We hope that you all have excellent Holidays.
Glad to let you know that Timberline's management has agreed to have us take care of their SNOW REPORT.

Direct Link: http://www.visitcanaan.com/timberline

First thing you will notice this year:
Current Snow Report SPREADSHEET for mobile devices - new
Current Snow Report LIVE MAP for mobile devices - new
The report should be updated every day before 7am, but in most cases, you will be able to see it live by 5:30am or so!

You might also like the fact that it will be updated (as needed) on the snow.

Last, but not least, we'll keep you updated here with other bits and pieces deemed important.

We want to provide DC Skiers a warm welcome to valley!

Voilà Team -

PS. Feel free to post your photos, or any other memorable "adventures" in the valley.

Sunday, Dec 23 photo:




Whiteout (green slope) open from mid-station.
White Lightning (black diamond slope) can be seen in the background.

Sunday, Dec 23 photo:



Garage Sale... anyone?
I counted 5 down - almost a record of smiles.

Hooray! Thanks so much, Voila. All looks great and opens easily in my iPad. Hope to be there soon.

Cheers,
Woody

your snow report is showing "closed"

Merry Christmas



And don't worry... they will be grooming later!

Cheers!!!

Bousquet: you are very welcome.
BTW: The grooming is even better today on White Lightning.
(not that I blame them, but x-mas day was a little rough on the edges)

In case you've missed it: Timberline opened more than 1/2 the mountain today.
Check out the snow report to believe it: www.visitcanaan.com/timberline

Just to be safe: I did 20+ runs and have yet to put a scuff on the base of my skis. The snow was a little heavy at times (old age) but so much fun!!!

Friday forecast: Some sun / no snow
Sat forecast: Looking like we are a GO for round 4 - more snow.

FYI. I skiied today and was amazed at the conditions. Sure natual snow, but close to 18" of base... Did almost heaven this PM andf no rocks nor nicks and good mini bumps. If more comes this weekend, AMG! Great bumps and the temps cooperated. Anyone who wasn't here is missing out.

yeah, better conditions yesterday morning than all last season....the drop, heaven, thunderstruck/draft all opened with 12"-16" natural snow and deeper drifts...amazingly there were no crowds/lift lines until after lunch...there were only a couple cars in the parking lot when I pulled up at 8:45...rode powder from 9am-10am all fresh tracks...10am-11am crossing tracks on occasion...I bet whitegrass was great yesterday and will be today...

...it is sad and ridiculous that Canaan has not opened yet...

Really appreciate the updates, especially from Voila, who handles ski reports for the resort. I also like the comments on the spreadsheet (coming soon, for example). Good work! Very informative.

It won't be long for Canaan Valley Ski Area to open up - TOMORROW!!!!!!
(I too can't imagine them not being open today, especially after hearing about the really good skiing 3 days ago!)

In the meantime, Timberline - without the crowd



This was taken at 1pm or so - incredible number of people on the slopes

johnfmh: see me at Timberline - I have a check for you.

Note for today's snow report:
I make a lot of mistakes - heck, probably more than most... BUT today, one mistake I didn't make is stating that there are 23 slopes open at Timberline.

I am mentioning this, because when you get there (or if you call them), you will surely come across a printed snow report that will not match with what is REALLY open.

Having said all of this, please note that there are only 6 groomed trails, thus 17 open trails with NATURAL SNOW. For those who weren't here yesterday, this means:
Trails like The Drop is very very thin, others are thin but still very fun, and some are just getting thinner (as you would expect it).

Tomorrow is another day: while you won't see the sun, you'll be likely to see a LOT MORE SNOW EVERYWHERE.

Incredible ski-weather, near-perfect snow, small crowds... hopefully, you were there too! Here's a closer look:



---Upper & Lower White Lightning




---Cross Roads




---Plenty of Snow - West Ridge of the valley




---Happy Customers


Other News:
Canaan Valley Ski area opens this morning - with 18 slopes!
More snow on the way - dress warm!

Crazy how much Canaan didn't pick up from the storm last night. Seems like it was an all around bust in this area.

Although....that didn't stop the conditions from being pretty sweet today. LOTS of trails open with LOTS of natural snow (where the heck did it all come from???)

The best snow I found today was on The Drop. I'm sure there were plenty of better stashes in the woods but I took it easy on my first day of the year and was also skiing with a guy who isn't too fond of trees.

I did get see Jimmy in real life, talked to Kwill, and saw plenty of other good friends that I haven't seen since Snow Luau. It's ski season again!!

Mine seem to be much more gray that Vic's:

Plenty of snow on The Drop!

Fantastic morning on the snow.
Canaan REALLY has a lot of snow.
Timberline is just amazing (reporting as much as 9 inches in the woods, just off of the Governor's turn).

Wait until you guys have coffee... you'll want to run to your favorite ski area here in the valley.

Here's a look at Saturday:


-- Busy Woods - Dolly Sods



-- Trailing camping gear, Timberline


-- Even more snow this morning, 8 more inches up there actually

I got a chuckle when I read ur post because I had been watching a chunk of energy dropping down on the backside of the storm that hit right about when u posted the "Didn't get it" and the Bust quote...
What have we learned here at DCSKI on our weather 101 classes for the Valley?...If we miss the frontside CV will get it on the backside..where ya been..Med School??..LOL..(with all due respect)

Ck out the totals Snowshoe is reporting...Long live GW!..

Snow Conditions

We were blanketed with 7" of new fluffy light snow overnight and it is going to be a great morning! The snow is still falling with a predicted break tonight and then more on the way for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. We've expanded an additional 20 acres this morning with Camp 99, Upper Ballhooter and Knot Bumper ungroomed for some powder runs. There will be a delayed opening on Knot Bumper and Lower Ballhooter.

We've been making snow around the clock and hope to have Cupp Run, Slaymaker and Spur open soon. Progression Session Park and Robertson's Run are open with 5 jumps and 13 rails.


Snowfall
as of 12/30/12 @7:08 am EST
7in. 24 Hrs
8in. 48 Hrs
12in. 72 Hrs
24in. 7 Days
73.5in. Season Total

SS sounds nice...
Timberline (and Canaan Valley ski area) didn't miss a thing though:
I was skiing on route 32 this morning - happy to report: NOT A SRATCH on my skis. The woods? Well, I will see you all later!

yeah, hard to tell how much it snowed last night, but I am waiting for the plow folks to do some snow removal on the driveway so I can go to work...2-3 foot drifts since last night on the valley floor.."time to make the donuts" and I'm late....still snowin'...

Good-Bye Guns...
Salamander mobile snow guns are being moved to Winterset ski trail.
Best Guess:
I see Salamander opening tomorrow morning -
I see Winterset opening mid-week -

Happy NEW YEAR 2013 - from Canaan Valley!

Checking out the heart of the valley today - snow depth was more than acceptable - in fact, 3+ foot drifts made for some fun cross country skiing.

A nice break from a busy week at the resorts to celebrate the first of the year.

Weather:
Holding 30 degrees, and light snow (nearly all day).

Snow:
Not wet, and far from it (which was surprising)

Pressure:
Nearly constant wind, estimated at around 10-15 MPH.


-- the famous bench



-- there's more powder over there...



-- tranquility



-- lakes-R-us

Wed Jan 3: Last minute change----
Timberline will not have night skiing tonight.
Night skiing will resume every Fri night and Sat night - or until we're told otherwise.

Anyway, none of you guys should be affected - all you do is ski & board all day, and then hit the pub at 4:20pm - CHEERS!

But it affects the folks that work all day and get to ski at night during the week! I thought T-line was going to have night skiing on Thursdays, did something change? I agreed to be a chaperone for the tucker high school ski club and it was supposed to be on Thursday nights I thought

2 years ago, Timberline had in fact Thu, Fri, and Sat night skiing... yeah, two years ago. I don't like it, but they did in fact change.

This year, expect Fri and Sat night only, UNLESS there's a major Holiday or such.

When they added it up, they probably saw you and me skiing at night on Thursday night - those were the "good old days Chaga" - it was like local's night to have fun.

Timberline closed couple of slopes with natural snow this morning.
More snow seems to be on the forecast starting tonight.
Other than that, it's more like a local's gift today: very few people, really nice snow.

Winterset ski trail is about to open (another green with plenty of slopeside properties)

Today was a really good day - I got my workout for the entire month, without a doubt. I also managed to get a few shots I wanted to share with you, so here it goes...


--- A kids' day for sure, Salamander Ski Trail



--- One of my favorite tree line (the Governor's Turn)



--- Looking at Upper Salamander Ski Trail



--- Family Tree Skiing



--- There are obstacles, but you'll also find 3+ feet of snow at times



--- One of the obstacles I was just talking about...



--- Winterset ski trail: still blowing as fast as they can


** All and all, I couldn't ask for better conditions today. Uncrowded, great ambiance, SUNNY, cool, and fantastic backcountry!

Timberline has opened 2 new slopes with plenty of coverage:
Winterset Spur (easy green)
Winterset (another easy green, accessing numerous slopeside homes).

Time for sharing photos now...from yesterday:



--- Our Ski Team really flies



--- Good luck coaching this, Coach



--- The woods are still in good shape



--- Silver Streak ski trail - still my favorite for the day

thanks Vic...I really enjoy your high quality daily pics on this site and visitcanaan site!!!you do a great job of capturing the wonderful wintertime conditions and fun up here in the valley on a daily basis...

I second that Vic!!

Thanks - happy that people are enjoying the photos and personal feedback.
Here's a little more on the current conditions:

Timberline opened several slopes yesterday - one of their most important slopes (in my opinion): Upper Dew Drop (a nice Blue that gives you a true 1000 vertical). Looking at the snow report: http://www.VisitCanaan.com/timberline, you can see that nearly the entire mountain is "LID UP" on the interactive trail map.

Along with the above came several others.

Where do we stand now?
Well, the resort looks good for the coming weekend actually. The snow's there, so let them come (as they say in a much better way).

Snowmaking was at "full speed" on Twister - next on the list. They had to stop in the early afternoon for lack of cold temperatures, but will resume in a couple of days.

Conditions were really good - I keep saying this, only because it keeps getting better. Yesterday was no exception if you were to just LOOK.
I made several runs... stopped 1/2 way to take photos... and had to wait several minutes before anyone else came down the mountain.
Off the wall remains great and is on the top of the list (super easy double black that is as steep as it gets in the South).
Silver Streak had excellent coverage, and is getting deeper bumps (partially thanks to my many many runs on it LOL) - Tight double black corridor with bumps.
Dew Drop was horrible - well, I know... I know... they just opened it... but that's the point: it will be a 1000x better today (second grooming of the season) - it's that easy blue I was talking about earlier.
Last, but not least: Woodshole (beginner green) - I have been slacking, and should report more often on this wonderful, tiny, almost flat trail for beginners. No one was using it... I found groomed sections at about 4pm.

Alright, so you get the message... the resort was virtually empty.

Here are some photos:


--- early morning fog


--- first terrain park shaping up



--- crowded summit



--- king of the hills


You still at work?
GOOD - now check out our Sponsors - they make it all possible!

Thanks for the pics and updates. Ski The Drop lately? (I did on Saturday and hit a surprising amount of rocks. Even though I kept my skis on the white. I think some little rocks were kicked up from the bare spots and are lying on the snow.) Didn't notice that at all on Upper Thunder or Almost Heaven.

Upper/Lower Thunder, Almost Heaven, Lower Silver Streak, Lower WL, and The Drop won't do to well after a warm-up (or a spell of the non-frozen precip.) Natural snow lasts only so long in these parts. Need another dump and/or some snow making.

No offense, but the Drop is horrible. Did you see me make any favorable marks on the drop during the last week? I didn't even feel like taking photos of it. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Drop, but it just needs more snow.

I still ski it everyday, and every couple of days, I hit "something" that sounds like the sharpest rock in the history of mankind. Every time, I get back on the lift, check the bases of my tele skis (sorry alpine skiers, don't try that move while riding the lift) and each time: I am so lucky. It seems I keep hitting a frozen piece of wood, frozen pieces of ice... but they all sound like the world's sharpest rocks non-the-less.

In any case, take your rock skis on the Drop (if you must ski it). It will be another 9 days before it may be much more enjoyable - with much better coverage.

What to do then?
OMG... you have no idea...
There are so few people at Timberline right now that you can make the same run feel like 3 different runs. If you are not sure how, show up early and ski with me for couple of hours. We'll laugh during hours of really fun skiing - without the rocks.

Result for today (Tuesday):
First day of warmth - slopes are intact.
Tomorrow is day 2 -
Will YOU wish us luck?
Will YOU be one of the lucky skier?

..yep, no crowds...absolutely mountain to yourself kind of day yesterday with sunshine and sweet surface on lightnin...thunderstruck was the best it has ever been---natural packed snow with small to medium well spaced easy bumps on entire slope...trough's just startin' to show grass so probably today is going to be the last of gettin' it before weather moves in...it's a tough job, but someones got to do it...actually it's not that tough...

The weather did catch up a little, and the warmth / light rain did a bit of a number on our snow.

News?
The Drop will most likely be closed tomorrow morning - too thin, too much grass.

Today's conditions?
White Lightning & Off the Wall were probably the best, considering.
Crosswalk (where all the slopes meet) as well as Salamander got a little sticky at around 2pm, but then got better at around 4pm.

Forecast?
As best as I can tell, I am going biking tomorrow, and cross country skiing at White Grass. Friday should start to look a little more promissing. My best advice for this weekend: Wake up early, ski early, drink early (in moderation of course... as in: enjoy & savoure that French wine).

Here are some photos from today... mostly on Off the Wall.


--- Scott, enjoying the bumps on Off The Wall



--- A bit of Tele action



--- Just fun times


Disclaimer: Photoshop was NOT the tool used to remove grass. Look closely, and you'll see a little bit of tall grass - but it's all fun!

Ya, it was an interesting day today. Played hookey from work to get one day last day in before the real miserable weather hits. This past weekend and today will get me through the reduced terrain that we'll experience over the next 7-10 days. It's been great skiing so much natural snow.

Even though the snow was better on the trails, I spent all day in the trees with the exception of one run down Dew and one down Off The Wall. Both had nice snow. Snow in the trees was very wet n heavy (but skiable); I needed to hit those lines one more time before the coverage diminished.

Question: ski patrol had Upper Thunder/Upper Thunder/Almost Heaven roped off, starting around 2:30 or so. Think they'll keep them closed until new snow arrives or did they just close them early because of fog, rain, wind combined with plenty of bare spots?

Too many bare spots - couple more slopes will close tomorrow morning.
Enough of the bad news...here's something to look forward to:

The weather will start looking a whole lot better on the 21st!
Start biking, running, swimming... get your cardio ready.

Lots of slopes still open, but almost as many have had to close. The result is that while it doesn't look the best out there (visually speaking of course) YOU WILL find yourself having a blast.

Skiable terrain was quite good - or call me crazy - but really: it was pretty good out there.

You'll find White Lightning (Black) and Upper Dew Drop (Blue) to be the best snow condition. Off the Wall (double black) was much better in the morning (only because of Salamander being a little slower in the afternoon).

The following photos are from Canaan Valley Ski areas... my attention was diverted for most of the day with their 1200-foot tubing park GRAND OPENING. They too have quite a few slopes opened.

Forecast is still sunny & kinda warm for the next two days and snow later next week (the weather is the same on both resort - they are after all, only 4 miles away (bird's flight).



--- Crazy fun, really



--- Steep launch - 1200 feet to go



--- This should sum it up a bit

This post was about Timberline - so since I received 147 complaints in the last 3 minutes, let me try to redeem myself.


--- This is a two-page ad, appearing in the "Get Tucker'd" WV Magazine.

Wow thats amazing, Shaun Palmer rides DH at Tline!!

Brian rocks DH - and everything else he touches.
Peter rocks.

I didn't make it to the Valley this weekend. How did the snow hold up?

All the natural is in the river. Good spring corn all weekend. Trouble is, it's not spring.

Any snow at all in the trees or on Thunderstruck? (Obviously not skiable, but curious if there is any base at all.)

How about OTW?

...I'd bet for MLK this weekend it will be just sally, lightnin', and dew drop.....maybe OTW if they decide to make snow on it later this week...for whatever reason still looks like they are bent on twister plan and the snowmakin' weather doesn't look promising for getting that open in time for holiday...

There is still a bit of snow left on upper thunderstruck - just patches. Lower thunderstruck has a little more, but again: they are just patches that will melt off. The woods, while a little bit better, aren't skiable (but surprising to see that much snow left).

Lots of slopes have closed - there's one slope left with natural snow - Herz Trail (tiny access trail). Silver streak trail (double black) is "all natural", closed, but partially skiable and very fun.

Salamander wasn't sticky.
White Lightning was nicely bumped and very fun.
Dew Drop was bumped and super fun.
Winterset was sticky.

Now... on with the LIVING PROOF:



--Small bumps on White Lightning - with a bit of sun



--Family Fun on White Lightning



--Locals telemarking down White Lightning & Silver Streak



--Happy Kids



--Happy after surviving the crash on Silver Streak

** COLD nights coming back tonight!

Thanks guys for the updates. And as always, thanks for the pix Voila. Sad to see the bumps on Silver Streak gone.

Looking for something good to happen in the next two weeks to bolster the cover in and out of the trees. On another note, saw numerous river rats in kayaks while driving home yesterday. Rivers were chuck full of melted pow-pow!

Would you be opposed if I incorporated your mobile snow report into an android app? It sure would be an easy way (AND FREE) to get more exposure to the work you are doing.

Credits would be linked back to your website.

Thoughts?

Go for it... share at will !
(and if you guys want to add more photos, go for it too)

PS. I'll have plenty of photos tomorrow afternoon - photos I think you'll enjoy (god, I hope you will)

Thanks Blue Don 1982.

Cool, Thx. I'll monkey around with it this weekend.

Snow-in-the-Making:

Timberline started blowing snow at around 2am on Thursday morning. It wasn't the prettiest snowmaking ever, but the super near future looks really good for everyone here in the valley.

This morning, it's already a very different story: full-speed snowmaking, dryer weather, snow is a 1000x better... super cold winter winds are back!
(I was way under-dressed)

The Fun?
Well, the skiing wasn't half-bad actually. I have several photos to prove it. Before getting to that, I wanted to share that Skier's left on White Lightning was pretty fun. Upper Dew Drop was even better on skiers' left - the whole length.

Without further delay, let me share today's memory with PHOTOS:



-- Timberline Imaginary Bumps - just waiting for snow.


-- Timberline's Lodge covered with the good stuff


-- One of the locals finding powder (I forgot to ask where)


-- Bob ripping down White Lightning (PSIA trainer, visiting Timberline)


-- Skier enjoying Salamander Ski trail, with slope side snowed homes nearby


-- Top of Timberline Resort (looking down White Lightning)

Overall, slopes that are opened are in very VERY good shape... there just isn't a whole lot of terrain opened yet. That should change within 2-5 days.

With the permission of fellow board member Voila, I made a basic android app for Timberline.

It has Voila's snow report, a link to their webcam, a link to mobile weather for Davis, WV and contact info for the resort, visit canaan website and a small shameless plug for my Snowshoe app.

Search Google Play for Timberline Resort or here's the link.

Timberline Android App

From the looks of this morning's webcam, the snow is a blowin'!

Thanks for creating the app. It's definitely pretty cool, but will probably need to be twicked out a bit. I ran across couple of glitches: the app doesn't update the snow report in real time on the android or iPad.

Also, for those interested in seeing the Interactive snow report on your pads (any pad or iphone, really...) download the Puffin Browser. You'll have access to all Flash content - on ANY website ever created.

Couple of photos to tie you over before the big weekend. ** Conditions were far better than my legs **


-- Snow in the making (and just more of it) for the terrain park


-- Strong base on Winterset


-- Teaching area, Crossroads, and parts of lower Salamander (ample snow to go around)

Have a really good weeeeeeekend.

Limited terrain (3 slopes from the top, 17 in total - for instance) and limited window of opportunity for snowmaking didn't stop 1000's of people from enjoying the 1000' vertical. For the most part, I'd say Timberline was having a great weekend on the snow. Canaan Valley had fewer people, but I will add again that The tubing and the teaching areas are a really big hit.

Timberline got a little crowded for about 3 hours on Sunday - but the slopes held their snow really well. The long lines weren't great, but it's not like I ever waited more than 7 minutes to get on the lift. You only had to watch out for couple of people straight lining White Lightning (more out of control than anything else) - but other than that, snow consistency was quite good.

Here are 5 of my favorite photos for the weekend. More to come on www.VisitCanaan.com - most likely before you wake up on Monday.


-- The style



-- Very adaptive



-- Cannot be duplicated



-- So calm



-- I loved the shadows

It's not over... Monday is still to come!
Have a good weekend - see you on the snow.

Any one know who the tele skier is in the top pic from today? Saw him from the lift; some of the best tele turns I've seen @ T-Line.

Wiiiiiinds and frequent lift stoppages today. Sill, I got sme good turns in this AM.

His name is James - Tele James to you
I believe he found the 4 secrets:
- Weighing the back foot
- Keeping your torso down the fall line
- Actively pressure the front shine throughout
- Don't move the back foot forward - move the rear foot forward

WHAT?
You didn't like my tele turns???
(I best ski more & practice more)

any chance more terrain opens Monday at T-Line?

Also, if making it a day trip from Winchester, Va on Monday, would you go T-Line, Blue Knob or just do Whitetail?

Timberline is probably going to be the second most uncrowded resort on Monday.
Add to it 1000' vertical, no grass showing... and the choice of Timberline might get even more obvious.

As a bonus... you can even get your own welcoming committee, your personal photographer, and the snow report emailed directly to you (by request only). I mean... will BLUE KNOB do all that for you???

how can I argue with that!!! Any chance they will open more terrain for tomorrow??

Not quite able to open new terrain, but soon - really SOON.
Additional help is literally right around the corner: flurries today and tomorrow, and maybe even 5 inches on Wed. Snowmaking will be able to go "full speed" - so a lot will happen before next Friday.

Dress Warm - at least for the next few days. Temperatures are going to be rather cold.

..."can it make phone calls?"..."no, but it can tell you if your family members are birds"...

Wow... too early for me...The foreigner in me is confused.
(I hope this isn't a famous quote I was supposed to know by heart)

Start of Quote:
..."can it make phone calls?"..."no, but it can tell you if your family members are birds"...
End of Quote.

I don't know, little brent on the local ski patrol and the chase boys can tear it up on that fat tele gear enough to make anyone feel insufficient!

waitin till about 2pm today to have tline to ourselves.... cu out there!

Timberline affectionos... When I got to the mountain this morning I couldn't believe my eyes as the guns were blazing all over the mountain. They should have the drop, OTW, Twister, and the lower terrain park up and running by this weekend. The snowmaking window is all week and weekend with potential for natural on and off all week. It should be good!

Ever had the feeling that you should just keep on skiing, run after run?
No bathroom breaks...
No food...
Well, Monday was one of those days & that is why I am happy to be in the valley.

PHOTOS? None!
I can't even apologize for having had that much fun with super nice people. For once, you're just gonna have to take my words for it; the snow was really good.

Four things:

1 - skiing was great Monday at tline
2 - his name is Mike and he is excellent
3 - keep your eye out for brent, he can tele rip
4 - if you want to tele like them sign up for tline tele clinic next Saturday

I thought his name was James Dent -
Since we have 17 (or so) Mikes - which is this Mike you are referring to as being really good on tele gear?

I rather spend all day Saturday bashing OTW and The Drop at high speed on alpine gear.

With all due respect to the other Tele Gods in The Valley , I wasn't saying that he was the best tele skier, but that he made some treeeemendas turns down WL. So good that I remember the jacket and asked someone on the lift who wuz dat?


Some really good snow on Monday (hit WL skier's left near the snow guns before that got skied out a bit), but also some boiler plate exposed in a few spots (given the cold.) You could avoid those, but I was practicing some hard snow technique on the spots. First firm snow I encountered all year in 10 days of skiing.

Mike is the guy in the photo you took. He usually skis with his wife christy.

I must have called him James 10x - OUPS

Thanks Tele Tom!

Overall conditions at Timberline today: Super cold weather & snow.
Using the wrong color wax didn't help matters.

Upper Dew Drop: shattering at times (hard snow)
White Lightning: shattering at times (super hard snow from spot to spot)
Off the Wall: just amazing / absolutely fantastic snowmaking powder.

Skies were dark blue all day. Tomorrow calls for better snow as it will start to fuse (all snow particles will blend to the same temperature - a cold temperature).

On with couple of photos...


-- I liked the light in the background



-- Snowmaking for the terrain park - it shouldn't take long



-- Off the wall / Off the guns snow



-- The 4 skiers for the day - top of White Lightning



-- Under the best snowmaking conditions

[quote=JohnL
Some really good snow on Monday (hit WL skier's left near the snow guns before that got skied out a bit), but also some boiler plate exposed in a few spots (given the cold.) You could avoid those, but I was practicing some hard snow technique on the spots. First firm snow I encountered all year in 10 days of skiing. [/quote]

U hang out thru the aft?..skied 1215p till 330p that mon..no see..
sorry for the "Shortened" visit with u and Jimmy sat eve at timbers after sisterski yanked me by my ear and dragged me back to Betterhalfski's b-day party..Was buzzin pretty good by the time we got there..b-day shots at Big als started at 2pm......

I get so disturbed by the Turtle pace of operations at the areas there..TL does the best they can do..but the potential is really triple what they are doing now...Fo-get about Canaan..sure..two top to bottom runs with good conditions but a little snowmaking on the timbers trail is all they are doing..a few days now since ive been there and they are STILL making snow on timbers without it being open..

I see all the new equipment but it seems to just be show at this point..I dont know if they even blew snow up there last nite other than timbers..will get a snow report later today from my bro and sis n law..
Every year all I hear is the increased snowmaking at the ski areas and it doesnt seem to me that they get any more open any faster than they did 15 years ago...
Canaan will sit there with minimal open till they get the natural they depend on...Im thinking of arranging a skiers Jihad on Canaan...but then again...they r SOOOooooo cheap to ski at..prob the cheapest skiing on the east coast..
But u know what cheap gets ya...

Anyway..woke up at 2900' with an actuall temp of 4 below 0...Too cold for this beach bum..got out of dodge!

Hey... just curious & wondering:

Are you guys looking for different photos (more action, more fun, more landscape, etc...) OR are you looking for more descriptions, more insight info etc... ?

...pics of folks ridin' pow, please...

in the trees, please........

Hey Fish, good to see ya too. I'm sure we'll all be back soon.

Skied from aboot 8:45 to 3:30 on Mon. Mostly WL. What lift were you riding?

I was testing out my cold weather gear to see if it all fit and I could find it all: helmet, baclavavava, googles, etc. Unless you recognized my coat, you wouldn't have recognized me. I was a bit spoiled by the warm weather I wuz skiing until this past weekend.

Pics and snow making/grooming reports work for me (any more detail than what you have on your conditions page.) Bonus points for pics of Boarderbabe (see Old School thread.)

But keep up the good work! We'll have to tip you at Timbers. If I ever figger out who you are.

BTW, like the spreadsheet view on your conditions page.

Jimmy and Tucker, looks like you guys need to head West...come on out! ...just sayin...

Jimmy should be in your neck of the woods end of March. And I'll be trying to keep him out of trouble. Or get him into trouble if things get slow.

where you guys going?

Big Sky and Moonlight Basin. Bridger Bowl for me and mebbe Jimmy.

Possible tour of some smaller MT areas for me prior: Snowbowl, Great Divide, Discovery.

JohnL: I don't ski (I just tele) - though sometimes you'll see me on a board / funky alpine gear. I usually have a white helmet to cover my bald head. Perhaps the reason you don't see me is that you aren't looking hard enough: I am rather short.

OKAY... now wake up everyone... a fantastic surprise for this morning:
Powder POWDER alert. We received 5+ inches for the soft stuff, and it's still pouring out there. It will probably stop snowing by noon, but will start again tonight.

Here are a few photos from yesterday. They are all D&E College kids.


-- Start of the race



-- Mid Race



-- Yoga training



-- Tele turns attempts - getting there...

See you on the mountain!

PS. Timberline will be opening up to 8 more trails - maybe even today with so much coverage that you will start crying of joy.

Can you smell & hear the sounds of the fog horns of Lake Erie?...Good fetch coming straight down from the lake with a little enhancement from lake Huron.
We get Lake Michigan much more regularly.

I was really surprised that Snowshoe just to the south is only reporting 1 inch new..with Wisp just to the north only cking in this morn with 1 inch new...GO GO Canaan...Thats what the areas rely on..their mamma..nature..

5+ inches in Canaan as of 5+am...
Still snowing gently.
Could get as much as 10 MORE inches Friday.
"Mamma Nature" loves us.

Vic, you are dead on correct about drunk american college kids...look at those D&E college kids trying to cross country ski...its the middle of the day and they are so drunk they are leaning on each other to stand up, and finally just fall down...ah college--the good old days...

I looked like that perfectly sober on XC skis the first time I tried it!

Snowshoe is reporting 7" of new snow overnight on their Facebook. Just posted about 30mins ago.

This Morn at around 7am they had todays date on the snow report and it really perplexed me since I watch radar/sat obs all nite (better than sicking my thumb i guess)..sooo..good for them..WV Rules!
..still wonder why wisp only got 1 inch...then again the bottom of the lifts at Timberline/Canaan areas are a few hundred feet higher than the TOP of the lift at Wisp...Elevation!!

Snowshoe created their snow report the day prior releasing it. They probably don't ski the slopes early in the morning to release a snow report. It's a lot of work... got to love skiing.

If I had to guess, I too would have said 1" of snow... however, after opening my front door, it was obvious that Mama God AND Papa God loved us all.

More snow on its way.
Waking up at 4am - I'll make two runs and then report my findings by 5:45am.
Ahead of time: Happy Friday to all!

Glad your on the Job Voila!..
Just saw these obs..

Tucker County...
Davis 10.0 1030 am 1/24 911 call center
Parsons 7.0 1030 am 1/24 911 call center

Here's some news (hopefully to clarify conditions)
Timberline was groomed last night - as mentioned late yesterday.
By 5am, the place was fun as heck. Groomed underneath, with fresh powder all over. The snow gun didn't really make for the best skiing, but they are so badly needed. Whales are so huge in places, that it will make you wonder a bit as to what is going on?!?!? The fact is that they want to make a bunch of snow / base - and move on to a different slope. Judging from the amount already there, snowmaking will not have to come back to the same spot twice for the rest of the season. You will love to see the amount of snow created.

By 9am, Timberline had another 3 inches of snow (or so) - for a grand total of about 8 inches on top of the groomed surface. The wind resulted in more than 12 inch drifts that were an absolute joy (even on White Lightning).

Off the wall was crazy-fun - even the crud became a blast - literally.

A 3-hour trip to White Grass was another joy of the day. Everything was (without a doubt) as white as can be - and very well covered - but without much base. For those of you who do not ski as often as you'd like, this means that tomorrow will be way better. As for today, you can ski the 3-mile run and back - just do not get off the main trails and do not take anything steep (you won't have enough snow).

White Grass is therefore OPEN, and very FUN and doesn't require rock skis at all - unless you venture off my above recommendations.

Back to Timberline for the afternoon proved to be (almost) more fun.
The surface was primarily crud - and I can't tell you how much fun that was.

Pictures to come - later tonight when I get back. The moon is out, so I am going skiing.

Here are couple of PHOTOS:


-- Heading to 3-Mile Trail, White Grass



-- Tasting some snow... White Grass



-- Stone Coal (the "magical" place)



-- Special Olympics Briefing, Timberline



-- Action, Timberline

PS. Special Olympics will be at Timberline again tomorrow (Friday)

Great pics . I was at the shoe today and it was a beautiful powderful day there also!

Will Timberline be opening any new trails for tomorrow? We have never been there before and were hoping to go if a good selection of trails are open. I seen Voila said something about 8 more opening. Also will the Olympics be take up any of the slopes?

...drop opened yesterday and twister will open as soon as they get a chance to push it out...that was a mighty deep 5.5 inches yesterday...each season, there are always a handful of days in the valley that reminds me of riding out west...yesterday was one of them...I would think that the surface will be a true packed powder today, very good, with no crowds...

It's been snowing for 3 days in the valley, so naturally the conditions are pretty good at Timberline.

Here are a few photos...


-- Mount Amus - Top of Timberline Resort



-- Enjoying the Drop with nice coverage



-- Off the wall on the Drop ski trail



-- Athey ripping it (yeah, as usual)



-- Couple of Generations on the snow

Sunday is bound to be a busy day - at least judging from the number of cars still driving up the mountain tonight (almost 8pm)

Have fun - enjoy the white stuff!!!

T-Line rocked today! OTW, The Drop, Silver Streak, Almost Heaven. Fun times.

hung out w SCWVA, David, TomH, Charlie.

You'll notice that Twister (fairly long blue trail with 1000' vertical) is now open.
Call it "Magic" on a skeleton crew.

Nice weekend - Really NICE weekend in the valley.
Here are a few memories:


--- Woke up with a Beam of Light atop Timberline


--- Product of its environment


--- The Making of Future Instructors



-- Not Rigid, just Rippin'



--- Own-a-tele-turn



--- The Backcountry was thoroughly enjoyed

Best conditions of the season. Made some turns with johnl on fri. Good times!

Nice pictures as always Vic. That first photo looks like what we call a Sun Dog. Very cool. Not so common, especially in the East.

It was a REALLY NICE weekend in the valley. Got to make turns Fri, Sat. with JohnL and met some others, Matt, Scott and John. Jimmy was awol. Pizza & suds at Sirianni's Saturday night. Made turns on Sunday from 9 to 1 then headed home.


"I ski good from 9-9:35am"

Jim,

A Sun Dog? Interesting.
My picture actually doesn't do it justice at all - I was driving, and kept seeing this light following me. Was it a dream???
Every time I stopped, it would reduce in size by 3 folds.

The memory I have of the Sun Dog is permanent, but not quite on film.
I have never seen one before; this just looked like a rainbow that was waiting to form.

Lucky me, it's raining - I have all day to look up Sun Dogs.

Say Vic, you seem to be a jack-of-all-trades at Timberline, do you have anything to do with their webcam?

Seems like they upgraded to 360 degree rotation, and now 3 of the positions give a great view of the building....from about 10 inches away.

If you have any influence over that problem, or if you can poke the right people, it sure would be appreciated!

Hi D, I'll be in touch before we get there for shure.

Yellowsnow: I took care of the original cam setup, and then gave the info to their network admin. That info may have been misplaced, so the management is currently looking into getting this fixed.

I'd fix it myself, but I have not been hired yet - maybe tomorrow I'll get the "call" to fix that cam. Looking at the wall is getting a little bit boring, so perhaps you can enjoy photos (above) instead.

Chears!

Sweet! Found more awesome tree runs at Big Sky just yesterday, hopefully by March I'll really be able to show ya(ll) around!

Vic - thanks for posting all the great pics. Definitely the best weekend of the season so far.

Just an observation... DON"T ride the chair with John L. He either makes other riders want to jump off...

For those NOT using an iPhone, match box for screen... you are served:
http://akaflash.smugmug.com/FindYourPhotos-1/Jan-01-2013-Visit-Canaan/i-Zj9zhVF/0/X3/8219-X3.jpg

Not the complete picture.

The first one fell.

The second one jumped.

Seriously.

And I'm supposed to be keeping Jimmy in line.

Who's on third?

may need a PSIA second diagnosis consult dr jimmyz

Were you skiing with TomH and G on Sunday? Might have seen you from the Queen.

Edit: I think it was Sunday. IIRC, TomH was slumming on Saturday in lock-heel mode.

@ John:
I was with TomH for 3 or 4 runs (Silver Streak / White Lightning).

Take this photo, replace Red jacket with a green one...
Remove a little bit of snow...

Nice pic vic. When?

That was last year

Why do you think I showed up!



Thats why I didn't let my kids ride the lift with him on Sunday.

Looking for another weekend like this one:

...scorpion...

Timberline HAD a long bare strip on the top of White Lightning.
It's now fixed... everything else on WL is looking strong (as far as the base is concerned).

I measured 3" of new snow atop this morning, and FEET of drifts on some places.
They are calling for:
2 inches today.
3 inches tonight.
4 inches tomorrow.

That my friends, is called optimistic - and don't you dare burst my bubble.

Oh yeah... almost forgot:
I had the worst run on white lightning yesterday. You obviously weren't there... you are a "smart one". A quick fact: all future skiable days look much better than wed did.

Note to self:
Plastic skis and wet ice do not mix well. I am still trembling, but I really did have fun.

I was thinking about driving up tomorrow to TL, but not sure if it's worth it. not sure based on the previous post - it's better then wednesday but that's not saying much.

Since you are addressing someone in your previous post as a "smart one," it seems you're talking to me. I think your comment about the worst run on White Lightning and "you obviously weren't there" would have been a more appropriate comment to post on my facebook page, but since you've spilled it over to DCSki, I'll share the picture here.

@ Girlboarder: Your White Lightning is BETTER - blunt but very true statement.
"You weren't there" because NO ONE was there. Timberline had to closed the lift yesterday while I made runs.

Today's conditions at Timberline:
- Frozen grooming with dusting amounting between 1 to 4 inches.
- Lots of wind
- Cold
- Total accumulation so far: 4" + lots of wind to spread it around
- Accumulation expected tonight: 3"
- Accumulation expected tomorrow: 4"

What to expect Fri?
Nice conditions / don't expect deep powder because of the wind, but expect good skiing.

Look for any narrow slopes: the most amount of snow will be there.

For those getting in your car right this second: Congrats!
Bundle up, but you'll love it.

Just checked the web-cam. http://www.timberlineresort.com/Winter/webcam.php
Thought it was broken until I saw that it was a white out. Should be good this weekend.

Without a doubt, a perfect way to start the month of Feb!
Timberline was promised snow, and it came down (heck, it's still coming down)

Going back out in a few minutes, so I'll just let the photos do the talking. Hope you enjoy & see you soon!



-- Liz rippin' down White Lightning



-- Full Speed Ahead



-- I can see him doing the next commercial (Dos XX)



-- Tucker making his way home with a snow gun (demo purpose only)



-- Going switch... again

How is Timberline looking today? Thinking of heading out tomorrow morning, will it be worth it?

Dont be stupid you moron...and no..Im not just an internet tough guy that hides behind anonymous handle...my real name is Richard Head..

You've met Uncle Andy. He's a little rough around the edges.

FYI, it will be sweet tomorrow.

Initiation tough love ...ole school...I got it hard with the MPC threads in my early days..

And you've got the 2 stars to prove it!

Quality...not quantity...Those 2 stars are a badge of honor!...Now let me figure out how to make some time to make that 8 hour dr to do some real skiing instead of all this ..watchin n talkin...good dump just started a couple of hours ago..more hope for the future...i'll bolt soon..

Fish, was shocked to see you have 2 stars after years of service to DCskiers.
I tried to up your rating but my big thumb only made things worse by marking a 1 star for you!!
DCSkiers join the cause and let's raise Fish's star level. Just be careful when trying to rate higher since clicking on the # stars does not move one to more stars, but rather finalizes the star rating shown, in this case one star. FISH please forgive me.
The Colonel

Another good day at Timberline.
For those wondering, 3 demo team members showed up at the resort. Conditions were pretty sweet, and about to get even sweeter.

On with the photo from today...


-- A different prospective on White Lightning



-- Hardboard-O-Rama



-- G-Force



-- High Speed to make up for no wind

Powder ALERT:
Stay home - conditions for Sunday expected to be near-perfect.

Additional Warnings:
Beginners may find the groomed slopes perfectly managed.
Intermediate will love the choices of terrain.
Advanced skiers will love bumps, but first they will have to work on their powder skills.
Experts may have some tree skiing available.

You have been warned... now enjoy!

good advice! "nothin to ski here". if you love skiing..... and in great conditions...and don't use some vacation days from your job to come to canaan monday, tues, wed of next week, then you don't REALLY like skiing! get it now while the getting is good, cuz it could be sh*t next week. we are in the mid-atl after all

Awe shucks Sir...I am not worthy of even a Colonels rating let alone a 2 star generals rank..with the highest regards and all due respect to a Colonel!...Im thinking I'm a Sargent...

Well..The Spine of the Apps are receiving more snow than any other ski areas in the country...atm..
These Clippers are rolling in at a steady..Clip.if you will.
A lot of folks will just call these snows Lake Effect but really this is the Wv Alpps version of what ski areas like Utah get...left over moisture from the Pacific.
YEP..we are tapping into the Pacific and of course some Lake enhancement as they roll past and the wind switches to the NW..

Noreasters..lake, gulf,..Atlantic and Pacific moisture..we sample it all!...BUT..
as stated..we are south of the Mason dixon and that means you have to watch the weather...Im thinking this coming Saturday for those that cannot get out this week will have a 10 rating on it..sunny and highs approaching 40...sweet..then clouding up Sunday with rain moving in some time in the aft..Thats the watching part..

Power Alert: Again!
The resort is closed for the night... and let me tell you: another 4 inches of snow has fallen since 4:30pm.

Epic: Today was epic... no doubt.
Tomorrow is bound to be another repeat.

I was going to give you one or two photos... but we had so much fun, I wanted the photos to represent Sunday's snow a little bit better. So, without any further delay, here you go... hope you enjoy the photos.
(90 more photos to come before Monday morning's sunrise - online)


-- TREE HUGHER: this one is a great sport!



-- Patrol was pretty busy today, helping out a lot. This photo shows what this patroller was doing during his 11-minute lunch break. Conditions: perfect!



-- Sharing Powder with everyone watching



-- The race is on!



-- Smooth transition



-- This kid rips... fun to watch!



-- Spring loaded



-- Bottom-less tree skiing



-- Snow DEPTH was said to be shoulder-deep

** The heck with work... take a day off, and enjoy the valley's powder.

Today at Timberline was epic indeed. I was very impressed for my first visit. Go tomorrow if you can, I wish I could

Dont Be Stupid you Moron!...Now you know the rest of the story..Glad to have you onboard here at dcski..ski on brother!...Sister?.....your friend..aka Richard Head..

This is one kool/great dude & he is skiing the best right now...but when JohnL heads to Utah it seems like the Alpps turn on the Snow Machine.....
Got almost 2 feet since he left and now this..remember.this is the NWS f-cast...we beat it all the time!...

WV Alpps F-cast...
now showers, mainly before 4am. Low around 8. Wind chill values as low as -14. Breezy, with a west wind 22 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Monday Snow, mainly after 3pm. High near 24. Wind chill values as low as -14. Breezy, with a southwest wind 19 to 24 mph decreasing to 7 to 12 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Monday Night Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 20. South wind 6 to 9 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.
Tuesday Snow showers likely before 1pm, then a slight chance of snow showers after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 28. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday Night A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. South wind 6 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Wednesday A chance of snow showers, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 25. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

SKI UTAH!!!!

PS..I Know JL..Im still at the beach...I know...I know...

PS...Part 2....if you hear of a 30 inch dump in Utah...its got the same moisture content of about 15 inches of snow in WV...just sayin..

I am sorry FishNski... but I really don't understand your point.
What am I missing here?

I am working hard to give an accurate snow report, memos & info about "on the snow" conditions, and providing a load of photos to complement.

What does Utah have to do with Timberline Snow Report?

Ski Utah!..Sort of like saying "Viva la France!"..when you are living a good life in the good ole US of A!
Just think about it..you will get it...

Anyone going to be at Timberline on Tuesday? Thinking about making a trip up if I can break away from the hospital. Hoping not to ski alone...


Vic, JohnL is in Utah.

And JohnL been skiing his [censored] off in Utah.

Not sure where to post this but here goes. Skied T'Line Sat. & Sun., conditions were great and kept getting better, sorry I had to leave Sunday as I'm sure today will be fantastic. I had the good fortune Sunday of being the "guinne pig" for a ski instructors group assesment exercise. I skied and they critiqued, and they had a lot to say. Kudos to Rick, Jimmy, Kim, Monica and John. Hats off to T'Line's great ski instructors. I'll volunteer again in a heart beat.

If it's about Timberline, photos, conditions, or about sharing the fun you had (or even bad experience) - this would be the place to post.

I so very much wish I could do the same for Canaan and White Grass... but limited there. I'll try to bring you guys photos and reports for the two later this week. Regardless of what I do (or lack there of), White Grass and Canaan are also epic. Tomorrow morning will be even better.

Charlie: Glad you had a good time!!!

PS. For those in a rush, here are a few photos compiled into one album:
http://smu.gs/14M23dn

Call jimmy, he was making noise about getting snowed in when I left last night. I started laying the ground works for a Tuesday trip yesterday afternoon, we'll see if I'm successful.

This is a public message forum. You can post whatever you want in this thread, so long as the admins don't delete it. The skiing at Big Sky was great this weekend. See I just posted about skiing conditions in Montana.

Question about the interactive Tline snow report -- it shows Upper Almost Heaven open. When did that happen? I skied both Sat and Sun and it was most definitely roped off as closed both days. (Doesn't mean it wasn't nicely skiable on Sun, just that it was technically closed.) As far as I could see the snow guns are blazing away on Upper Thunder but haven't been trained on Upper Almost Heaven yet.

My mistake Norsk. Here's an update on the snow report...
I placed it as skiable but it isn't yet open. The groomers have been working on it all day and were still working on it this evening.

I am certain that it will open really soon.
Thanks for the heads up!

Nice to see you are having excellent conditions but this "post whatever you want"??? really ??

...it's the strangest marketing technique I have ever seen, but as long as Fred keeps on advertising long ticket window lines and braggin' about grooming 8-10 inches of powder down on the official facebook page I guess we are at least guaranteed to have minimum crowds...

NATURAL SNOW...
There's nothing like it, groomed or not!

Today was no exception to the rule... Groomers manicured the mountain (literally).
Slopes like Upper Dew Drop were in the process of "Face-Lift" with attention to the details. Sure, it was closed, but for good reasons: getting ready for even more snow.
The Drop (Black Diamond) received a similar treatment. Groomers took some time to level all the bumps and groom it. For those who love bumps, well... don't worry... we'll bump it up for you tomorrow.
Upper Thunderstruck got pushed out... Grooming coming right up so that it too can be ready for the dump that tonight will bring us (bringing, because you should see it fall).
Lower Dew Drop is getting ready too...
Patrols were all over the mountain in preparation for tonight's expected 8-14" of snow.

Skis are getting waxed, gloves are getting dry, driveway tools are ready to be put to good use. This car is getting out.

In the meantime, here are some photos from today (Monday) - a calm & sunny day in the valley with beautiful groomed NATURAL SNOW.
Calm is another keyword.

On with today's photos:

-- Everything was groomed - just add fluffy snow



-- Snow Clouds, moving in



-- John Anderson's loving it, "Au Naturel", but waiting on the powder



-- This is ONE COOL slopeside home



-- A closer look at the first groom of The Drop

For real Jimmy Whatever.You.Want.

So i can say i am up reaaly <censored> early to ski the deep powder on <censored> and in <censored>?

Just.Like.That?

...doesn't matter how (*&*ing early you wake up if the the pow is all groomed down...

Wha

Whompum stompum
All groomed down?
Breakfast bowl white
Just the trees are brown
Who's this grooming clown?

Trees aint brown.. .. (Frown face)
head to canaan..they open it natural..

maahhh, sorry the pow is all getting mashed However, I think Jimmy has the right idea visiting places that groomers can't fit...and Jimmy I said you can post anything you WANT, why would anyone want to give away [censored] & [censored] !!! See DCSki.com even recognized them as forbidden words

Oh, and enjoy the snow! I am jealous of yall! People here don't get excited for pow...it's sad...

...I got a hunch that this thread's days are numbered...tis' a shame...

Weird day today. Not the powder day I was hoping for when I preemptively called off sick yesterday. ~6" of new snow with .25" of crust on top. Didn't make for all that great of skiing at first. But as the day went on things got sweeter and sweeter. Each run was better than the last. Lots of snow on Off The Wall. The Drop skied great all day. Almost Heaven was all natural. Even White Lightning was fun and 'variable'. Definitely a great day. And got to see a lot of people as well. Skied with Jimmy, Scott, and Mrs. Scott. Met Tucker and Abe for the first time.

Here's a quick video I got of Scott on OTW. Nothing special, only took the phone out once.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb9AkoQO938&list=UU6RHzHOon5NOzmP3fbfrq5Q&index=1

Why? Did Vic get fired??

No, not fired...

INFO RELEASE:
Following the grooming that took place after the snow report I released on Monday, the closing of trails to get them ready, and the 4 complaints that came in on that day, changes are being made.

Feb 5th to Feb 10th:
I have been instructed to wait until the official snow report comes out of Timberline.
The snow report is said to arrive in my hands a few minutes before the resort opens.
It will take me 10 to 15 minutes to get it online for our area visitors.

Feb 11th on:
I will no longer be doing the snow report.

I apologize for the inconvenience, but I thank you for all the kind support Dcski has provided.

I'm sure that Timberline will entrust someone that is more than capable to fill your shoes...and I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible.

No good deed goes unpunished.

What are the odds that, left to their own devices, TLine "management" would have developed anything like Vic's interactive snow report? Roughly the same as the odds of a new heart-healthy menu in the cafeteria. (That would only happen if Tline was purchased by a heart surgeon. Oh wait...)

oh [censored]....you mean people are posting non-sarcastic remarks here...I've been going about things all wrong...

So can we assume that if he gets 4 complaints about the condition of the restrooms, Blanzy will fire somebody over it?

Yeah, got to be blunt with Vic. Don't want him thinking I'm hating on him.




Maybe we can form a committee and divide up some complaints to groups of 4. We'll have a new lodge, lift, and better food in no time!

Dear T-Line Management - a quick note on how the internet works.

1)Type in Mid-Atlantic skiing in google and the first hit is dcski
2)Go to DCSki since you are new to the mid-atlantic and you want to find out where to ski.
3)Go to the Local Resorts Discussion Section and note that the #1 item is a thread on Timberline Ski Report with over 11,000 views (more views than all the threads put together on first page).
4) Follow the thread and see ski magazine quality photographs of folks skiing powder, skiing the trees, special events ect. ect. Basically people having a great time at T-Line.
5) Go visit T-Line because it looks fantastic and you didn't know such places existed in the Mid-Atlantic.

Now what happens. 1-3 is the same.
4) when you get to the last page of the Timberline Ski Report (and yes people will start at the last page) you will find a bunch of complaints on how bad management is at T-Line.


Good job! And don't think your average webpage or lame Facebook page will replace the positive advertisement you got from this thread. The reason this thread has so many hits is solely because of Vics photos and skier reports. Those in the know will now go to the Whitegrass web page for good valley ski reports.

Feb 3 comment from a new customer, wonder how he/she found out about tline?



The four people who complained on Monday were still complaining on Lower Almost Heaven yesterday. The other hundred skiers there were wearing big smiles

I found the early conditions challenging, snow that was good for you. It was hard for me to get the speed, pitch, timing and intensity right. Steeper seemed better.

Anyways thanks Vic, I'm gonna miss this thread if it goes dead.

Wonder if the four people who complained about some trail being closed/groomed also complained about the ice on the seats of the lift!

TomH - That sums up exactly how I found out about Timberline. I've lived and skied in the mid atlantic my whole life and had never heard about Timberline until I found this site. I read the posts raving about Timberline and decided I needed to check it out, especially for some pow. Drove 4 hours Sunday morning to arrive by 8:20. Wouldn't have made the trip if it wasn't for the posts on this thread. Had a blast and hope to go back a couple of times this season. Skied upper almost heaven via the trees on Dew drop all day on Sunday because the website said it was open and it had the best natural deep ungroomed snow on the mountain. I probably shouldn't have, but I didnt know any better.

DCski11 glad you discovered Timberline. The great thing about T-Line marketing is that it keeps the crowds down.

I, too, planned a trip to T Line based on the discussions on this thread and some other posts about T Line on DC Ski.

We've been T-Slimed.

I am in way too infrequent visitor to Timberline because it is a 3 and 1/2 hour drive from my place. I do often spend a week's vacation in the Valley usually in March but I will try to get there when conditions are really good and this year the only consistent good and timely reports on conditions at T-line is this thread. It is the reason I'll be heading there tomorrow.

Posting conditions after opening doesn't do me any good at all but reading a review and seeing photos of the previous day does. Perhaps management should ask their Mountain Manager to get out of bed and on the hill to get a report posted by 6am or 7am as Seven Springs does.

Since I have been around here in wv, and this goes far beyond just tline or ski areas, complaints will never make a difference in the way things are done or run. Unless it is something you can change yourself, the only way things are gonna change is when new folks take over.

The skiing may be a little different just because of no lifts or man-made snow, but the only ski area around that truly bends over backwards to make sure the customer and what the customer wants, is the number one priority so that the customer has the best overall experience possible on and off snow is White Grass.

Put a little one man lift over at WG like at MRG...we aint all hump jocks...Maybe when I retire..

Awesome post TomH..among others!..

I tried to post a sarcastic remark on this thread with a "Ski Utah"!..why didnt that work?..

.I have posted endlessly and positively on TL and the Valley for years...Im alowed to bitch a little on any piss poor management..I pay my dues!..

Vic and me had a communication breakdown but he has been a serious breath of sweet nordic air up at a valley so pristine and precious...but Soooooo.Slowwwwwwww...Long live Timberline mountain...long live the valley!...I just hope I live long enough...

Oh...forgot...looking more and more like a serious run of winter coming up just b4 presidents weekend and lasting a little while...how long?...enjoy...

...GREAT move to remove the grooming of powder statement on the Facebook page,,,because skiers and snowboarders like powder...skiers and snowboarders also like bumps(moguls), racing gates, and terrain parks---its a good way to add variety to the skiing terrain (100% flat and groomed gets boring)...there are only 2 resorts in the entire mid-atlantic that don't commit to opening atleast 1 terrain park the first week of the ski season...the same 2 resorts have the smallest terrain park in the mid-atlantic...

...so few resorts in the Mid-A are blessed with the opportunity to offer their customers powder, bumps, glades, world class groomed surfaces, racing gates(nastar), quality terrain parks, and the ability to market/advertise it professionally in real time...the mountains that are fortunate enough to have the staff and that are blessed with natural snow could take an advantage over all the other Mid-A resorts...

Vic,

Thanks for your hard work this year, I really liked the spreadsheet view. Why not continue to post the condition/*current* grooming notes you had on the spreadsheet view here (open/closed status, along with mid-day grooming, depends entirely on T-Slime so let them randomly change it) along with a pic or two, with links back to VisitCanaan? In the long run, you may find out you're site is more popular than T-Line's site. Just a thought.

Good news, Dave Lester is reporting 15" base @ 3700 ft in Canaan Heights this AM.

Not so great news:


Mixed precip, but if not too much rain happens, may consolidate the tree base (for future snows?) With a warmup on Sunday, Sunday may be real sweat.

Bad news - Mr. Fish, any insight? How much non-choice precip?

Hey Vic,

Why not add the following statement/disclaimer to the bottom of your report.

"This report reflects snow conditions, weather conditions and anticipated trail and lift status at the time the report was prepared. Many factors such as weather and skier and snowboarder use can cause these conditions to change rapidly. Lift hours may change without prior notice. Be aware of changing conditions, refer to our trail map and obey Your Responsibility Code! Slope access is permitted only during chairlift operating hours and with valid lift ticket."

Most of the resorts have a similiar statement at the bottom of their Snow Reports. I took this statement from 7Spring's snow report, which btw was posted at 5:17am. A 8:45am snow report posting is useless.

Also, please keep posting your pictures, they are much appreciated.

It dont take a RocketSturgeon to figure out the fact that after all the mishmash there will b a net Gain of choice Precip vs the non choice stuff...Rain dont accumulate...DUH!!!

Ok..putting the joke time aside..this storm that sprung up on the radar that will dump on NE kinda changed the fcast a little..with the stronger system than thought heading up the coast the western front areas should get a very windy few inches on the backside fri eve which makes my blue bird predict last sun for this sat defunct (Little windier..cloudier...colder)...push that day over to sun with the rain coming in a little later as well....
But then it looks to turn colder and snowier mid to late next week & hopefully last awhile like I posted earlier on this thread...thats the plan at least...dont kill the messenger if it dont pan out...

Vic, thanks for the dedication and great work. As I said, this thread convinced me that T-line was the choice for best natural this week. I'm so glad I caught it before more mixed precip sets in.

The only hard pack I skied at Timberline today was the backs of the whales on Off the Wall. What I really wasn't prepared for was what seemed to be the lack of traffic in the trees the last few days but it was challenging powder, morning was dense but dryer but grew heavy and wet during the day, lots of untracked lines left. It was work for this guy, good for you conditions, but I improved through the day. I thought there might be crust but found very little and not near as thick as 7S on Tuesday. I hope the immature snow doesn't diminish the base but firms it more. Should be fun skiing when it packs and drys.

Vic:

I looked forward to your comments on DCSki every day. What an absolute shame that Timberline is no longer employing you. I've been a season pass holder for 11 years and never experienced better reporting. The pictures were also stunning. You've done a better job promoting Timberline than anyone I know.

You will be missed but not forgotten. Maybe Timberline will change its mind.

THANK YOU very much for all the feedback & "good words" - I just can't force a company to hire me. Timberline is still debating about having me report snow conditions, fun and photos here.

In the meantime, if you still want to see daily photos, go to www.VisitCanaan.com where you'll find at least one new photo a day (heck, sometimes 10 new a day).

As for the snow report & spreadsheet:
Timberline has opened two communications doors. You should now be getting the snow report an hour or so before the resort opens - on any given day. That's a big improvement in itself.

We'll also be working on training people in-house to fill out the snow report on a daily basis using our format, but no promises there yet. We'll just have to wait and see if we can find the right person to do it, but I'll keep you posted when we do.

In the meantime, enjoy the snow.

Thanks again for all your support.

Fred keeps barking about the "new website" that should be up and running within the next few days. Nothing like waiting til mid-season to unveil a new website. Seems like a great marketing strategery...

Then again, nothing like waiting a month into the season to brag about just adding a snow report...

Vic,
You have been such a positive cheerleader for Timberline this season, and I am sure the resort has enjoyed financial rewards because of your honest and frequent reporting.
BY THE WAY, WHEN IS "SNOWY LUAU" WEEKEND. EARLIER I THINK I SAW IT IS TO BE MARCH 15-17, STILL TRUE?
Vic, am I reading today's snow report correctly, everything is open?
Thank you
The Colonel

The best customer service we get from Timberline comes "hands down" from Vic. There's no other reliable source of information about what's going on up there.

PS This weekend was fabulous. Deer Valley conditions. Champagne powder up until it warmed up on Sunday afternoon.

I've been a long timer at t-line. I've skied almost every mid-atlantic area over the last 30 years and none can give the customer a better product than t-line. At one time they had a PR person hired to do promotions and advertising. They all left due to micromanagement of some sort or another where they couldn't (wern't allowed to) do the job they were hired to do. Vic comes along and puts together the best marketing tool of the past 20 years and they [censored] that up by shutting him down. For the life of me, I can't figure the place out.
Was riding the chair on Saturday with a first timer to the slime and answered all kinds of questions about the area. He hadn't skied east in 20 years but was going to come back... read about the place on DC Ski and "took the chance" as he put it. How much publicity has Vic provided for the owner at minimal cost? Just look at the crowds from the past three weekends... Record days at ski school... Bar and restaurant busy... Go figure...

Speaking of bar and restaurant being busy, the bar has a solid selection of beers on tap and sells them for $3.50 which is a bargain compared to most places in the D.C. area and most other ski areas too. The food in Timbers however is decidedly mediocre and with the weekend crowds anything but quick.

This past weekend was one of those best and worst of T-Line for me and the family... First the best, the conditions and lack of crowd (ok, Sat was a little busy mid day- but the trees were, as said by someone here before, almost untracked). It was classic Timberline with great snow and very fun terrain for me, my boys and our friends (they were first timers). Now for the frustrating part. It started with the home we rented... supposed to be slope side, but was quite a walk away. Ok, ni big deal, had 1 extra bedroom. Then the family that came up with us went to rent equipment at 8:30am... They did not have everything till 11:00!!! There was 1 person working the boot counter and 2 with the skis. Horrible attitudes and service. Then lunch, wow, what a horrible meal in a dump of a place (been skiing Blue Knob and been spoiled by the good food there this season). So, I guess a typical Timberline weekend! Sad thing is we will probably go to Blue Knob next time to rent a place because of the service and attitudes... will just use T-Line for day trips until it changes... (I know, never will)

Oh don't you love the laid-back people are in the valley? I waited 40 minute for purchasing coffee for 7 people in our group at Boom town Java in Davis!

Classic, classic. At 8am on Sat there were at least 100 people in the rental line in the lodge. Four deep out the door and all the way down the stairs to the ski school reservations area. And yet, I talked to someone who rented at the Ski Barn at 9am and was out the door, all 4 members of his family fully equipped, in 15 mins. And that's sort of the drill at Tline, right? There are faster and slower ways to do things. Ski Barn is usually (not always) faster than the lodge for rentals. Boomtown Java is sloooow but the coffee is damn good. Go there on Sun on the way out of town, usually empty. Lodge food is good for nothing except creating more heart bypass patients for Doc, but there are tasty sandwiches down at Trail Mix. I'm with all the others who cannot figure out why Tline "management" is so committed to mediocrity, but there are work-arounds available and the skiing makes it all bearable.

I'll second the trail mix sandwhich recommendation. I hit the Trail Mix on Sunday, delicious sandwhich (chili dog wasn't great though) great selection of beers. Unfortunately Boomtown Java closes at 5:00 on Sundays, I was hoping for a latte for the drive home, but didn't make it there until 5:15. Guess I shouldn't have enjoyed that apres ski pale ale in the T-Line parking lot.

and that's why it is called timberLINE.

U aint Li-ne!..

I went to TL Sat night for my first visit.

I really wish I had a chance to get there earlier. There were only 3 runs open from the top. 2 blues which I think were Upper Dew Drop and Upper Almost Heaven and 1 black which I believe was Upper White Lightning.

I was disappointed that so little was open at night. After a couple runs on each it got boring.

I'll save any real impression after I get a chance to visit for a day session.

The view was spectacular from the summit just before sunset.

Vic and others were dead on - the lift is SLOW.

There's a good thread unto itself. In general I've found it better to rent off-site if possible on the weekends no matter which resort you go to, but four deep out the door does sound pretty bad.

What other time saving tips do people have? The other week I was pleasantly surprised when I bought a discount Snowshoe lift ticket from my local shop and found it was the actual ticket, not a voucher. Was able to drive to Snowshoe, park, and get right on the slopes.

I've rented from mountaintop realty, friendly, fast, and fair. office is close by, right accross from sirianis. you have to drive but parking at tline or canaan or wg [:)] was not been a problem.

mostly, buy your own gear or rent before you get to the resort, any resort !

I was actually surprised that there is night skiing at all! Besides, you can get all 1,000 vertical on White Lighting at night! There are not many places in Mid Atlantic that you can do 1,000 vertical feet at night. (maybe Wintergreen?)

You definitely have to come back during the day!

"Come to Timberline where lives are slow and lifts are slower!"

Agreed.

That was a hellava view from the top at sundown.

That is sad to hear. There are other places to ski and eat in the valley at least! Cross-country skiing isn't for everyone, but seems more and more folks are taking a dabble at it for sure.

White Grass had it's biggest day ever in it's 32yr history this past Saturday! (thanks to great snow and a reputable ski report that will leave little doubt whether you should make the trek) Seems like we say the same thing at least a few times every year too.

Nobody waited more than 10 minutes to pay and get their brand new rentals from employees who love life and skiing so much, they could hardly have a bad attitude turning other people on to skiing. Then, they all ate the best food served in the valley and went home with smiles so big, they will surely be back again and again and again. The only thing WG can't promise is epic conditions. The rest is a piece of cake and it's no mystery why WG doesn't lose customers. Come find out why!

On top of all that, WG is the only ski area in the Valley that has a working webcam!

WG is the best ski area in the Valley, lift or no lift. Proof in point the wonderful snow of late Oct/early Nov. Yes there were problems like no power and sketchy driving but folks came from all over the EC to partake and several interweb blogs proclaimed it better skiing than all of the previous year.

Tslime and Kalame have a lot of catch up to do.

...tline facebook page said the new web site was on line yesterday...still looks like the old 2011 one to me...hopefully Vic is building the new web site and in charge of updating it daily like he used to do here...seems like a no-brainer since Vic is a local canaany valley resident, web designer who does quality work, die-hard skier who knows how to communicate to other skiers, and who is on snow takin' magazine quality pics everyday, and already proven, on this site, that he can bring new customers in with his photos and reports---then everyone that got on the tline web site could see the conditions and get stoked with daily pics and real time on snow "actual skier" condition reports from Vic...I haven't seen any ski resort besides whitegrass do that in a way that you can actually get the vibe for the place and conditions...mostly because it has to be done daily/everyday, in real time, by a person who knows the skiing product and the skiing industry...again, whitegrass does the best job of this even with a grass-roots budget.....

agreed about Vic (even if he is a frenchman! hehe) would be a valuable asset to tline marketing if had full control over the website. People want to see what's going on currently in real-time almost and his visitcanaan website and report here did that.
As for WG, they spend a whopping $500 a year on actual marketing. The simple daily website and word of mouth has proven to be the most valuable tool. (the website gets up to 7000 hits a day) Mostly folks would send their comments and pics by email and chip would put them on the website, now.....there is also a "friends of white grass" facebook page that people can just upload their own pictures and comments to. It's grown to almost 1000 happy skiers so far...

Advice for anyone visiting T-Line, do not rent there, the equipment is junk, and the wait can be Ridiculous. Last weekend was my first trip to the Valley where I had to rent, I cannot say enough good things about the Ski Barn. Walked in a little before 8:30 am with no reservation, was out the door with some pretty solid rental gear in less than 10 minutes. Excellent service.

Slow service and dangerously outdated equipment.

...voila, the new tline website...new tline web site...

Life elevated.

Slowly.

et Voilà!
Rub it in.

...damn right...I'm stoked...240" of natural snow each year...break out the fatty rockers...clean the lipstick off your snorkle...be carefull in the back bowls...check the battry's in your tracker...and watch the for tree wells...snow report---it might be a delayed opening this a.m. while patrol finishes avy control...

I know you all went out already... it's a powder day and all.
For those of you gathering last-minute info from the new website, I'll make a quick correction, because I know you spent a lot of money and effort towards your President Weekend.

Timberline will have night skiing tonight.
Hours of operation for Sunday Feb 17: 8am to 9pm

Happy Holidays everyone !

From the new website: "Check out the Cherry Bowl, opening in the 2012 season as well - a north-facing gladed bowl which naturally captures both natural and manmade snow with a Western feel."

Is the Cherry Bowl really "re-opening"? (Not that it hasn't been wide-open these past few years...)

Never a dull moment over on the Facebook.

Fred's post this evening: "Yes, I've noticed that the website twitter account is not up to date. When I find the password, we'll fix it. Fred"

Also find it kind of funny that the new website was created by a company called 'Rainmaker' Media. Only the Slime would hire someone with that name to make a website for a ski resort...

I note new site indicates 29 open trails via Twitter, 39 open trails on Facebook, and 40 open trails on actual site snow report! Who, me confused?!
The Colonel

I'm not sure they know how many trails they even have.

Another puzzlement: the new website appropriately hypes the impact of Corridor H on travel times from the DC and Baltimore areas, but apparently nobody thought to edit the old driving directions content, so those still say that its a 4 hour drive from the DC area (and sends drivers via Seneca Rocks rather than Corridor H). Totally undermines the marketing message about Corridor H's positive impact. And its false -- I live in the District, and it now routinely takes only 3 hrs 15 mins with one short stop. Big difference.

I don't want to be too critical. The new website looks terrific I think, and is a major improvement on the prior one. But it does seem to have been rushed to the finish line (not a surprise considering that its being released mid-season) and I hate to see the resort undermining its own messaging.

Must be one of those micro climates since Whitegrass and Lesher seem to be around 160" a year

Maybe they include natural + man-made snow in their totals.

David... that was a classic reply! (love it).

Since I started this particular post, I thought it would only be fair to provide some super quick facts & clarifications.

- Timberline Snow Report is still "alive" but different
I used to climb the mountain and get back down at around 5am with real data of what I saw. Timberline no longer wants it done this way, so I now obtain data directly from the ski patrol in charge of opening and closing trails. This means that approximately an hour before the resort is scheduled to open, you can usually count on having your snow report online. The direct link is still www.visitcanaan.com/timberline

- As the viewer, you still have two snow reports VIEWS
You still have access to the map report (interactive, very visual) AND the spredsheet report (more traditional, alpha listing). Look at the top right of the report to change views.

- Timberline has a new website - I had nothing to do with it
Timberline has decided to hire an outside firm to create their new website. I am not part of the decision making process, nor am I hired for consultations or picture selection. That seems to be mostly done between one of the owners and the web design firm.

- Timberline has different marketing plans - thus far
The resort has agreed to market in different ways. My request for taking care of Facebook, on the snow report, sharing daily photos etc... is just not part of their plans at this time.

- The new website should have NEVER been live - but it is
It's true, I personally do not agree that the new website should have gone live with so many discrepancies, but you know what? It did. Timberline is now very busy and trying to correct errors visible on the site, and you should be very patient. Understand that Timberline has waited 18+ months for this site, so they were perhaps a little too eager to launch. Instead of taking the time to debug, they launched. Call it overly excited... call it what ever... it's done. The good news is that Timberline has been blessed with incredible snowfall - nearly every single day since the season's start - minus 8 loosy days or so in all. Today is another snow day - just downright amazing!!!

It's recommended that...
I recommend you enjoy the snow and let them take the time to fix website errors. Again, the snow is just fantastic.

Timberline is not enough for you?
Try this:
Timberline ski area
Canaan Valley ski area
White Grass touring center
Blackwater Falls touring center
They are all within 15 minutes of each other...
They all have a great deal of snow...
How in the heck can you possibly go wrong with Canaan Valley & surroundings?

Maybe one day I'll take care of their Reporting... sharing daily photos for Timberline... Sharing the fun on Facebook and other social media... but in the meantime, I wanted to THANK YOU - the audience - for the wonderful and overwhelming feedback I have received here and via email. I am most happily shocked.

For those who didn't like my bluntness, lobsters, and snow reporting: I can only hope that you will one day lighten up about skiing. It's about fun, or did we forget?

On with some fun photos... because it was ALL ABOUT having fun.
(Ending the President's Day Weekend)


27 Kn - that's a lot of force!



My favorite photo of the year - so far



At eye-level



Who says water cannot be compressed?



Are you ready for spring colors?



Engagement, Torque, Adrenaline, FUN

Well said Vic! I've been waiting for someone to say this glad it was you. That's the bottom line and you are 100% correct, downright amazing, if you weren't there you missed it, the house was rockin this weekend.

...awesome pics!!!...that must be snowboarding--the newest way to get down the mountain in style...

definitely a good Prezday weekend.

I didn't forget. Skiing, oops I mean snowboarding, is fun. Did we just make up?

If you take the 9 year period between 02 and 11 Canaan actually had an annual average just under 200"'s..
BUT..those years were bracketed by 2 of the worst years on record..

...you mean 2 of the best years on record...

Actually your right and im right...I meant the years 01/02 and 11/12....the 2 years you meant were within the 9 year period which were the bomb!..I can remember my dogs needing snorkels on our morning hikes around my camp up there in Canaan...

... ---I was thinkin' the same thing...whenever I have looked into the overall averages in the valley(since they have been keepin' records), the sources I have seen say the total annual measureable precip' is around an average of around 60 inches a year which includes snow precip numbers with an average around 150-160 inches of snowfall a year...

the 150/160 ave goes back thru all those years that local folks like you woke up and measured the snow with a ruler..now with the official NWS method.. the way D Lesher does it.. the figures have gone up.

But..even with that said..There are snow graphs that show a slow but steady increase in snowfall in the Canaan area..with or without the board sweeping method..
..maybe Timberline is just looking into the future??...maybe they have access to a super computer long range f-cast!
Maybe they can post a pic on the new website of some new trails with a couple of high speed lifts...with covers on them like the old Queen lift...YEHHHH...the future will be sweet...

Wet snow yesterday on mountain and maybe three inches of blower over night. Dresswise, looks like a five-three day today.

Good week to be down there!

Mr. Fish, lots of warm air this Fri/Sat with the incoming storm. Too warm for body english to keep the bowling ball outta the gutter?

I heard an interesting theory on the increasing snowfall numbers over the past decade or so at Timberline. The basic premise was that because of "warming" Lake Erie doesn't spend as much time frozen over thus increasing the amount of lake effect snow, since obviously when the lake is frozen no moisture will be sucked off the lake feeding the snow storms. Don't know if there is any metereological truth in the slightest to the theory but it sounded good as explained to me.

...you are giving me to much scientific credit---I just eye ball it from inside the house while watchin' to make sure the dog doesn't get snatched by coyotes in the morn...however, that is a very interesting theory about the change in methods, specifically the official NWS method, producing higher/more accurate recordable averages(but could be skewed by a smaller/shorter time period sample size...we have had some exceptional/record snowfalls over the last 10 years)...so if you look at Dave's current spreadsheet average from 01-12 the mean is 179" Lesher numbers ...here are some other intersting links for local weather... CVI ... great noaa paper on climate of canaan valley (includes lot of great facts and precip/snow recordings and graphs for valley)...also notice the spike in snofall total between 1958p.s.-1965p.s. (p.s.=pre-snowboard time era)...

...are there any other existing snow graphs other than the ones at the end of the linked noaa paper above...can you link?...

Damage Tucker!..you used to be such a lame poster ..look at you now...all grown up ...with all due respect!!!..jus yoking..always enjoy ur posts..

I just get most of my stuff from the Book that D Lesher put out on the weather history of Canaan..

Temps were hot in the 40's...cooled off in the 50's..bottomed out 65 to 75 then came along Global Warming ......which I am happy to report has peaked and showing signs of disappearing...
Snowfall has increased since the mid 70's along with the overall amount of precip...no argument as how to measure water!

I haven't seen it this cool up in the arctic since 03/04
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/meant80n.uk.php
thats hope that we can unleash some of that cold down to us for the Grand Finale to winter!

Tucker, somewhere in my library is a mid-Atlantic X-C ski guide by Roger Corbett, who also wrote some whitewater guide books. I bought this book circa 1985, a year after graduating from D&E. When reviewing areas, he would list the average annual snowfall for each area. My recollection is that he had 180 inches for CV and Blackwater Falls, and 100 for New Germany and Herrington Manor. He also had a half-a$$ bullseye map for the entire region showing snowfall totals. Not sure where he got the data, but at least that was the conventional wisdom way back when.

Here is a pic from the year 2025...one week after a massive Global Warming induced T-Giving Dumpster..Timberline decided to open the season a week early!..

Here is a pic of the Boy scout buses rolling into TL..there is a buzzz in the air and everyone is excited by the fact that TL hopes to have mid station open by noon that day!!!

Let me ask you this...would you be standing there????
http://stevengoddard.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/screenhunter_121-feb-21-15-06.jpg?w=640

For those who want to keep up with current photos, we've archived daily photos from VisitCanaan.com here:
http://smu.gs/Yaw3ZD

See you on the slopes.

PS...
* Lower White Lightning has got couple of thin spots
* Lower Silver Streak is thinning out too
* This is still the best month of March I have seen in a long LONG time!!!
* A little bit more snow is coming
* Celebrate at will - this weekend!

Snow conditions are variable (but take that exactly at face-value).
There's a bit of fresh powder that is coating a frozen surface - but expect a soft under-layer until tomorrow morning when things start to even out again.

Overall, it's fantastic (yeah, considering this is spring skiing).
Note to self: you will sink past your knee if you step off your skis. Don't do it!

I hope you enjoy the Snowy Luau Celebration - and if you didn't get a chance, here's a quick overview of all events combined:

Snowy Luau PREF / EDITOR'S CHOICE
60+ photos
http://smu.gs/144uDIx

2 more weeks of skiing ahead! I won't count the days, just trying to get many MANY hours of enjoyment on the snow.

Timberline Resort UPDATED days of operation for spring 2013 - as follows:
OPEN
Wed Mar 20
Thu Mar 21
Fri Mar 22
Sat Mar 23
Sun Mar 24
...closed for 4 days AND THEN OPEN again on:
Fri Mar 29
Sat Mar 30
Sun Mar 31

Unless we receive tons of snow, tons of people and unless Timberline changes its mind, they will close for the winter ski season on Mar 31st. That's 8 good days of spring skiing coming up - with snow every day this week (perhaps dusting, perhaps 4 inches per day).

Time for VIDEOS !

It will be on www.visitcanaan.com tomorrow morning at about 4:30am.
There is no plan on placing it on their website, though I hope to God I am wrong (I love surprises). After all, the following belongs there on TLine's site:
OPEN
Wed Mar 20
Thu Mar 21
Fri Mar 22
Sat Mar 23
Sun Mar 24
...closed for 4 days AND THEN OPEN again on:
Fri Mar 29
Sat Mar 30
Sun Mar 31

This is NOT a joke. I take full responsibility for posting, but clearly, I didn't make the decision; I am just passing on the info coming from management.

The strangest thing is that TLine will be closed from Mar 25 to Mar 28 (inclusive) - this happens to be exactly when D&E is out on "Easter" break.

Disclaimer:
D&E is a private college located 25 minutes or so from Timberline resort (in Elkins)

Many public Schools in Northern Va also on Spring Break next week. I met one parent planning on taking kids sking next Monday. Unless Bryce stays open next week, most local resorts are closed midweek. Bryce open this week - good for them! Thank them by visiting!!!
The Colonel

Timberline: still open for skiing, but watch out for unexpected closure next week.
Canaan Valley is closed.
White Grass is still open.

Weather:
Snow is on the forecast nearly every day this week - starting today.
Don't expect feet of the white stuff, but a few inches here and there, and perhaps merely a dusting on one of those days. Temperatures are cold overnight, warmer during the day.

Grooming:
The grooming was pretty much non-existant Tue Mar 19 at Timberline. In fact, Salamander and Winterset were pretty much the only trails groomed - and limited grooming at that. Machinery was sinking due to warm temperatures. The grooming should resume early this morning as the temps got below 18 degrees last night. This is going to make for really good skiing on Wed (today).

Skiing Conditions:
I had to wear a jaw-guard from 9am to 10:30am on Tue. Things warmed up to "super nice" after that; I finally thought we were spring skiing. Off the wall was totally skiable by early afternoon. 37 slopes out of 40 were open. Didn't venture into the woods for lack of time, but it looks a little thin in places and a little too much snow in others (did I just say too much snow?)

Crowd:
There were probably 5 paying customers, and 2 employees skiing.

Closure:
Remember, Timberline resort will be open every day until Sunday March 31st, HOWEVER: They will be closed on Mar 25, 26, 27 and 28. They have a hard time justifying staying open mid-week to accommodate my skiing needs.

Ideas:
Don't just call to let them know you are coming... take vacation time off... confirm your lodging reservations... buy your multi-day lift tickets... and THEN call them to thank them for staying open THIS WEEK.

Other Ideas:
Just warm up your legs with backcountry skiing. Climb the mountain next mon, tue, wed and thursday. You deserve a bit of an anaerobic.


Timberline's Deco - Timberline's crowd at 2pm



Tuesday - Canaan ski area looking good

Nice picture!

I've taken some similar ones of CVR from the parking lot of Timberline Realty.

I always enjoy the vistas of Canaan Valley, Timberline, Whitegrass and Canaan Valley Resort when you are heading down Route 32 from Canaan Heights.

I do wish they'd extend the season one day, or perhaps reopen Sat April 6, just to be able to say they were open in April. I recall in the old days Tline always wanted to make it to April...but of course there really weren't enough customers to justify. Classic problem across ski country. Lots of Colorado resorts could go into May with heaps of open terrain most years, but even Denver folks seem to lose interest by early April. Interesting marketing question -- how to "sell" spring skiing. Lots to work with (warmer temps, corn snow, etc) but it seems the industry hasn't figured it out.

I'd think more pics of people skiing in shorts/bikinis would do it!

I'll be at the Slime tomorrow. Hoping the lifelines aren't too long.

Was hoping to go back midweek next week too (especially if it snows), but looks like Fred killed that idea. Told him on FB I'd go to Snowshoe instead, which is a lie. $46 midweek/late season tickets are just a little steep for me.

Maybe I'll go to Wisp...

I'm surprised that Tline will be closed next week, especially since the schools in Fairfax County are closed for springbreak. I guess they never figured out why there were lift lines on the last Monday in January.

I'm guessing Wisp will be packed next week, especially if it snows.

Who's going to the Local's Cup this weekend?

There were years when I first started to go to t-line that they stayed open thru mid April. Remember that local's cup was always on the last weekend. They used to want to be open later than anyone and usually were.

...I bet there are a lot of folks planning to come up next week for spring break who won't know about this till' they get here...

Hopefully, they saw www.VisitCanaan.com
Hopefully, they will arrive make a phone call
Hopefully...

Just announced from Timberline's management: they will ALSO be open on Thu Mar 28. See above link for all remaining open days for the resort.

The truth is... what's one more day? what's one more week? For people like us who love skiing, I don't think it's about 1 extra day, or staying 1 extra week...

I believe we just NEVER WANT TO STOP skiing (but there are in reality so few of us)

That's good stuff. Now if they can just be convinced to reopen April 6, so that they aren't bested by Wintergreen...

With these cold temps, corn season may not arrive until April 6...

I measured 4" of new snow from my porch this morning. Once I hit the resort, I couldn't be any happier: it just kept on snowing... there was at least 3 more inches of snow on my car by 4h30pm.

To be safe, I'll call it as 6" brand new inches in the last 24 hours.
To be really safe, I won't even tell you how deep the drifts were (hint: it was windy)

Some nice turns at Tline yesterday. It's a shame they're closing (despite plenty of outrage on their Facebook) M/T/W. I suggest if you have a free second call them and cuss a little.

Anywho, I got a cheap ContourRoam helmet cam last week and tested out yesterday. The first 4 runs I took were great runs, but the camera was angled WAY too low, so those all sucked (minus one kind of funny one under the lift). Here's one that turned out 'OK'. I started on Dew Drop and snuck over to Almost Heaven to poach a little closed powder. One of my more favorite runs of the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSqm4gN48yA&feature=youtu.be

AND, it looks like I may be eating my words and heading to the Shoe on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks Timberline, Thanks...



Anyone have any extra tickets laying around?

No skiing on thru April 6th? Now we know why...

David
How did you post video to DCSki?
Great video by the way.
Bet you have a ball at The Shoe!
The Colonel

WTF??..Thats different!
Got dizzy watchin that Vid David..Awesome run!.Seemed like a Vid Game..I Was bobbin n weavin thru the trees...I think Im pretty Good

PS..or Edit..whatever u want to call it..
Looked like a nice Squall cruisin thru the north end of the Valley!

So... you have probably heard...
Timberline Resort will be open Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat and Sun - yeah, straight through and non-stop. There is even one more chance for night skiing on Saturday.

You probably also heard:
Canaan Valley is getting a "ridiculous" amount of snow. Earlier in the week, I said 4-12 inches... but now many people are calling it 12-20 inches coming our way. That's just downright impressive!

What you probably don't know:
Timberline has just received 3 full inches of snow in the last 2 hours. I know, I know, the chairlift ride is now super fast (14 minutes to be exact today) but I was literally covered with snow each time I got off the chair! Yeah, Chris, Andy, July and I were smiling pretty hard - no, the 5 of us didn't fit on one chair.

I'll work on some photos and include a few for the weekend's events:
Local's Cup Weekend 2013... photos coming up.

Hope you can make it to Timberline!

." Earlier in the week, I said 4-12 inches... but now many people are calling it 12-20 inches coming our way"

Anybody can hit the side of a barn with a snow ball!...now try to hit a fence post...gotta thgrow a couple of snowballs to make a tighter predict...

I made a 10 inch predict (Dave leshers) with 12 or more over at the sods and east over a ridge or two by early aft tomorrow when the main storm leaves and the second phase kicks in...
and that will be my last predict from now on because I hate to root on anything but the most snow we can get out of every system and in this case I would rather eat Crow sized snow flakes and have a bigger snow than to be right!

From now on Im just calling it as I see it..no predict..just analyzed facts..the end..

With that said there looks to be a slight lull in the action before it picks back up..but there is the threat still of that warmer air wedging in which has been noticed working its way up from the sw..but then the cold rushes back in and..sing it with me...let it snow..let it snow....let it...SNOW!!..need to hit that 240 inch TL ave!!

PS..Go watch the movie "Safe haven"..Filmed on location a 35 min boat ride down the cape fear river from me...We just saw it..great flick...must have been 12 movies filmed down here where I live this summer With Iron Man 3 the biggie...got tons of work out of all the productions...They call this town..Wilmywood..Im getting close to being discovered...

Sorry..couldn't help myself..

Geez, I guess I left too early today. Got to T'Line Fri. afternoon and got 2 1/2 hrs of uncrowded skiing in. Good surface, nothing really to write home about, just fun. Saturday, Bluebird sky, mid 30s by afternoon, low crowd, soft snow, more fun than a person should be allowed to have. Almost Heaven opened again so I went to practice my bump skills(if you saw me ski bumps you would know why I went to practice again). Sunday, skied from 9 to Noon, cleaned the condo and headed home before the snow started. Unfortunately, my season has come to an end, but no regrets, its been great. Skied with a lot of great folks this year. See you all next season.

Here are a few photos... all from the weekend at Timberline


-- First Place, overall women



-- Ginny also race her snowboard AND telemark skis



-- Moonlight skiing at White Grass



-- Dr. Reichle, Timberline Resort



-- Family Fun



-- Loving bumps, Loving the weather



-- This kid's got some skills

** More Photos **
http://akaflash.smugmug.com/FindYourPhotos-1/Mar-23-2013-Locals-Cup-Weekend/28576451_h8w2mX

OKAY, keep in mind that everything is very different now... It's completely covered with the good white stuff. This season will never end. See you all on the lift tomorrow, Timberline Resort.

Timberline Conditions for Tuesday?
Take a look for yourself with this 3 minute video:
http://vimeo.com/62745213

Sweet.. sweet vid...very nice work Mr Vic!..Tucked that bad boy into my lists of Favs!!

This was sent to me by the resort over email:

"Did you say $1.oo for a lift ticket?"

On Sunday, March 31, Timberline will offer afternoon skiing (12:30 - 4:30 pm) for the incredible price of $1.00.

With 11+ inches of snowfall this week, we are showcasing some amazing spring skiing. Get in those last runs of the season!

Here are some highlights for you:
Mar 26: Video is released to show the exact amount of snow. So much snow that racers are hitting the woods too. When did this happen last? http://vimeo.com/62745213
Mar 27: Yope... still snowing, I mean SNOWING HARD
Mar 27: I lost count, but I think we got a total of 20 inches of snow in the last 72 hours
Mar 31: 1 Dollar per person to ski from 12:30 to 4:30pm
Apr 06: Resort is closed, BUT you'll probably want to check out the Snowmobile race at Timberline (I have never seen one here, so that's kinda cool)
Apr 07: You'll want to go biking with us (I mean backcountry skiing)

I am really running out of words and rambling on: SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW

Wow, it just won't stop... 4" more inches in the last 24 hours!

The last two days in the Valley have been great. We spent Monday skiing with David on and off trail. Unfortunately, David had to be responsible and went home. We on the other hand, decided that it was our responsibility to stay and ski the pow with the kids. Yesterday was very nice and we spent the afternoon getting fresh tracks in the side country. The only tracks we crossed were our own.

If you're thinking about heading to Tline, now is the time as its been at least three years since there's been this much snow on the ground.

I'm resting the legs today, in hopes that I get a kitchen pass for Thursday.

Of all years to have a western vacation and a Vermont vacation schedule in March! I'd love to get there but we barely have enough time to pack, wash clothes, repack and drive. I will sneak out to Blue Knob on Friday though.

Saw you guys yesterday, Voila, but I obviously didn't know who you were. Probably shoulda chanced it and said hello (there weren't that many expert non-ski patrol on the mountain). I think I'm actually in the background of one of your shots there (I was wearing black pants, red Pagagonia / Arcteryx shell (switched from soft to hardshell mid-day due to wind), and a white helmet, on black High Society FreeRides).

That was only my third day out this season (first since December), and I'm out of shape, so I was feeling a little rough. Still, I think I got 20+ laps in, so I got my money's worth for $20.80 (thanks for the coupon from the other thread).

That was my first trip to T-Line. I'm a bit of a snob about high speed lifts, so would love to see a faster ride up the mountain, but everything else was great. Snow was excellent, and I like the way the mountain is set up. I don't guess I realized it was that much smaller than other area resorts (3 lifts vs 14 for Snowshoe and 10 for Wisp), but it skies much larger (larger, I thought, than Wisp).

I also liked that the main lift keeps you out of the wind (for the most part), until the last 100 yards or so. The runs were all tree-lined, and not too wide, which meant flat light or wind exposure was much less of an issue compared with other area resorts. Smart.

The drive was enough shorter (vs Snowshoe), and the tickets cheaper (I think Snowshoe wanted something like $58, for mid-week, extreme late-season!), that I could easily see visiting again, especially when I'm flying solo. I think for longer (ie. 3 day) trips with my wife and daughter, Snowshoe would still be appealing due to the larger size, high speed lifts, carpet for beginners, and amenities (Starbucks, dining, hot tubs, etc.).

I saw Timberline has a daycare, which is also a great idea (we put my daughter in Deer Valley's daycare for the better part of a week a few years ago).

I will be at Tline tomorrow (Thursday) unless some sort of emergency crops up. Anyone who wants to get together for some turns, feel free to send me a PM. I'll also wait at the bottom of the Orange lift for a few minutes around 10:00. Me: Glasses, goatee, gray helment, grayish jacket, black pants, green boots.

Reisen, one question? Did you venture into any of t-lines glades? There are the marked glades which ski as a blue and some as a black then there are the"unmarked" glades which ski as double blacks and you need to follow someone in "the know" as to where to find the goods. Because of this, t-line skis much bigger than any other mid-atlantic mountain.
T-line is a skier's mountain. We don't go there for fluff, fine dining and starbucks. We want a quality downhill experience. If you hit the hill on a week like this, your legs will be thankful for the slow lifts. By 4 PM both Monday and Tuesday my quads were screaming for a break. Hitch up with a local and get the treatment. Pure eastern Utah on a pow-pow day.

wgo.... man, I wish I could meet up with you. A few (probably dozens) of my friends are there now eating up freshies as I type this. It'll be good through the weekend!

Yeah,

Would have loved to have gotten out there earlier this week but it was not in the cards. Sounds like maybe there might be a little pow left for me...

Take your time. There will be plenty to go around.

I skied the marked glades, which were fine, but were obviously tracked. Funny story, I glanced at the sign at the beginning of the day, and read it as "Party glades", and thought "Hey, that's a great name for a ski run!" :-)

I saw a number of people in the trees between runs, and bounced in myself a couple of times. However, I didn't really know the lines, and felt bad following people (and thus stealing their stashes!).

My big takeaway was the snow was finer than I've ever experienced in the mid-Atlantic. This truly was "powder", not the wet, glumpy stuff we get so often (mashed potatoes) or the machine-made-on-ice I see at the Pennsylvania resorts.

All-in-all, I was very pleased with my resort decision. I liked that everything was fairly priced (including the food at the lodge).

Next year, my daughter will be old enough to start ski school (she turns 3 in a few weeks, so will be near 4 next year), which hopefully means I'll get out more. I'm at 3 days combined the past two seasons (3 days this season, 0 last season)! A lot of that is money; what we used to spend on flights, lift tickets, and accomodations in Park City or Summit County is now going to daycare costs (which run me about $20k a year!).

@ Reisen:
That's pretty funny about "Party Glades / Pearly Glades". The first time I released the snow report, that's what I mistyped.

Yesterday, all the trees skied really well. The groomed slopes were pretty fun. I even have a hard time imagining anything not skiing perfectly actually. Bumps on The Drop had the best rhythm I have seen in a long time. Bumps on Thunder Draft were very fun, but didn't have "that beautiful" flow as The Drop.

I don't have a lot of photos for you guys today... too busy getting face shots

Check out www.VisitCanaan.com - to see what you were looking like.

The last three days=OMG

I was there today, and, yeah.

I am considering a long day trip tomorrow or maybe Friday and Saturday at T-line since I can miss work for religious purposes. Unfortunately my wife is out of commission right now with an arm in a sling and I'd feel bad leaving her for a couple days while I skied a last two days of the season.

I see the gov weather site says chance of a few flurries tonight maybe an inch total. Will there be any lift served powder left tomorrow or will it be just really good spring/groomers? Are the trees mostly skied out from a few of y'all getting after it the past few days or is there plenty left?

I wouldn't say the trees are all skied out - there were still good turns to be had in the trees by the end of the day today.

T-Line tram open this weekend?

Which one...the red cabin, green cabin or pink cabin?
The Colonel

Hey that was Jimmy's line! Give him credit! hahaha

Take a slope...add fresh snow, then add more fresh snow for a week. Try grooming that and you will end up with a really great surface. Friday will be really good, Sat will even be better: as long as you can get out of bed early enough. Sunday? A repeat of Sat, but warmer in the afternoon.

But wait... don't like groomers?
There is plenty of tree skiing, and ample powder for those seeking it.

All and all, we are looking at a really nice weekend at Timberline - but if you can also hike 100's of miles in the valley and find endless powder (keywords: hike first)

uh...wha?

About to leave Canaan Valley Lodge for TLine skiing. One nice thing about retirement is that one does not have to have first tracks everytime, nor ski every minute a resort is open. Just ENJOY !!!
Folks at Canaan Lodege are really appreciative of TLine staying open this week; lots of business! By the way, I can not recall seeing this much snow on the ground in the Valley for years; anad certainly not so close to April.
Now, off to catch the first TLine tram of the day!
The Colonel

Blizzard of Canaanahs pt1

A short vid I put together. I just got this helmet cam and have over an hour worth of video just from Monday. I may make a couple more vids, especially one with more trees as I have a ton of that.


Be sure to turn it up to HD, make it big, and let it load.
"Spring Skiing"

Posted at 2:00pm, and edited at 5:00:
Some sun and clouds. Lots warmer! Mashed potatoes prevelant and causing fuss among some patrons, especially first timers to TLine. Met some folks from Pittsburgh on first visit, unhappy with conditions. Timberline has pretty good crowd today and perhaps should have groomed more trails last night instead of leaving many upper trails as "natural" or bumped up. Regulars might like this, but newcomers might not return next year believing conditions always like this!
Have had to stand in line couple times for lift., and cafe got overcrowded and swamped single cashier a couple of times. All of this is good, showing folks taking advantage of late season skiing. Edited at 4:50pm: Late afternoon skiing seemed better than earlier in day. Almost Heaven a mess of mashed potatoes, and some bumps - not sure if left over from yesterday, or whether groomed this morning. Talked to Ski Patrol who told me entire mountain was groomed this morning...obviously not true! since the double diamonds and some other slopes were not groomed, (but I was not there when the ropes dropped, so what do I know!", at least one slope marked "not groomed", Timberline ski report posted on ticket windows showed 75% groomed, but customers had no way of knowing which trails were groomed. This info should be readily available for all riders to see, especially new customers who might get in over their heads. Plenty of snow on trails and in woods. Drop was major mashed potatoes at noon, and totally soft bumped up, I suggest it should be 1/3 groomed - as it was at Snowy Luau, this gives riders a place to escape the bumps if they become tired or simply want to ski a steeper trail. Should get cold enough tonight to allow quality grooming, assuming they wait to groom until after temp falls. Otherwise tomorrow conditions will be a frozen uneven surface horrow movie. I am sure the grooming team will do it up right.
Say a prayer for the youngster that fell from the blue beginner lift onto the terrain park late in the day. I know nothing more, but the med evac helicopter had been called in when I left. Hopefully he/she only needs to be checked out. This should serve as a reminder that we should always lower the safety bar when riding a lift, especially a beginner lift...and no horseplay! This is not a reminder for kids, but for all...one can never tell when he might faint or have a medical emergency while on a lift, and we do not want to add to the situation by having the safety bar in the up position. I am as guilty as anyone.
Enjoy the skiing tomorrow and Sunday. Should be warmer and more sun tomorrow, at least that is what the weather folks say.[/color]
The Colonel

more BofCahs pt3

If someone is barely able to ski green trails, they shouldn't venture on black trails. If someone is just okay on blue terrain, perhaps they should not attempt double black diamond trails, like THE DROP.

The drop is classified as a double black diamond trail, but grooming it will make it ski much more like a difficult blue (or easy black) rather than a double black.

The bumps on The Drop may be difficult for some, I understand that... but asking to have the slope groomed because a customer can't ski it is completely ridiculous. In fact, let's turn the cards around for a minute, and perhaps you will see my point:

Let's say a skier does okay on a trail like Salamander (easy and wide green trail). Let's assume that when this skier ventures onto Twister, he/she cannot ski Twister (blue trail)... Now, don't you think it would be totally absurd for that same skier to ask a resort's management to LEVEL TWISTER so that there are no steep parts? "Level it and make it ski like a green trail."
OR
"Level The Drop and make this double black ski like a single black"

Ridiculous, no?

On a different subject, we have had some of the most incredible conditions of the winter; in case you missed it, the last 3 weeks have been nothing short of Epic - and the last 4 days have been just amazing (I dare say the best conditions of the year). I am sorry if you missed it, but this is the end of March!

Mash Potatoes on the Drop?
Yes, of course... this afternoon... because it's March.
This morning was still perfect, but I didn't see more than 20 people on the whole mountain until about 10am!

So let me get this straight:
Perfect conditions, no one around...
People complaining about mash potatoes in the afternoon weren't here early morning...

What's next?
Are people going to say that skiing sucks because they can't ski, or because they don't want to learn to ski?

People who ski bumps well totally rock... but I know that it didn't come without some hard work. They SO EARNED IT!

Vic,
I have edited and updated my earlier posting that appeared to upset you, please read. I have nothing but respect for the overall TLine enterprise, and have especially warm regards for you personally. You kept them on the map with all your reports and photos/videos. YOU ROCK!
My point is that TLine needs to have some consistency in the way they keep their slopes, and report the same on the "Conditions Report" they post daily on the Ticket Windows at the resort. When a named slope that is normally groomed, partially groomed, or left ungroomed had the norm changed, this should be reflected in the slope condition report. I believe the report should show the surface condition of each slope - this is a simple safety issue to help guide the customers to slopes that best fit their ability.
Lastly the entire Canaan Valley area, and the resorts therein, need to be ready for an influx of visitors (customers) that will occur with the completion of Corridor H to Davis in a couple of years. Resorts in particular need to upgrade their infrastructure to accommodate the new customers that will arrive to enjoy the Valley, and "slide" in the Valley in the winter...more trails and better lifts will be needed. CVSP is doing their part by remodeling the lodge, ski slopes, etc.
By the way, did you see the article in last weeks Washington Post Travel Section about Thomas. There will only be more articles, and they in turn will bring more visitors, etc.
The genie is already out of the bottle!
Whether we like the coming changes to this wonderful part of the world, they are coming!
The Colonel

Wondering who's responsible for the snow this week?? I'm guessing DCSki's very own heading to Montana for the week had a lot to do with it.

Thanks Jimmy!! Thanks JohnL!!

Been rocking it all week in Montana; serious, I mean serious terrain out here. Great locals also.

Bout time SCWVA ditched the sick kids and David took the right days off to get what the rest of us been getting all winter in CV.

Thursday certainly was outstanding - just wish I was in the group that was getting the goods all winter in CV.

There should be consistency in how T-Line grooms. The double blacks (The Drop, Off the Wall and Silver Streak) should never be groomed. If you cant handle them, then take some lessons, ski Blowshoe, or wear panties that don't bunch so much.

John,
I agree, all I am suggesting is the need for consistency and reporting of conditions.
The Colonel

Timberline ski it if you can. Please note shot ski participant nuMber four, girlboarder24/7.

Jimmy just stole my iPad for the last post. Time fore better security.

Jimmy,
What have you been drinking? Stealing JohnL's computer and posting! Especially when the post sounds like one of Chaga's.
The Colonel

"Mash Potatoes on the Drop?
Yes, of course... this afternoon... because it's March.
This morning was still perfect, but I didn't see more than 20 people on the whole mountain until about 10am!

So let me get this straight:
Perfect conditions, no one around...
People complaining about mash potatoes in the afternoon weren't here early morning.."

I had skied up and down the East coast from NC to Maine for over 25 years and never heard of the term nor skied "Mashed Potatoes"....till I went out west..

Skied 4 days Vail and 3 days Beaver creek..never saw the 1st flake by the way..while it snowed 2 feet up in the Wv Alpps while we were there...anyhoot..We were so excited the 1st day there...POWDER...COLORADO...then we tried skiing off the thin strip of groomed that each main slope had and ..PLOP!...WTF???...what was this stuff?..A skier went by us and yelled out..get back on the groomed..thats all Mashed potatoes!....
That was in Mid Winter....

FYI: Snow Report of Mar 29th (Friday)

The snow report released to the public AT THE RESORT was different than the snow report released to the public ONLINE... but only in layout and colors schemes.

The Drop was clearly marked as "not groomed" and so was "Upper Almost Heaven".

Accidents happen: skiers / boarders do not always read slope signage, but there were also large signs letting people know that the drop was not groomed and for experts only. The Almost Heaven slope had a sign that said "not groomed" before entering as well.

Not sure which ski patrol was approached and asked about the grooming, but clearly, he/she made a little mistake. Either way, I still agree with consistency - more than you could imagine. We could actually apply this magical word to the food industry as well as snow reports... or any business for that matter... any person even.

Bare in mind that I am NOT the spokesperson for Timberline Resort. I am just sharing an opinion based on what I see (most of the time). Your complaint is legitimate and perhaps worth mentioning to the management.

As a reminder, here's a direct link to Timberline's snow report that you will find online every morning - immediately after receiving data from Ski Patrol. I always try to add what is groomed, what is natural snow, what is thin, etc...

LINK: http://www.visitcanaan.com/timberline

wasbetterthanitlooks

FishNski: I love you man!

thisplaceisaluvfest

Rat back at ya Voila!...In honor of your dedication to Canaan Valley and America in General I will no longer call French Fries..freedom Fries....Viva la France!...and god bless America...

I'd like a large order of french fries with my Escargot please...

Here... this should lighten up the mood OR create a huge controversy.

I am a "cliker" too - are you? Check out this short 4 min video and find out... http://vimeo.com/63010626

Timberline was fantastic today, soft snow, enthusiastic crowd, beautiful brilliant late March sunshine. If you heard a way off key loud voice "singing" "Country Roads while skiing "Almost Heaven" slope, it was me taking my last turns of the season.
Happy Easter to all DCSkiers.
The Colonel

DCSki really needs a "LIKE" button! Thanks JohnL, Jimmy posting as JohnL, and Voila for the awesome recent posts! Great videos as well!

By popular demand, Timberline got its blog. http://timberlineresort.wordpress.com
This should provide an easy way to stay current on conditions, news, updates, events, photos and videos.

The goal is to keep it updated 3 to 4 times a week during the busy season of WINTER, and 2 to 4 times a month during warmer months.

Bookmark it and let your friends know.

Vic,

What trails did they run the race on? Hopefully, they stayed off the Drop and OTW. From your pictures and Tline's webcam it looks like Tline's base held up well and the sleds weren't running in the mud.

Hope to make some turns in the Valley in the very near future.

It's easier to say what they didn't run on, so here it goes:
(please note that I covered most of the mountain, but not all).

Salamander (upper and lower)
Skiers' right of white lightening
Off the awl
The Drop (though they may have after I left)

The weather is "melting" down the slopes - but that's a good thing for spring skiing. It evens everything out during the day, hardens at night (cold 19) and back for another softer day by about 11am.

Conditions are really fun right now. T-shirt on the way up, gloves on the way down.

Enjoy!