Presidents day is Feb. 21, 2011. Traditionally the weekend after for out get together, Feb. 25 - 27. How does tat sound?

Yes! No conflict with another ski weekend trip this year!

I think that's going to work. I'll send you a PM.

I love Blue Knob and would love to go. But, I'll be long gone to the west by Feb. 25. If the snow comes early and deep I'll be wanting to go there early. If that happens I'll give a shout.

BTW, Denis, is it time to finally replace those Avalanches?

http://www.rossignol.com/US/US/bc-125-wide-positrack_RH0WF13_product_nordic-men-skis-classic.html

Just in case the snow comes early and deep, of course.

Sold them last weekend. They were an interesting experiment. Surprisingly capable, but my junkboards are better. They need skins of course but so did the Avalanches; their scale pattern was lousy. If it gets really deep, I have these;
http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/ski/skis/megawatt/

Hunh. Surprising.

The scale pattern of the Visu Voyagers was perfectly fine @ Whitegrass.

It's early, but some of you plan your February ski trips so far in advance I thought I better send out a heads-up now. If you live near the mid-Atlantic US think about keeping open the weekend after President's Day 2011 for this fun event at Blue Knob ski area in western PA. We'll probably rent a group house again and we'll provide details on that later, but there are other options for those who want to do their own thing for lodging or visit for one day. Blue Knob is known as a skier's mountain. Not too many frills, but some fun and challenging terrain. More details to follow in the months ahead.


We had remarkable ski conditions last year allowing the best glade skiing south of New England. Weekend attendance was about 2-3 dozen including a nice mix of day trippers and overnighters of varied abilities. There is usually potential to extend the skiing to include Friday and/or Monday. The age spread was ~50 years from youngest to oldest last year and we had folks from NC, VA, MD, DC, WV, and PA. Trip report and thread recapping last year's gathering:
http://www.dcski.com/articles/view_article.php?article_id=1248&mode=headlines
http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/92359/mid-atlantic-gtg-blue-knob-feb-20-21-2010

I'm in.

I'll keep the weekend open!

Folks, for the third year in a row a group of us DCSki forum members have rented a slopeside house at Blue Knob, PA. This year for the weekend of Feb 25 and 26. Right now we have seven participants and have openings for a few more singles in bunk arrangements and at least one, perhaps two, private bedrooms with a double bed for a couple. We will likely be able to check into the house at noon on Feb 25 and check out at 4 or 5pm on Feb 27.

The house sleeps about 14. It usually works out to about $110-125 for each person total for two nights slopeside lodging depending on the final head count. Food is done in a pot luck style and each participant brings some to share so meals are very economical with a fun, easy going group.

Now is the time to get in touch with me and commit because the remaining spaces may get taken over the next few weeks.

Let me know if you have questions or feel free to send a PM. Here's the report on our gathering last year: http://www.dcski.com/articles/view_article.php?article_id=1248&mode=search

Website for further details on the house. www.BlueKnobChalet.Com

PS: if you can only come up for the day, or want to stay in your own accommodations, stay in touch. We enjoy making turns with all comers.

Bump.
Last year we had great snow, great people, and a great time:
photo of house

I'd love to join in but with the way folks in my house are tearing themselves up, I can't commit to anything. the Mrs may need additional treatments for her back and my son had a major crash on the drop and seperated his shoulder. I'm the only one not injured at this time so.... if things change, I'll let you know.

Give 'em both some advil and all your love then come on up to Blue Knob to ski with us.

TO ALL:

Still have a little more room in our group house for weekend of 2/26&27 at BK, but let me know soon if interested.

Thinking of meeting up with you all for the day on the 26th but I am a little leery of the fact that neither Extrovert nor Lower Rt 66 are currently listed as open. Is this just a matter of BK preserving the trails for the weekend, or is it likely they will still be closed on the 26th? Looks like it could be a nice day of Spring-like skiing regardless, but it would be nice to have BK's signature trail available...

Not a good sign that Extrovert is closed right now, but think it is a weekday policy when conditions are icy and/or thin. Laurel Hill Crazie is going there tomorrow and should be able to report back on depth of snowpack on Extrovert, glades, and elsewhere. If Extrovert is at all skiable, from my experience, they usually open it at least part of the day on weekends. If it has an icy base that lasts thru the coming warm spell it could make for good spring bumps by the date of our event??

If you get up on the 26th to make turns we'll feed you some lunch.

X is closed due to icy conditions. I planned to ski there yesterday but I e-mail Doug Houck, BK general manager, over the weekend about X openeing and he said:

Rob,

It looks like we may get some rain or a mix on Monday and a low Monday night of 20. Tuesday could be a challenge. If you could come up on Thursday of Friday, X should be Killer.

Doug

Also, I told Doug of our little gathering to which he said:

Rob,

Thanks for the email, nice write up from last year's trip, we need some good PR like this. Make sure to let me know when you are here for your trip so we can chat.

Thanks again.

Doug

So if anybody is interested in talking to BK's GM about all things BK this would be a great opportunity.

Maybe invite him to ski/guide us for a few runs and/or drop by for lunch?

Does anyone think X will be open this weekend? Daytime highs are supposed to be around 39.

Extrovert was open today but none of the glades many of which were wearing thin. Extrovert was soft, edgeable spring bumps about as forgiving as you could hope to find. The snowmaking trails are well covered but there are a few thin spots developing by mid-day. The snow left on the natural terrain ranges 0-12 inches with cover only left in the north exposures and shady spots. Stem bowl and the rest down was a nice switchback cruise. We'll have fun next weekend.

I see that they might open late tomorrow (2/19) due to expected winds.

was there on Saturday for the 11:30 open. Still v windy but quieter below mid station. All the glades aside from forever glades did not look to have enough cover to be passable, and forever looked to be packed solid from the Expressway lift.

off mid-station, only Deer Run, High Hopes, Lower Extrovert, and Stembogen were open. reports from others on the lift was that 'vert was very icy. You had to go at least halfway around Stembogen bowl to find a drop in spot that was not rocks and earth. Deer Run had some "leaky hydrant" ice at the very top of skiiers right, but that just kept you to the left, and away from the exposed earth patch below it on the steeper pitch.
Rt 66 lift got to be a pain as more people ventured down run out, as the need to ski up the loading ramp, plus the difficulty of fitting modern girths into a 60's double lift, leads to alot of failed loads. that meant alot of stopping and starting, which was a b*tch in the high winds.
Most everywhere else, skiing was fine and groomed wherever possible to make up for the scouring the slopes got overnight. The good news is that we are back to snow making weather, and the possible storm Tuesday.

Monday, 2/21: Blue Knob will be closing at 5pm today. We are expecting 6" - 10" of snow tonight into tomorrow.

http://www.blueknob.com/winter/

Thurs-Fri storm will be key for this weekend. Borderline right now. Tomorrow is the money day this week. Unless the following storm stays cold.

All meetings will be at the top of the double chair, right outside the lodge.

Friday afternoon 12:30 to 12:45PM; 5:00 to 5:45PM

Saturday 9:00 to 9:45AM; 10:30 to 10:45AM and 12:30 to 12:45PM

Sunday same as Saturday.

If you have a ribbon to tie on one of your poles please do so especially if you are new to the outing.

I suggests you exchange cell phone numbers through PM or e-mail if you have not already done so. Cell phone reception can be spotty but Verizon is OK outside the lodge, top of the mountain, iffy on the lifts.

Any problems address through a post here or PM me.

Se yunz at the Gathering.

Meeting times corrections:

All meetings will be at the top of the double chair, right outside the lodge.

Friday afternoon 12:30 to 12:45PM; 5:00 to 5:15PM

Saturday 9:00 to 9:30AM; 10:30 to 10:45AM and 1:00 to 1:15PM

Sunday same as Saturday.

If you have a ribbon to tie on one of your poles please do so especially if you are new to the outing.

I suggests you exchange cell phone numbers through PM or e-mail if you have not already done so. Cell phone reception can be spotty but Verizon is OK outside the lodge, top of the mountain, iffy on the lifts.

Any problems address through a post here or PM me.


See yunz at the Gathering.

Which double?

Are we all going to enter the "big air" contest?

The one that is running but if you're standing at the top of the other one you'll only be about 15-20 yards away. They both empty in front of the lodge. Blue Knob seldom has both chairs running to begin the day. Even the triple usually has a delayed start on weekdays.

Wish I was joining you folks this year but Ms. Monica (my spousal unit) is getting her spinal injections today and we're hoping for some much needed relief. We got the PSIA clinic next week @ t-line so she better be up and skiing since I already paid the $$. I ask Jimmy, JohnL, and David to toast to her health and try to do something to appease Ullr to get this winter going again...a young virgin, maybe? Hope to see many of you at luau this year.

Have a great time at the gathering, everyone - I hope I can join you all next year!

To quote Mike Lange, "If you missed
this, shame on you for six weeks."

So how many ended up showing up? And were you guys able to keep Jimmy and JohnL under control??

David,
this was my first time on this outing. I think 16 or 17 showed up and 15 stayed at the house last night. Great group of folks to ski and break bread with. Good time was had by this skier. The ice kept JohnL and Jimmie under control Friday and most of yesterday.

Quick report...
Better weekend of skiing than anticipated. Friday arrival proved pure Blue Knob "powder", slopes the consistency and color of the ice in your refrigerator, plus very rough.
But Saturday and Sunday were great. Groomed both days, little or no new snow, but temps warmed up and the snow softened. Wonderful, especially when skiing with 15+ fellow DCSkiers. All trails groomed smooth except Extrovert, which was ice mounds with some fluff, but even this softened somewhat on Sunday. Great companionship, good food, fine conversation and good skiing. It does not get much better than this!
Thanks, Jim, for setting this up for the third year!
The Colonel

yeah...I wasn't going to be able to come up on friday night or stay saturday night, so I decided it was a bit much to do for a day trip from Charlottesville. I know, excuses, excuses...but I was able to do a day trip to timberline with some friends as a consolation prize, so that wasn't too bad.

The link below contains numerous photos from the DCSki/Epicski gathering. Weather and conditions exceeded pretrip expectations. About 19 different people joined us at one time or another over the weekend. We had big fun, great camaraderie, and no rain.

http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/1019...th#post_1316718

Just wanted to say that I had a great time as well at the gathering and it was a good to meet everyone from here and Epicski. The trip was some of the most fun skiing I had this season and that's definitely due to people who were at the gathering.

Keith