C1erArt

Nothing yet on East Mountain, although there is some snow in Challenge Glade, think temps were too high for them to blow last night.

Looks nice, and a lot closer to Bozeman where I fly in and out of.

JADIP well not quite paradise Still needs some more snow

Heading back there in January, going to try and hit Big Sky and Discovery over near Anaconda. Flew in to Great Falls a couple of weeks ago and it was -21.

Sun came out. They groomed the left side of Exhibition. Nice first day on skis.

Don't think so. T bolt also has snow guns going. Demattes is nice. One Park also has a lot of cover.

Opening day at Frost. A little cloudy and in the high 20s. First tracks down Challenge. Great conditions. Blowing on exhibition

Not sure about the legit midweek skiers, but it sees a lot of midweek old farts. I can now include myself in the latter group - got my first senior citizen discounted season pass this year.

Interesting conversation over at Alpine Zone about Peak Resorts proposed IPO http://www.forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=133027

The lure of a free ski pass got me to come over to the dark side from Jack Frost. Was out this morning skiing the east half of the mountain. Slopes were in very good shape, temp about 30 and not too windy. Liked Razor's Edge the most, Challenge was a little narrow with the bumps on one side - I like to take up the whole trail. Light was pretty flat to start off with, but the sun came out and was a little more confident seeing what was coming up. Dreamweaver was pretty nice, and didn't have to skid my turns like I had to at the top of Razors. The nice thing about Frost is that you really can't ski faster than you want to - not the case for me on Razors. Last time I was here, Dreamweaver was just being cleared. Got about 12 runs in a little over 2 hours - you can get a lot of skiing in with a highspeed lift. No lines and only a couple shared chairs. View from the top: Looking N/E towards the old homestead.

With my kids at that age, they stopped fussing as soon as we were out of sight (usually we were watching from some hiding spot) and joined in the activity having a lot of fun. We all pretty much straight line the bottom 1/3 of Rivershot. It was a great weekend to introduce kids to east mountain.

For me Floyd's was about 45 mph. The light was pretty flat and the slope was a little cut up, so I tended to scrub some speed before I hit the top. I probably will hit Blue Tuesday morning or Thursday afternoon (between conference calls) what with Frost being closed and free lift tickets with a season pass. Do you know if you can pick them up at the bottom lodge on a weekday? Haven't been there for 5 or 6 years. Article in the paper about a red coat losing a ski at Camelback and going off into the trees. Pretty dicey. Maybe I should crank up my DINs s little. Pocono Record article. Camelback ski ranger takes the ride of his life Latest Headlines A Gouldsboro man's brief trip down a steep Pocono ski trail came with a round-trip ticket to eternity. Original Article: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140323/NEWS/403230334/-1/rss01 ---------------

Things are getting pretty quiet, on the slope and here on the board, but how many years can I write an entry with the date of 3/23? Was out Friday afternoon with temps around 60 and sunny, and this morning with temp of 33 and cloudy. Things got pretty soft on Friday, but still nice skiing. Bumps were nice: Froze up Saturday night, and today was a lot faster skiing, but the bumps and glades were very unfriendly. Only the hard core people are hitting the slopes now, so most were over at east mountain. It was pretty quiet in the lodge and the parking lot when I left around 11. JF just posted they are closed mid week, but hope to open next weekend.

Not yet. Hoping for April, but hard to say.

After disappointing conditions last Sunday, we were out Friday afternoon and Saturday morning with great conditions. Glades were still pretty frozen and getting bare, but the slopes were fast and carveable and not at all soft even at closing time. Sunny, wind blowing down the hill, conditions about perfect Crowds are thinning out though. It was less crowded Saturday than it was on Friday when there were a couple of buses and the weekday regulars. A view of the scenery from E Mtn chair. Lehigh river is waiting for the happy paddlers and Tobyhanna creek for the fishermen to arrive.

After a great Saturday morning, Sunday was less so. After it softened up Sat afternoon, and then froze Sat night, the grooming was minimal, with slick spots and piles of frozen granular. Did a couple of runs and headed back to check the maple sap taps in the back 40 (actually the back 3/4 acre). Maybe too much celebrating after the bump competition or end of the season wind down.

Great morning at the slopes, started in the mid twenties and got up to 40, so things were nice and fast. No wind, bluebird skies, started to soften up as I was leaving. Did my usual Thunderbolt/Challenge then over to E Mtn and back again. The race kids mountain class had a race on Demattes, practice gates on half of Challenge. The groomers put a kicker up on the bumps at Exhibition for the contest tomorrow. Glades were a little scratchy and icy first thing in the morning. The JF crew cleaned up pretty well from the cardboard classic yesterday, and the parking lot and lodge were a little empty - either everyone was out yesterday or end of the season burnout is starting. Did a head to head test of Phresheez, Ski Tracks and Navionics Ski on runs down Floyds. Ski Tracks and Navionics were within 2 mph, but Phresheez was 10 mph less. I think Phresheez is pretty conservative since they have speed contests in the software, and JF might not be long enough for the GPS sample time. Nice grooming on Challenge first thing in the morning: The mountain class kids who lost the race - well we won't see them again. Over the side you go, matey...

Out for a couple of hours this afternoon. Started out sunny, almost near 50. Snow was hard packed, and got a little soft towards the end of the day. Took off just as the first drops started falling. Glades were pretty well covered, although Mark's Way was a little scrapped off just before the lift line. People had been skiing the trees to the right of Telstar: and Mad Tree Glade was nicely covered:

Nice conditions after the snow, got about 8" where I live near Blue Mountain, but only 2-3 at Frost. Was on my Elan Apex 88s. Around 30, no wind and sunny. Lapped the usual suspects (tbolt, Challenge, Floyds and River Shot). Elevator and Elevator glade looked in good shape. Challenge glade had big fluffy bumps, and still some shallow spots, and not enough fresh snow to totally cover the rocks when you got too far in. Used the Navonics ski tracker - seemed pretty accurate with the others, and had the trails listed (unlike Ski Tracks). Did a couple runs on Exhibition bumps - a little easier for me with the snow on top.

Snuck out for a couple of hours in the morning. Radio station day 9$ tickets(not WMMR though, so it wasn't too bad). Got there half hour before opening and the top lot was already half full. Slopes didn't get too bad until around 10:30 or so. A lot of families out. Warmer today (in the high 20s) but still frozen cord with good coverage, light pretty flat but no wind. Should be a nice weekend. Had a retro day - started on my 160 Atomic 916s slaloms (last time on them was 6 or 7 years ago). Quick turning on the groomers, nearly broke my ankles on the bumps. Switched to my 186 Atomic 1022 GS skis. Really nice, they just float down the hill, no need to skid or make wide turns - they were so stable going down Floyds and Rivershot even catching a little air at top. Called it a day when the pizza kids started making it over to e mtn. Ticket line almost to the road on the way out.

Pretty quiet on the board, so here is an update from yesterday. Got there at 7:45 and hit the slopes right at opening. Around 12 degrees, light snow, and a fairly strong wind blowing down the hill (whoo hoo). Thought there would be frozen cord like Friday, so I dug out my Atomic GS 1022s the night before and gave them a cold temp wax. Did a few runs and they were a lot easier to get on edge than my Elan Apexes, but the extra length was pretty much wasted on the short runs here. Snow was piling up, so I switched back to the Elans. Not a lot of accumulation, only a couple of inches - didn't make much of a difference in the glades. Spent the 'golden hour' from 8-9 on Challenge and Tbolt, while they were setting up the race team's gates on the left side of Challenge, then when it got crowded went over to East Mountain. Conditions very nice, and with the tail wind was consistently hitting 50 down Floyds on SkiTracker, avoiding the red coats sled practice. green coats speed demons, and the blue coats training. Only saw one boarder go over the edge down Elevator. When the rentals hit east mountain, headed back to ski Challenge glade (pretty sketchy with ice on the top of the headwalls, although nice in the trees), and the newly made bumps on Exhibition (full lenght now). Headed out around 11:30, lodge pretty crowded and more people lined up at the ticket booth. Without the sun it seemed a lot colder than Friday, even though it was 5 or 10 degrees warmer. A pic of people having fun at the top of Exhibition:

5 degrees and sunny at 9 AM, and not much warmer when I left. They didn't get as much snow as Philadelphia, just a couple of inches, but have been blowing snow. Still blowing in DeMattes, and it along with Exhibition were closed for grooming down the piles of snow. Everything else flat frozen cord, a little slow with the wax I had on (Dominator Zoom Graphite). Base repair from last weekend glades run held up. Didn't have to scrub off any speed when hitting the top of Floyds or the last drop of Rivershot, which was nice. Otherwise big carved turns on Challenge and T-Bolt, trying to edge the skis and not rattle my teeth on the cords. No pictures today, but should be in great shape for tomorrow.

Boys and their toys, as my wife says. I have a set of Elan Apexs, 88mm 176 length. Got them used on eBay, so a little damage doesn't matter too much. Although the ptexing turned out real well. I have a tool that is a cross between a hot melt glue gun and a soldering iron. They hold a carve on the groomers a lot better than the PEs, but aren't real pretty in the baby bumps at Jack Frost, but that is probably me and not the skis. Family has about 9 sets of skis I maintain so as well as skiing during the day I get to putz around the workshop at night. Have a TV on the set of shelves, but (unlike some people) don't have a beer refrigerator down in the basement.

Got a little too enthusiastic in Challenge glade today. Time for some ptexing.

Nice snowfall overnight. First few freshy runs were great. Got cut up pretty fast, but still nice. Challenge glade hid some rocks so some work on my bases and edges tonight. Great day overall. SkiDan in the house. Bottom of Challenge on the first run.