Ski Season Grade

[Cannonball]

2006-7 is the season I'd rate "D", saved only by the "Valentine's Day" storm.
My "F" is the 2011-2: After October blockbuster storm, there was almost no natural snow all season. While the skiing was adequate on snowmaking trails, natural snow glade skiing and other aspects of the sport that involved natural snow, never materialized

But if you only remember back 4 seasons, and you agree that "C" is average - how can you have 2 seasons rated as "A"s? Something doesn't compute!!

You are right about 11-12. It was a lousy year. I would have given it a D or F, but I was injured and didn't get out much so I thought that might be skewing my grade. But based on your validation I'll give it a Failing grade.

When I said I couldn't go beyond 5 years with detail, I meant that I can't call out specific grades for specific years. But overall I still know the difference between failing, average, above average, and well above average. For the past 5 years I have 1 D/F, 1 B/C, 1 B, and 2 As. That says two things to me: 1) it's a fairly good distribution, and 2) with 2 As the past 5 years have been generally above average.

 

[deadheadskier]

Interesting. Your bias for an "F" is a season ending injury. I have a strong bias for how the industry does which on the surface makes no sense, since I am neither an owner nor a manager of a ski area. However, I do think "how the industry does" has a large impact on the next season(s) in terms of proper maintenance vs. deferred maintenance; new lifts/terrain; snowmaking upgrades and amenities in general. So that's my rationale for giving it what some might consider to be "undue importance."

I obviously want the industry to remain fiscally healthy, but whether the ski areas do well financially or not has little to do with my personal enjoyment (grade) of my skiing experience in the current season.

 

[VTKilarney]

And to whine about the cold? Really? They make good clothing for that now a days, ya know. I think some of you need to take up parcheesi as a sport.

This makes no sense to me. A calm 25 degree day is more enjoyable to ski in than a zero degree day with high winds - and I have clothing that can handle both. This boils down to common sense, which is exactly what I use when I come up with my grade.

 

[deadheadskier]

You do realize that the number one factor in why the snow quality has been so good this season is those cold temps you're complaining about.

 

[fcksummer]

Inc

 

[Smellytele]

This makes no sense to me. A calm 25 degree day is more enjoyable to ski in than a zero degree day with high winds - and I have clothing that can handle both. This boils down to common sense, which is exactly what I use when I come up with my grade.

but what about a 10 below day with no wind and a 10 above day with high winds...

 

[dlague]

There is already a thread for this discussion.

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/134743-Season-Grade-So-Far-2014-2015?highlight=Grade

Mods - can you merger the two threads?

 

[VTKilarney]

There is already a thread for this discussion.

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/134743-Season-Grade-So-Far-2014-2015?highlight=Grade

Mods - can you merger the two threads?

That thread was for a mid-season grade. Not the same as this thread.

 

[VTKilarney]

You do realize that the number one factor in why the snow quality has been so good this season is those cold temps you're complaining about.

I would have traded some warmer days for snow that was slightly higher in moisture content. It's subjective, after all.

 

[C-Rex]

If I'm only talking about the East I give it an A. Some people complain that it was too cold, but if it weren't as cold as it was I wouldn't have found fluffy stashes days after a storm. That's pretty rare here in New England, especially southern New England. I had enough powder days that I started to get spoiled. The only thing that held my season back was me. I didn't plan to need so much time off, and I didn't budget enough for random snow days. Usually I try to stick to deals, but when it's dumping and I can blow off work, a pricey lift ticket is not going to stand between me and fresh tracks.

When I factor in my trip to Jackson I have to drop the grade to a B. Don't get me wrong, that place is awesome and I really hope to go back one day, but I really just saw the potential it has without being able to experience it. Spring conditions are great and all, but at a place as all-over steep as Jackson it means EVERYTHING is bumped up. I don't mind moguls, even being a snowboarder, but when they are all you ride for a week, it takes a lot out of you. By the 4th and 5th days I just didn't have the legs anymore.

 

[St. Bear]

I always thought this thread implied the grades were based on your personal experience, not the region or industry as a whole.

For me, it's been a solid B. A lot of fun days with decent to good conditions, a couple small powder days, a couple warm and soft spring days, but I missed all the big powder days for one reason or another. Same with my trip out West, great spring skiing conditions with good coverage, but it's disappointing to travel thousands of miles for spring skiing.

Hopefully I'm not done yet, but I don't expect the few remaining days to change the grade much.

And it is all about timing. For me 2012-13, which had generally similar snow but warmer temps I think, was an A because I hit 4 different powder days with no crowds that were awesome. This season didn't work out like that, c'est la vie.

 

[deadheadskier]

I would have traded some warmer days for snow that was slightly higher in moisture content. It's subjective, after all.

Fair enough. It doesn't compute for me, given your complaint of hard pack in the first post, but it is subjective yes.

I'm with Scruffy on this one. I think a skier bitching about the cold is like a surfer complaining about it being too warm and sunny. Too each their own.

 

[joshua segal]

I obviously want the industry to remain fiscally healthy, but whether the ski areas do well financially or not has little to do with my personal enjoyment (grade) of my skiing experience in the current season.

Fair enough. With the title of thread being, "Ski Season Grade", I didn't respond with a personal analysis - which I guess accounts for part of our difference in POV.

You do realize that the number one factor in why the snow quality has been so good this season is those cold temps you're complaining about.

It would have been fine with temps in the comfortable low 20's as well as single digits. And wind and wind chill was a huge factor during Feb. I deal with the cold as well as anyone, but for me a day with no wind, great snow and 20 degrees is going to provide me a superior day of skiing to one with great snow, wind and zero degrees.

 

[VTKilarney]

Fair enough. It doesn't compute for me, given your complaint of hard pack in the first post, but it is subjective yes.

I'm with Scruffy on this one. I think a skier bitching about the cold is like a surfer complaining about it being too warm and sunny. Too each their own.

This is where I may be wrong, but someone who knows a lot more about snow than I do said that one of the problems with the very light powder we had is that it didn't "bind" with the existing (post-thaw boilerplate) surface and was prone to blowing off of the trails. As someone who does not spend all of his time in the trees, this is a factor for me.

As far as the surfing analogy is concerned, I would say it's more like a surfer complaining about rain. You can surf in the rain, but it's not as fun as a sunny day. The same can be said of extreme cold - at least in my book. It's not a huge deal to me, but it was enough to knock off a half letter grade or thereabouts.

 

[deadheadskier]

It would have been fine with temps in the comfortable low 20's as well as single digits.

Categorically false. Why do you think the snow up at Stowe and Jay is far superior to what we get in Southern VT? Because at 5 degrees, there's far less water content in the snow than there is at 20 degrees the majority of the time. It isn't just the amount of snow Northern VT gets, it's the quality of snow. In humid New England, the colder it is, the better the snow quality.

Yesterday was the perfect example. The fresh snow I skied at Loon was mank. Go up to the road to Cannon where it was colder and apparently it was dry powder.

 

[St. Bear]

As far as the surfing analogy is concerned, I would say it's more like a surfer complaining about rain. You can surf in the rain, but it's not as fun as a sunny day. The same can be said of extreme cold - at least in my book. It's not a huge deal to me, but it was enough to knock off a half letter grade or thereabouts.

While I'm not a surfer, I think rain is a good analogy. Rain means storms which churn up the water creating larger waves, just like you need cold for snow and like DHS says below, colder temps keeps the moisture content down.

 

[VTKilarney]

While I'm not a surfer, I think rain is a good analogy. Rain means storms which churn up the water creating larger waves, just like you need cold for snow and like DHS says below, colder temps keeps the moisture content down.

Exactly. For my type of skiing, which is not the most predominant here, it is a very fair trade off.

 

[yeggous]

Categorically false. Why do you think the snow up at Stowe and Jay is far superior to what we get in Southern VT? Because at 5 degrees, there's far less water content in the snow than there is at 20 degrees the majority of the time. It isn't just the amount of snow Northern VT gets, it's the quality of snow. In humid New England, the colder it is, the better the snow quality.

Yesterday was the perfect example. The fresh snow I skied at Loon was mank. Go up to the road to Cannon where it was colder and apparently it was dry powder.

Yes, cold temperatures are important. This is the reason that despite the unimpressive snowfall this year, the season ranks above my expectations. It was cold enough that almost all the snow fell as powder. I don't think I really had a wet and sticky snow day all year. That is the most remarkable part of the season for me.

 

[dlague]

Yes, cold temperatures are important. This is the reason that despite the unimpressive snowfall this year, the season ranks above my expectations. It was cold enough that almost all the snow fell as powder. I don't think I really had a wet and sticky snow day all year. That is the most remarkable part of the season for me.

Very few thaw and referee days as well which is significant. Conditions were well preserved with cold temps.


Sent from my iPad using AlpineZone

 

[jrmagic]

I will give the year a high B+. While I didn't score too many big days, I caught several of the smaller storms and being able to ski the woods 7 or 8 weeks straight was a blast. It could have gotten to an A if I didn't get hurt Saturday night and losing my spring or the 4 days I lost during Presidents week due to a calf strain. I'm not too harsh on January as I expect January to have at least a couple of thaws in Southern VT where I do most of my skiing. I was fine with the continued cold as it kept things really nice and all you had to do was dress properly and ski hard and it was fine.