I don't know why I look at the snow cams at some of the local resorts this Winter, it is too depressing. The recent couple of days have melted away so much snow at so many of the local resorts from Liberty to Whitetail to Bryce to Massanutten and even Wisp has many trails losing lots of snow. It looks like March 8th or later and not February 8th. Besides a brief cold spell for two days and potentially some snow for the Nothern resorts in our area tonight it doesn't look like there will be any real snow making weather trhough President's Day Weekend (with the excpetion of maybe a couple of evenings late next week). Thank goodness we had some of those cold spells in December and January that let places make the snow they did. Unfortunately if we get any good cold weather and snow in late February or early March most of the local places will be shutting down for the season or won't be wanting to waste money making snow (I know it's about the time of year Timberline stops making snow usually).
mdr227 wrote:
... Thank goodness we had some of those cold spells in December and January that let places make the snow they did.
That's what I've been saying too, we've had 2 long(ish) cold snaps and a couple short snaps and that's been the local snowmaking window. All Hail the Techno Alpins, or we'd have much less
We've occassionally had these kinds of winters, but it makes them no less depressing. If it's cold (rarely), it's dry. If it's precipitating, it's warm.
Honestly, I think it's remarkable that my local resorts (HV, 7S) have more or less been open the entire winter. But between extra snowmaking costs and presumably muted single day ticket sales, I am guessing it has been a bad winter financially as well.
I am at a loss to remember a season post Y2K snowmaking infrastructure when Sugar never did get 100% of their terrain open for at least a week. Oh well, at least they can still charge full holiday lift ticket prices at the windows for 2 WROD trails and sell enough to slam whatever lifts they open on a weekend.
Most resorts stop making snow after President's Day Weekend regardless of location. Sunday River is winding down their snowmaking operations for the season and they will stop spinning the lifts May 1st. Don't worry about TLine, they will have plenty of snow for the sled races and will provide their season pass holders with 13 weekends of skiing.
mdr227 wrote:
Unfortunately if we get any good cold weather and snow in late February or early March most of the local places will be shutting down for the season or won't be wanting to waste money making snow (I know it's about the time of year Timberline stops making snow usually).
chaga wrote:
CVR has announced the last day of snowmaking will be Feb 15th :( They are probably making some now, but they don't adjust the guns or technoalpin sticks after they get turned on, so the high winds are probably blowing it right into the woods again.
camp wrote:
mdr227 wrote:
... Thank goodness we had some of those cold spells in December and January that let places make the snow they did.
That's what I've been saying too, we've had 2 long(ish) cold snaps and a couple short snaps and that's been the local snowmaking window. All Hail the Techno Alpins, or we'd have much less
Hello, chaga.
Actually, we have not decided yet when we will stop making snow this season. Mother Nature (and mountain manager Mike Chaney) will certainly have the last word on that topic.
Mike and his crew have done a great job this year making snow when the temperatures drop. Hope to see you on the slopes.
Had fun in the mid 50s slop today with my son's boy scout troop and a forum buddy. Weird micro climate with the moutain socked in under clouds, and started raining around 1pm. We left at 2. Got down the mountain and everything else was bright and sunny, just like the drive up was until we hit the parking lots.
Coverage was fair, actually better than MLK Day. But, it won't last long at these temps. Hoping CV fairs better the next 2 weeks. We'll be up there on the 24th-26th regardless.
Despite the weather... the resorts I usually go to (Snowshoe, Liberty, and Whitetail) have done an AMAZING job managing conditions. Snowguns have been on whenever possible, and snow management has been very well done. All 3 of these resorts were able to get everything open during the cold spells in January and keep thier trail counts pretty consistent. In most cases I have found that the webcams have made things look worse than they actually are...
Between the 30 days I have had at the 3 resorts I have only had 2 days where the conditions were rough... and that was boiler plate ice that we knew was likely based on temps swings, not so much bare spots. I believe in the past all 3 of these resorts have made snow completely through Febuary and sometimes even into March. (I have seen Snowshoe make snow well into March)
I'm not going to comment on other resorts I haven't skied this year... but based on where I have been this has been the year of the groomers, snowmakers, and management working together in the windows they have had and they have done an AMAZING job, even if the webcams don't look fantastic, the snow has been fun and exceeded my expectations.
FWIW... Whitetail was fantastic both last night and today (Friday-Saturday)
Was at Wintergreen today with my son's scout trip. Conditions there were good as well. Another resort where the snowmaking and snow management has been top notch.
So many of the resorts have done incredible jobs of getting and keeping terrain open this Winter, some with practically no natural snow. I hope they've all done well financially this tough Winter (and on the bright side their snow removal budgets surely have lots of money left in them). Unfortunately for the resorts most local to DC looks like President's Day Weekend is going to be quite warm (through the end of the month really).
On a good note, winter is not over, and end of Feb into March could make winter great again! I will say I adore Canaan because it is without a doubt, the prettiest downhill resort to ski in the mid-atl. And it is essentially connected to some fantastic backcountry skiing where a natural base often stays all winter above 4000' up on Weiss knob. Much rather ski there than Tline, because of that simple fact.
Chaga,
Question for you. As you ride up the lift at CVR and look at the peak to your left, you can see a formation of flat rocks at the top. What is this feature called?
It's the side of Bald Knob. You can ski there from white grass or top of canaan ski area. There is also a canaan state park hiking trail from the tubing hill parking area that goes up there. One of the best overlooks in the valley all year long
wgo wrote:
Chaga,
Question for you. As you ride up the lift at CVR and look at the peak to your left, you can see a formation of flat rocks at the top. What is this feature called?
Having lived in the Mid A for close to 20 years, I commensurate with our Mid Atlantic snow buddies on the lack of the white stuff. But try getting up to VT/NH/ME to get your jollies if you can. After a relatively slow start in December, Winter has come to New England with a vengeance. Yesterday I logged in my 40th ski day for the 2016-17 season. With family from Philly coming up here, we went to Mt Sunapee, 10 minutes away, and it was 100% open. Every steep, nook, cranny, and glade was open wth two feet having fallen and now we're having another two feet+ as we speak. Killington has 152 out of 155 trails open. Wildcat has 64 out of 68 open. Stowe has 114 trails out of 116, including the famous Front Four. Stratton has 96 out of 97 trails open. Cannon Mt has 71 out of 73 open. Okemo, Jay Peak, Mad River, Mt Snow, Ragged Mountain, Burke Mt, Wildcat, Waterville Valley, Sugarbush, and Bromley are all 100% open. Jimminy Peak in the Berkshires is also 100% open. Even newly reopened Magic Mountain with an incomplete infrastructure is at 41 out of 43 trails open. And if you don't like to drive, Amtrak has two trains from DC to Vermont's heartland as well as through New Hampshire and Vermont up to St. Albans.
^^^Or just move there? I mean if this is the new normal, or the new "good" we face having to get our turns elsewhere long term.
That's THE reason why we made a quality of life move and ended up in New London NH. As far as quality of life, culture, outdoors activities, health and overall living, this place is beyond awesome. And we have no less than 30 major and mid-size ski areas within a two-hour drive. Hundreds of miles of snow mobile trails, Nordic skiing and snowshoeing trails. Major mountain bike places. A 70-mile Rail-to-Trail. It seems too good to be true but it really is....
What we have mainly lacked is consistent cold to keep the natural snow around. We could be getting by with natural snow if it would just stay cold. Don't forget, 4 years ago, we had all time record snowfall for Feb and March. Things go in waves here. Sometimes the northeast suffers and we get the lions share. We usually get more snowfall than the NE, but it just stays colder there.
Fwiw, it's wintery cold this morning. Looks like TLine is taking advantage of the snowmaking weather for the upcoming holiday weekend final push and blasting some snow
crgildart wrote:
^^^Or just move there? I mean if this is the new normal, or the new "good" we face having to get our turns elsewhere long term.
lbotta wrote:
That's THE reason why we made a quality of life move and ended up in New London NH. As far as quality of life, culture, outdoors activities, health and overall living, this place is beyond awesome. And we have no less than 30 major and mid-size ski areas within a two-hour drive. Hundreds of miles of snow mobile trails, Nordic skiing and snowshoeing trails. Major mountain bike places. A 70-mile Rail-to-Trail. It seems too good to be true but it really is....
Up until recently we had enough cold stretches for snow making to open everyting 100% by early January and keep it viable through St Patrick's Day. What I'd miss if we moved farther north is the beautiful beaches 2 hours in the other direction where the water reaches mid 70s by the end of May and 80s in July. I want nice, warm surf all summer down at the beaches AND nice cold temps all winter up at 5,000 feet.
crgildart wrote:
I want nice, warm surf all summer down at the beaches AND nice cold temps all winter up at 5,000 feet.
I Agree 100% ...... but I remember what my dad told me years ago ...... people in hell want ice water. HA!
chaga wrote:
It's the side of Bald Knob. You can ski there from white grass or top of canaan ski area. There is also a canaan state park hiking trail from the tubing hill parking area that goes up there. One of the best overlooks in the valley all year long
Beautiful. When was this picture taken?
wgo wrote:
chaga wrote:
It's the side of Bald Knob. You can ski there from white grass or top of canaan ski area. There is also a canaan state park hiking trail from the tubing hill parking area that goes up there. One of the best overlooks in the valley all year long
Beautiful. When was this picture taken?
not sure, I got about 100 on my phone like that! It's a special place to watch the sunset and alpenglow with 360 degree view. 30 minute hike from tubing hill parking area when no snow, or variable times skiing up from WG or Canaan. You can also take a one-way lift up at canaan ($7) and ski over to it via the pipeline in about 20 minutes is fastest way when there is enough snow. Then you can ski down to WG, have lunch, and ski back across the bottom, or over the top, or shuttle back. So many options!
chaga wrote:
wgo wrote:
chaga wrote:
It's the side of Bald Knob. You can ski there from white grass or top of canaan ski area. There is also a canaan state park hiking trail from the tubing hill parking area that goes up there. One of the best overlooks in the valley all year long
Beautiful. When was this picture taken?
not sure, I got about 100 on my phone like that! It's a special place to watch the sunset and alpenglow with 360 degree view. 30 minute hike from tubing hill parking area when no snow, or variable times skiing up from WG or Canaan. You can also take a one-way lift up at canaan ($7) and ski over to it via the pipeline in about 20 minutes is fastest way when there is enough snow. Then you can ski down to WG, have lunch, and ski back across the bottom, or over the top, or shuttle back. So many options!
Found this from the DCSki forums 11 years ago:
5) Bald Knob - Canaan Valley State Park (2.5 mile loop): This is a fun but long hike that begins with a chair lift ride to the top of the ski mountain. My daughter really loves ski lifts, so she found it especially fun to ride one when there is no snow. From the top we followed the Bald Knob trail behind the lift through the woods then up to Bald Knob following a pipeline cut. The first part of the trail is pretty rooty and generally downhill, while the second part is mostly uphill to Bald Knob. Bald Knob offers a beautiful nearly 360 degree view of the entire Valley and the Sods.
Is this the route you were talking about?
chaga wrote:
We HAVE had enough cold stretches for snow making!!! WinterPlace, SnowShoe, Liberty, Roundtop, Whitetail are all 100% open right now.!!!! The latter three mentioned are all within 1.5hr from DC too, which have much warmer temps than most ski resorts in the entire east.
crgildart wrote:
Up until recently we had enough cold stretches for snow making to open everyting 100% by early January and keep it viable through St Patrick's Day.
Correction... "YOU" have enough cold. NC resorts are BAREly hanging on. I'm also concerned about our trip to Timberline in 2 weeks. Granted we can drive to CV if conditions at TL are a showstopper and CV is still going strong. NC resorts seem to be right on the cusp of viability now where things seemed solid there through the last decade..
crgildart wrote:
chaga wrote:
We HAVE had enough cold stretches for snow making!!! WinterPlace, SnowShoe, Liberty, Roundtop, Whitetail are all 100% open right now.!!!! The latter three mentioned are all within 1.5hr from DC too, which have much warmer temps than most ski resorts in the entire east.
crgildart wrote:
Up until recently we had enough cold stretches for snow making to open everyting 100% by early January and keep it viable through St Patrick's Day.
Correction... "YOU" have enough cold. NC resorts are BAREly hanging on. I'm also concerned about our trip to Timberline in 2 weeks. Granted we can drive to CV if conditions at TL are a showstopper and CV is still going strong. NC resorts seem to be right on the cusp of viability now where things seemed solid there through the last decade..
To be fair, this is DCski, not Ski Southeast. As a former NC resident, I'm certainly sympathetic to the plight of the NC resorts, but I would think the number of skier visits to NC resorts from DC-area skiers would be pretty negligible. I would argue that the PA, MD, VA, and WV resorts are better representations of where "we", ie. DC-area skiers, ski, due to their much closer proximity.
Reisen wrote:
crgildart wrote:
chaga wrote:
We HAVE had enough cold stretches for snow making!!! WinterPlace, SnowShoe, Liberty, Roundtop, Whitetail are all 100% open right now.!!!! The latter three mentioned are all within 1.5hr from DC too, which have much warmer temps than most ski resorts in the entire east.
crgildart wrote:
Up until recently we had enough cold stretches for snow making to open everyting 100% by early January and keep it viable through St Patrick's Day.
Correction... "YOU" have enough cold. NC resorts are BAREly hanging on. I'm also concerned about our trip to Timberline in 2 weeks. Granted we can drive to CV if conditions at TL are a showstopper and CV is still going strong. NC resorts seem to be right on the cusp of viability now where things seemed solid there through the last decade..
To be fair, this is DCski, not Ski Southeast. As a former NC resident, I'm certainly sympathetic to the plight of the NC resorts, but I would think the number of skier visits to NC resorts from DC-area skiers would be pretty negligible. I would argue that the PA, MD, VA, and WV resorts are better representations of where "we", ie. DC-area skiers, ski, due to their much closer proximity.
Wintergreen is in our wheelhouse. Even the resorts farther north struggled greatly to get 100% open and those that are have been typically spring conditions in January and Februaryy instead of typical "snow" or even typical manmade snow mid winter. How many days were under 30 degrees all day this winter even that far north? If it was we were skiing in whiteout snow guns and if it wasn't, which was most of the time, we are skiing in 40-50 degree slop.
wgo wrote:
Resein: How was snowshoe? Did the knee hold up?
Thanks for asking, and great timing. I just posted a long post in the CV thread.
In short, the knee passed with flying colors. Definitely a little sore, and I twinged once or twice not when skiing, but when ascending or descending a long flight of stairs in ski boots / carrying skis. But it felt strong and 100% stable while skiing, with minimal discomfort the first day, none the second day, and no swelling or pain afterwards. I did take ibuprofen just in case, but it felt good enough I was skiing small bumps on Saturday.
I have 2.5 more weeks until our next scheduled trip (first weekend of march to Park City), so I'm hopeful I'll be 100% by then (I would say I was 90% on this trip). I started cycling a week before this trip, and am planning on starting running this week.
Go get 'em Reisen! Have you considered getting a simple knee brace from CVS?
MorganB, aka The Colonel
Number of days with the high temperature below 32 degrees F in Canaan Valley-
November: 4 days
December: 10 days
January: 10 days
Number of days with the low temperature below 20 degrees F:
November: 5 days
December: 13 days
January: 12 days
crgildart wrote:
How many days were under 30 degrees all day this winter even that far north? If it was we were skiing in whiteout snow guns and if it wasn't, which was most of the time, we are skiing in 40-50 degree slop.
chaga wrote:
Number of days with the high temperature below 32 degrees F in Canaan Valley-
November: 4 days
December: 10 days
January: 10 days
Number of days with the low temperature below 20 degrees F:
November: 5 days
December: 13 days
January: 22 days (verifying this one.... but it's what is on the official NWS observer data sheet as of now)
Not as bad as I imagined up there. Looks like January average high is 34 and average low is 15.
The Colonel wrote:
Go get 'em Reisen! Have you considered getting a simple knee brace from CVS?
MorganB, aka The Colonel
I have indeed. I asked my ortho about it at my appointment 10 days ago, and he said absolutely not. Evidently he feels that braces, when worn over joints that are structurally sound, can weaken them. I did some reading online, and that is evidently a popular opinion.
I always figured the extra support would be a good thing, and had even considered wearing one prophylactically.
For right now, I'm following his guidance, as I really didn't feel like I needed one at Snowshoe. I ran 2 miles earlier today (my first time running since the injury), and it felt good. So, hopefully, it won't be an issue. But the knee is definitely not 100% yet, and we'll see how it deals with the Utah trip. Hopefully weather will be good, and I will have the opportunity to more thoroughly test it skiing than I did in Snowshoe.
Canaan Valley data:
In January this year the mean high was 36.2 and the mean low was 23.4
Since 1999 including this year the mean high in January was 31.3 and the mean low was 16.2
My guess is that the February data will be just as miserable. Couple that with TL getting a slow snowmaking start in December and you end up right where we are just barely hanging on to limited terrain.
"I asked my ortho about it at my appointment 10 days ago, and he said absolutely not. Evidently he feels that braces, when worn over joints that are structurally sound, can weaken them"
When I ski, I wear a custom Donjoy brace on my left leg (popped the ACL a quarter century ago - no surgical repair), and a football brace (elastic with two solid pieces of metal,one on either side of the knee) on my good right leg. I've had no indication that my right knee joints have suffered. Of course I work the heck out of my legs by walking over 800 miles a year, and sking over 2000 miles .
On the other hand, the setup probably saved both knees 5-6 years ago when I had a forward twisitng faceplant and the skis just kept carving until they flipped me over. Wierdest fall I've ever had. I wasn't going fast enough for the bindings to release, but I was going fast enough for the skis to keep carving. I keep my DIN at 9 - much more than would be recommended for what then was a 60 year old, but I've had pre releases hurt me, and this was the only time in my ski life that I wished the bindings had let go, and they didn't
.
TomH wrote:
Canaan Valley data:
In January this year the mean high was 36.2 and the mean low was 23.4
Since 1999 including this year the mean high in January was 31.3 and the mean low was 16.2
My guess is that the February data will be just as miserable. Couple that with TL getting a slow snowmaking start in December and you end up right where we are just barely hanging on to limited terrain.
We have had a handful of 3-4 day stretches of temps in the 40-50's and some rain that really exposed any lackluster snow making efforts. Canaan state park ski area was blasting the whole mountain this evening which was great to see. Minimal winds, so snow is lying where it's needed. Tommorrow may be too warm to keep em on, but the following few days should give a good window to blast away for the last big weekend if the resorts so choose to do so
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