WST: 3/16-17.....Mid-March Madness....

[deadheadskier]

I imagine that Stowe will close with 100% coverage. They have gotten 267 inches so far..that pretty close to even Park City which is at 319.
They could go till May at that rate. Wouldn't mind a warmup and spring skiing right till the end.
Good season with the usual Feb frustration thrown in...The March of last year..we are not getting ..it would seem.

Maybe. But they didn't close with 100% coverage even during the 440" season in 2000-2001. Yes we we're skiing some upper mountain woods to the very end, but some of the lower mountain terrain and most all of Spruce was burnt out by the last weekend in April when they pulled the plug. Nosedive was skiable ttb to about May 10th that year though.

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[Whitey]

Not sure what fantasy world you live in, but rare is the year we get a good 6-8 week stretch with good amounts of snow and no warmth or rain in between.
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Lighten up, Francis. I said "mostly below freezing" temps, not "freezing or below for two f___king straight months with not a single rain storm, damnit!!".

I've lived and skied in the northeast my whole life. I get the weather. It was a comment on a skiers website seconding another's comment that I had also noticed this year seemed somewhat unique in that every snow event was followed shortly thereafter by rain. That doesn't always happen and we do get stretches during some winters where we'll go weeks with only a few non-freezing days and/or rainy days (hint = "few" & "some" are the inverse of "mostly"). Whether that's right or wrong isn't a fantasy, it's just an opinion expressed on a skiers message board. When I am addressing the National Institute of Climate Science's annual convention, I'll make sure to be more precise in my language.

I'll go back to my fantasy world now.

 

[kingslug]

Stowe..46 Friday, rain...zero Sunday...ouch
Want to go somewhere though...
Who's going where?

 

[cdskier]

Sugarbush as usual...not letting the weather deter me.

 

[kingslug]

Just not sure if I want to drive 5 hours up there. Hunter looks no better...hmmm

 

[180]

Waterville Valley, come see the US Freestyle Nationals. The best bumpers in the USA

 

[Smellytele]

Just not sure if I want to drive 5 hours up there. Hunter looks no better...hmmm

Friday doesn't see all the bad:

10am

 

[Smellytele]

1pm:

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Gfs still has it plenty

 

[Kleetus]

Agree Friday and Tomorrow look good. Saturday....will it freeze or won't it Friday night. Forecasts for 2500' showing 30-34, then holding steady throughout the day. Low margin of error and high risk of frozen turns Saturday with that forecast.

If I could get out of work tomorrow or Friday I would. Being out on vacation though to got to Aspen eliminates my ability to do that, which I'll accept the sacrifice.

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[cdskier]

Gfs still has it plenty

Not really "plenty" if you look at actual total precip the GFS (and other models) call for. Many of the ski areas could see only a tenth or so of an inch of liquid on Friday.

But feel free to keep being a pessimist!

 

[drjeff]

Not really "plenty" if you look at actual total precip the GFS (and other models) call for. Many of the ski areas could see only a tenth or so of an inch of liquid on Friday.

But feel free to keep being a pessimist!

Agree....

Not a bunch of rain (very likely 0.25" or less for almost all of ski country) some warmth, but not 60's+ warmth, then a relatively slow cool down with some drying wind (not a flash freeze) and then what looks to be the makings of a corn cycle next week

A good start to Spring ski season

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[skiMEbike]

Agree Friday and Tomorrow look good. Saturday....will it freeze or won't it Friday night. Forecasts for 2500' showing 30-34, then holding steady throughout the day. Low margin of error and high risk of frozen turns Saturday with that forecast.

If I could get out of work tomorrow or Friday I would. Being out on vacation though to got to Aspen eliminates my ability to do that, which I'll accept the sacrifice.

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Similar forecasts for the Loaf where the low at elevation on Friday night is forecasted to be 31 degrees...which makes frozen turns on Saturday a very likely possibility, however it would be nice to squeak out one more day of everything in play before the inevitable freeze coming for Sunday.

This forecasts makes me wonder a couple of things: 1) Can the snow "freeze up" if the temps never reach freezing and hover just above 32 degrees? 2) How long does the temp need to stay at 32 degrees for things to freeze up (like if its only 32 degrees for like an hour or so will we avoid the bulletproof on Saturday) ?

#FirstWorldProblems

 

[ss20]

Leaning towards Okemo Saturday over Killington, simply because Okemo will be a few degrees warmer and less risk of "froz-er-oy". Leaving at 2 or 3pm Saturday and getting the hell out of dodge. Sunday will be a mess no matter how you slice things.

Can't complain as it's mid-March. We got lucky two years ago, and downright spoiled last March. I've had a lovely week and the highlight of Wildcat in 40 degrees and sunshine tomorrow is still to come!!

 

[tnt1234]

Hmmm....I'm skiing saturday, and was probably sticking to Blue for short drive and warm temps. But Bell is just about 100% including all glades but Dreamcatcher....that's intriguing.

Whats the thought on temps in the catskills? Frozen on Sat.?

 

[kingslug]

Frozen..
Looked at all the reports for all the areas..super warm on Friday and just dropping steadily. Too bad as Stowe got 16 inches this week..and its all going to freeze Friday night...

 

[Kleetus]

Similar forecasts for the Loaf where the low at elevation on Friday night is forecasted to be 31 degrees...which makes frozen turns on Saturday a very likely possibility, however it would be nice to squeak out one more day of everything in play before the inevitable freeze coming for Sunday.

This forecasts makes me wonder a couple of things: 1) Can the snow "freeze up" if the temps never reach freezing and hover just above 32 degrees? 2) How long does the temp need to stay at 32 degrees for things to freeze up (like if its only 32 degrees for like an hour or so will we avoid the bulletproof on Saturday) ?

#FirstWorldProblems

Just based on a few times in the past when I have rolled the dice on this with a rain/melt the night before and then dropping temps to refreeze the next day...

If the temps never go below freezing, and even just stay a degree or 2 above, Snow generally starts to get firmer but is not full on re-freeze. If it goes below freezing, doesn't take that long for stuff to ice up, especially if it's during the overnight and not getting skied/pushed around. Also depends for groomed stuff when they groom relative to the freeze.

Perfect example this season. Skied Gore in Dec day after temps in the 40's followed by rain to a gradual cool down to 31 degrees by opening time. They had groomed everything prior to opening, and it hit 31 for maybe 2 hours if that before opening. Everything they had groomed on the lower part that night was frozen solid. Not bulletproof, but not fun either. Same for the woods.

A little higher on the mountain, there was a temperature inversion that left the top just above freezing at 33 degrees. Stuff on the top, although a little firm, was skiable, including the woods and groomed trails. Wasn't soft snow, but wasn't boilerplate either. Temperature rose a few more degrees that day to a high of around 37, didn't really get any softer on the top where there wasn't a re-freeze and the bottom remained frozen solid.

I'm no snow expert, but setup for this Saturday looks similar. Other time besides the one I mentioned had worse results with the whole mountain being boilerplate.

 

[kingslug]

Maybe I'll uncover the Matzoh Rocket and take it for a ride. Sliding around Stowe in those conditions is not optimal..

 

[drjeff]

Just to be on the safe side when I get up to VT tomorrow evening, I'll put a fresh tune on both my daily drivers (mid fat semi tip rocker Stockli's) and my ice skates (full traditional camber race construction Fischer beer league cheater skis) and then wait and see how "shiny" the snow is and what the temp is Saturday morning to see which pair I grab to use..... Pretty sure I'll be using the Fischer's on Sunday....

 

[Skrn]

Knowing that I am likely to sit out this weekend, I took a day off and went to Killington yesterday. With 7" of snow fell on Monday night, I was expecting top notch condition. The condition turned out to be generally good, especially in the trees. But it was also much worse than I thought. The new snow was heavy wet snow. With skiing traffic and low night temperature, many trails had large patches of ice already on Wednesday. In addition, the 40+ degree temperature and the sun are melting even more snow. My point is that the surface of the snow pack is already pretty wet with without the rain. With a bit more rain on Friday and the following drop in temperature, the freeze can create a deep layer of ice instead of just crust on top.

Now I am definitely sitting out this weekend.