snoskier

This sounds like it could be logistical nightmare. Does anyone have any experience with this at other mountains? It seems like its going to be a pain having a patroller or SAT at the top of spike/halfpipe/mainline to check passes every run. also... is the wrist band reusable or do you need to get a new one every day?

I would guess that it won't seem that crowded even if there are a lot of people. The mountain can ski a decent number of people b/c it doesn't funnel to just one area. I don't think I've ever had to wait for more than a few chair this year. I think you should be fine and based on ski's TR from last night it looks like the snow should be pretty decent.

Last night braved the cold and hit the slopes. It was well worth it. Got there about 530 and it was clear that it was going to pretty empty. There were maybe 20 or so cars in the parking lot. After I booted up I decided to try a run from the top because i wanted to see runway after they made snow last night. On the way up iron horse they were blowing just about every trail. The nastar course was closed and they were hitting it particularly hard. I think they weren't making snow on fasttrack and runway, but other than that every other trail had snowmaking on it. Took a run down fasttrack and it was really nice. I was actually skiing cord which was really suprising given that the mountain had been open all day. They didn't blow that much snow on it but it was nice for carving and very nicely groomed. After that I pretty much pent the rest of the night either on the north face or warming up (it was pretty cold after all). That said it wasn't bad as long as you had NO exposed skin. They had frostbite warnings posted and it looked like everyone took heed. They were blowing snow on the whole NF and it was great! It was as close to skiing fresh powder as you can get. Boomer was great. The line under the guns was unreal. White was closed until about 7 because they had the cats on it setting up guns. After they were done I took some runs and it was nice. By closing there were huge piles of snow under the guns on cannonball and white and boomer were pretty well covered with 3-4 inches of new snow. I didn't see the top of the mountain first hand but I heard there were big piles too. Today (2-12) should be real nice, esp. If this storm pans out. Looks like presidents weekend should be great the mountain is looking great. Snoskier

I know with the writers strike things are getting desperate

When I left tonight (~7:15) the guns were running on lower runway/fastrack (It sounded like they were on) and on the upper mountain. The wind was REALLY blowing when I left and it couldn't have been more than 10 degrees. It was like skiing two different days today b/c this morning it was a sunny pa powder day, but ended wearing with about every piece of clothing I had in my ski bag. strange... snoskier

Well I

Thanks for the TR ski. I wasn't expecting much given how much it rained this week but I was pleasantly surprised that the conditions were great. It started snowing about 9 and I would estimate around an inch or so feel throughout the day. I thought it was going to turn to rain, but we lucked out and it stayed cold. I saw them checking all the guns so tomorrow morning should be nice. Today was probably the biggest crowd I've seen this season, but I didn't notice it on the slopes. snoskier

Wow... you haven't been there in a MONTH yet you magically know its "bad". The park crew has done a great job this year and if you had been up during or after the recent competition you would agree. snoskier

Has anyone seen the mountain since the rain stopped? I assume that the base held up pretty well since almost everything is open, but I have learned not to always trust the website. Snoskier

I have to agree with ski that the man-made snow on WL and Boomer is fantastic. Saturday (1/19) was IMO the best day of the season. I had the chance to take one of the first runs on WL and the snow was just plain silky! Later in the day the bumps on boomer were powdery and as nice as anything I've ever skied. I just hope they occasionally let boomer bump up b/c the pitch is perfect for bump skiing. Glad to hear they are still hitting the East side hard b/c looking forward to skiing the new trails & maybe trying out the long haul lift. snowskier

What I heard this past weekend was that fast track and runway will open by this weekend (26/27) and it is likley they will open sometime during the week. snoskier

I was up last at the mountain and the skiing was great. At least 2

As much as I would like to see the mountain open earlier, I think Dec. 1st and 2nd is probably the earliest we could realistically see the mountain open. I just don't see that they will have everything cleaned up and the necessary support staff marshaled before then. I think Melissa is probably right that 2nd weekend will probably be the real opening, but I think there is a chance of the 1st weekend.