Mt Washington 4/22/2010 Blog Railroad

[skidmarks]

I guess the guy wanted to ski the line and he was able too. It does suck that it ruined the conditions for others but I guess that that was his choice.

 

[skibumm100]

Saturday vs Sunday

I went up the cog Saturday and Sunday. Saturday the lot was full of cars and happy, smiling faces. On Sunday...almost empty. The weather forecast for Sunday had something to do with that. As it turned out, the forecast was wrong.:smile:

 

[gpetrics]

It already has led to more people skiing that side of the mountain. Heck, count me as one of them as this was my first season skiing that side of the mountain after reading about it two seasons ago on T4T. Put it this way, the day I summited MW from the west, pretty much every parking space at Marshfield Station was full when I was leaving. Guys who had skied alone over there for years were commenting that they have never seen anything like it.

I'm sorry, but this sounds alot like the guys who sit in the lot at Alta and complain on a powder day about how it used to be when they were the only ones there... then you ask them some questions and you realize they weren't actually there back in the day, and they just saw some old school video on youtube about how secluded and quiet it once was. Very very few were actually able to be there back when it was "just them."

Bottom line is that skiing is getting more popular. I see the internet as no more of an enabler than books movies or magazines. It's not hard to find your own nook up there either even on busy weekends. Saturday was beautiful and I didn't ski any tracked out corn all day.

Everything that is easy to take will always be taken sooner or later. And everything that is harder to take will always be mostly untouched.

Don't forget we live on the east coast too! Everyone is always LEAVING here... no one ever comes to the east coast to go skiing at a high level :roll:

 

[riverc0il]

I'm sorry, but this sounds alot like the guys who sit in the lot at Alta and complain on a powder day about how it used to be when they were the only ones there... then you ask them some questions and you realize they weren't actually there back in the day, and they just saw some old school video on youtube about how secluded and quiet it once was. Very very few were actually able to be there back when it was "just them."

You may have misunderstood the intent of my post... I am contributing to the Blog explosion detailing the west side, so don't count me in with the protectionist crew.

In regards to discussing "how it used to be" while being new to a particular scene... just because I was not skiing there a few years ago does not mean that I can not look at evidence which suggests the skiing has exploded on the west side and I can not understand this fact by having spoken to folks that have been skiing over there for more than two dozen years. Facts are facts, no matter when I started skiing in a certain place. But I am not using facts to protect that area... I was only responding to skidmarks wondering if the increase in TRs will increase traffic. The fact is that it already has and I am in fact part of that increase. And I am further contributing to the increase of postings.

 

[gpetrics]

You may have misunderstood the intent of my post... I am contributing to the Blog explosion detailing the west side, so don't count me in with the protectionist crew.

In regards to discussing "how it used to be" while being new to a particular scene... just because I was not skiing there a few years ago does not mean that I can not look at evidence which suggests the skiing has exploded on the west side and I can not understand this fact by having spoken to folks that have been skiing over there for more than two dozen years. Facts are facts, no matter when I started skiing in a certain place. But I am not using facts to protect that area... I was only responding to skidmarks wondering if the increase in TRs will increase traffic. The fact is that it already has and I am in fact part of that increase. And I am further contributing to the increase of postings.

no i got you steve. i think i just wrote too harshly. i was directing any ire at the ones who told you "they were there before the masses"... DEFINITELY not you. I'm aware of your position here, and I support it for a variety of reasons. sorry about that snafu.

 

[skibumm100]

this year

I wonder if the increased traffic on the west side this year has to do with conditions? If GoS was fat and the trail was still covered well top to bottom, do you think there would be as much "traffic" on the west side? If Tux has it's "normal" amount of snow would everybody be heading west? I doubt it. From what I understand, the conditions on the west side are better than usual this year because the storms that came out of the east this season deposited copious amounts of snow over there. I also skied the west side for the first time ever this past weekend. Why? The GoS trail is a muddy slog and you have a longer hike out of Tuckerman's because the bottom of the Sherby is poo. There, I said it, I'm lazy. At least as lazy as you can be and still walk up to ski.

I've read comments that BR is barely skiable some years, at least in spring time.

It seems this year the west side is getting more love because it makes sense, from a lazy man's perspective. If the Ammo trail was mud and blowdowns from the toe of the avy path to the parking lot I don't think you'd see as many people lapping the Ammo ravine and skiing back down the cog.

Am I off base here? Comments welcome.

 

[powers]

You know who I'm blaming?!!!!

Albert Bierstadt. Thats right. If he didn't paint the mountain in 1862 then maybe nobody would know about it today. Thanks to that SOB all the flat landers would take the train up to thier fancy hotels and stay all summer long. Spending the whole summer crawling around on the mountain like they own the place. Damn railways.......

 

[skidmarks]

Before Al Gore

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