Worst Ski Season Ever?

[drjeff]

Thinking places will start to close/move to weekends only soon?

Not sure realistically how many resorts bases can withstand the 3 to 4 days of Christmas like 55-60 degree temps the meteorologists are thinking could be around here next weekend if the models pan out?!?! It could be a repeat of the Spring of '11 where a bunch of days in a row of really warm temps shut down the majority of ski areas in the Northeast!!! I REALLY hope my fears prove unwarranted come St Patrick's Day!!!!

 

[steamboat1]

I'm just disappointed K didn't stockpile upper Skyelark/lower Bitter this season. Lower Skyelark is respectable. Hopefully they still might get to it although I heard the rental compressors are packed up & ready to go.

 

[drjeff]

I'm just disappointed K didn't stockpile upper Skyelark/lower Bitter this season. Lower Skyelark is respectable. Hopefully they still might get to it although I heard the rental compressors are packed up & ready to go.

The thing is with the temps of the next few days, and the assortment of Snow Logic DV4 guns they have, the size of the whales they could put down, pretty efficiently with those guns running on stage 3 or 4 as they could in the solid cold, WOULD make a difference!

 

[Jcb890]

Saturday they were blowing like crazy on Superstar and had quite a few large piles built up. Here's the top with my 165 cm board in there for reference.

 

[steamboat1]

The thing is with the temps of the next few days, and the assortment of Snow Logic DV4 guns they have, the size of the whales they could put down, pretty efficiently with those guns running on stage 3 or 4 as they could in the solid cold, WOULD make a difference!

Yeah I know...

Exhibit A

Thing is I don't want just Supe.

 

[Quietman]

Went to Crotched tonight to get some exercise and I'd even checked the web site before leaving work and all looked good. Got there 15 minutes later and 1st thing I saw was the West lift wasn't running. I ran that lift for 4 years and it was always running if the mountain was open. Then I see no lights on at the Rocket base. Checked inside and sure enough, they were only running the Valley lift for the night due to "high winds". Yes there were only 30 cars in the lots for the beer league races, and the snow was slightly firm to say the least, but I was a little pissed that I wasted a whole 30 minute trip to the mountain. I really don't blame the mountain, running a HS quad for 4 hours for 30 people would have been a waste. I really blame this f'd up winter that has made mountains so empty that they have to make choices like this. This so called poor excuse for what we have called a winter so far is completely to blame. Next week's warm temps could be the nail in the coffin for many smaller areas.

BTW, I was skiing with an older local and complained about the sucky winter, and he said just be glad they can make snow now, he recalled years when local mountains didn't open at all. That being said, this recent weather really sucks big time!!!

 

[drjeff]

[Originally posted by Chris Taylor]:

Two of my friends and I are planning to hike Mt Washington next Thanksgiving week and I'd like to get a little advice. All three of us have a good amount of hiking experience in the Appalachian Mtns in Virginia. I'm very comfortable in cold weather (born in Boston and raised in Southern Germany) but I have limited cold weather hiking experience, only three 3day long hikes in temps from 15-25 degrees F. One of my friends is from South Carolina and, while he is comfortable in cold weather environments, he hasn't hiked in them. The third guy has lived in New England all his life and has about triple the amount of cold weather hiking experience that I do. We are all in our early 20's and all are in good physical shape (all of us max our Army ROTC physical fitness test) so I think that might be to our advantage. Our greatest disadvantage is our lack of experience. My question is: if we plan to summit Mt Washington during the Thanskgiving week (on the easiest route), are we bitting off to much? If so, where might be a good place to get some experience.

Also, where can we find some information on Mt Washington?

Lastly, eventually I would like to get into more remote treks and I was wondering where I might be able to find a group that would take on a newbie (as I really have very little desire to go on one of those programmed commercial moutaineering hikes.

Please respond here or to my e-mail addy : chtaylo3@hotmail.com
TIA! :smile:
Christopher Taylor

Here's that same essential location at the top of Supe the 3rd week of APRIL last season - for reference, my oldest kid (the one closer to the top of the pile) was roughly the same height as your board then!!

K really could use a few more days of "the 7 gun salute" at the top of Supe and then getting the Snow Logic's below the 7 K3000's at the top running or stags 3 or 4 for a few days!!!

 

[steamboat1]

You mean like this...

Pile is definitely smaller than last year so far.

Actually one day early last week when the wind was right they had 2 K3000's blowing over the top from the backside right over Launch Pad onto the mound plus a couple of snow logics on the backside. The K 3000's were pointed straight up & blew right over the trail without skiers getting blasted. This was in addition to the 7 gun salute. It was awesome.

 

[Jcb890]

You mean like this...

Pile is definitely smaller than last year so far.

I have to imagine they'll blow snow all week until they can't with the warm weather coming in, right? Tomorrow through Sunday it looks like maybe they could make snow.

 

[steamboat1]

I have to imagine they'll blow snow all week until they can't with the warm weather coming in, right? Tomorrow through Sunday it looks like maybe they could make snow.

Not sure. Heard they put away the hoses. They might be done.

Regardless I'm planning on being there most of next week.

 

[Jcb890]

Not sure. Heard they put away the hoses. They might be done.

Regardless I'm planning on being there most of next week.

We've already got a trip booked the 19th & 20th... hopefully the weather will hold out.

 

[steamboat1]

We've already got a trip booked the 19th & 20th... hopefully the weather will hold out.

Sorry pretty much only do weekdays myself. They'll have snow. They blew Double Dipper a couple of weeks ago & it was only open a few days before it turned to ice (lucky for me I was there when it was open). The mounds are still there & haven't even been groomed out yet. When it softens & is groomed it will be good.

 

[Bostonian]

At this point, I kind have given up on the rest of the season. I plan on hitting Gunstock this weekend and the last weekend they are open. I also have Mount Snow on St. Paddy's day and beyond that, I don't know. Maybe K in April on Superstar, if they still have it open. But I am ready to write this one off. Time to think of summer, the boat and actually running to lose some weight. I'll be happy with 15 times out this season.

 

[slatham]

Concord NH: season to date snow: 24.7". Deviation from normal: -23.7"
Burlington VT: season to date snow: 29.2". Deviation from normal: -32.7"
Albany NY: 10.3". Deviation -37.5"

Islip NY (closest site to my house): season to date snow: 38". Deviation from normal: +17.9"

What could go wrong did go wrong.

 

[VTKilarney]

I'm in the same boat as Bostonian. I am planning on skiing this weekend and then will treat anything after next week's blowtorch as an unanticipated bonus.

 

[drjeff]

Concord NH: season to date snow: 24.7". Deviation from normal: -23.7"
Burlington VT: season to date snow: 29.2". Deviation from normal: -32.7"
Albany NY: 10.3". Deviation -37.5"

Islip NY (closest site to my house): season to date snow: 38". Deviation from normal: +17.9"

What could go wrong did go wrong.

And of those 4 reporting stations you mentioned, only Islip is likely to add to their seasonal total in the next few days as another sizeable storm heads out to sea in the waters South of New England :smash:

 

[drjeff]

I'm in the same boat as Bostonian. I am planning on skiing this weekend and then will treat anything after next week's blowtorch as an unanticipated bonus.

Trying to be as optimistic as possible, given the crappy forecast the next week, at least in the models and estimates that I'm seeing on multiple weather sites, they're think that mountain temps will "only" be in the 50's and there will be some cloudy/overcast days during the warm up. A bit different than the major blowtorch in March of 2011 that basically shutdown the New England ski season in a week, where mountain temps were in the 60's and 70's and there was hardly a cloud in the sky all week.

No if's and's or but's about it, significant damage is likely to be done to ski areas next week, let's at least hope that it's not the utter catastrophe for all that 2011 was, and that we'll have more than a dozen or so options to ski the following weekend and hopefully into April, unlike in 2011....

 

[dlague]

well the fact that we will be just over 30 day this season and for all intensive purposes hitting 50 days this season if the season was normal would be easy. However, with warm ups like next week, this season is starting to suck! I was hoping the winter would give us something in March.

 

[andrec10]

Trying to be as optimistic as possible, given the crappy forecast the next week, at least in the models and estimates that I'm seeing on multiple weather sites, they're think that mountain temps will "only" be in the 50's and there will be some cloudy/overcast days during the warm up. A bit different than the major blowtorch in March of 2011 that basically shutdown the New England ski season in a week, where mountain temps were in the 60's and 70's and there was hardly a cloud in the sky all week.

No if's and's or but's about it, significant damage is likely to be done to ski areas next week, let's at least hope that it's not the utter catastrophe for all that 2011 was, and that we'll have more than a dozen or so options to ski the following weekend and hopefully into April, unlike in 2011....

I believe it was March of 2012, not 2011. ask me how I remember..

 

[from_the_NEK]

...this season is starting to suck!

I'm pretty sure it never stopped :smash: