Very quiet these days!

[Cornhead]

You should take a look over on K-Zone. Someone just posted a report (with pics) of skiing this week at A-Basin. Looks awesome.

Thanks, looks great, too bad I didn't plan my trip a couple weeks earlier. I'm sure I'll have some awesome Spring conditions. Who knows, maybe another storm will roll in while I'm there.

My Son moved to Boulder a month ago, he's boarded at Breck and Eldora. He said his first day at Breck, a powder day, was the best day of boarding of his life. When he left for Boulder he was unable to bring his cat, Spaceman. His full name, I found out from the vet when I scheduled a physical for his travel papers, is Dr. Leo Spaceman PHD. Anyway, he was going to take it to the shelter because he wasn't able to keep him at his temporary digs out there. I can't keep him permanently either. I knew the skiing would be good late into the season, so I offered to keep Spaceman until my Son was settled, and fly the cat out to Colorado. Win win, he gets to keep his cat, I get to ski the Rockies. At 30,000 feet, Spaceman will almost be a spaceman.


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[ScottySkis]

Cornhead i wonder were your son came up with his name for the cat?

 

[Cornhead]

Cornhead i wonder were your son came up with his name for the cat?

Idk, it fits him well, he is pretty spacey, can't say on the Dr. Leo part. He traveled well the 40 miles to the vet and back. He hardly meowed at all, our female cat howls non-stop on rides to the vet. I'm encouraged the flight will go smoothly. I'm going to pick up a collar and leash today, you have to hold them and walk through the scanner together. I figure if I have him on a leash and he decides to freak out and try to get free, I can just drop him and still keep control of him, if they let me keep the collar and leash on him. I wonder if Al Qaeda has thought of "cat bombs"?


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[pcampbell]

First day it's been clear in a long time... I went for a bike ride and sort of regretted it. Mt Ellen is beckoning... still looking very white especially up top. I'd bet you can still go very close to top to bottom (maybe hike down like 10 minutes).

I'm sort of torn because I do the Northeast bicycle hill climb series (hillclimbseries.com) in the summer, and really need to get in shape if I want to do well for the 1st race up Ascutney at the end of THIS month!!!

 

[Edd]

Cornhead i wonder were your son came up with his name for the cat?

30 Rock, man!


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[Cornhead]

30 Rock, man!


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Thanks, I like the show, but I guess I haven't watched it enough to know this. I thought it was funny when the vet informed me Spaceman wasn't his full name.

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[steamboat1]

Thanks, looks great, too bad I didn't plan my trip a couple weeks earlier. I'm sure I'll have some awesome Spring conditions. Who knows, maybe another storm will roll in while I'm there.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...5.86077858399966&site=all&smap=1#.U2pxlaLUkf4

 

[dlague]

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...5.86077858399966&site=all&smap=1#.U2pxlaLUkf4

Too bad Loveland is closed for the season!

Looks like A-Basin is going to get a little wet this week but their conditions report looks sweet! Hopefully snow at higher elevations!

A-Basin (Dillon, Co) Weather Forecast

Plenty of trails still open!

http://www.arapahoebasin.com/ABasin/snow-conditions/terrain-runs.aspx

I think this was brought up before - why are CO passes so cheap! Feel like we get ripped off over here!

 

[marcski]

I think this was brought up before - why are CO passes so cheap! Feel like we get ripped off over here!

Snowmaking.

 

[abc]

Snowmaking.

& short season

 

[Cornhead]

This site is predicting up to 22" Sat night through Sun. Calling for a few inches prior too.I hope they're right, can't wait, so happy just to be going, a powder day would be icing on the cake, maybe I should rent a 4x4. Knee, don't fail me now!

http://opensnow.com/location/arapahoebasin

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[VTKilarney]

I can understand why Colorado season passes are cheap if they contemplate tourists visiting for only a week or two. The ski areas know that those tourists will only use those passes for a few days at most.

But aren't the same passes available to people who live locally, including Denver? That's the part that I don't understand. Aren't they leaving a lot of money on the table when locals buy these season passes? I can understand that they don't want to overtly discriminate against the locals, but they could have a week-long pass and a two-week pass that is intended for out-of-state tourists, and then charge more for an actual season pass.

Take Copper Mountain, for example. Their season pass is $369. If you charged this same amount for seven consecutive days of skiing, that's still a deal. They could have a fourteen-consecutive days pass for $469 or thereabouts. They could then offer a true season pass for something like $769.

Of course other ski areas would have to jump on the bandwagon or the locals would turn to other mountains.

 

[abc]

Blame it on Vail resort!

Copper has no choice but to be at the same level as Vail Resort. Or the locals will all be going to Vail/BC/Breck!

To see how that works, you only need to look at the Salt Lake City area. There, the season passes are still in the thousand dollar range! Now that Vail bought The Canyons, it might change the dynamic.

 

[jimk]

Blame it on Vail resort!

Copper has no choice but to be at the same level as Vail Resort. Or the locals will all be going to Vail/BC/Breck!

To see how that works, you only need to look at the Salt Lake City area. There, the season passes are still in the thousand dollar range! Now that Vail bought The Canyons, it might change the dynamic.

I think it already has in UT. About a year or two ago Snowbasin cut their passes quite a bit, for example the 2014-15 Adult Value Pass
is $479 with Black Out Dates:
December 24th – January 1st
January 17th & 18th
February 14th - 16th

No black out, full Snowbasin pass is pretty reasonable 679.

Like someone said in another thread, if Vail Resorts gets their hands on a major Northeastern Mtn and includes it on the pass for all their other resorts for their going rate of around $700 it's going to bring the pass wars to the East! I like this thought at first blush, but it's true the trend could be very damaging to smaller resorts that can't compete at same price level and risk going under.

 

[ScottySkis]

I love Sniwbasin but they dont get the snow fall like the four by SLC. lake effrct.p

 

[dlague]

I think it already has in UT. About a year or two ago Snowbasin cut their passes quite a bit, for example the 2014-15 Adult Value Pass
is $479 with Black Out Dates:
December 24th – January 1st
January 17th & 18th
February 14th - 16th

No black out, full Snowbasin pass is pretty reasonable 679.

Like someone said in another thread, if Vail Resorts gets their hands on a major Northeastern Mtn and includes it on the pass for all their other resorts for their going rate of around $700 it's going to bring the pass wars to the East! I like this thought at first blush, but it's true the trend could be very damaging to smaller resorts that can't compete at same price level and risk going under.

Regarding a Pass War:

There will always be the Stowe pass holder types who pay a gazillion dollars and I think the local ski areas that are close to a population like Pats Peak or Wachusett for example will continue to do fine. It is the places like Magic, Ragged or Bolton Valley that will get impacted.

Boyne, Peak, or other multiple mountain situation like Sunapee/Okemo or Jay Peak/Burke will adjust.

 

[abc]

Like someone said in another thread, if Vail Resorts gets their hands on a major Northeastern Mtn and includes it on the pass for all their other resorts for their going rate of around $700 it's going to bring the pass wars to the East! I like this thought at first blush, but it's true the trend could be very damaging to smaller resorts that can't compete at same price level and risk going under.

Did any small Colorado went under since Vail started with the cheap season pass?

 

[steamboat1]

Snowbird is reporting 10".

 

[Bostonian]

I am bummed that my season is pretty much over. I would love to try to get out to K-ton one last time this season, but that window looks like it is closing. In the meantime I guess it is all about getting ready for next season! And checking the board daily even in the down season!

 

[Nick]

yeah. Statistically, AlpineZone is about 5x traffic in the busiest parts of the winter as in the slowest parts of the summer.

This year, I'm going to re-run the AZ challenge in the off season, once my workload on this project I'm on diminishes enough that I have the time again! I've been on a dry run for a while