Snow coming this week, and no crazy high pressure in the forecast. December can change the conditions quick. Especially with cold finally arriving.
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Stowe Thread
- Thread starter beyond.the.lodge
- Start date
Zand
Well-known member
Front four reopened today. After tomorrow the mountain will have been open for 10 days this November and the front four were available for 8 of them. Unreal.
hovercraft
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Yesterday and today were excellent. Front four had a good 8-10 fresh on it yesterday and today the groomed trails had some of the best packed pow I have been on this early in the season. Great start to the season! More snow and cold temps for the snowmaking for the next week or so. They are blowing snow all over the place and burying Nose Dive top 2 bottom as we speak.
hovercraft
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Taco Tuesday with fresh refills 
urungus
Well-known member
Today snow depth (orange line) surpassed 2018-2019 (black line) and is deepest it has ever been on December 3
Ski2LiveLive2Ski
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Any idea when they may open Gondola?
Zand
Well-known member
I believe it is slated for next Saturday.
hovercraft
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They are shooting for next weekend
Ski2LiveLive2Ski
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Thanks for info
hovercraft
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Hayride was the run of the day today!
kendo
Active member
Stowe Mtn Rescue & Mt Mansfield Ski Patrol is very busy... preventing TikTok heroes from becoming zeros.
(SMR facebook post)
There’s a more dangerous trend happening, where TikTok videos of whooping skiers in knee-deep powder are luring inexperienced skiers and riders into Stowe’s backcountry at a time of year when the snowpack is unreliable.
Mt Mansfield Ski Patrol is currently plagued by unprecedented numbers of lost skiers in backcountry terrain accessible from the resort. Our team has been called in to help several times and at least one of the skiing parties we rescued quoted TikTok as their inspiration.
Another issue is the phenomenon of skiers following other people’s ski tracks, taking them past the ski boundary and into side country from which access back to the resort can’t be regained.
The Toll Road at Stowe is a case in point. The ski boundary is clearly marked but evidently the lure of tracks in fresh snow is too much to resist. At this time of year, the snowpack diminishes as you lose elevation so those few nice turns below the Toll Road quickly turn into brambly terrain with woefully inadequate snow.
Even with a solid snowpack, the topography makes this terrain tricky - those familiar with it know when to traverse left to make it back to the resort. Miss this exit ramp and you have no return, committing you to a long, hard, flat slog in no-mans land.
Hence our team gets called here on a regular basis, for skiers who are utterly lost - exhausted, cold and scared.
There are dangers in blindly following, whether it's TikTok posts or ski tracks, or anything else for that matter. A quick risk-assessment is needed before giving in to the instinct to follow. Accidents will happen in the backcountry, and we’ll always gladly respond, but this wave of lost skiers is largely the result of impulsive behavior which is entirely preventable.
The simplest solution is to stay in-bounds at the resort. Pay attention to the ski boundary signs and respect them.
There are plenty of powder pockets in between named runs which provide the thrill of the wilds while remaining within the resort. If you’re intent on heading out of bounds, don’t do it on a whim and be accountable for your own safety.
Knowledge of the terrain is your first prerequisite – where will this take you? Is it safe? How will you get out and how long will that take? If you don’t know, don’t go.
You need to be properly equipped for the backcountry, stick with your ski buddies and stay aware of daylight hours, impending weather and snowpack conditions.
Don’t blithely follow trends or tracks! Keep in mind that those tracks you see in front of you might just be from Stowe Mountain Rescue’s last subject…
(SMR facebook post)
There’s a more dangerous trend happening, where TikTok videos of whooping skiers in knee-deep powder are luring inexperienced skiers and riders into Stowe’s backcountry at a time of year when the snowpack is unreliable.
Mt Mansfield Ski Patrol is currently plagued by unprecedented numbers of lost skiers in backcountry terrain accessible from the resort. Our team has been called in to help several times and at least one of the skiing parties we rescued quoted TikTok as their inspiration.
Another issue is the phenomenon of skiers following other people’s ski tracks, taking them past the ski boundary and into side country from which access back to the resort can’t be regained.
The Toll Road at Stowe is a case in point. The ski boundary is clearly marked but evidently the lure of tracks in fresh snow is too much to resist. At this time of year, the snowpack diminishes as you lose elevation so those few nice turns below the Toll Road quickly turn into brambly terrain with woefully inadequate snow.
Even with a solid snowpack, the topography makes this terrain tricky - those familiar with it know when to traverse left to make it back to the resort. Miss this exit ramp and you have no return, committing you to a long, hard, flat slog in no-mans land.
Hence our team gets called here on a regular basis, for skiers who are utterly lost - exhausted, cold and scared.
There are dangers in blindly following, whether it's TikTok posts or ski tracks, or anything else for that matter. A quick risk-assessment is needed before giving in to the instinct to follow. Accidents will happen in the backcountry, and we’ll always gladly respond, but this wave of lost skiers is largely the result of impulsive behavior which is entirely preventable.
The simplest solution is to stay in-bounds at the resort. Pay attention to the ski boundary signs and respect them.
There are plenty of powder pockets in between named runs which provide the thrill of the wilds while remaining within the resort. If you’re intent on heading out of bounds, don’t do it on a whim and be accountable for your own safety.
Knowledge of the terrain is your first prerequisite – where will this take you? Is it safe? How will you get out and how long will that take? If you don’t know, don’t go.
You need to be properly equipped for the backcountry, stick with your ski buddies and stay aware of daylight hours, impending weather and snowpack conditions.
Don’t blithely follow trends or tracks! Keep in mind that those tracks you see in front of you might just be from Stowe Mountain Rescue’s last subject…
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