I like to view the webcams of the resorts. Just something I do. I find it relaxing and it gives me something to distract me from the chaos of life and work. Either yesterday or the day prior, I noticed they were piling up snow in the shape of a pipe, just a bit ago, probably the last day they received snow and were able to make snow, there was almost nothing there if I recall correctly.

So the question begs to be asked, where the heck are they getting their snow?

Also, has anyone else noticed what I noticed last year? End of March, they rebuilt all their jumps with almost zero snow on that side of the mountain for a photo op that I never found out what resulted from that or the photos , or what it was for, they were pretty quiet about it other than it was for a photo op.

I find their massive jumps / pipe rather interesting, awe inspiring when you pull up in the lot to see in person.

Not that I hit these park features but, find them interesting to look at, ha.

I was just there and saw the new 'urban terrain park' called The Street. I don't get it. I go to the mountains to escape the city, among other things. John Muir must be turning over in his grave.

Denis, you made this comment before and I don't get it, so I will bite ...over at whitegrass cross country skiing yeah, that's getting away from the city...skiing in a state park or hiking for your turns in the backcountry, that's getting away from the city...but buying a lift ticket at a ski resort w/ huge parking lots, restruants, bars, huge ski lift lines, making continuos downhill laps beside folks wearing and riding on 10's maybe 100's of thousands of dollars in fancy gear made in china, riding mechanized lifts that draw an enormous amount of power, supporting resorts that us expansive lighting systems that draw an enormous amounts of power and some would say pollute the night sky so folks can ski at night...calling that "escaping the city" I think that would have John Muir turning over in his grave...adding a little creative artwork to the on snow terrain park features, maybe it's icing on the cake, but John Muir was turning over in his grave before terrain parks where even around...I don't care either way, just sayin'..

Maybe we can harness his turning over in his grave and use that to power the lifts, burn a little less coal ;-)

Good points all. I guess that's why I like the backcountry. To me, the highest form of skiing is to be alone in the mountain environment. I cherish those moments. In a normal year here in the mid Atlantic, I wouldn't have ridden lifts more than 2-3 times. This year it is pretty much ride lifts or don't ski. I hate night skiing; it ruins the esthetics for me. Same with skiing through snow guns, which I wouldn't do, and haven't done for at least 3 years, save for the commitment I made to assist with my Scout troop trip. None of us are pure. We burn large amounts of fuel getting to our skiing even if it is backcountry. Sorry if I offended anybody. It was and is a strongly held opinion but not intended to offend.

I don't think your comments were offensive at all, just an opinion. I definetily share your enthusiasm for the backcountry...when I first started getting into it, wearing a beacon, hiking w/ buddies, taking conditions seriously and then making deep turns in untouched pow w/ out a soul around I specifically remember thinking "this is why I got into snowboarding and live the lifestyle I do"...consequently though I think it ruined me for riding a snowboard in the Mid A, now that I'm and old man and don't ride parks anymore...

here is a pic from the Teton Backcountry on the Idaho side...the pic could be from a different day but its the same route, we skinned 2 miles in before ascending, climbed about 1000 feet and then had to turn back carefully after fracture lines started spreading across the pitch everywhere...didn't make a single turn that day, but still one of my favorite trips out...

OK boys. We gotcha on the environmental skiing equations. Let me answer this guys question properly. lol.

7 Springs worked with quite a few different resorts park crews to build the shoot for last years Snowboarding Magazine cover shoot. Some really great guys who build features at huge resorts came together to make this happen last year. I would imagine they pushed snow from all of the surrounding jumps and moved them into the area to form the features. I am sure that the pictures look better because they cropped out the parts of the mountain that looked like skid-marked whitey tighties. I have attached the following link for you to read more about how they did this and why they made the features. etc., etc.

http://www.7springs.com/page/content.det...k.html?nav=5117

I watch the cams like a hawk. My wife hates me for it, but I can tell you that every chance 7 springs has had snowfall or a chance to blow on that damn pipe, they have. The pile is being pushed together the way a real halfpipe should be made. They blow, then mix, then push into place and start to cut with the Zaug. Whitetail could use a lesson on this from SPT, (Snow Park Technologies), the guys who build at 7 springs. Outside company. The snow lasts longer in a big pile and even when being mashed together. Plus it doesn't have boarders and skiers pushing it around destroying it under warm temps like the hills are getting right now. I only wish Whitetail would try this method with their small pipe as it would last a bit longer and would have less striations in the snow-pack forming their pipe. I have commented on this before, but never get a real answer from them.

Hope this helped answer your questions Sincraft.

easy there...up here in west virginian we say burn more coal

Tell me about it...I almost started WW3 a few years back at the Sportsman's Club in Thomas when I made a comment about the environmental destruction caused by strip mining and mountaintop removal. A big ole Mountaineer stood up, pointed his finger at me and shouted, "How the F do you think these G@D D@MN lights get their electricity boy! Coal by G@D. Now shut yer F'n mouth before I shut it fer ya!!!"

Here in mill town my folks used to say when there's smoke in the air there's food on the table. The skies don't turn orange anymore and there is food on the table too. You can have cleaner air/water and manufacturing. I think it is worth the added cost. They actually pull walleye and bass out of the river now. 40 years ago all you could catch were carp and catfish along with raw sewage and industrial drek.

Denis, I'm sorry I missed you at the Springs. My wife, son and I were there last Sunday. I saw a number of tele-skiers but I never spotted you. As per the Streets Park. Those kids pony up full fare to walk back to the top to get their rail and step shots. Given the amount of snow making and grooming that go into it I think they're still getting their moneys worth. Tucker is right, lift serviced skiing is about as urban as you can get. If we had consistant snowpack atound here I think I'd give it up. I think this winter is more the norm than the last 2 and I can't travel to find mother nature at her wintery best often enough so to the lifts I go.

Sorry Rob. I was on fixed heels. I expected and needed them on Sunday's ice with a bit of granular on top. Tues AM would have been great for teles but I wasn't on them. I did meet Jim K and his son in law Dan and we had a great
Time on Mon.

Wow thanks for that response on the pipe.

Still doesn't answer how the heck the are working on it NOW, there wasn't any snow! lol. Ok, maybe it's not noticeable on the webcams, flat is flat.

Oh and THANK YOU for the info on the photoshoot and the news release. Loved this part:
"The Seven Springs hip is one of the coolest features I have ever seen at Superpark!" remarked Tom "T-Bird" Monterosso, Snowboarder magazine's senior editor.

Pretty elite.


As for the eco hippy talk. I kinda know what Dennis is talking about. You drive into the mountains (ok they are really hills), away from some traffic and some population, to go outside and ride down the hill escaping a bit. 7Springs is NOT the place to go for this. I'd love to ride backcountry, do some hiking and search for places to ride, but wouldn't know where to go especially around the hills of Pittsburgh.

Hoping some day. Getting older and have some issues at a fairly young age still, but maybe I'll still make it.

I remember when I was young, snow wasn't plenty around HV and 7Springs. My family took a trip to Snowshoe, and it was like another world. I look at their conditions now, and they don't seem to get much more than 'us' however, when I was young, everything was covered in feet of snow, maybe it was just coincidence but that was the first time I rode through the trees, and rode for a long time. I remember thinking, I can't see the bottom or the top, all I see are trees and powder and hope it never ends. That was the last time I rode powder in the trees, pathetically over 25 years ago.


Anyway, thanks for everyones input in this thread, quite enjoyable reading everything. Glad I found these forums.

Funny that the Urban park was mentioned here too. I just got off the phone last night with my son telling me that he and his buddies really like the urban park. Maybe we are too old - but it's cheap, and every resort should have one (it's otherwise like saying: no snowboarding at this resort) - Did I mention that's it's cheap and requires very little snow???

No worries man. Glad to help. Welcome to the boards as well mate. You are correct that the webcam is showing flat. I have a hard time judging 7springs by their webcams. Sometimes the looks can be really deceiving as I have been hearing about them lately with people not happy about the conditions they are representing on their pages. Although I refrain from saying that is 100% correct because I haven't even made it there yet this year. Waiting on the pipe myself. I can say that I have seen those guns on blowing hard over that area and I suspect they had a pushed up area of snow the entire length built up about 8 to 10' over a few nights when we had the few days of cold temps. It does seem like they pull it out of thin air, but they are at least on point with blowing every chance they get. If you really wanna get stoked check out little old Bryce Ski Resort in Southern Virginia. They were smart about their snowmaking and proceeded to blow tons of piles while Snowtime resorts weren't blowing at all. Snowtime claimed to be doing the best they could. While Bryce decided to weather forecast and take the goal of blowing on fewer trails with their permanent guns and moving in ground sweeping guns to build huge piles of snow. They let the piles set until they were ready to push them out during cold temps and they built a hell of a base while Snowtime wasn't even open yet. This was all done in Southern Virginia mind you. No excuse for Snowtime in my opinion. I'm sure I am going to hear crap for saying this, but I think they dropped the ball this season and took for granted all that snow they had the last few years and got lazy.

Jamie, The only thing snowtime was good for this year was excuses. they had plenty of times to blow 24 hours for a number of days but shut the guns down when people showed up (this is at Roundtop of which I live close by). The new mgmt up there is only concerned about the bottom line and will scrimp every chance they get.

I agree Finsout. Watch them shut down after the first week of March. They will let us ski in the brown crud now, but will make an excuse that lack of skier demand caused them to close. It's all about the finances. That and they get charged electricity on a flat rate until the end of February. Then those pumps cost them more to blow during March. That is why they will not hold the resort open longer in March. That and they can't afford to pay their green card lifties for a few more weeks. I have been pretty upset about how they handled the beginning of the season and I have no doubt that they will shut it down no matter what Mid March. I predict March 11th. Let's look back at this and see what happens. lol!

Jamie, I've been told the the March 11 date is decided upon already. there is a group of people at Roundtop who are starting to get pretty vocal about season pass rebates/credits for next season, you may want to think about that for WT as well.

PS..Ya, Chinese downhill it is ze only vay.

If I ended up predicting that March 11th date look out. I'm gonna feel like some sort of psychic. My head is already big enough. I figure they wont go much past the 11th though either way. Let's look out for about 12" of snow this weekend the 18th and 19th of February. Fingers crossed!

I am at Seven Springs right now working a trip with a youth group. The super pipe is open and being used. There is a slope right beside it called Alpine Meadows that was the best run on the mountain today. It caught the sun just right and softened up beautifully.

yea I was there weds and rode it a handfull of times. First time for me, only rode it half up and did 180 turns but was fun.

Wondering where to go this weekend. HV is going to be slope packed but lift light, 7 springs will be lift packed but usually if you time your movements on teh slopes correctly you can find nice windows to ride.

I was out for 3 days last week and camped out in the pipe. that thing is AMAZING! Springs has a ton of snow BTW. Probably getting a season pass there instead of Roundtop next season even though its a 3 hour drive as opposed to 20 minutes. Quality beat quantity every time!!