J.Spin
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Larger versions of the pictures are available through the link at the bottom of the report.
This report starts off with a couple of updates on Thursday?s snowfall, and then leads into the trip report below.
Snowfall update ? Thursday 28DEC2006 ? A.M. report
Although our NWS forecast did indicate the chance for a bit of accumulating snow today (~1 inch), I was surprised to see that we?d already accumulated 1.75 new inches at our house as of this morning, and it was still coming down moderately. Driving in to Burlington this morning, the Richmond and Burlington areas seemed to have accumulated about ½ to 1 inch of snow.
This event was my first chance to get a substantial measurement off the new NWS-style snowboard I created, and it worked great. I?m not actually sure if there?s much of a storm associated with this snow, but it?s our 6th valley snow event for ?06-?07, and brings us to 14.75 inches of total snowfall for the season.
Looking at data from official Vermont reporting stations, I found that the Island Pond, Smuggler?s Notch, and Jay Peak stations all reported 3.0 inches of snow as of this morning, with Island Pond indicating heavy snowfall. In terms of other ski areas around here, Stowe reported 3 new inches and Bolton reported 2 new inches as of this morning. However, with the way it?s been snowing this morning, those totals will probably rise a bit. The ski areas in northern Vermont are approaching a foot of new snow in the past 72 hours with help from this latest event.
Snowfall update ? Thursday 28DEC2006 ? P.M. report
When I returned home at the end of the day, we?d received only ¼ inch of additional snow as the snowfall seemed to quickly shut off after I left the house in the morning. But, the extra bit of snow did bring us to 2.0 inches from the event and an even 15.0 inches of snow accumulation on the season.
Trip Report
I didn?t really have time to head out to the slopes on Thursday because I wanted to get some work done, but the new snow still had me itching to make a few turns. So, I asked Ty if he wanted to head up to Bolton Valley for a few afternoon/evening turns. I?d been telling him that he?d soon get a chance to ski under the lights at Bolton Valley, and this seemed like the night for his inaugural visit. The only other time he?d been night skiing was back in February at Big Mountain, so the experience would still be pretty novel for him. Heck, aside from our few runs under the lights at Big Mountain, and a trip to Mt. Philo a few years back, night skiing was basically becoming novel for me again as well.
We left Mom and Dylan at the house, and told them we?d be back for dinner after a few runs on the hill. I was hoping that Ty would be hungry enough for dinner that I?d be able to coax him off the hill, because I surely knew I?d work up an appetite. All in all it was a pretty slick deal. There was no need to pack up for a big day on the hill like we do when we go with the whole family, we just grabbed minimal gear and hopped in the car. Once we were up at the village, we parked near the Snowflake lift, popped on our ski boots and coats, and hit the lift. No offense to Dylan, but skiing is much simpler with only Ty at this point. Ty can carry his own skis (sometimes) and aside from needing a little help getting on and off the ski lifts, he?s really self sufficient on the slopes. Our Thursday evening trip basically felt like free skiing ? but don?t tell Dylan that, we?ll keep it our little secret
.
We arrived at the mountain a bit before sunset, and you couldn?t ask for much better conditions (except maybe more fresh powder). The temperature was in the low 20s F and there was little if any wind. I point this out especially because I have spent some cold and windy nights at Bolton Valley. There?s something about night skiing that makes the cold and wind feel even colder and windier. We spent our time mixing up our runs between the Snowflake and Mid-Mountain lifts. The new accumulation of snow had made the groomed runs even softer than Wednesday, despite some holiday traffic. But, since it was technically the very end of the day, our favorite little stashes of powder in the Sprig O? Pine and Deer Run areas were pretty tracked up. However, the zone of powder we liked below the quad had been freshened up nicely with the addition of the new snowfall and mostly ignored by the day skiers.
On our first run off the Mid Mountain Lift, we joined with many others gazing off toward the sunset in the west over the Adirondacks. It was neat to see everyone stop and stare at the orange glow among the mountains and clouds, all set off by the night skiing lights in the foreground. In the case of Ty and myself (and probably some others) the sunset was even enhanced a bit by the orange lenses of our goggles. I had to stop and get a few pictures of the scene, and thankfully Ty was very patient. The goggle-induced extra coloration of the sunset, and the generally lower visibility of daytime lenses I observed in our runs under the lights, reminded me about clear lenses in goggles. I?ve heard that many people like to use clear (or maybe yellow) lenses instead of orange tinted lenses for maximum visibility while skiing at night, so we many want to invest in some night-skiing lenses as it looks like we?ll be doing more night skiing throughout the season.
I?d forgotten how intimate the night skiing experience can be. With your skiing and views generally limited to the lit trails, it?s sort of like being in your own little ski microcosm filled with the other handful of skiers that are typically out there. It was fun to share the experience with Ty. As we rode the Snowflake lift, we could hear a snow gun operating off to our right in the darkness (suggesting that the mountain is putting some snow down in the direction of the Timberline area). The sound of the mysterious distant snow gun really played into the feeling of being isolated in our island of light. We headed home for dinner after five runs, but not before making a quick stop in the lodge so Ty could eat the snack he?d brought with him. I think Ty enjoys the visits to lodge after skiing; it seems to give him a chance to mellow out. I did use the incentive of dinner to get Ty in the mood to head home, and we had a bit of adventure as Ty picked a route for us to ski through the woods to get to the car. The Avocet recorded five runs for 1,600 vertical feet of skiing, and the Suunto recorded five runs for 1,539 vertical feet of skiing, which equates to a 3.9% difference.
Larger versions of the pictures can be found at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2006/28DEC06.html
J.Spin
This report starts off with a couple of updates on Thursday?s snowfall, and then leads into the trip report below.
Snowfall update ? Thursday 28DEC2006 ? A.M. report
Although our NWS forecast did indicate the chance for a bit of accumulating snow today (~1 inch), I was surprised to see that we?d already accumulated 1.75 new inches at our house as of this morning, and it was still coming down moderately. Driving in to Burlington this morning, the Richmond and Burlington areas seemed to have accumulated about ½ to 1 inch of snow.
This event was my first chance to get a substantial measurement off the new NWS-style snowboard I created, and it worked great. I?m not actually sure if there?s much of a storm associated with this snow, but it?s our 6th valley snow event for ?06-?07, and brings us to 14.75 inches of total snowfall for the season.
Looking at data from official Vermont reporting stations, I found that the Island Pond, Smuggler?s Notch, and Jay Peak stations all reported 3.0 inches of snow as of this morning, with Island Pond indicating heavy snowfall. In terms of other ski areas around here, Stowe reported 3 new inches and Bolton reported 2 new inches as of this morning. However, with the way it?s been snowing this morning, those totals will probably rise a bit. The ski areas in northern Vermont are approaching a foot of new snow in the past 72 hours with help from this latest event.
Snowfall update ? Thursday 28DEC2006 ? P.M. report
When I returned home at the end of the day, we?d received only ¼ inch of additional snow as the snowfall seemed to quickly shut off after I left the house in the morning. But, the extra bit of snow did bring us to 2.0 inches from the event and an even 15.0 inches of snow accumulation on the season.
Trip Report
I didn?t really have time to head out to the slopes on Thursday because I wanted to get some work done, but the new snow still had me itching to make a few turns. So, I asked Ty if he wanted to head up to Bolton Valley for a few afternoon/evening turns. I?d been telling him that he?d soon get a chance to ski under the lights at Bolton Valley, and this seemed like the night for his inaugural visit. The only other time he?d been night skiing was back in February at Big Mountain, so the experience would still be pretty novel for him. Heck, aside from our few runs under the lights at Big Mountain, and a trip to Mt. Philo a few years back, night skiing was basically becoming novel for me again as well.
We left Mom and Dylan at the house, and told them we?d be back for dinner after a few runs on the hill. I was hoping that Ty would be hungry enough for dinner that I?d be able to coax him off the hill, because I surely knew I?d work up an appetite. All in all it was a pretty slick deal. There was no need to pack up for a big day on the hill like we do when we go with the whole family, we just grabbed minimal gear and hopped in the car. Once we were up at the village, we parked near the Snowflake lift, popped on our ski boots and coats, and hit the lift. No offense to Dylan, but skiing is much simpler with only Ty at this point. Ty can carry his own skis (sometimes) and aside from needing a little help getting on and off the ski lifts, he?s really self sufficient on the slopes. Our Thursday evening trip basically felt like free skiing ? but don?t tell Dylan that, we?ll keep it our little secret
.We arrived at the mountain a bit before sunset, and you couldn?t ask for much better conditions (except maybe more fresh powder). The temperature was in the low 20s F and there was little if any wind. I point this out especially because I have spent some cold and windy nights at Bolton Valley. There?s something about night skiing that makes the cold and wind feel even colder and windier. We spent our time mixing up our runs between the Snowflake and Mid-Mountain lifts. The new accumulation of snow had made the groomed runs even softer than Wednesday, despite some holiday traffic. But, since it was technically the very end of the day, our favorite little stashes of powder in the Sprig O? Pine and Deer Run areas were pretty tracked up. However, the zone of powder we liked below the quad had been freshened up nicely with the addition of the new snowfall and mostly ignored by the day skiers.
On our first run off the Mid Mountain Lift, we joined with many others gazing off toward the sunset in the west over the Adirondacks. It was neat to see everyone stop and stare at the orange glow among the mountains and clouds, all set off by the night skiing lights in the foreground. In the case of Ty and myself (and probably some others) the sunset was even enhanced a bit by the orange lenses of our goggles. I had to stop and get a few pictures of the scene, and thankfully Ty was very patient. The goggle-induced extra coloration of the sunset, and the generally lower visibility of daytime lenses I observed in our runs under the lights, reminded me about clear lenses in goggles. I?ve heard that many people like to use clear (or maybe yellow) lenses instead of orange tinted lenses for maximum visibility while skiing at night, so we many want to invest in some night-skiing lenses as it looks like we?ll be doing more night skiing throughout the season.
I?d forgotten how intimate the night skiing experience can be. With your skiing and views generally limited to the lit trails, it?s sort of like being in your own little ski microcosm filled with the other handful of skiers that are typically out there. It was fun to share the experience with Ty. As we rode the Snowflake lift, we could hear a snow gun operating off to our right in the darkness (suggesting that the mountain is putting some snow down in the direction of the Timberline area). The sound of the mysterious distant snow gun really played into the feeling of being isolated in our island of light. We headed home for dinner after five runs, but not before making a quick stop in the lodge so Ty could eat the snack he?d brought with him. I think Ty enjoys the visits to lodge after skiing; it seems to give him a chance to mellow out. I did use the incentive of dinner to get Ty in the mood to head home, and we had a bit of adventure as Ty picked a route for us to ski through the woods to get to the car. The Avocet recorded five runs for 1,600 vertical feet of skiing, and the Suunto recorded five runs for 1,539 vertical feet of skiing, which equates to a 3.9% difference.
Larger versions of the pictures can be found at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2006/28DEC06.html
J.Spin
