Upslope Snowfall Forecast From Tonight-Thursday

[powderfreak]

I'm not sure how anyone could think about skipping out on skiing after seeing Scott's pics and vid from Stowe today. For those that haven't seen them, here are the SkiVT-L and First Tracks!! links

http://list.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind06 ... =D&P=12838

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=1902

J.Spin

I agree. While 75% of the northeast might have next to nothing as far as snow goes...the reports coming out of the northern Green Mtn resorts like Stowe, Smugglers Notch, and Jay Peak are the exact opposite. It might not be as deep as it was in early March, but for 48hrs after a 50F heavy rainfall, its bordering on epic.

A bomb-proof 2-6 foot natural snow base on Mansfield topped with 1-2 feet depending on wind (well, in reality its 0 new on groomed, exposed trails and up to 3 feet along the edges of some trails)...trails are still scratchy in areas, but pillowy in others. Glades were generally amazing.

Don't even think about putting those skis away yet even if your home mountain doesn't have any snow!

 

[JimG.]

I'm not sure how anyone could think about skipping out on skiing after seeing Scott's pics and vid from Stowe today. For those that haven't seen them, here are the SkiVT-L and First Tracks!! links

http://list.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind06 ... =D&P=12838

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=1902

J.Spin

6 1/2 hour drive each way, family of 5 coming along with attendant expenses, prospects just didn't look good early in the week. Wasn't going to make the time and $ commitment when things looked so bleak after the big warmup.

Of course, once the decision was made Tuesday to bag it, it started snowing.

Hey, you win some, you lose some.

And BTW, I'm not skipping out on skiing, just the long trip up to Jay. I'll be skiing at my home mountain this weekend.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I think we've really nailed the frustration of eastern skiing here. I booked my April and May Mammoth weekends back in November, in serene confidence that I'll have 4 quality ski days, and if I'm lucky like last year it may be more than that.

But in the East you can put upfront $ for lodging and commit vacation days even only a week ahead and the conditions can turn from face shot powder to total crap in the interim. How many times have we seen this happen this season?

I now totally understand that in the East the ski areas with value are those within day commute distance. Any of you that move out here need to change that assumption though.

 

[JimG.]

I think we've really nailed the frustration of eastern skiing here. I booked my April and May Mammoth weekends back in November, in serene confidence that I'll have 4 quality ski days, and if I'm lucky like last year it may be more than that.

But in the East you can put upfront $ for lodging and commit vacation days even only a week ahead and the conditions can turn from face shot powder to total crap in the interim. How many times have we seen this happen this season?

I now totally understand that in the East the ski areas with value are those within day commute distance. Any of you that move out here need to change that assumption though.

Yup, you've nailed it on the head. Very frustrating, but as I said to JSpin, you win some, you lose some.

It's times like this that a private jet (fractional ownership) looks mighty sweet.

 

[riverc0il]

great points tony. though double digit foot of pow days are still easily had in the east. i actually may come close to double digit foot deep pow days this year even after a broken arm and three week lay off. so long as you can or are willing to take a vacation day on short notice and drive to where ever the big dump occured, even the worst season in the east (which many argue this has been the worst in their life time) can still be really great. being willing to hike for turns early season helps too but having kids and an unflexible job are definitely deal breakers on always getting the goods in the east. living outside the 2-3 reasonable commute distance of the best mountains also makes things tough. i fixed that problem easy enough but once you are solidified and have family, it certainly becomes harder. much respect to the family life of JimG and i know he has no regrets... but i have no regrets either and am not looking for kids any time soon!

bottom line for the east is in order to maximize powder and good snow days, you need to be extremely flexible, willing to drive on two days notice, and not book in advanced. this makes it very difficult for 80-90% of the population to really nail a great season when conditions are questionable, or even when the snow is good if the weather suddenly turns sour on a planned weekend.