Blue Knob, PA 3/6/01

[Denis Bogan]

The storm just past was cruel indeed to MASH. However, based upon both web & verbal reports I made a decision to drive up to Blue Knob PA last <BR>night and get some of whatever powder had fallen up there. I knew that WV had missed it, and BK's web page said 12 on the ground with 24" expected. <BR>Web pages without pictures are caveat emptor but I took the chance. Measureable snow at roadside began almost exactly at the Mason-Dixon line. <BR> By Bedford PA it was maybe 4", at the base of BK ~8, at the top 15-18. There were maybe 50 skiers there. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew but almost immediately ran into Andy, super tele skier and former US B team member, then the whole gang from Ski Center in DC, the best IMHO ski shop south of the M-D line. They had declared a shop holiday and everyone was there. The powder was far lighter than I expected. It had started <BR>heavy on Sun. evening but temp dropped continuously drying it out and the fierce wind for which BK is known was moving it around and drying it further. I got about 18000 verts of powder and powder on rocks. There was _no_ base. As a result ski damage was western. At the end of the day my new tune was toast; my bases looked like world war II had been fought on them. All together a great day with conditions that we rarely see in MASH.

 

[Denis Bogan]

The report above was not written for no-bull ski reports and I did not expect it to appear here. It was posted to the SkiVT List, a list serve, as basically a report to friends. I skied almost exclusively on natural snow trails and woods where there was no base. My friends understand that I would seek out such places on a big powder day. The snowmaking trails do have a base and will probably last for a couple more weeks. I want to be fair to Blue Knob.