Arizona/New Mexico The 2017/2018 Four Corners Thread

[Dryheat]

Stopped by the Avalanche show today. Unimpressed with the pricing.

I did stop by the sunrise booth and they did confirm that the cyclone lift is out of commission for the season. They will be offering a cat skiing experience on the terrain instead with the promise of reopening in 2018-2019.

 

[NPhoenix]

It is just crazy we come off such a wet winter into such a dry summer/fall. It is feast or famine out here it seems.

No relief to the north either. I might just have to head to Mammoth for any decent early skiing and hope Squaw is better by then.

Stopped by the Avalanche show today. Unimpressed with the pricing.

I went last night. I have this delusional fantasy that one time I'll go in there and find some clearance DPS skis hidden is some clothing rack. I'll agree the pricing isn't the best (when compared online) but the hordes were eating it up and good for Ski Pro. I personally found Ski Pro's shop prices cheaper than most other shops in CO, UT and CA.

 

[Fishbowl]

I like Ski Pro’s range of goods, but I rarely find value there. Over the years we’ve learned to accept there “sales” for what they are, marketing to increase foot traffic. I remember the first time we fell for it was at the old shop in Chandler. We turned up for their “Huge 60% Off” sale, to discover that they only had one garment that was actually 60% off, and it was a toddler’s pink jacket from Roxie. We still shop there and appreciate their presence, but we don’t fall for the sales blurb anymore.

 

[raisingarizona]

I moved here during the summer of 2002 and since then there have been some notable winters 02/03, 04/05, 09/10 and last season too of course and for each of those big winters they were followed by drought years.

It doesn’t feel like winter is going to show up this year at all. Maybe we’ll get one or two really big storms like we did in 15/16 that could get us some base but I’m not counting on it. It’s going to be interesting to see how Snowbowl fares through it.

 

[soulskier]

I moved here during the summer of 2002 and since then there have been some notable winters 02/03, 04/05, 09/10 and last season too of course and for each of those big winters they were followed by drought years.

It doesn’t feel like winter is going to show up this year at all. Maybe we’ll get one or two really big storms like we did in 15/16 that could get us some base but I’m not counting on it. It’s going to be interesting to see how Snowbowl fares through it.

I recently attended a conference where the snow scientist said the average Northern Sierra snow level has risen between 1,200-1,500 feet in the last 10 years. I bet there is also some scientific data that shows the jet stream and powerful storms have shifted to the north more often.

 

[raisingarizona]

I recently attended a conference where the snow scientist said the average Northern Sierra snow level has risen between 1,200-1,500 feet in the last 10 years. I bet there is also some scientific data that shows the jet stream and powerful storms have shifted to the north more often.

I don’t have any data but it sure does seem that way.

 

[Core2]

This area has always had long drought cycles, sometimes lasting hundreds of years. Add in climate change and you get even more extremes.

 

[Fishbowl]

Lenticular clouds over the San Francisco Peaks this morning. Followed by an amazing sunset over Sedona on the way back to the valley.

 

[raisingarizona]

The ridge is back and looks like it's gonna be a while. At this rate the mountains of southern Colorado might still be dry through Christmas.

http://weatherwest.com/archives/5982

 

[Dryheat]

http://www.dayssinceitrained.com/dsir?address=flagstaff&threshold=0.01

 

[Jerez]

Weather report for NM was sunny and cold for the foreseeable future. Imagine my surprise to wake up this morning to 1/2" of snow in the foothills and it hasn't stopped yet. Ski SF is opening this Saturday, so it's like a gift to have some "real" snow on top of the WROD.

 

[Dryheat]

Since the forecast is so dire at AZSB, I'm going to celebrate the first inch of snow depth on the SNOTEL this year that came through yesterday.

Oh and AZSB web team, please get your shtuff together. Webcams breaking every other day...common

 

[kimberlin]

Oh and AZSB web team, please get your shtuff together. Webcams breaking every other day...common

I would have to agree about the Snowbowl website. Even before the updated version, they have never had webcams that seemed to be functioning correctly, or that the postings are always days old. Not sure why they bother if they cannot get their efforts to be well-presented and accurate. A small resort needs the best they can deliver if using a website to generate interest.

That being said, I will do my best to support this great little resort.

 

[NPhoenix]

From what I read last year, there might be selective "communication" going on via the social apps and webcams. I recall an ice event and other instances where SB didn't communicate effectively. I can see why they do it. Regardless, I'm still thankful for the improvements.

 

[Fishbowl]

There have been several changes at Snowbowl since last weekend. The main two are that the Hart Prairie beginner area is now open, and the high speed six pack is running. They are not open yet, but snow is being blown on Lower Volcano and on Casino. I presume that they will not groom Casino, so we may have some bumps soon.

We started on the bowl side, but is skied like a frozen cattle grid. I think they must have groomed the late afternoon slush, which then froze into hard ridges of ice. Not fun. So we headed over to the new Hart Prairie lift where the conditions were fantastic; nice new, soft blown snow.. The bowl side may have softened up later in the day, but we were gone by twelve. The cat track leading down form the six pack does have some debris in it, so beware of your bases,

 

[Core2]

I just can't motivate myself to drive up there for that WROD this season. Maybe when Volcano opens. Hopefully some real snow comes through before Christmas. A few years ago it was brown up there until a week before Christmas then it snowed 2+ ft.

 

[Core2]

Reposting my post from the Sunrise thread because we all need some good news.

Big changes are in the works at Sunrise due to a new operations manager who is pushing them to invest in new infrastructure. Cyclone will be down this season due to a bad cable and they are looking into getting a 20 person cat to operate out there as others have stated. It will be an additional cost on top of lift ticket. For next season they are looking at replacing Cyclone and Apache chairs and adding a gondola along with some new surface lifts. Guess where the old Hart Prairie lift is going? It was going to be $500,000 to fix the Cyclone cable so they have decided to bite the bullet instead and get the ski area setup properly for the future. I am stoked to hear this and can't wait to see the changes

 

[Shifterkart]

We started on the bowl side, but is skied like a frozen cattle grid. I think they must have groomed the late afternoon slush, which then froze into hard ridges of ice. Not fun. So we headed over to the new Hart Prairie lift where the conditions were fantastic; nice new, soft blown snow.. The bowl side may have softened up later in the day, but we were gone by twelve. The cat track leading down form the six pack does have some debris in it, so beware of your bases,

We did the same, two runs on the frozen corduroy then over to Hart Prairie for the remainder of the morning. After lunch things did soften and the bowl side skied well where we did laps till 2:00.

The new Hart Prairie lift is a huge improvement over the old one although the capacity did overload the narrow WROD at times.

 

[Shifterkart]

I was searching the internet and came across this:

http://www.wmicentral.com/news/late...cle_f01753b2-b0e0-5c81-b1a5-e76bf6595fc2.html

Not a lot of details but it appears a lift maintenance technician was killed while performing his duties at Sunrise. The accident happened in November but I don't remember seeing this before.

 

[Core2]

I was searching the internet and came across this:

http://www.wmicentral.com/news/late...cle_f01753b2-b0e0-5c81-b1a5-e76bf6595fc2.html

Not a lot of details but it appears a lift maintenance technician was killed while performing his duties at Sunrise. The accident happened in November but I don't remember seeing this before.

Wow. I am seeing they posted a "Closed until further notice effective today" post on Facebook and their website. Wonder what is going on out there?