New England 2018/19 Northeast

[Josh Matta]

this was fun though, we had 15-20 inches of packed snow on the ground on our return, and the new snow removal tool makes pretty short work of it.

 

[skifastDDS]

Skied Saturday and Sunday at Wachusett. Decent opening weekend conditions on Ralph's Run, very narrow and bumpy on Conifer. Good to get the legs moving again.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Heading up to the condo for thanksgiving wednesday afternoon. Skiing Thanksgiving and the day after. Choices are Mount Snow and Killington. Might do both days at one or one day at Mount Snow and the other at the Beast. Haven't decided yet.

 

[RJS]

Does anyone have a sense for how crowded Friday will be versus Saturday/Sunday this week? I don't typically ski this early in the season, so Thanksgiving crowds are new to me! Part of me thinks that some people will be doing Black Friday shopping on Friday instead of skiing, but on the other hand people might also be really excited to ski the day after Thanksgiving.

 

[dbostedo]

Part of me thinks that some people will be doing Black Friday shopping on Friday instead of skiing, but on the other hand people might also be really excited to ski the day after Thanksgiving.

Schools are out, people are off work, and it's early season... I'm going to assume it will be very crowded.

 

[mister moose]

Does anyone have a sense for how crowded Friday will be versus Saturday/Sunday this week? I don't typically ski this early in the season, so Thanksgiving crowds are new to me! Part of me thinks that some people will be doing Black Friday shopping on Friday instead of skiing, but on the other hand people might also be really excited to ski the day after Thanksgiving.

Snow in yards = bigger crowd than usual. Saturday will be the busiest.

 

[PinnacleJim]

It's been busy up here at Killington. New snow last Friday and now another couple to six or so today. With the World Cup races this weekend, it's going to be really busy this weekend. At least the snow and cold weather is allowing rapid expansion of open terrain.

 

[Wilhelmson]

Sunday or Monday holiday afternoons are always the best bet. For some reason people feel the need to head home early on Sunday. Good for the rest of us.

 

[Wilhelmson]

So, for Killington on Saturday, is the routine that the four of us get geared up, take a bus with our ski gear (no bags) from a parking lot to K1 area, then go through security and then either take a few runs or stash our skis somewhere to watch the races?

Not trying to overthink this but I'd rather avoid unnecessary delays after getting up at 5 am, driving 3 hours, hopping on a shuttle, and going through security with two kids, 4 pairs of skis, etc.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Magic has fired up the guns. There will be a soft opening saturday. They are saying it's for exports only but this is mainly because it's ungroomed and early season obstacles may exist. Tickets will be $49.

We are headed to mount snow for some Thanksgiving skiing. Hitting opening day at bromley on friday.

Here's a few pictures from magic tonight.

 

[JohnL]

Magic was definitely experts only today. Plenty of boot top deep snow that set up a bit. Wish I had brought up from VA skis wider than 80 mm, but still tons o fun for day 1. Good snow for an early season base though. Had to keep a constant eye out for water bars. Several run outs were a rock garden by mid afternoon. Still, very glad they opened early for a bonus day at a great price. And on just about all natural snow with only a few run outs groomed. Love that place.

 

[dbostedo]

@JohnL .. What a "water bar"?

 

[JohnL]

@JohnL .. What a "water bar"?

The libations served at an AA meeting. :rimshot

 

[dbostedo]

^^^^
That one actually hurt, physically.

But really... what is it?

 

[JohnL]

Diagonal trench across a slope to slow and channel water flowing down a slope to minimize erosion - hopefully during the off-season, For skiers, can be a treacherous dip until the snowpack deepens. Many of the water bars had plenty of water in them today.

 

[dbostedo]

Oh - never knew what those were called!

They can also be fun to use as little jumps, if you can see them well!

 

[JohnL]

Oh - never knew what those were called!

They can also be fun to use as little jumps, if you can see them well!

The ones today had water in them, so not the best launching point. Best to jump over them - but terrain was a bit too flat for that for me today. Too much turkey. So, my skis got wetter than normal.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Glad magic was awesome today. They've had the snow guns on since Wednesday night for the lower portion. Plus with all the natural snow its a winter wonderland. Our neighbors were out playing too. Pictures looked awesome!!!

Skied mount snow on Thanksgiving and bromley yesterday. Amazing early season conditions. Still trying to shake off the early season cobwebs but only 2 days out so that'll happen.

Didn't ski today since we watched the ladies world cup at killington but the conditions looked amazing. Highline looked outstanding.

 

[RJS]

Cannon opening day 2

• RJS
• Nov 26, 2018

Cannon opening day 2

Fantastic opening day at Cannon on Friday, 11/23. I hadn't anticipated this, but because it was opening day and they left some of the trails ungroomed, there ended up being pretty deep powder from the foot or more of snow they got during the week leading up to opening day. I wish I had brought my wide skis , and I can't believe I'm saying that before December! I spent the entire morning lapping the ungroomed Front Five trails, which really good a toll on me (still trying to get into skiing shape). So much fun.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Had an all day clinic at bromley yesterday and while visibility was an issue the conditions were fantastic. Ever so slightly hardened packed powder and some crud were the conditions and it was a great day. My Dynastar slalom skis are really a dream to ski. I've not a ton of confidence so far in their hard pack/ ice handling but generally they are excellent. Crowds were low and it was a great day to clinic. Not a bad day 3 at all. This is the best early season I've experienced in YEARS!!