Snow?  Or just freezing rain.  Thinking of breaking in my Ridiculous Pass this weekend.  Saturday and Sunday look nice, but if there is sustained rain in the next 24 hours...?

I should be there a little after 9 tonight.  I'll try to post an update tonight and again tomorrow morning.

It looks like it's already snowing...if I'm not seeing something else on the webcams...!

Is it just me or does it look like they are actually making snow in some places? If so that's awesome

Blue Don,

Here is an issue to take up with the Snowshoe mgt. folks: SS season season pass holders not being able to upgrade to the new  22 mountain MAXPass.  I understand that the SS ridiculos season pass is priced well below the season pass costs at the other 21 participating resorts (at least for adults) and therefore this creates a problem allowing SS passholders to upgrade to the MAXPASS at the $249 price given what season passes cost at the other participating resorts, but this should not result in SS season pass holders having to pay full general public price for the MAXPass: $695.  All 22 resorts do not charge the same prices for their season passes, and some have low price passes for children, youth and seniors, even for adults. Indeed, some of the resorts offer discounted passes without blackout dates for well under the cost of the new MAXPass.  Yet at all the other resorts season pass holders can upgrade to a separate MAXPass for $249!  Surely a fair upgrade price can be derived that would permit SS season pass holders to purchase the MAXPass for less than the full public price!

Without such an arrangement Snowshoe, and by default all who pay to use the ski slopes are subsidizing the free daily passes given to MAXPass holders from other participating results when they come to Snowshoe!!!  

On the surface this appears totally unfair to SS season pass holders.

Hope this makes sense!

The Colonel

Mtn Lodge Parking lot 9 PM its  28*, foggy and light sleet.  cars are covered with a light coating.  

Colonel - we must have been posting at the same time.  I agree with you.  

I'll try to convey "our" concerns - assuming our mtg does have SS representation.

Thank you for bringing this up.  I thought there s/b some "equalizing"  to make it fair but life got in the way and forgot all about that.

Blue Don, 

I just checked and one can buy an adult season pass at Winter Park in Colorado for $469 (and it is also good and unlimited at Copper Mt in CO) with days at Steamboat and others), and there are lower prices for children, youth and seniors.  Add the $249 for an upgrade to MAXPass benefits and an adult Winter Park/Copper Mt season pass holder will be out of pocket about $718, vice a SS season pass holder being out of pocket nearly $918 for the same package.  NOT FAIR!!

The Colonel

RAIN and FOG at 8 45.   My luck ran out.  NCAA for us today.  

Cold rain / drizzle all damn day.  I did 6 runs near powder monkey and as soon as ballhooter opened I bailed out.

Skiing in the rain sucks.  

Meanwhile, central PA got like 4-6 inches....I think we will come to Snowshoe tonight and then evaluate and maybe head north Sunday or possibly Monday.  Did the partner benefits on the Ridiculous Pass take effect March 1 as well or do they start next season only?

Weather was beautiful today, but the snow left something to be desired.  Stayed mainly on Ballhooter and Grabhammer.  Green trails were a mess.

also confirmed that partner benefits don't start until next season.

Pretty good Sunday AM.  Started out very firm then loosened a little we got 13 runs in from 9 - 11 AM.  Low crowds.

Cupp and Shays are a little thin in a few spots.  I don't think those 2 runs will make it until April 5th.  The rest of the basin area has a ton of snow.

At my HOA meeting we were told flat out that SS WILL be open until April 5.  They have snow guns set up and connected near all the lifts in the basin area. 

Thanks for the update, Blue Don.  Glad you got in a bunch of good runs this morning.

Good to know that SS is still pushing to be open through Easter weekend.  Any idea whether they'll stay open on weekdays these next 2 weeks?

Woody

At the meeting, he made NO mention of any limitations so I believe it's 9 - 4:30 for the next 2 weeks straight.

I'm sitting in a rental house at Black Bear Crossing right now.  We came up Friday night, in crazy fog.

Saturday morning was foggy, but it burned off by noon or so.  Snow conditions were great early, but became extremely sloppy in the afternoon.  Straight mashed potatoes, but still excellent coverage on most runs.

The Western Territory must be getting hit harder because of its exposure, because conditions are worse there than they are on the other side of the mountain.  Lower Shays was downright easy Saturday afternoon because the bumps were so sloppy.

I skied Western Territory Sunday morning for about 2 hours straight.  Anything not groomed refroze and was bulletproof.  They groomed most of Lower Shays, and it was very nice.  The sweet spot is about 11am to 1pm, as stuff starts to soften, but not get sloppy.

Sunday afternoon, I skied Widowmaker.  There are bumps under the lift, and while it's thin in spots, they were good.  My bump skiing is terrible (out of practice and out of shape), but I enjoyed it and got a work out.

My daughter has been in ski school both days, and is advancing in leaps and bounds (she's only 4).  I skied a few greens with her today, and had a blast.

The mountain is pretty empty.  Most lifts were no wait all weekend, and even Ballhooter's wait was very short.  I got a pizza from Cheat Mountain at 5pm today, and the place was 1/3 full.  Black Bear Crossing is at less than 5% occupancy.  Again, not to rehash my other thread, but if I'm an owner, I'd much rather have people coming up for $250 a night or something, than charge $600+ a night (as most places are) with a three night minimum, and have my unit sit empty.  If I'm the resort, I want those people on the mountain, even if they have a pass, to spend on food & beverage.

Similarly, Snowshoe can't get its act together with demand forecasting.  My daughter was one of two in her ski school class today, and wound up getting effectively a private lesson all afternoon, yet I saw two separate families extremely dissapointed this morning when they were told ski school was full.  Yeah, it could be an age thing, but they shouldn't be turning people away from ski school with such a small amount of people on the mountain.

I'll be here tomorrow until mid-afternoon, if any DC Skiers are still around, and see a guy in black pants, red jacket, and a white helmet, give me a wave.

Yesterday was indeed really nice.  I would say 9:30-11:30 is really the time to be on the slopes.  Started skiing on Saturday late around 11:30, and snow was a mess.  Some of the blues held up all right, but temp was up to like 55 I think by closing.  Yesterday was about 10-15 degrees cooler, and the sun took a little longer to come out.  No one was on Spruce or Skip Jack and did endless laps on them both.  Stopped at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory on the way home, and then hiked to the top of Seneca Rocks afterwards.

On the lodging, I wish there were possibilities for one night on the mountain, especially in late season, for Ridiculous Pass people like myself.  We stayed in Elkins because we couldn't find anything (reasonably priced) last minute.  It's crazy how expensive some of the places on the mountain are.  I'm surprised more hasn't developed at the base of the mountain...like a chain hotel of some kind.  During ski season, everything seems full every weekend.

Noticed that the forecast high for next Saturday is 32 with sunny skies.  Thought yesterday was going to be my last day, but may have to drag myself and some friends back out next weekend!

Overheard some talk while waiting for the lift about possibly moving some of the lifts around and upgrading Ballhooter to a six pack....any basis for that?

hoyadrew wrote:

Overheard some talk while waiting for the lift about possibly moving some of the lifts around and upgrading Ballhooter to a six pack....any basis for that?

Not for 2015 - 2016 per the marketing director for SS.  He spoke at our HOA meeting on Sat.  

hoyadrew wrote:

During ski season, everything seems full every weekend.

 

This seems like a good time to ask...

How far in advance should I book lodging for the weekend after Thanksgiving? And the week between Christmas and New Year's?

Depends on the cancelation policy. Some years SS had 1 trail top-to-bottom at Xmas. LOL, back when I went there I'd check the weather "TODAY" to decide about going "TOMORROW"! LOL

Mongo,

Now is a good time to book.  There usually is a two week cancellation policy.  Since Intrawest took over there is vastly improved snow making and usually most of the basin area is open by Christmas week.  Snowshoe just announced a major upgrade to the snowmaking in the Western Territtory with the addition of fan type snow cannons on Cupp Run , hoping to have this area open by Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

The Colonel

How are we feeling about conditions this weekend?  Any meaningful snow accumulation Friday/Saturday?

hoyadrew wrote:

How are we feeling about conditions this weekend?  Any meaningful snow accumulation Friday/Saturday?

I'm thinking they'll be at least as good as last weekend which has really sparked my interest.  If I can juggle a few commitments for this weekend, I'm going to head down again.

Last weekend was not "perfect" but we had a lot of fun.  Ski all day and watch NCAA hoops at night.  Sounds like a good weekend to this fella. 

Pretty seriously thinking about heading back myself.  Mrs Reisen slipped and bruised her tailbone last weekend, so only if she's feeling back up to it, though.

Yeah, we are thinking about heading back too.  The temperatures this weekend will definitely be colder...so no slush.  I'm wondering about how roads will be Friday night if it's been snowing all day Friday.

Pretty sure I'm doing snowshoe Sat/Sun... Orange pants and probably on a snowboard this time. Saturday might be a bit icy I'm thinking, but sunday should be nice. And if the webcams arent lying they have more than enough snow to survive tommorrow warm up and immediate cool down.

Any idea if the western territory will make it until the weekend?