We unexpectedly have Sunday free this weekend, and have been trying to get away to ski somewhere. We won't be able to make the BK meetup, but this may be our shot to get up there this year. Anyone been up there recently? Looks like it's been nice and cold, anyway.

Looking at the conditions report, it looks like all of the glades and most of the upper difficulty trails are closed. Is that just a weekday thing? Or would we be travelling to only ski greens and blues on the weekend?

I was there last Friday after the first rain and ice event. The only snow making trail closed was Extrovert and that was due to extremely icy conditions. The coverage was good. All the glades were in the same condition, very icy but with OK coverage. There has been another rain/ice event earlier this week so I don't know if the natural snow cover survived but I'm sure Extrovert will open at some point. All the snow making trails have been groomed but it takes them awhile to get the mountain back in shape. The Friday I was there was the first day they opened Stembogan and High Hopes after the rain/ice. I wouldn't be surprised if Lower Extrovert gets a groomer pass at some point soon. That will open the bottom which is still plenty steep. It won't be groomed regularly, just enough to make it skiable.

I was going to make the trip today to check it out but events conspired against me today. I may be headed up tomorrow. If I do, I'll post conditions here.

Aaron, I was up the weekend before this past one and conditions were very good, but as LHC said there has been rain and warm temps between now and then. At that point everything open was groomed except Extrovert, so Lower High Hopes and Edgeset were groomed. A few of the glades were open, Skyline, Forever, and the one next to that, and the Ditch Glades were open at that point, even though they were marked on the website as closed. There was still a lot of the heavy snow leftover from 8 inch or so dump we had on the 27th. I did not ski upper Extrovert as the locals said beware (and were not skiing it). Lower was very nice with all the snow. But make no mistake, when they report a 10 inch base, there were a lot of spots on the groomed runs, where there was lucky to be 10 inches of snow. There was a fair amount of dirt and other crud on the groomed sections of the trails, but my bases are fine. If things stay as they are for the rest of the week it may be a better option to drive the extra time to CV/TL.

Hmmm... Sounds like Keith has a point! We've never skied CV, and it looks like they're still getting snow when other areas are getting premature snow.

Is a Sunday likely to be a zoo over that way?

I can guarantee that you will not wait in line at CVR on Sunday. (:^O)>>>

Sunday is the better of the two weekend days. The plan would be, check to see what the conditions are like at CV and if decent, go there on Saturday and t-line on Sunday. However, last weekend was very unbusy at t-line so it may be ok this Saturday. I understand the valley is only 55% booked for this weekend.

Timberline

Crowded or not, your legs will be begging you to stop if you start at 8 and go to 4.

In 25 words or less, why Timberline over CV?

ETA: CV has discount tix at Liftopia for the weekend ($43 each), which is why they're on the list...

Better advanced terrain, a little more vertical, higher odds of bumping into DCSki forum member.
But CV is much less crowded on big Saturdays.

Quote from a T-Line instructor: "At Canaan Valley you spend all day getting speed, at Timberline you spend all day losing speed."

CV has some nice off-piste terrain and it is easier to find fresh pow there than at T-Line, but with the exception of the Gravity section, CV is pretty flat, plus many trails require in/out traverses.

I'm sure Redman will disagree.

I wouldn't head over to Blue Knob for the glades (compared to T-Line or CV.)

With the exception of last year, Blue Knob glades are rock ski only. At T-Line or CV, you'll primarily hit stumps, sticks or logs. That doesn't damage your skis much. At BK, you'll hit rocks. Nasty rocks. Core shot rocks. Even the glades off of Jack Rabbit can hide many nasty hidden treasures. If the glades are skied out a bit, they'll expose the treasures and your skis will be safer, but you won't be skiing fresh lines.

I think Blue Knob needs some more snow before I'd skip other places for it. I personally wouldn't head over unless Extrovert is open (but it is too tough a trail for most skiers.) If the natural snow trails of Lower Shortway, Lower Route 66 and Edgeset are open, Blue Knob is definitely worth a trip out (but anticipate possible challenging conditions.)

Aaron, I talked with a guy Saturday who said he took his crew over there to beat the crowds at TL, skied for two hours and left. Big bare spots, thin cover.

JohnL, your blueknob out timberlines timberline siggy is catching on, LizM was there for a clinic a couple of weeks ago, she had some funny stuff to say about the experience.

I love the look on peoples' faces when they ask about Blue Knob when riding up the Timberline lifts. I tell them, "It's a rockin' area, but the facilities are even more run-down than at Timberline."

They don't think that can be possible.

Slight(?) further tangent. I continually run across folks out West who've skied T-Line or BK, and love the places. Rode up the lift yesterday at The Canyons with a Canyons patroller. Turns out he was a patroller at T-Line in the 90's. I told him it was my home mountain; he gave me a few pow line recommendations.

Timberline. There is no planning. Stuff just happens.

Yep...CV is really just for XC skiing (:^O)>>>

Now *that* sounds promising...

We found about a foot of heavy natural on skier's left of Edgeset

Extrovert was closed today.

Stem Field and East Wall Glade (glade closed)

Have you skied this line?



From the top.

Rob,

Thanks for the pix. Ya finally got the sizing right.

Dayuum, coverage looks much better than I expected. Count down to The BK Gathering begins.

How did Lower Shortway look?

I forgot to check Shortway. When we found Edgeset we stayed there most of the day. Deer Run, skied once, Run Out, once. Edgeset, many, many times. When first we realize Edgeset was open there were only one or two sets of tracks in the really deep stiff that cover the entire trail at the top then piled deeper and narrower toward the bottom. It was real heavy but lose if you skied it aggressively. I wish I had my 94s instead of my 78s.

I was real happy when I saw the coverage. The natural base was still around 8-12 inches and 1/4 and a newer 1/8 layer of ice, all breakable to softer underneath. It will all skiable when it warms and I plan to be there. Fair to good coverage everywhere. I would say coverage is above the recent 10 year average for this time of year.

I hope we get more snow before the Gathering.