bigdaddyk

The VIP pass has been a hastle. I ran into numerous lift attendants who questioned me about not having a lift ticket. I understood where they where coming from, because they were doing their job and I'm glad they are checking for tickets. They didn't even know about it and they had to check with their higher ups. They all said that nobody informed them of the VIP pass. Everybody has been helpful and friendly, though. The food that I get seemed to stay the same price, though. I couldn't figure out why they eliminated the preferred parking...that was a good way for them to make money. JF was also closed on Christmas last year, which I don't have a problem with because nobody wants to work on Christmas. Financially, BB opening later makes sense and I've often thought about that myself. As far as the convienence of having the choice from early in the morning, it stinks. BB has also seemed to be icy, because it is groomed too early on days that they open at 3. I still feel that JFBB has been doing a good job overall, especially compared to some of the other places.

Theoretically, if you would have a 2 or 3 year old who is 46" tall, you would have to pay for them . It should go by age, not height. And why would wearing boots matter...other than to keep from giving out a free ticket.

Which channel...I saw 22 pulling in when I left yesterday. I expected the ice yesterday, due to the drop in temps from the days before.

I noticed that there were areas of water ponds, like at side of the top of the triple chair and off to the side of Sno Chute. I assumed this was from draining the snow guns. Is the wisper gun the type that sits on the tri pod?

Two hour session today from 8-10. Fresh snow was blown and later turned into sugar. East Mt. had me wondering what happened. There were a bunch of ruts on the second head wall and it was icy. There were also more thin spots / brown spots. The groomers must have dug down too far or were going too fast. There was snow blown on it, but it appeared that a lot of it went into the trees...I don't know if it was windy or the guns weren't aimed correctly. Other then the top of East, the mountain was in good shape...especially Challenge.

Can anybody see if BB is blowing snow? For some reason, the webcam shows up really dark on my computer, even with the brightness/ etc all the way up. I would assume they are, since CB is on their cam.

Yeah people are definately clueless. Today at JF, I heard a lady ask if it was actually snowing or if they were making snow. Scarey thing is that she was serious .

It was 37 around the Mountain Top exit of I-80 and it was snowing...

For JF >> 7 top to bottom...12 if you count in the trails that connect the "top to bottom trails." http://www.jfbb.com/winter-jf-trail-maps.aspx

Lake Harmony: Sunday: A chance of snow or rain. The snow could be heavy at times. Cloudy, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Hopefully it is snow and not rain that is heavy.

. I also got a digital thermometer and put it inside of the sleave on my jacket and let the "outside" probe stick out of the zipper. I was always curious about how cold it was, while skiing. The readings seem to be a little high. I know if it is sunny, the direct sunlight has an effect on it. I also think body heat might mess it up. At night, it seems to be really accurate.

I hit JF today (12-27) from 8 to 10:30. When I arrived it was 29...when I left it was 32. It snowed lightly the entire time. The trails were in really good shape. There was only one thin spot that I saw on the left side of the second drop on East Mt (Lightning / River Shot); there is still really good coverage and a really good base on all of the trails. It almost seems like the first rain storm helped to solidify the base and the last rain storm must have just rolled off of the snow. The snow was excellent first thing and started to become a little icy as the morning went on. Crowds were light early, but started to pick up as I left at 11:30 (hour lunch break from 10:30 to 11:30). Channel 22 was pulling in as I left, so I would assume they were there for the noon broadcast. Hopefully they will get to blow more snow tonight. I went to BB to check out the crowd and the parking lot was packed at 11:45.

I was at JF from 8 to 1130 and it snowed lightly the entire time. Kind of weird seeing snow .

For some reason, I don't think the new fans they got are affected as much by humidity. I've seen BB blowing snow when it was 30/31 degrees out and the humidity wasn't low.

I just saw a funny commercial for Sno Mountain where a lady floods her washing machine with suds to ski on it. I hope nobody has seen these commercials and went thinking it was open...it would suck to drive a distance to find out they weren't open.

. I see Eagle Rock is you home Mt. How are they doing as far as looking at opening? I might try to get there this year to see what it's like.

East Mt. or Black Forest.

I'm not sure when they groom BB, but during the week it would be best if they did it in the afternoon. If it's done too early, it will melt/ re-freeze making it ice. Waiting until later would help brake the snow/ ice up.

I agree. Turn the music off. When I was at BB, there were two different systems playing music. The closer you got to the park, you could hear two different channels over-riding each other. Noise pollution on the mountain is not what I'm looking for. You don't go to a mountain to hear blaring music, it takes away from the tranquility. It also takes away from the family atmosphere. Older people don't want to hear music that younger people listen to. Maybe the traditional PA system music of a local station would be enough.

From all of the years that I've been there, the crowds don't seem to appear until after Christmas.

I plan on going Thurs. morning. They plan on opening East. Mt. again . The whales on Sno chute looked pretty big for one night of blowing. Hopefully, they will get to blow more tonight.

I hit first tracks at 9:00 am and they were still blowing snow on the top half of the mountain and it was 26 degrees out. Everything was new, freshly groomed snow and it was sweet. East Mt. was closed for snowmaking. They quit blowing between 10 and 10:30 and I ended my day at 11 am. Overall, conditions were really good.

I just checked BB, Blue, and CB's webcams and they all have their lights on. It's still a little too warm, but hopefully they will get to make snow.

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