I'm jonesing hard for some runs and was wondering who has been out so far this season.

D'oh, I should have scanned the topics list before posting this.

Hey, Hows it going?

I logged in day 19 for the 00-01 season today at snowwbird. Days like today are why I moved from the D.C. region to Mo-town (slc). After three weeks with only one 6" storm, Snowbird was blessed with a healthy dose of champagne powder. Although their web site is only reporting 9" of fresh, there was nearly two feet at the top of the tram. Around 16" mid mountain. No lift lines, Deep Powder, Amazing mountain. I cant wait for this coming week. 6-12" tonight with continued flurries tomorrow. You D.C. region skiers should come up to the bird sometime, there's plenty of powder for us all. Skiing is a different sport out here, you should all try it sometime.

Skied Snowshoe with my brother last week. He was visiting DC (from Utah). I dont know where they measure that 45" base they are advertising on-line. There was no more than 6" of the real stuff anywhere. And the black-diamond runs that were open (Grabhammer, Glades) were somewhat under-whelming.

But I dont mean to complain. It was a beautiful cold, sunny day. And the snow coverage on the open runs was good.

Am heading home to Utah for Christmas: Alta, the Bird, SnowBasin, Brian Head. 30 new inches this week. Ahh, two weeks of the "Best Snow on Earth"...

Hi Chad- I also skied Snowshoe last weekend- the Glades is an intermediate trail- Cupp opened last weekend and conditions were super- especially for so early in the season. If you got off into the woods to go snowshoeing, there was about 12-14" of natural snow.

Has anyone heard when Snowshoe is planning to open Shay's? If both Cupp and Shay's are open top to bottom, I'm THERE!!!

Shay's Revenge should be opening Friday or Saturday, top to bottom, according to a note from Snowshoe earlier this week. Snowshoe is predicting that the only trail that *won't* be open this Saturday is Flying Eagle. Not bad for mid-December!

Due to the great early-season conditions, Snowshoe has decided to curtail snowmaking ops during the day, running the guns at night only. (Of course, that could change in the future depending on conditions.)

Well no one's posted here in a while. Everybody must be out skiing. I got 2 days in this week. Thusday I went to Blue Knob and Sunday I went to Liberty. Although Blue Knob was a little icy in spots, It did have a few great runs (Stembogen, Forever Glades, and Extrovert, which is really beyond my level but I pulled it off). Liberty had great snow and very few icy patches. Plus the crowd was not bad for a Sunday as long as you were on the backside.

Let's all hope for more cold weather and snow!!!

Yeah Roy I was at Blue Knob too on Thursday, that $2 deal is great, esp with the nice early Jan conditions we have in the region. They don't make 'em like Stembogan anymore. Those banked turns...what do you call that kind of trail? It makes you ski across the fall line a lot. I don't know if the original trial builders were brilliant or lazy, but what they made of Stembogan is funky and different. I missed Forever Glades, were they over by the triple chair? Did you try some demo skis? They helped me on Extrovert. I took a run down High Hopes with a real good pair of demos and then immediately followed it with a run down High Hopes with my own pair...big difference. Can't afford new skis now, but it made me decide I need to get my skis tuned bigtime!

So fat it's been Snowshoe, Stratton, Liberty, Snowshoe, Roundtop, Snowshoe, and this weekend it will be blue Knob. Hope this little "thaw" doesn't ruin the day at blue Knob. It can get icy there!

Lou

I've managed to make out 7 times so far, unfortunately I have only been able to make to Massanutten because I am a broke college student and can only go to where I have a season pass. So far the conditions have been great at da nut, except for one day when it was literally an ice skating rink. Fortunately for my friends and I we decided to stay at school for a few days after everyone else left and we got to ride all day when it snowed 5 inches, which it goes with out saying was the best day of the season. All of the slopes appear to be in good shape and have a good base, although they all have their icy spots, which is the expected at da nut. As usual the snowboard park is filled a lot really good jumps.

For me it's been a very slow start due to work: 2 days @ Whitetail (incl last Sunday) and 1 day @ Hunter in NY. May hit Whitetail a couple of days this weekend - I'll get there early to have at least 2 hours without the holiday crowds.

Looking forward to later this winter when I should get 16 days in Utah on 3 trips. Flights to Utah have been really cheap this winter.

Well, so far I've only skied three days over New Year's weekend at Blue Knob. I am heading up to Whitetail for hte day on Saturday and will try to grab opening chair and ski till my legs drop off.

Phil thanks for excellent status report on Massanutten, I may get out there this sunday. Making out 7 times with a beautiful chick isn't so bad.

Been 2 a couple places.. and i wana say there great....

woops sent that message 2 soon
i have been to a couple places this year... and i wana say there great.. great conditions for the east.... alot of snow and powder(well what we call powder) and not to crowed for some reason i guess its 2 cold... better for me

Went to Blue Knob this past weekend. It was absolutely awesome. Yes, some thin spots but overall the conditions were the best I've seen there. Stemboggan, and the other black/double black trails on the far side were almost all open. And the front side was super. The only drawback about blue Knob is the accomodations. Felt like staying in a doll house. Their condos are about the smallest I've ever seen, and not very comfortable. However, they do for a weekend.

It is obvious that Western PA has received bountiful snow.

Lou

[This message has been edited by lbotta (edited 01-17-2001).]

It's 4am and I'm 2 hours away from heading to Tahoe for 5 glorious days of skiing!!!!

I'm way too excited to sleep!!!

I'm back from Tahoe with a report.

I skied Heavenly 3 days, Kirkwood 1 day, and Squaw Valley 1 day. Heavenly was good but there was a lot of poleing on trips home. Kirkwood had powder up to my chest. As my friend (who is a lot more experienced than me )said, "you'll never get a day like this again!" Squaw had to be the best overall mountain I've ever skied. The bowls were huge, the terrain was massive, and there was a lot of different skiers and boarders to watch. We even got to see a professional photo shoot of skiers and boarders coming of the very tops into the rocks.

Pray for more snow here because I dont want this season to end!!!!

Spent over a month in New England and just returned to do Snowshoe this past week and next week before traveling to St. Moritz. In New England, which is home to me (I guess you can say I only reside in the DC area) I got to spend time in Jimminy, Brodie, Stowe, Sugarbush, and Killington.

Jimminy and Brodie had excellent conditions. Both are what I would call... backbone New England, with local crowds mixed with a spattering of New Yoekers and Bostonians.

Venerable Stowe was excellent except for one weekend that the temperature went up into the '50s and after heavy rain, dropped from the '50s all the way down to -14 in less than 24 hours. The trails were literally blue -- ice that is... But following several snow dumpings later and massive snow-cat work, the trails got back to their usual conditions.

Killington on Prez Day weekend was a challenge on account of the crowds. I will never do Rams Head mountain again. Stuck on a line for a half an hour. But the rest of the mountain was super.

Sugarbush had some incredible conditions and it was a pleasure to ski that place.

The Snow Gods are continuing their showering New England with more snow. They are having the best conditions in ten years.

L

Lou, I was at Killington same time as you. I stuck with the Skyeship/Bear side of the mtn and other than the early trips from gondola base was able to avoid any long lift lines, but the slopes were difficult because of all the heavy skier/border traffic zooming in and around. Be sure to report back to us on your European exploits, I'm jealous.
Roy, I've never been to Tahoe (skiing anyway). I've got a cousin with a condo at Kirkwood and an open invite to use it sometime. How did it compare terrain-wise with the others, enough to keep you busy for 4 or 5 days? Why did Squaw impress you more than Heavenly, I thought it had a lot of bowls too?

Kirkwood has enough terrain to keep you busy for 4-5 days. I only skied one day there and never got close to skiing all that I wanted.

Heavenly was a great mountain. What killed us was the poleing. Only on the third day did we discover better trails to get us home that did not have as much poleing. There were not as many top to bottom trails either. It took 3 chair rides to get to the top and sometimes a chair ride to get home. Unfortunately, Milky Way Bowl and Mott's Canyon (Heavenly's double diamond trails) were not open the days I skied there. If I had skied them, I may have a different opinion. Would I go back to Heavenly? Definitely.

Squaw was just the most magnificent mountain I have seen (and granted I haven't seen many). There really are no trails. It's just wide open mountain. I saw things you normally see on TV or in Ski Magazine (extreme skiing conditions that I could have done). There were some beautiful views of the lake and of the mountain itself from all over the place. There was only two chairs to get to the top of the highest peak and you could ski the entire 3000 feet down without stopping (but only if you are in that kind of shape. NOt me).

The entire Lake Tahoe area is magnificent. You also have Mammoth mountain nearby that got 7 feet in 7 days the week before I was there. I think I could do my next 4 vacations there and not get bored. If you got a freebie place to stay go use it. It would be well worth it. My ski group is thinking about purchasing a place at kirkwood (prices seem lower than other places and they are really starting to grow the mountain). Any information on it would be greatly appreciated.