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Worst Ski Season Ever?
- Thread starter boston_e
- Start date
steamboat1
New member
I'm having fun so far. Really tired of hearing all the doom & gloom.
drjeff
Well-known member
Agree!!
While certainly not an epic season thus far, I've come to realize that especially in the Northeast, the reality is over an entire season we might get on a good year 5 to maybe 10 days of GREAT skiing, a bunch of decent to good days and then some semi ugly to ugly days. The weather variability is, and always has been, a characteristic of skiing in the Northeast.
I'm lucky enough that I get to ski a lot of days a season, most of which is based on my kids race and training schedule, so I'm going to go out and make some runs regardless of the weather and/or snow conditions. Even this weekend when there was everything from serious cold to high winds to rain, I had a good time on the slopes, even if the slopes weren't at their best.
Has this season been historically good so far? Nope. That being said, I've still had a bunch of really good days that involved anything but powder and/or tree skiing (2 things that I DO enjoy for sure).
Just think about it this way, if mother nature continues her challenging ways in New England this year, the reality is that the dreaded AZ "who's closed already" thread will start popping up in a couple of weeks, and could grow much quicker than usual this year
For all the folks holding on to various vouchers, sick days, etc with the hopes of things changing, would you rather at the end of your season still have a bunch of those on hand because those "epic" days you were hoping for never happened or would you rather have gotten in more "ok" days instead of less total ski days??? Time to make some lemonade out of the lemon of a season the next 2 to 6 weeks for most ski areas, and who knows how far beyond that for a few others???
I enjoy skiing pretty much no matter what, but yes this is by far the worst season I can remember.
from_the_NEK
Active member
Worst:
Last edited:
Agree!!
While certainly not an epic season thus far, I've come to realize that especially in the Northeast, the reality is over an entire season we might get on a good year 5 to maybe 10 days of GREAT skiing, a bunch of decent to good days and then some semi ugly to ugly days. The weather variability is, and always has been, a characteristic of skiing in the Northeast.
I'm lucky enough that I get to ski a lot of days a season, most of which is based on my kids race and training schedule, so I'm going to go out and make some runs regardless of the weather and/or snow conditions. Even this weekend when there was everything from serious cold to high winds to rain, I had a good time on the slopes, even if the slopes weren't at their best.
Has this season been historically good so far? Nope. That being said, I've still had a bunch of really good days that involved anything but powder and/or tree skiing (2 things that I DO enjoy for sure).
Just think about it this way, if mother nature continues her challenging ways in New England this year, the reality is that the dreaded AZ "who's closed already" thread will start popping up in a couple of weeks, and could grow much quicker than usual this year
In general agree with this and am making the best of it and having some fun. I'll still go up almost every weekend plus several extra holidays / when the kids are out of school.
Ratio this year though (at least for the days I have hit) has been zero GREAT days, a few decent to good days and mostly OK to semi-ugly days (and just skipped days that would have been really ugly)
steamboat1
New member
I've only had one ugly day so far & that's because of getting soaked in the rain. Skiing surfaces that day were actually quite good though & was lucky to ski with good company that day. While I haven't had any deep powder days I have had several days with with fresh snow overnight, a couple at Sugarbush earlier this season & three last week at K. Only 1" to 4" each time but it freshened things up nicely. Otherwise the areas have done a fantastic job with snowmaking & grooming. Soft bump skiing has been limited but I did get a few good runs in both on natural & manmade. I'm not complaining how my season has gone so far.
from_the_NEK
Active member
Way too early to say whether it is the worst. For me the worst in recent memory was 2011-2012. I recall the end of March skiing Mt Ellen where you had to upload and download on GMX and there was still barely anything open up top (only 2 people were allowed per chair on Summit due to the narrow path you had to ski on when getting off the chair onto Panorama).
Smellytele
Well-known member
Yes 11/12 was pretty bad. I believe that was the year with the Halloween storm then no snow again until last week of Feb then 80 degrees for St Patrick's day weekend.
from_the_NEK
Active member
11/12 was bad, but not this bad.
steamboat1
New member
Way too early to say whether it is the worst. For me the worst in recent memory was 2011-2012. I recall the end of March skiing Mt Ellen where you had to upload and download on GMX and there was still barely anything open up top (only 2 people were allowed per chair on Summit due to the narrow path you had to ski on when getting off the chair onto Panorama).
I was there for that. They closed the summit lift for about a 1/2 hour midday so ski patrol could put more snow where you get off the lift on top. They went into the woods & filled up toboggans with snow & then dumped it on the trail so you could ski off. This was on a Fri. I have no idea how they stayed open until Sun. which they did. The middle section under the lift actually had some nice spring bumps that day.
hammer
Active member
Too early to tell, 2011/2012 was pretty bad...but I was looking up where camping shows were for this weekend...
from_the_NEK
Active member
2012 snow depths = Not nearly as bad. Sure maybe it melted out quick but there were points during the season that you could ski in the woods:
Abubob
Well-known member
I'm kinda lookin forward to skiing in 80º temps again in March. :smile:
from_the_NEK
Active member
Careful what you wish for. If we hit 80 in March, the current man made snow pack would last maybe two days in many places.
I usually get 8-10 powder days a season. I'm at 1. and sugarbush has probably had more snow than anywhere else in the east. have to see how march plays out but to date, this has been as bad as I recall. Not that I havent enjoyed skiing
I've had fun everyday out this year. Yes, I wish some more challenging terrain was open, but fun none the less.
The main thing this season has made me realize is that i need to increase my quiver to include a front side sudo race ski (thinking Kastle MX78 or RX12).
The main thing this season has made me realize is that i need to increase my quiver to include a front side sudo race ski (thinking Kastle MX78 or RX12).
2012 snow depths = Not nearly as bad. Sure maybe it melted out quick but there were points during the season that you could ski in the woods:
It ended fast for sure. They had to make snow at Sugarloaf and Sunday River late Mach that season to absorb British Invasion business that Killington ended up turning away. However, as you say, there was at least a decent amount of snow that season until the nuclear melt down in March. Killington received 152" on the season that year. By far their worst total since 1988.
This year 44" so far. They need NINE feet of snow the rest of the year just to equal 2011-2012. It's happened before on a handful of occasions. Hopefully it does again this year.
http://www.killington.com/site/mountain/mountain-info/snowmaking_snowfall
