Updated one year ago
Heading out to Snowshoe on Monday. I know they are reporting 5-6 inches from Saturday. Any first hand reports on how much additional fell on Sunday?
Nothing fell today, early it was a weird steady heavy frozen mist that coated your goggles then an on/off mix throughout the day. Snow has started tonight, heard 2-3 inches forecasted.
Lots of great snow.
Can anybody figure out why they’re not blowing snow on Lower Shay’s? They’ve had the new blue guns mounted and ready to go since (at least) early last week. Since it turned cold mid-week last week, it doesn’t look like they’ve blown any snow at all on LS. With the two rounds of natural snow plus an abundance of cold temps, they could have had it open by now. I was there Fri-Sun and they didn’t blow at all on LS. Meanwhile, they were blowing snow on Upper Shay’s and top to bottom on Cupp for long stretches throughout the weekend. But nothing at all on Lower Shay’s. What gives?
General report: great conditions on Sunday (though the freezing mist did affect visibility and goggles). There were a number of places to dip into the trees on the Western Territory and Sawmill if you aren’t too concerned about your equipment coming out pristine. We had a great time dipping over to Silver Creek on Sat when the lift lines were too unbearable mid-day.
All in all, a great time to head to Snowshoe. We had nonproblems driving back yesterday. The roads in metro DC were in much worse shape than the roads near Snowshoe.
My guess: If they just got the new guns mounted, then they probably are not tested and operable at this time.
The Colonel wrote:
My guess: If they just got the new guns mounted, then they probably are not tested and operable at this time.
They mounted them this summer. They are the only line of the New Blue Fan Guns that have not been utilized.
They were tested. Keep in mind the lower connector to the top of LS has no snowmaking so they have to build whales at the bottom of US then push them out to cover the connector.
dwm8a wrote:
Can anybody figure out why they’re not blowing snow on Lower Shay’s? They’ve had the new blue guns mounted and ready to go since (at least) early last week. Since it turned cold mid-week last week, it doesn’t look like they’ve blown any snow at all on LS. With the two rounds of natural snow plus an abundance of cold temps, they could have had it open by now.
The 2 rounds of natural snow were right after a period that started around Christmas where it was warm and rainy. From what I understand the mountain looked VERY different a week ago than it did this weekend. They were making snow in several places throughout the weekend to rebuild base that they lost as well as opening J-Hook and Sawmill. They have gotten huge warm ups the last 2 seasons and I suspect they don’t want to spread too thin. I suspect they will work the green trails that are up by powder ridge with lodging on them before Shays… especially with the holiday weekend
wgo wrote:
In other important news, I am sad to report that there is no longer a Thai Noodle bowl station in shavers center.
Agree but try them at Zenkei (former South Mtn Grille). I had one last night…..very good. Not as conveinent but a good option after lapping camp99 etc.
Also good to see the pizza by the slice place near western lift doing well.
Bonzski wrote:
Agree but try them at Zenkei (former South Mtn Grille). I had one last night…..very good. Not as conveinent but a good option after lapping camp99 etc.
Thanks for the tip, I’ll have to give them a try.
Going back to on slope discussion, it was good today. Snow was in great shape on most runs.
Regarding Lower Shays … I messaged them yesterday and they replied last evening
ME:
Do have any estimates on when Lower Shays will be open?
SS:
Hopefully by about this time next week!
Blue Don 1982 wrote:
Regarding Lower Shays … I messaged them yesterday and they replied last evening
ME:
Do have any estimates on when Lower Shays will be open?
SS:
Hopefully by about this time next week!
They posted the same answer on social media, that they are blowing on lower Shay’s with hope to open it soon.
Snowshoe has decided to stop snowmaking until the power company makes a repair. I’m still hoping to ski lower Shay’s this weekend. I’m keeping my fingers crossed
SNOWMAKING UPDATE: We have unfortunately had to delay opening Lower Shay’s Revenge by at least a couple of days. We experienced a major power outage here across Pocahontas County last Saturday. Our friends at Mon Power were able to identify the issue and get things back online relatively quickly, however the fix at that time was temporary. Until they are able to fully repair the system, they’ve asked that we suspend our snowmaking operations. Snowmaking requires a significant amount of energy, and until they have completed their work, we do not want to put an excessive strain on the grid and cause any further issues. We are hoping to resume snowmaking in the next few days. Apologies for any inconvenience, and thank you for your patience.
Snowshoe Mountain Friday Morning Update: We have been told to expect the repair to be complete by this evening. Our snowmakers will hit the ground running the minute they can. Fortunately, Mother Nature has delivered a couple inches over the past day and conditions are good on our open terrain. Lower Shay’s is unfortunately extremely unlikely this weekend.
Bonzski wrote:
wgo wrote:
In other important news, I am sad to report that there is no longer a Thai Noodle bowl station in shavers center.Agree but try them at Zenkei (former South Mtn Grille). I had one last night…..very good. Not as conveinent but a good option after lapping camp99 etc.
Also good to see the pizza by the slice place near western lift doing well.
My daughter and I are in Snowshoe for today and tomorrow. Temps were pretty low but conditions were terrific
I am sad to report that Zenkai was not serving noodle bowls and that they were not popular and they were going to be taking them off the menu. Too bad because at $10 - $12 the bowls were a fraction of the price of the entres. MDD and I shared a pretentious hamburger and french fry entree which was okay, and certainly hit the spot at 9pm after driving in from Bethesda, but in no way lived up to whatever menu lipstick it had on.
We discussed that perhaps they took the noodle bowls off the menu not because they were unpopular, but because it was too popular.
Skiing has been great, though.
My son and I did SS on Saturday. We expected it to be crazy busy given the ideal temps and conditions and our expectations were certainly met. Normally we would do at least a few hours at Silver Creek to avoid the crowds but we were meeting people in the main area so that was not an option. We used the normal strategies to avoid Ballhooter and Powder Monkey lifts but even the Western express had 15 minute waits until around 1 PM or so.
Anyway, conditions were great! Started with a few runs off of Ballhooter until things started getting too crowded. Made our way to Western and had a great 3 hours or so there. Lower Shays was open and offered a different experience depending on whether you took the center, right, or left line. We did laps on Cupp and Shays until about 1:30, ate a quick lunch, and then used Grabhammer lift to ski the 3 basin blues and Choker until around 3:30. We did make the mistake of using Ballhooter lift to get back to South Mountain after that, thinking that crowds might have thinned by then but even at that time crowds were pretty bad. Finished with a couple runs in the south mountain area but by that point things were pretty icy, especially on Sawmill. We managed 20 runs, not bad given the crowds.
We will be back next weekend with my wife and daughter for the full weekend. We decided to stay at Silver Creek for the upcoming trip. Not sure what strategy we will follow - we may stick to SC to start and then maybe take the shuttle for a couple hours on Cupp/Shays.
MDSkiGuy wrote:
We discussed that perhaps they took the noodle bowls off the menu not because they were unpopular, but because it was too popular.
Skiing has been great, though.
Too bad about the noodle bowls. I know you are talking about the new place rather than Shaver’s center, but I do feel the food options at Shaver’s center have taken a step backward. You are right about the skiing though…now if only there was something that could be done about the crowds on Ballhooter lift…
My buddy texted me from the Boathouse on Saturday around lunch time. Said the lines were the longest he’d ever seen. I looked at the webcams and it was crazy busy. I wonder at what point the large crowds are going to start making people go elsewhere.
Who would want to return next year to stand in line for 30 minutes?
Meeting some friends here this upcoming weekend, and right now the weather forecast has me in a somber mood. They finally get 100% open (sans glades), and mother nature has to swoop in and crap on my dreams of a fantastic trip. Hopefully I’m being too pessimistic and the snowpack will hold up, but I’m worried for sure.
Justinw303 wrote:
Meeting some friends here this upcoming weekend, and right now the weather forecast has me in a somber mood. They finally get 100% open (sans glades), and mother nature has to swoop in and crap on my dreams of a fantastic trip. Hopefully I’m being too pessimistic and the snowpack will hold up, but I’m worried for sure.
Actually this weekend is looking better. With warm rains coming for T-W-Th by Friday the rain ends with sub freezing temps through the weekend. Should be able to put some snow on top of a firm surface. Just make sure your edges are sharp!
Justinw303 wrote:
Meeting some friends here this upcoming weekend, and right now the weather forecast has me in a somber mood. They finally get 100% open (sans glades), and mother nature has to swoop in and crap on my dreams of a fantastic trip. Hopefully I’m being too pessimistic and the snowpack will hold up, but I’m worried for sure.
Coverage on trails will be fine. I am somber for this pattern of warm/rains every 7-10 days that wrecks the base in the trees & glades.
wgo wrote:
My son and I did SS on Saturday. We expected it to be crazy busy given the ideal temps and conditions and our expectations were certainly met. Normally we would do at least a few hours at Silver Creek to avoid the crowds but we were meeting people in the main area so that was not an option. We used the normal strategies to avoid Ballhooter and Powder Monkey lifts but even the Western express had 15 minute waits until around 1 PM or so.
Anyway, conditions were great! Started with a few runs off of Ballhooter until things started getting too crowded. Made our way to Western and had a great 3 hours or so there. Lower Shays was open and offered a different experience depending on whether you took the center, right, or left line. We did laps on Cupp and Shays until about 1:30, ate a quick lunch, and then used Grabhammer lift to ski the 3 basin blues and Choker until around 3:30. We did make the mistake of using Ballhooter lift to get back to South Mountain after that, thinking that crowds might have thinned by then but even at that time crowds were pretty bad. Finished with a couple runs in the south mountain area but by that point things were pretty icy, especially on Sawmill. We managed 20 runs, not bad given the crowds.
We will be back next weekend with my wife and daughter for the full weekend. We decided to stay at Silver Creek for the upcoming trip. Not sure what strategy we will follow - we may stick to SC to start and then maybe take the shuttle for a couple hours on Cupp/Shays.
20 laps across the mountian on a weekend is well played. The jr race team hosted 120 racers for slalom and giant slalom events on Widomaker both days…which didn’t help crowds on Ballhooter.
I always favor getting on Cupp/Shays early before the crowds build (11am) then to SC for short lift lines. Exception is if it was warm the previous day and then deep freeze up overnight, then you have to wait for Cupp to soften.
Bonzski wrote:
I always favor getting on Cupp/Shays early before the crowds build (11am) then to SC for short lift lines. Exception is if it was warm the previous day and then deep freeze up overnight, then you have to wait for Cupp to soften.
Unfortunately I think that is exactly the scenario we are looking at this weekend - rain and warmth this friday followed by a freeze overnight. Skis will be freshly sharpened and waxed so no concerns on that front, but we probably will want to wait a bit before heading over to Western.
I share your frustration with the rain/warmth cycles - glades were looking pretty skiable this weekend but the weather midweek will put a dent in the natural snowpack for sure. I agree with you that trail coverage should be fine, though.
Was over on Lower Shay’s late this morning for the first time this season. Asked a few skiers on the way over how it was-they said it was very firm not as soft as they had hoped. I found it nice having no problem keeping an edge as most of the other skiers who were on it then. It didn’t have any large sections of serious hardpack. Would have taken a few more runs but went over to see a few friends who were competing in the Cupp Run Challenge.
With the new big guns on the lower part of Shay’s it should bounce back over the weekend. After this on/off rain stretch in the first 2 weeks of February we have a chance to get some nice storms to finish out the month. Hopefully that can be carried into March like the dump we received last year.
wgo wrote:
Bonzski wrote:
I always favor getting on Cupp/Shays early before the crowds build (11am) then to SC for short lift lines. Exception is if it was warm the previous day and then deep freeze up overnight, then you have to wait for Cupp to soften.
Unfortunately I think that is exactly the scenario we are looking at this weekend - rain and warmth this friday followed by a freeze overnight. Skis will be freshly sharpened and waxed so no concerns on that front, but we probably will want to wait a bit before heading over to Western.
Friday keeps trending colder, with some percipitation (hopefully mostly snow). I’d look for them to have the guns on Friday through the evening so look for the WT to be pristine Sat morning. Fingers crossed!
Blue Don 1982 wrote:
My buddy texted me from the Boathouse on Saturday around lunch time. Said the lines were the longest he’d ever seen. I looked at the webcams and it was crazy busy. I wonder at what point the large crowds are going to start making people go elsewhere.
Who would want to return next year to stand in line for 30 minutes?
Interesting. We were there the weekend of Jan 25th, which was a terrific weekend. Cold, but not too cold, temps. 4 inches of natural snow (and they got more the following week). Good visibility.
Anyway, even with FFX and Montgomery county schools on long weekends, crowds Fri-Sun weren’t that bad. Western Territory never had a lift line. Ball Hooter, Powder Monkey, and Soaring Eagle lines were about what they usually are (definitely lines, but nothing unusual).
Maybe you just got unlucky?
One other Snowshoe point we were discussing on our trip: Given its positioning as a premium resort (ticket pricing, snow making, lodging costs), when is Snowshoe going to get with the program and install RFID pass readers? It really gets old having them scan the barcode on your epic pass every run, and I would think the lifties hate it too…
Reisen wrote:
One other Snowshoe point we were discussing on our trip: Given its positioning as a premium resort (ticket pricing, snow making, lodging costs), when is Snowshoe going to get with the program and install RFID pass readers? It really gets old having them scan the barcode on your epic pass every run, and I would think the lifties hate it too…
Is there anything else that you think Snowshoe should spend a couple of million dollars on besides RFID? That’s about the price tag from what I’ve heard at other destination resorts. Although in the last 4-5 years, several well known ski resorts in the northeast have moved to RFID, including Killington.
Snowbird was very late converting to RFID. Opted to build the Summit Lodge before installing RFID gates and the systems connected to that.
I would absolutely prefer RFID gates at Snowshoe, but it’s not clear to me that’s the best use of funds. It’s possible the costs of RFID are different at a resort like Snowshoe where you enter at the top of the mountain and complete a run before getting on a lift. At places like Snowbird, they don’t have RFID gates at every lift; they strategically place the RFID gates at lifts you have to use to get to other parts of the mountain (e.g., the tram, Gadzoom at Snowbird). I wonder if the cost is higher at a place like Snowshoe because they’d need to have more complete RFID coverage (or, alternatively, accept the fact that a move to RFID would make it easier for folks to ski without a lift ticket).
dwm8a wrote:
I would absolutely prefer RFID gates at Snowshoe, but it’s not clear to me that’s the best use of funds. It’s possible the costs of RFID are different at a resort like Snowshoe where you enter at the top of the mountain and complete a run before getting on a lift. At places like Snowbird, they don’t have RFID gates at every lift; they strategically place the RFID gates at lifts you have to use to get to other parts of the mountain (e.g., the tram, Gadzoom at Snowbird). I wonder if the cost is higher at a place like Snowshoe because they’d need to have more complete RFID coverage (or, alternatively, accept the fact that a move to RFID would make it easier for folks to ski without a lift ticket).
Also, not sure if it is an issue, but would having a massive RFID system in the radio quiet zone even be allowed?
Reisen wrote:
Interesting. We were there the weekend of Jan 25th, which was a terrific weekend. Cold, but not too cold, temps. 4 inches of natural snow (and they got more the following week). Good visibility.
Anyway, even with FFX and Montgomery county schools on long weekends, crowds Fri-Sun weren’t that bad. Western Territory never had a lift line. Ball Hooter, Powder Monkey, and Soaring Eagle lines were about what they usually are (definitely lines, but nothing unusual).
Maybe you just got unlucky?
What was the weather forecast in the days leading up to the weekend of Jan 25? If rain/mixed precip was predicted it might have scared off some people. Not everyone adheres to the “never cancel a ski trip due to a weather forecast” guideline.
marzNC wrote:
Reisen wrote:
One other Snowshoe point we were discussing on our trip: Given its positioning as a premium resort (ticket pricing, snow making, lodging costs), when is Snowshoe going to get with the program and install RFID pass readers? It really gets old having them scan the barcode on your epic pass every run, and I would think the lifties hate it too…
Is there anything else that you think Snowshoe should spend a couple of million dollars on besides RFID? That’s about the price tag from what I’ve heard at other destination resorts. Although in the last 4-5 years, several well known ski resorts in the northeast have moved to RFID, including Killington.
Snowbird was very late converting to RFID. Opted to build the Summit Lodge before installing RFID gates and the systems connected to that.
There are 2 parts to Vail’s RFID implementation. The liftys still scan each skier/rider at the same key portal access lifts as before. The other part is every lift has a pass-thru scanner that records your access to that lift. This is data is used by the EpicMix ecosystem and of course by Vail’s buisiness/customer analytics, but not to determine if you’re pass is valid. The pass-thru reader’s are not perfect…I noticed several instances where it missed me. I don’t believe liftys scanning with rfid is much more effecient than barcode, it might seem that way because you don’t have to fumble for your pass but you’re often standing there regardless.
marzNC wrote:
Reisen wrote:
One other Snowshoe point we were discussing on our trip: Given its positioning as a premium resort (ticket pricing, snow making, lodging costs), when is Snowshoe going to get with the program and install RFID pass readers? It really gets old having them scan the barcode on your epic pass every run, and I would think the lifties hate it too…
Is there anything else that you think Snowshoe should spend a couple of million dollars on besides RFID? That’s about the price tag from what I’ve heard at other destination resorts. Although in the last 4-5 years, several well known ski resorts in the northeast have moved to RFID, including Killington.
Snowbird was very late converting to RFID. Opted to build the Summit Lodge before installing RFID gates and the systems connected to that.
I would be pretty surprised if it costs $2M+ to convert to RFID scanners at Snowshoe. Maybe RFID gates, but I don’t necessarily think Snowshoe needs that; just the handheld scanners. Remember, RFID technology is in place in millions of POS terminals at places like gas stations, vending machines, etc. Further, the Ikon Passes already have the chips, which is one of the main costs. For just the handheld scanners, you should be looking at maybe $2k per scanner. They could do the whole mountain for $100k.
In terms of why RFID handheld scanners instead of bar codes, the benefits to me are pretty obvious (and I was using RFID passes in Europe in the 1990s). Not having to have a pass flapping in the wind, not having to fumble with turning it around for the lifty, and having it secure in a pass pocket should you fall.
It’s proven technology that is, at this point, pretty widely adopted. I have to think it’s not a matter of if but when for Snowshoe. The quiet zone is an interesting idea, but the power on these things is so low, especially compared to cell service or wifi (both of which operate in parts of the resort).
wgo wrote:
Reisen wrote:
Interesting. We were there the weekend of Jan 25th, which was a terrific weekend. Cold, but not too cold, temps. 4 inches of natural snow (and they got more the following week). Good visibility.
Anyway, even with FFX and Montgomery county schools on long weekends, crowds Fri-Sun weren’t that bad. Western Territory never had a lift line. Ball Hooter, Powder Monkey, and Soaring Eagle lines were about what they usually are (definitely lines, but nothing unusual).
Maybe you just got unlucky?
What was the weather forecast in the days leading up to the weekend of Jan 25? If rain/mixed precip was predicted it might have scared off some people. Not everyone adheres to the “never cancel a ski trip due to a weather forecast” guideline.
I think the forecast was good (ie. cold), but they might have gotten some mixed precip earlier in the week (I arrived Thurs night, and there was 3 inches of fresh snow on the ground). It is possible people were scared off by the warm first half of January, though.
Shotmaker wrote:
Lower Shay’s and Upper Shay’s were fantastic today!
They were great! Sunday was such a good day. Saturday was fun too, but many areas with exposed hardpack that you had to be aware of. Trails had softened up nicely by Sunday.
wgo wrote:
Shotmaker wrote:
Lower Shay’s and Upper Shay’s were fantastic today!
They were great! Sunday was such a good day. Saturday was fun too, but many areas with exposed hardpack that you had to be aware of. Trails had softened up nicely by Sunday.
I sampled U/L Shays Sat & Sun afternoons. I favored Saturday, skiers right on upper then left on lower (under the guns). Besides making snow with great texture, I noticed the new stick guns on Cupp are very quiet.
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We spent President’s Day weekend at SS with a couple of families (including some DCSkiers).
Saturday was an 8/10 day. Snowshoe’s base had been depleted from recent rains, but they blew overnight Friday, and the sun was shining. Most runs had only 1/2 coverage, the rest was grass / rocks. However, Widowmaker skied very well. Ballhooter had maybe the longest line I can remembers seeing:
Sunday, unfortunately, was not as good. The morning started off with a light freezing rain that seemed to cause problems with Western Express. The lift closed around 10:30am (just as I was getting there), and remains closed. I heard today that it may be down for several weeks.
I suspect, as a precaution, the other detachable lifts were taken down. That meant on the Sunday of President’s day, Ballhooter was down for several hours (approx 10:30am-1pm), along with Soaring Eagle (10:30am-1:30pm). That meant the only lifts operating at Snowshoe proper were Grabhammer, Powder Monkey, and Powder Ridge. Here was what those lifts’ lines looked like:
I have never been happier having Primo. Dozens of people walked up from the bottom to top of Powder Monkey, and looked exhausted coming up the side of Choker. Again, Widowmaker was the place to be
Finally, this morning (Monday), Western Express remained down, and Powder Monkey and Grabhammer were both closed early with some kind of issues (they got Powder Monkey up by maybe 10am). It absolutely poured rain last night, but SS did a great job blowing early, and had tons of guns going on the mountain. We skied from 9am to noon, then drove back.
Those are some long lines…maybe I should start carrying around my mountain goat ski tote with me when I am at Snowshoe in case I feel the need to hike uphill…
Per the SS ski report page the WT trails are open - maybe they already addressed the issues with the WT lift?
EDIT: the Arbuckle’s can at https://go2snowshoe.com/cams/ shows the lift working and people loading. So that’s good news.
We skied there Saturday and Sunday. We stuck to Silver Creek (where we were staying) on Saturday and there were no lines all day. Sunday morning we went to Snowshoe proper and did about 3-4 runs and during the time it took us to do the last run the line at Powder Monkey and Grabhammer went from ~5 minutes to over ~30 minutes. The fact that they had to close all the detachable lifts on the busiest weekend of the whole season was a huge executional fail on their part. We went back to Silver Creek (had to wait 30 minutes for the shuttle too) and pretty much skied onto any lift we wanted for the whole rest of the day until the rain chased us inside at about 3:00.
Keith_Moon wrote:
We skied there Saturday and Sunday. We stuck to Silver Creek (where we were staying) on Saturday and there were no lines all day. Sunday morning we went to Snowshoe proper and did about 3-4 runs and during the time it took us to do the last run the line at Power Monkey and Grabhammer went from ~5 minutes to over ~30 minutes. The fact that they had to close all the detachable lifts on the busiest weekend of the whole season was a huge executional fail on their part. We went back to Silver Creek (had to wait 30 minutes for the shuttle too) and pretty much skied onto any lift we wanted for the whole rest of the day until the rain chased us inside at about 3:00.
Not a fail on their part. The detachables are sensitive to ice so it’s SOP for safety concerns to shut them down during ice/sleet. Very unfortunate it happened on the busiest time on a holiday weekend. Sounded like you fared better than most by making the most at SC.
Looks like ice shut them down again today. February has sucked, this year and last.
Bonzski wrote:
Keith_Moon wrote:
We skied there Saturday and Sunday. We stuck to Silver Creek (where we were staying) on Saturday and there were no lines all day. Sunday morning we went to Snowshoe proper and did about 3-4 runs and during the time it took us to do the last run the line at Power Monkey and Grabhammer went from ~5 minutes to over ~30 minutes. The fact that they had to close all the detachable lifts on the busiest weekend of the whole season was a huge executional fail on their part. We went back to Silver Creek (had to wait 30 minutes for the shuttle too) and pretty much skied onto any lift we wanted for the whole rest of the day until the rain chased us inside at about 3:00.
Not a fail on their part. The detachables are sensitive to ice so it’s SOP for safety concerns to shut them down during ice/sleet. Very unfortunate it happened on the busiest time on a holiday weekend. Sounded like you fared better than most by making the most at SC.
This is an interesting point. I have heard several people say what you’re saying (all detachables are sensitive to ice), and that’s what Snowshoe wrote on their FB page. Others, including a ton of people who are in their 70s and have been skiing their whole lives, say they have never heard of this or experienced it. I’m in the latter camp (although I’m in my 30’s, not 70’s). Obviously, lots of people were talking about it at Snowshoe last Sunday.
I probably average 10-15 days per year (so not a ton), but have skied in rain/sleet plenty of times, including at Snowshoe. I don’t ever remember this. Wind? Sure. But I vividly remember entire chairs (including the vinyl and metal) being coated in 1/8 inch of ice on a detachable, and the chair still running. Maybe Snowshoe was being extra cautious? Maybe other resorts have some way to deice the lines?
TBH, it was a minor inconvenience since I had Primo and could ski straight on to the fixed lifts, but it was a disaster for the larger crowd. I feel bad for the many families who don’t ski often and paid all that money. Hopefully many of them went to Silver Creek.
One other thing to add, and I’ll caveat that by saying I am a big Snowshoe fan, generally. Snowshoe did a horrible job at communication during all of this. On one of their busiest days of the year, there was almost no one on the mountain to answer any questions. No mountain guides, no patrol, etc. Remember, only 3 lifts were running for several hours, and there was no one at the top or bottom of the lifts to explain what was going on. All the lifties knew was “Ballhooter, Soaring Eagle, and Western Express are down”. Finally, someone wrote on a chalkboard that “lines are short at Silver Creek”.
Snowshoe really should have sent patrol or mountain guides to at least the bottom Powder Monkey to explain what was going on and give updates. Even worse, once they got Ballhooter open, they send the one liftie that was directing traffic at Powder Monkey over there, and had no one other than the lifty working the chair. That meant it was a free for all to board the lift (with literally probably 500 people trying to get on), and ski school was trying to get kindergarteners through the line with no success.
I’m a little nervous now that Frank is gone that the area will be run as well as it has been in recent years.
Honestly the ice and power issues seem like bad luck to me… I was there a weekend when there was a lighting hold when frank was CEO and it was chaos. Nobody knew why the slopes were closed at 2:00 and when they re-opened we heard that lifts were staying open until 5 or 5:30 by lift operators, but patrol closed at the usual 4:30. (After time change) Hopefully after this year they will plan a bit better…as unfortunately this type of weather seems to be more frequent.
FWIW the last day I was at winter park in April 2018 the snow report was along the lines of “16.5” fresh snow happy powder day, and then listing that 8 of the 9 high speed lifts were delayed” the one open was over on Mary Jane…it was an adventure getting out of the village as there was no real direction and the high speed lifts are essential for navigating that mountain (at least as essential as ballhooter)… stuff happens everywhere.
I’m not a lift engineer, but have been told by a lift manufacturer that in periods of significant ice, brittle bars can sometimes fail; thus, if there were to be a deropement, there’s a chance, though remote, that the lift may not stop, which would be bad.
The explanation one lifty gave us in line was that the conditions would cause the detachables to slide backwards and so they had to close them.
So from my perspective they should have thought of this as a possibility and dealt with the situation a lot better when it DID happen.
As was posted above, the overcrowded lines were a free-for-all, the situation wasn’t messaged very well - all on the busiest weekend of the entire season.
So I say again: executional fail.
Did anyone else happen to see this. It was so damn windy on Sunday, I just packed up stuff and went home.
I was at the top of Flying Eagle lift ~ 2pm when a burst came through. I decided to call it a day then.
How did those 2 trails off Flying E hold up on Sunday? FE was looking thin on Friday.
Did you mean SE…..Soaring Eagle?
Bear Claw was very good. Bottom flats of Flying Eagle trail was getting mush and thin, okay skier’s left.
Bonzski wrote:
Did you mean SE…..Soaring Eagle?
Bear Claw was very good. Bottom flats of Flying Eagle trail was getting mush and thin, okay skier’s left.
That’s the one - Bear Claw + Flying E. We passed on Soaring Eagle area and opted for Silver Creek which we had not skied all year. Cupp and Shays were wonderful on Friday.
Speaking of winds, I was at Perfect North (suburban Cincinnati) on Sunday. A gust of wind came up. My chair hit the pole. I also called it a day. It’s the only time in 25 years of skiing I legitimately thought I may fall from a lift.
As a casual webcam watcher, Snowshoe is in it to win it until the last day of the season! It looks like a perfect winter wonderland from my desk :(
Just got word from our GM that SS is extending to March 31.
Can anyone who has been to Snowshoe recently report on the condition of Lower Shays? I am going up to SS this weekend and hoping that Shays will still be open. I’m surprised it is still open this late in the season.
Thanks
snowyslope92 wrote:
Can anyone who has been to Snowshoe recently report on the condition of Lower Shays? I am going up to SS this weekend and hoping that Shays will still be open. I’m surprised it is still open this late in the season.
Thanks
Per the SS twitter account a few days ago, nice soft bumps.
https://twitter.com/snowshoemtn/status/1104871596869779462
But with the rain on friday and then the freeze on Friday night, it might not be so nice this weekend.
I bought my Ridiculous passes at 11pm last night. Now we are committed to coming there!
I didn’t make it to western today… but basin side at least they have a solid base on most core trails, I suspect tomorrow will be a bit on the icy side, but not horrible. There are definitely some thin spots… but nothing that required skiing around
It looks like there were some snow makers completely hooked up and others that had hoses on the ground, it didn’t seem like much was put away yet. Given the fact that it is ballhooter weekend and the occupancy rate appears pretty high and they are trying to stay open 2 more weeks I would be surprised if they don’t make some snow tonight and tomorrow night.
Keith_Moon wrote:
So did they?
If they made any it was in very localized places. That being said I think mountain ops grabbed snow from the piles they have throughout the mountain Friday night after it got cold. Considering the temperature swing Friday night I thought conditions were pretty good, and they still have a ton of snow they can move around
rbrtlav wrote:
Considering the temperature swing Friday night I thought conditions were pretty good, and they still have a ton of snow they can move around
Agreed. I think the main area they will need to focus on is the X, assuming they intend to keep South Mountain and the main Basin area connected thru the end of the season.
I was told by an employee that they were done making snow for the season. If they stay “dry” with no washouts they should be able to make it to 3/31. Shays and Cupp have VERY GOOD coverage. I saw some thin spots midway down Grabhammer yesterday. There’s plenty of snow and if the weather holds up, I’ll make a last hurrah this coming weekend.
I spend saturday and sunday at snowshoe. On Saturday lower shays was hard with all the snow scrapped of. Not very skiable but “skidable”. But on Sunday it was very skiable. It held edges and could make complete turns all the way down. I don’t think there would be anyway lower Shay’s would be opend this late in the season without the new snow cannon’s they installed. I’m very impressed with this upgrade. I had a great time.
I’m a prolonged and somewhat older “advanced beginner” still trying to make the jump from greens to blues (last Wednesday I did manage 4 runs down Minuteman at Roundtop, which I’ve been able to do in the past as well, but I have trouble with the very top and wiped out up there once…). I can ski parallel and carve turns to some extent but am overly cautious and easily lose good form if I feel like I’m speeding up to what seems like normal speeds for others (when I hunch over and start throwing my upper body around).
Anyway, my girlfriend and I finally made it to Snowshoe for the first time Saturday afternoon. For somebody of my skiing ability, it was pretty crowded and the condition of the greens was very chewed up and mushy, which is hard for me to turn in. The turn at Mid Whistlepunk, for example, was bumpy piles of snow and littered with other floundering beginners laid out all around. Meanwhile it was hard to calmly attempt turning down the steeper parts as more experienced skiers and boarders zipped by through the various hazards.
I had taken advantage of the Ridiculous pass and will be back next season. I presume it will be less crowded mid-weeks, which I can do since I’m retired. Is that so? Also, does anyone have suggestions for places to stay relatively nearby off the resort, or is staying at the resort your best option?
All in all, it gave me renewed appreciation of our Snowtime options but I look forward to trying it again under saner conditions.
dclivejazz wrote:
I had taken advantage of the Ridiculous pass and will be back next season. I presume it will be less crowded mid-weeks, which I can do since I’m retired. Is that so? Also, does anyone have suggestions for places to stay relatively nearby off the resort, or is staying at the resort your best option?
Midweeks are your BEST friend. Very little crowds. Lodging really depends on your budget. Obviously, the closer to the slopes the more you will pay but it will mean less time in the car each day. The Inn at the bottom of the mountain is reasonable. Cass, WV has reasonable lodging but that drive up and back kinda sucks each day.
I think you get some lodging discounts via your pass ….. or try some of the airbnb / vrbo folks.
Most guys in our bldg are charging about 100 per night + tax and fees for a 1 BR on the slopes Sun - Thu. No one discounts weekends anymore, the demand is too great. Here’s 24 one bedroom units to choose from https://go2snowshoe.com/listings/category/1br/
I envy your schedule flexibility. Weekends are crowded. Saturday was busy but by no means the busiest I’ve seen.
dclivejazz wrote:
I’m a prolonged and somewhat older “advanced beginner” still trying to make the jump from greens to blues (last Wednesday I did manage 4 runs down Minuteman at Roundtop, which I’ve been able to do in the past as well, but I have trouble with the very top and wiped out up there once…). I can ski parallel and carve turns to some extent but am overly cautious and easily lose good form if I feel like I’m speeding up to what seems like normal speeds for others (when I hunch over and start throwing my upper body around).
If you can get there mid-week you should try to get some practice on Spruce, and when you are comfortable on that do Gandy Dancer. IMO they are some of the nicer, wider, and best maintained Blues in the region, they also avoid the switchbacks you speak of. If you are there when it is busy, based on what you have said I would go straight to Silver Creek (especially Christmas - mid March Saturdays), you can also use Powder Ridge lift on the basin side, although that has some of the switchbacks you mention, but log slide is a nice wide green trail after you get away from the top.
On another note, you mentioned your biggest hurdles in your skiing. It sounds like you might be “skiing in the back seat” a little bit, and upper/lower body separation. Take a look at 2 and 4 on this link https://www.skiportillo.com/en/blog/fix-common-mistakes-intermediate-skiers-make-at-ski-portillo-ski-school/ If you can get a mid-week adult lesson at Roundtop or Snowshoe, it will likely be a nearly private lesson and the can probably get you well on the way to fixing those issues in the 2 hours you are with them. There are also a bunch of you tube videos on both upper/lower body seperation and skiing in the back seat, I would take a look before skiing next time.
Shay’s & Cupp are in fantastic condition top to bottom & side to side! The new snowmaking has made all the difference the base is thick. Last year on Upper Shay’s you had to pick a very narrow path down to avoid the bare areas not now. Lower Shay’s has complete coverage with a nice spaced run of bumps on the right. Wasn’t planning on getting in them as I was on my 186GS skis but found them easy to turn on. Cupp was solid ran the left side of the face where the shade kept the snow crisp in the afternoon when everything else softened up.
Weather Underground has SS receiving some snow on 4 of the next 7 days with between 4-12” possible. There is no reason not to get in another day or two this season if you can get here.
Contemplating a visit to SS either this or next wknd.
Can someone comment on the SS condition, if it will be too late to go next weekend?
I’d like to go to Liberty this weekend.
TIA!
Blue Don 1982 wrote:
My neighbors sent me this pic this morning from SS.
Thanks for the photo. WIll plan to go next weekend.
@Keith_Moon - Yep, according to SS website.
Incredible conditions at SS on Saturday. Cupp and Shays have more snow on them than any of the trails in the basin. Ballhooter lift was it’s usual mess with added crowds for the pond skim on Lower Ballhooter. The pond skim did keep some folks off the trails which made things even nicer. The storm on Friday produced several snow squalls that made the drive up the mountain super sketchy. Damn near white conditions when we arrived at 5:30 PM with the mountain road covered with snow. We saw several cars stuck.
Upper Shays with side to side coverage
It’s still winter in WV
Upper Cupp with excellent coverage as well
Lower Cupp
Upper Ballhooter with a lot of natural snow under the lift
Widowmaker
I second that Don & nice pics btw.
With only 97” of natural snow, which is one of the lowest totals in more than a decade, this has been a fantastic year. Keeping the base solid with the new snow guns and mother natures help is allowing the year to finish better than any I can remember in some time!
SCWVA wrote:
Does Snowshoe have any bumps?
When I left on Sunday these were bumped
Lower Shays - Right Side
Lower Ballhooter - Right Side
Knot Bumper
Camp 99
Choker - small bumps at the top
rbrtlav wrote:
dclivejazz wrote:
I’m a prolonged and somewhat older “advanced beginner” still trying to make the jump from greens to blues (last Wednesday I did manage 4 runs down Minuteman at Roundtop, which I’ve been able to do in the past as well, but I have trouble with the very top and wiped out up there once…). I can ski parallel and carve turns to some extent but am overly cautious and easily lose good form if I feel like I’m speeding up to what seems like normal speeds for others (when I hunch over and start throwing my upper body around).
If you can get there mid-week you should try to get some practice on Spruce, and when you are comfortable on that do Gandy Dancer. IMO they are some of the nicer, wider, and best maintained Blues in the region, they also avoid the switchbacks you speak of. If you are there when it is busy, based on what you have said I would go straight to Silver Creek (especially Christmas - mid March Saturdays), you can also use Powder Ridge lift on the basin side, although that has some of the switchbacks you mention, but log slide is a nice wide green trail after you get away from the top.
On another note, you mentioned your biggest hurdles in your skiing. It sounds like you might be “skiing in the back seat” a little bit, and upper/lower body separation. Take a look at 2 and 4 on this link https://www.skiportillo.com/en/blog/fix-common-mistakes-intermediate-skiers-make-at-ski-portillo-ski-school/ If you can get a mid-week adult lesson at Roundtop or Snowshoe, it will likely be a nearly private lesson and the can probably get you well on the way to fixing those issues in the 2 hours you are with them. There are also a bunch of you tube videos on both upper/lower body seperation and skiing in the back seat, I would take a look before skiing next time.
Sorry for the delayed response, but thank you, rbrtlav and Blue Don 1982, for your tips and suggestions. Looking forward to going at it again next season.
