Mt Snow Thread

[drjeff]

All things considered with the 2"+ of rain 3 days ago and then the freeze up, the mountain is skiing overall quite well with a bunch of machine groomed packed powder trending to loose granular as the traffic builds. Ridge had the largest "death cookies" today, Freefall was the most consistent snow with a smooth, firm, but totally edgeable surface that warranted a couple of repeats. Sunny and cool, but no wind!

The natural terrain, while there still is an OK amount of now frozen solid base, is out of play until more snow falls.

Major snowmaking assault on Southbowl, Lodge, Mineshaft, Nitro and lower fools gold plus some spot area around the ski in/ski out condo trails between Sundance and Carithia. Looks like Sunbrook could be good to go soon if they choose to push out the whales ahead of the next, likely warm, system the middle of next week. Probably one of the last Saturdays for multiple months with light crowds, even with all of the youth seasonal programs now started

 

[SLyardsale]

All things considered with the 2"+ of rain 3 days ago and then the freeze up, the mountain is skiing overall quite well with a bunch of machine groomed packed powder trending to loose granular as the traffic builds. Ridge had the largest "death cookies" today, Freefall was the most consistent snow with a smooth, firm, but totally edgeable surface that warranted a couple of repeats. Sunny and cool, but no wind!

The natural terrain, while there still is an OK amount of now frozen solid base, is out of play until more snow falls.

Major snowmaking assault on Southbowl, Lodge, Mineshaft, Nitro and lower fools gold plus some spot area around the ski in/ski out condo trails between Sundance and Carithia. Looks like Sunbrook could be good to go soon if they choose to push out the whales ahead of the next, likely warm, system the middle of next week. Probably one of the last Saturdays for multiple months with light crowds, even with all of the youth seasonal programs now started



View attachment 63804

Nice try

"the mountain is skiing overall quite well with a bunch of machine groomed packed powder"

 

[SLyardsale]

Skied Friday for and hour and a half & today opening bell 8am until 11:00 - had to head back south today to begin 2 families worth of pre Xmas, Xmas day and post Xmas gatherings.

No where on the hill today could I find anything resembling packed powder, whether natural or machine made that was groomed or not groomed. As a matter of interest, the Vail / Mt Snow wx/trail report this morning admitted as such, calling conditions throughout frozen granular due to the recent weather.

Friday, pretty much un-skiable except Snowdance, Gulch, portions of Cascade/Canyon and portions of Long John / Deer Run. Today was much better going from un-skiable (except Ridge & Roller Coaster still un-skiable) to poor. Not their fault, but to say anything there resembled packed powder today is just completely wrong.

 

[drjeff]

Skied Friday for and hour and a half & today opening bell 8am until 11:00 - had to head back south today to begin 2 families worth of pre Xmas, Xmas day and post Xmas gatherings.

No where on the hill today could I find anything resembling packed powder, whether natural or machine made that was groomed or not groomed. As a matter of interest, the Vail / Mt Snow wx/trail report this morning admitted as such, calling conditions throughout frozen granular due to the recent weather.

Friday, pretty much un-skiable except Snowdance, Gulch, portions of Cascade/Canyon and portions of Long John / Deer Run. Today was much better going from un-skiable (except Ridge & Roller Coaster still un-skiable) to poor. Not their fault, but to say anything there resembled packed powder today is just completely wrong.

24hrs and an additional groom or 2 makes a difference! Got a condo full of about 20 folks who would agree with my assessment of today, even if they haven't made a big dent in my alcohol stash in my condo!

Haters going to hate!

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i dunno what mount snow was offering yesterday, but stratton definitely offered 'packed powder groomers' that got icy by the end of the day. it was never 'granular'. impressive recovery actually. even dipped in the trees (mostly to pee and smoke but it was ok enough to ski them out to the bottom)

 

[SLyardsale]

All snowmaking is on new terrain - no resurfacing.

 

[urungus]

I was at Mt Snow yesterday afternoon and skied Ridge, Hop, Cascade/Canyon, Snowdance, Long John. All trails had been resurfaced with a bit of loose snow on top but rock hard base lurking below that made it a bit nerve-wracking. Did not venture over to the North Face as only Freefall was open and it’s not my favorite trail when conditions are firm.

 

[B-Eastski]

I was at Mt Snow yesterday afternoon and skied Ridge, Hop, Cascade/Canyon, Snowdance, Long John. All trails had been resurfaced with a bit of loose snow on top but rock hard base lurking below that made it a bit nerve-wracking. Did not venture over to the North Face as only Freefall was open and it’s not my favorite trail when conditions are firm.

All the same trails except long John which is a highway!

 

[drjeff]

Posting as a proud parenting moment, my almost 19yr old son on Mount Snow’s social media feed this afternoon. He said the snow was a little firm and granulary up high when he was out, but soft and cream cheese fun lower down

 

[reefer]

Better than anticipated day on the hill today. The 3" overnight skied deeper in spots. Always found some soft snow to play in. Uncles and Olympic graced with thin cover signs offered smaller soft bumps top to bottom. Wouldn't take much to open up a lot more trails. Had pretty much every lift running, never road with a passenger. Did avoid the Bluebird. Pretty nice conditions going into the holiday.

 

[Zand]

@drjeff Any intel from Mt Snow today? Hearing good things in the Stratton thread. Hoping the North Face nats and woods are also in good shape.

 

[drjeff]

@drjeff Any intel from Mt Snow today? Hearing good things in the Stratton thread. Hoping the North Face nats and woods are also in good shape.

Was firm and eventually quite blown off up by the summit as the day went on. Winds were tough (and still are as of 10PM) A bunch of ropes dropped on the Northface today and for the 1st time in multiple years, they are making snow on Ripcord! The snowmakers overall are crushing it. Laying it on thick on the trails they're working on vs just a quick top dressing to get a trail open

The perpetual flurry machine has been going almost non stop since I got here about 30hrs ago. Not sure how much has officially fallen, but there were definitely pockets of 4-6" of fluff where the wind couldn't hit it today

 

[SLyardsale]

@drjeff Any intel from Mt Snow today? Hearing good things in the Stratton thread. Hoping the North Face nats and woods are also in good shape.

Since it wasn't addressed by the Dr, - word on MS from those that I have talked with is that Stratton is kicking MS's ass on many fronts. The new GM has been out and about all over the valley and from what I hear she has been engaged and is hearing loud and clear that:

• MS is behind opening terrain due to lack of employees and Vails conservative nature in opening terrain
• MS food absolutely sucks
• Lot's of left over hangover from when Peak's ran MS as their crown jewel and now MS is barely above NH properties
• Communication sucks - the app is worthless and their X feed is behind and not consistent.
• MS has rolled out staggered lift openings but the later lift times are not consistent
• One positive is indeed North Face, which has been better this year in expansion and a bit more aggressive with lollipops. People wonder why they can't be like this elsewhere. Lots of roped terrain is skiable (IMO)

I've skied everyday since 12/31 and they have stepped up the onslaught of snowmaking since temps dropped on 1/2. Wind has not been their friend for several days. Today was excellent, though, all over the place. True that Ripcord has guns going. The guns on lower South Bowl suck. They've been making snow their for 72 hours in teen temps with little production.

FYI - no Bluebird for next 2 days Mon/Tues as they are parking bubbles in the barn while they blow upper Lodge. Grand Summit instead.

 

[Zand]

I'm definitely switching back to Ikon next year. This is killing me watching Stratton and Killington have great seasons and yet Mt Snow (and even Stowe) still have a lot of good stuff closed. I noticed Olympic ended up back on the closed list today which sucks because that's one of the biggest things I wanted to see open (in order to access the Trials). The word from Stratton is that the woods are not only skiable but actually very good, and yet Olympic doesn't even have enough snow to be open?

My choices for Tuesday are pretty much limited to Mt Snow or Okemo as I don't have time to make the drive further north. Okemo had Outrage open yesterday and already roped that, no other glades open besides some of the dumb intermediate flat ones. But at least Okemo has most of the snowmaking trails open sans what looks like a piss poor effort in expanding Jackson Gore. Based on your report maybe Mt Snow will be caught up on snowmaking trails? Thursday I'll be day tripping to somewhere in southern NH and it might very well be Pats Peak because what the Vail mountains have open is fucking pathetic, and meanwhile Pats is 100% open. Possibly Waterville if True Grit and Bobby's open by then.

Next weekend I'm thinking a trip further north is in order but it might have to be Bolton/Jay because Stowe is slacking too (although less so than the others). Killington has Snowdon nearly 100% open yet Stowe doesn't have a single glade open? And people at Stowe are jizzing themselves over how much better they are about opening terrain this year. It's insane.

I hope the BS going on at Park City breaks Vail's back because they are a disgrace to the ski industry and I definitely learned my lesson about switching to Epic this year.

 

[Smellytele]

I'm definitely switching back to Ikon next year. This is killing me watching Stratton and Killington have great seasons and yet Mt Snow (and even Stowe) still have a lot of good stuff closed. I noticed Olympic ended up back on the closed list today which sucks because that's one of the biggest things I wanted to see open (in order to access the Trials). The word from Stratton is that the woods are not only skiable but actually very good, and yet Olympic doesn't even have enough snow to be open?

My choices for Tuesday are pretty much limited to Mt Snow or Okemo as I don't have time to make the drive further north. Okemo had Outrage open yesterday and already roped that, no other glades open besides some of the dumb intermediate flat ones. But at least Okemo has most of the snowmaking trails open sans what looks like a piss poor effort in expanding Jackson Gore. Based on your report maybe Mt Snow will be caught up on snowmaking trails? Thursday I'll be day tripping to somewhere in southern NH and it might very well be Pats Peak because what the Vail mountains have open is fucking pathetic, and meanwhile Pats is 100% open. Possibly Waterville if True Grit and Bobby's open by then.

Next weekend I'm thinking a trip further north is in order but it might have to be Bolton/Jay because Stowe is slacking too (although less so than the others). Killington has Snowdon nearly 100% open yet Stowe doesn't have a single glade open? And people at Stowe are jizzing themselves over how much better they are about opening terrain this year. It's insane.

I hope the BS going on at Park City breaks Vail's back because they are a disgrace to the ski industry and I definitely learned my lesson about switching to Epic this year.

As far ae Ikon you do know what a cluster fuck Sugarbush is right?

 

[Zand]

As far ae Ikon you do know what a cluster fuck Sugarbush is right?

Yes, and Loon doesn't sound much better. But not a single Vail hill is running as well as Killington or Stratton this year.

Also Sugarbush has 96% of their terrain open. I get it Castlerock is hiking only but you still have all the stuff off Valley House, Paradise, and most of Ellen open. Stowe has... maybe 70%? And absolutely nothing on the front. And this is despite them getting more snow.

 

[skiur]

Yes, and Loon doesn't sound much better. But not a single Vail hill is running as well as Killington or Stratton this year.

Also Sugarbush has 96% of their terrain open. I get it Castlerock is hiking only but you still have all the stuff off Valley House, Paradise, and most of Ellen open. Stowe has... maybe 70%? And absolutely nothing on the front. And this is despite them getting more snow.

Can't really call K an ikon mountain as ikon has nothing to do with running it.

 

[icecoast1]

Yes, and Loon doesn't sound much better. But not a single Vail hill is running as well as Killington or Stratton this year.

Also Sugarbush has 96% of their terrain open. I get it Castlerock is hiking only but you still have all the stuff off Valley House, Paradise, and most of Ellen open. Stowe has... maybe 70%? And absolutely nothing on the front. And this is despite them getting more snow.

that's the difference between local managment and a one size fits all from the mothership in Colorado policy. Stratton if it's being operated right can be a fun place

 

[xlr8r]

Can't really call K an ikon mountain as ikon has nothing to do with running it.

Killington is an Ikon mountain, its not an Alterra mountain.

 

[Smellytele]

Yes, and Loon doesn't sound much better. But not a single Vail hill is running as well as Killington or Stratton this year.

Also Sugarbush has 96% of their terrain open. I get it Castlerock is hiking only but you still have all the stuff off Valley House, Paradise, and most of Ellen open. Stowe has... maybe 70%? And absolutely nothing on the front. And this is despite them getting more snow.

It may show open but with the lift issues they keep things showing open even when the only way to get to them is hiking. Ellen? really NRX has only made it through a day twice and just about everyday the GMX goes down for long periods of time.
Believe me not defending Mt Snow or Epic just be realistic with your view.