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Which eastern ski areas will open first?

drjeff

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Mount Snow will want to show off all their new fancy fan guns.

Not to mention that their manufacturer, SMI really likes when Mount Snow shows off the "marginal temps" prowess of their guns!

This photo of Mount Snow's opening weekend last year is the current pic being used by SMI in their industry trade journal adds

1194709389MountSnow11-9-07.jpg


And that snow was made from the 101 they had last year, can't wait to see what 251 can do for opening day ;)
 
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Vortex

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I hope there is all sorts of competition on this. Helps us all. The River has more new fan guns as well. Be intersting to se if they use them on the lower mountain really early, or stay focused on the upper section of locke mtn and down load again. My guess is they will still take advantage of the extra elevation.
 

deadheadskier

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But doesn't Mount Snow have a higher base elevation..and it is farther from the warm late fall ocean as well..

It does, but probably only about 600 feet. SR is about 100 miles North of Snow, but I'd say it's pretty debatable which area would be colder that time of year.

Early season bragging rights aren't necessarily all about physical location and stature though. Woodbury proves this.

Conceivably, any area in New England that has a decent snowmaking system and gets a 36-48 hour window to blow snow could get the first to open PR.

I think how north an area is, their elevation and slope aspect plays a much greater factor in the spring in terms of holding snow than in the fall when everyone's hoping the ground freezes. This is why Sugarloaf typically has better late season goods than just about anybody despite averaging 100 inches of snow less than the northern greens. This same advantage is kinda lost in November when the weather is so volatile.
 

Geoff

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Sunday River because they have the Locke Triple with a mid station so that you can ski the top of locke down to the midstation and load there to get to the top again. This allows them to make snow up top and open when it is to warm at the base to get snow down there.

+1

I expect Sunday River to be first to open until the current Killington management gets ejected after a couple of lean snow years where the results from chasing away their core season pass base will cause huge losses. Killington really can't do it until they replace the Snowdon triple with a high speed download-capable lift.

The formula for October skiing is a single north-facing fixed grip lift with a midstation and grassy intermediate terrain that doesn't require much base to get it going. The old Killington double chair and upper Cascade were perfect for it. The Locke Triple is perfect for it and Sunday River is far enough north to be able to make snow on the upper elevations in October cold snaps.

Mount Snow is too far south and too low elevation. The North Face is too long to make snow quickly unless they installed a midstation on one of those chairs. Then they'd have a cost issue since they'd need to run a high speed lift up the east-facing front face for upload/download and a North Face lift to service the skiing.

Sugarbush North could do it but that's kind of far from the metro areas.
 

Phillycore

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I'm still leaning towards Mt. Snow. Peak was out to prove a point last year and I don't see them stopping.. They earned the respect of a LOT of people last year and I'd imagine they'd want to continue that as short term investments can equal long term gains... If there is any chance whatsoever for them to make snow... I see them starting the guns up and working OT to maintain the fan base they got last year. I don't know how much of an impact they made up there, but BB opening when they did last year was a major hit down here in Pa. With their addition and investment of the new big snowmaking guns....I'd imagine they will want to show who's the mack daddy pimp fo sho' up there..

When there's a will.... there's normally a way
 
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As to getting the goods first.. = Stowe.
...just a guess..

Not Happening:-D Stowe typically opens with a top to bottom 2000+ vert route from the top of the quad which takes quite a bit of time to open...plus unless it dumps 3 feet..they usually open a week or two before Thanksgiving..
 

hardline

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It does, but probably only about 600 feet. SR is about 100 miles North of Snow, but I'd say it's pretty debatable which area would be colder that time of year.

Early season bragging rights aren't necessarily all about physical location and stature though. Woodbury proves this.

Conceivably, any area in New England that has a decent snowmaking system and gets a 36-48 hour window to blow snow could get the first to open PR.

I think how north an area is, their elevation and slope aspect plays a much greater factor in the spring in terms of holding snow than in the fall when everyone's hoping the ground freezes. This is why Sugarloaf typically has better late season goods than just about anybody despite averaging 100 inches of snow less than the northern greens. This same advantage is kinda lost in November when the weather is so volatile.


this season:
Woodbury
SR
mt snow
all withing 4 days of each other.
 

Zand

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Anyone who actually wastes their time driving more than 15 minutes to Woodbury on opening day has a lot of time on their hands. All I've heard about that are horror stories (I think it was Grassi who tried it out last year and left after like 2 runs).

So, not including Woodbury, I'd have to say Sunday River opens Friday, October 31st if the weather is good followed by Mount Snow and Sugarloaf on November 7th or 8th. Sunday River has too much of an advantage with their location, midstation, elevation, and decent proximity to Boston. It's almost Killington Part 2, just not as crazy as Killington in the 90s.
 

hardline

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Not Happening:-D Stowe typically opens with a top to bottom 2000+ vert route from the top of the quad which takes quite a bit of time to open...plus unless it dumps 3 feet..they usually open a week or two before Thanksgiving..

except for last year when they got exactly that. it was so much fun you just went where ever you wanted to. there was so much snow.
 

AndyEich

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I'm still leaning towards Mt. Snow. Peak was out to prove a point last year and I don't see them stopping.. They earned the respect of a LOT of people last year and I'd imagine they'd want to continue that as short term investments can equal long term gains... If there is any chance whatsoever for them to make snow... I see them starting the guns up and working OT to maintain the fan base they got last year. I don't know how much of an impact they made up there, but BB opening when they did last year was a major hit down here in Pa. With their addition and investment of the new big snowmaking guns....I'd imagine they will want to show who's the mack daddy pimp fo sho' up there..

When there's a will.... there's normally a way

I certainly don't have any direct info, but I don't think SR management would have this level of drive. They're aggressive, but they also seem pragmatic, so I could see them declining to blow if it appears to just be a brief cold snap. I like the theory that Mt Snow has staked their reputation on those new fan guns.
________
VOLCANO VAPORIZERS
 
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