Leaderboard

Well, midwinter has arrived in Vermont and I enjoyed two days of great powder skiing with no crowds thanks to the mid-week arrival of the storm. Snow was well underway both days, so I parked at the Jackson Gore side to avoid the steep pitch of the main Okemo approach road. Front wheel drive isn't going to cut it up here, not even with my beloved Blizzaks. I feel there is a Subaru in my future. Tuesday saw the more significant snowfall, and the snow was beautiful and untracked, or very lightly tracked, for quite a few runs. After that, it begin to form into push-piles, which were fun but exhausting. I loved the chance to learn to ski "moguls" a bit on blue runs. Though weirdly the piles tended to form more like giant, vertical furrows rather than discrete bumps. That was a challenge; I decided the most fun option was to hop back and forth over the furrow, so it was like one really long mogul, The snow kept dumping until about 5pm, so each run was different every time you did it. I'm no good at skiing powder/3D snow, but I was very psyched for the opportunity to practice. It's hard to stay forward--that was my main challenge. And also being patient with my turns and not trying to shove carvery turns everywhere. Gentle pivots seemed to work best. I started out each day on the J-G side, doing Moondance, then worked my way over to the Solitude chair and worked all the blue trails over there. Didn't spend much time taking the 6-pack to the summit. Visibility was sketchy the times I was up there, and I was having the most fun over at Solitude. Plus Epic Restaurant there has the best $10 lunch you can get at a ski resort: life-altering chicken and waffles. There weren't any crowds at all, but things really thinned out after about noon. I think people were just tired. Wednesday was more of the same, though with conditions a bit more packed down on some trails, which was nice in a way in that it took a lot less energy to ski, but wasn't near as much fun as the day prior. I stayed in Ludlow Tuesday night, because I didn't want to have to drive the 40 minutes back and forth to Quechee in the storm.(The nearer resorts, Quechee and Suicide Six, are not open during the week these days, so a drive was required), Homestyle Hostel on Main street, Ludlow is a really great place: highly recommend if you need an inexpensive dorm bed. Met a guy who quit his job in November and was on Day 74 so far this year. While grabbing a quick bite of dinner at Kilarney's, their regular pub trivia quiz started up. The guy sitting next to me at the bar asked if I wanted to form a team, so we called ourselves "Strangers at a Bar" and recruited anyone who happened to be near us. We ended up with a solid roster and won most of the rounds. After the teams turned in our answer sheets, I looked over at the judge, who was scoring them, and said to my bar neighbor: "See that guy? He's grading. I never have to do that again. Ever!" That was a good feeling.

Just got in from riding Elk Mountain, PA all day. They must have received some more snowfall overnight. Looked to be 4-6 inches around the mountain when I pulled up this morning. Probably 6 or more up top. This is on top of what has been accumulating over the last 10 days. Unfortunately all but the two bump runs were groomed out. Conditions were still excellent: real packed powder and cord all day. There was hardly anyone there. Never had to wait for a chair. Bummed on Elk's no open mountain policy. There are some fun possibilities up there to bag turns through the trees. They certainly have the snow for it. Also love those rocks off the runout to Mohawk. Lots of fun just wish the landing wasn't so flat. Staying over locally and then driving up to Plattekill tomorrow morning.

It’s like the drive, without Vermont.

Would you move there if the price was right for a hotel room?

Really, really good this morning. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Heyoo!

Closed trees? Vermont my ass

They should just build a regular hotel and have a hotel management company run and operate it. It doesn't have to be a crazy Camelback/Kalahari type place..4 stories or so with mainly basic rooms and some family style suites. I was a little excited for the condo launch party in the Vista ballroom..I imagine a pretty nice spread of Hors D'oerves maybe even mini beef wellingtons and prawns. Bravo could even round up a few of the local Lehigh valley and Pocono realtors and have a show called $100,000 dollar listing Carbon county edition..after a big sale and a $3100 commission they could show the realtors celebrating at the Last Run lounge over buffalo shrimp and IPAs.

Enter the comp Saturday and you can ski them while they're fresh!

Was there last night from 4:30 to 7:30. Snowed the whole time. Snow was good but the visibility a little flat. Run of the night was Main Street. The snow was laying in there as opposed to getting blown off most of the other trails.

I think your opinion sucks

No footy. Last time I was at Elk I was 14, and the place was only half open at the time (it was December), so I spent the time finding my way around a bit and looking where the fun stuff was. A bunch of places nearby have open mountain policies. Off the top of my head Jack Frost and Plattekill which are both fairly close by. Frost get significantly less snowfall too. I know Platty and Magic Mtn in VT organize volunteer glade clearing crews every off season. It's worth it, in my opinion. It would make the mountain stand out a lot more. To me it feels like a mellower version of Blue, with better snow. But if you could rock it off piste it'd be the nastiest place in PA. For sure its got the best snow in the Poconos. Not that its saying much but I'd make the drive when the conditions came together if they did. Otherwise I have to drive to the Catskills. I can do Elk in a day. Oh, run of the day was Lehigh. That green cruiser way off on the east side of the mountain. Only natural snow, narrow little trail through the woods. It's like meditation down there, man. Good stuff. I recommend it.

They groomed everything out last night. It was still great. No crowds, fresh cord, but they have signs up everywhere telling you not to go into the woods or you'll get your pass pulled. I did find some little stashes though. Between Kickapoo and Wissahickon and off Mohawk. Actually there's a gnarly set of rock drops there between the runout of Mohawk and whatever the intermediate trail is next to it. The snow in there was great, light and fluffy. The landing was a little flat so I had to angle myself off the second time. I feel like if Elk adopted an open mountain policy like Plattekill I'd be there a lot more often. Also I love that beginner cruiser that is natural snow only that winds way out the east side of the mountain. Put some relaxing music on and just get into a kind of zen state out there. Fun day.

Hey SallyCat...why didn't you write a report from your one day ski trip to China???

I've got a weight problem, i can't "weight" to eat!!

The snow isn't even gonna have a chance to melt before the 31st. You might say my claim is bold but I think Blue might be open the weekend of the 14th and 15th of April if the long range cold and stormy forecast holds. They were open that late four years ago.

You're gonna love it, they got more perder last night.... unreal conditions everywhere.

You can do whatever you want. Just thought 3 separate reports would be redundant.

Same people get a bad attitude about it being spring skiing in February. You gotta enjoy what Mother Nature throws your way. Salty doesn't like the mershed Perturters..well I do.

Current situation. Doing a little driving.

From the guy who lives in a hotel.......

I just use it to put on my boots and occasionally have a snack in there and use the bathroom. I like that you can take your skis in. The layout is just so convenient to get on the lift. And if they make it too nice, they may ban tailgating.

Wind Beneath my ways give me goosebumps just like OMCs How Bizarre and Randy Newmans I Love LA

Conditions were excellent. Fast and grippy. NMDW was so good. Plus no one there which made it that much better.

Yes Lehigh is a fun trail. Like a hike in the woods. When we were there last week it was closed. I don't think Elk is considered in the Poconos, it's the Endless Mountains.

Great evening...

Was awesome today. Deserted, soft packed snow, skiable all over equally well. Generally partly cloudy, at some point a big cloud came out of nowhere, wind picked up, and snow started to fall for like 5 mins. Incidentally at this very moment the quad stopped, and there I was swaying in the wind and snow. Six pack is closed and according to other people was closed all day long despite more people in the morning hours.

Today was the best conditions all season for tree skiing. It took 3 NEsters to get that coverage. It's actually the best coverage in years. Several years ago an employee was killed while boarding in the trees. For this reason, Safety, Elk restricts skiing off trails. Personally I think there are only so many days at Elk where trees can be skied safely. Surely Elk could spend a ton of $$ to clear glades, and run lines to blow snow. They choose not to do that. Glad you had a good time! It sure was empty today, the beer was cold, and I got a sunburn.... Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Survey in my email today says they are “reconsidering the fractional approach and looking into other development options and designs.”

Just Sunday for me.

Maybe

LOL Guaranteed GSS has no idea what "Men in Blazers" is about. Over under how long he listens... 60 seconds?

No I try to avoid cracked out conspiracy theory propaganda. Men in Blazers Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pod cast Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They blew on a lot too. I’m curious what their plans are for closing. I wouldn’t expect them to still be putting in the effort and money if they were closing on the 31st. Who knows. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like your attitude SallyCat,"Fuck work and go on an extended ski trip" Have you been to Burlington or Montreal before? Both nice spots to go on a day trip to.

I’m jelly. I’ll make sure to visit you next year and bring whatever food/drink you may be missing from the LV. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fun fact. The north knob on Elk Mountain has the highest elevation in eastern PA - 2693 feet. Unfortunately though their website still looks like something out of the movie "war games" from 1983 with Matthew Broderick.

Good cause that shit was depressing

I thought you were over skiing this season. Have you come to your senses? He saw the light, and the light is Blue.

Let's hope this happens!!!

STFU GSS you're a social drinker and don't smoke anymore

I dunno. For one thing I grew up in a rural area, so playing outside was basically the only thing to do. I teach college kids. I would say priorities are different now. People feel they have to be more career oriented earlier on in life. There's a sense that if you don't have things planned out going into college, then you're something of a loser. I think younger kids now have less time to devote towards hobbies if they're told those hobbies won't help them towards a career.

Halfpipes used to be awesome. I remember being 13 or 14 and getting super stoked to go to Camelback because they had a halfpipe and Montage didn't. By the time I was 17 I realized that I had never once been in a well maintained pipe and it was tough to ride a misshapen crusty ditch and I lost complete interest. I get the feeling that the drop in the park scene around here in PA is directly related to the downfall of snowboarding. You can see it all over. Fewer young kids on boards, less of a selection when you go to shops. Last Sunday I rode the lift with a guy and his little daughter, both on snowboards. I feel like this is where the next generation is coming from, shredding parents getting tiny little boards for their kids, not the hoards of teens getting snowboards for Christmas like when I was coming up. Totally a wild guess, but I'm getting the feeling that kids nowadays aren't really into hucking themselves down a mountain on their own anymore. There are 10,000 things to watch on the internet and TV now so the novelty of seeing the X games or something like that isn't striking a chord like it did for my generation and making kids want to get out and try snowboarding.

This would be incredible. Some places (bigger mtns of course) have tow ropes like Track said.

TFTI

+1. I've been saying that for years. It would help with cutting down the lines for the sixpack and traffic on the upper trails as well. A lot of kids just want to ride park but now they have to go all the way to the top and scrape down the trails all the way to the park. Just put in a handle tow or carpet and let them ride park.

I still think that they should put a carpet lift in to serve the two lower parks. When park rats wanted to lap park in the past they could ride up and come down Sidewinder to the lower parks and repeat. Be nice to give them the ability to just lap the jump line or the rail yard if they want to.