way without a sizable portion of the staff they usually have.

In some ways, it's better than I thought it would be. In other ways, it's worse and could use some attention. More often than not, it's about what I expected this year, given the information that they put out there.

 

[MikeW]

Jeff-Thanks for your insights. I was actually expecting you to respond. We also noticed some Demo coaches and instructors scanning. I guess it's an "all hands on deck" situation. I did go to see Nick at his new place. We all had high hopes when Peaks took over, just hope Vail sticks with us going forward.

 

[Cobbold]

Hop

I have noticed that what they've been doing snowmaking wise this year is that in the past when they made a run on a trail, it tended to be in the 48-60 hour range. This year, it seem like its in the 72-96 hour range.

Some of the grooming has been because they're grooming out the whales on most trails less than 24 hours after the guns are shut down, so they're not draing as much and getting the semi chunky surface so as to likely not have some of the masses crash after launching off of a fresh whale. I do agree though that the width of the groomed area seems to be less than usually, in particular when making your way back from Carinthia down Long John, the short pitch just past where Heavy Metal lets you in, is maybe 2/3rds width, with netting keeping people from going down the side.

The racing programs for the Mountain itself, not Mount Snow Academy, start this Saturday, which will further put a strain on folks running the lift lines as many of the coaches for the Mount Snow programs have been scanning passes the last 2 weekends.

Nick Blaylock, the main guy behind Mount Snow Bootworks, opened up his own shop, Nick's Boot fitting, on route 100 across from the Silo, next to the Dover Bar and Grill. He was kind of vague if he was ready to branch out on his own or if Vail didn't want him to continue on, even though some of the old staff is still there fitting boots

This is quite a challenging year to figure out all the logistics, for sure, and doing so in a way without a sizable portion of the staff they usually have.

In some ways, it's better than I thought it would be. In other ways, it's worse and could use some attention. More often than not, it's about what I expected this year, given the information that they put out there.

 

[Cobbold]

Hope nick b. Comes back to the boot shop, vail will lose money with him being out on his own. Nick is the best

 

[JimG.]

Always good the be on the snow!

Even though for the most part conditions haven't been good it always feels great to be skiing.

 

[drjeff]

Jeff-Thanks for your insights. I was actually expecting you to respond. We also noticed some Demo coaches and instructors scanning. I guess it's an "all hands on deck" situation. I did go to see Nick at his new place. We all had high hopes when Peaks took over, just hope Vail sticks with us going forward.

The Devo coaches and race team coaches (the folks in the orange coats scanning and running lines) I found out today, from one of the Devo coaches, had to do one of 2 things this week to help with the crowds, before their programs start this coming weekend.

They had the choice of running the pass scanners in line for 2 separate 4hr sessions or acting as the "greeter"/"please put your mask up" people near the entrance to the queue lane ropes by the main base area lifts.

Apparently they're also using some of the instructors who usually do privates and/or group lessons as well as the mountain camp program coaches as I have seen some of their blue coats doing the same jobs this week as well.

 

[jaytrem]

Some were even bumping chairs. All of them seemed to be happy to help out, at least as far as I could tell.

 

[njdiver85]

Perhaps they can teach the extra help to drive a groomer. If anybody skied Plummet today, they'd know what I'm talking about.