Ride Delaware ?

Burke Mountain Academy represents. Shiffrin eases to gold.

The expense is prohibitive for some mountains, especially when this one just got out of bankruptcy from overextension with an indoor water parks. However, it sounds like the new owners got it at a steal and are really making things happen.

Correct. My point was that the lift itself isn't running faster, they are running the haul line faster. A fixed grip without a conveyor maxes at the same speed as one with a conveyor, they just don't run it as fast or they have to have a good crew bumping.

Theoretically it runs at the same speed as a normal fixed grip, depending on what speed the mountain runs it at, but it is supposed to cut down on miss-loads, which is where the value lies. Those things are tricky to load since your so used to pushing or poling. I fell the first time I used one at Mt. Snow/Okemo. If it was stopping that much, then people were either really fucking up loading or the off ramp is fucked.

I would even be ok with an unofficial woods policy. Even if the official stance and posted signs said "no tree skiing" but they told the patrollers not to enforce it, that would be acceptable and still appease the insurance companies.

I've never been bashful about my love for Elk, but even if they want the old school vibe with the lodge and lifts, that mountain could be so improved and gain serious street cred just by opening up some glades and getting a part time social media person. It's ridiculous how terribly set in their ways they are. There hasn't been progression there since I started riding there 13 years ago. It's almost exactly the same. Either way, way to get out there and get after it. Glad to hear they are doing well.

I was riding with a buddy who is significantly slower than me. So, while I waited for him, I had plenty of time to snap pics. His slowness is your gain. If you have a second in Casablanca, I'd love to see some pics. I've gone to Saddleback on a powder day twice, and both time the mountain was closed due to wind. I'm still jonesing to get there.

I'm in Vermont, and I'm thinking, perhaps it isn't. Because we got more than 8"

I can't imagine they only got 8" out of this, so they probably haven't figured out how to update their website, or use social media.

The 7th Anniversary of the 2007 Epic V-Day Storm Unfortunately, I wasn't able to hit the 2007 storm since I was still in school, but all the pieces fell into place for this little ski safari, and things finally got really good. The last two weeks had dumped 20" and placed a solid base on the natural terrain. The 22" that fell by 1 PM really made everything ski well. It was about 22 degrees and the snow was a medium density, which was perfect for the woods. The mountain was reporting 22" at the top, 20" at the mid, and 13" at the base. I started the day out at Gate House/North Lynx, then headed to Bravo/Heaven's Gate around 1 PM. I found some good woods shots on both, but despite the late grooming, everything bumped up. I was on the lift at 9:15 and went straight with no stops until 3:30. My legs were like rubber. It was busy for a Friday and I had to park pretty far back in the auxiliary lot by the Village Double. Didn't make it to Castle Rock because the line was a zoo and there was plenty of other untouched to hit. There was great snow all day with the free refills. Some of the woods hadn't been hit since morning and had filled in nicely. All in all, an amazing day. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We were going to hit Mt. Ellen early in the AM before driving home, but they are expecting a record day by far with the busy holiday week, so I think we may play it safe with the new snow and head home since we have to be back by Sunday and the roads will still be dicey until we get to Rt. 4. This is by far my biggest powder day ever, and I am stoked I finally got to be here for one.

Yes, I screwed that one up. I had some trouble posting and I guess I got frustrated and screwed it up.

It was snow covered on the way down, and I was freaking out. It's steep and there wasn't much traction. So glad the road to Waterbury is flat.

They are profitable again. How is that not being successful?

Afroman and I decided to check out a new mountain, and Bolton seemed to fit the bill despite what Steeze posted yesterday. We scored some tix on liftopia, left early, and were on the slopes by 9:30. Only the main quad up the middle of the mountain was worth riding, so we lapped that. It flurried most if the day, but fine snow didn't start falling at a good clip until 1 ish. It was dumping by 3 but not much accumulation. Winds were going at a good clip which made it seem colder than 22 degrees. All in all, it was well worth it. There is a decent amount of flat traversing, but there are some steeps, and the woods there look amazing. I ended up doing one on map glade run and then some woods shots on the sides of trails that were pretty damn fun. I would say they, like Sugarbush, need about a foot of medium density pow to put everything in play without the risk of base damage. Still a bunch of thin cover on the steeper natural stuff. I would really like to get back there later in the season when more snow has fallen. As of right now, we are waiting for the bulk of the storm. Light snow shower action is the current report on top of about 3". They say the majority will fall in the AM. Here's some pics:

Most run off electricity and have diesel backups. Some run it primarily, and in some areas, it can be cheaper than electric. The vast majority are electric. If my sources are correct, I believe that is the Ascutney lift.

Unfortunately, being in the NE hasn't really allowed me to meet many PASR's. I'd feel more comfortable at trash talking if I had met more people. I try my hardest to not be an outright asshole.

I already got my "I watch from the sidelines" jackass comment in for the year. I don't ski or race, so, I shouldn't talk too much smack.

Slide Brook isn't running yet. At first it was because there wasn't enough snow to run the snowmo under it (deal with the Tramway Board), but now I am hearing that there are some mechanical issues as well. This weekend there should be plenty of snow, so we will see if it is fixed. It's really helped keep the crowds down at Mt. Ellen.

I made sure that Afroman was in some of the pics so at least you had partial action shots.

Welcome back R2!!!

Elk? $1,000 season passes and they make it happen. If a mountain like Blue with all their skier visits can't make it happen, then you might be right. However, I see the waterpark expansion, at least for Blue or CB, to be a grab for more money, not necessity. Or even more possible, a look to the future with climate change.

Afroman and I decided to come up for a little 5 day skifari, and so far, the timing looks pretty good. We missed an 8" storm last week, but they had an elevation based upslope event over the past 48 hours that dropped 12" at the base and nearly 3" at the bottom. It's storms like these that make me truly thankful for mid mountain lifts, no matter what their speed or length is. Due to some things we needed to take care of at the Season Pass office, we didn't get on the snow until about 11:30. However, due to Mt. Ellen being more like a ski area and less like a resort like Lincoln Peak, it is never as busy. Today was no different. We were able to score a parking spot in the second row and were maybe 2 of 100 people there for the day. We hopped on the GMX out of the base and hit Cruiser, Which Way, and North Star as warmups since Afroman hadn't been out yet this year. The snow was groomed but was silky smooth and the edges really dug deep. No ice to be found. We then hopped on the NRX and hit Rim Run/Looking Good. Upper Looking Good was ungroomed, windswept, and had thin cover. It wasn't enjoyable. Lower Looking Good has a manmade base but was ungroomed. It had about 6" of fresh and maybe 10 tracks. Awesome. Rim Rum was groomed but was real windswept and had some icy spots. It's exposed, so that wasn't surprising. Next, we went down Cliffs to the bottom. It has a manmade base, but hasn't been groomed in weeks. It had some scratchy spots in the troughs, but otherwise, it was enjoyable with some nice soft bumps developing. After a quick warmup at the mid mountain lodge (the Glen House) since it was 3 degrees, we went over and did North Star again to the NRX. Hit Elbow off the NRX and cruised. Really good machine groomed packed powder. At the end of the day I went up and hit Exterminator. Holy shit that was amazing. They didn't have a chance to make snow on it this year, so it's all natural and incredibly soft. There were still some flat rocks in the troughs that will dull your edges, but not much that will cause any serious base damage. On my way to the base, I decided to hop in and try some woods shots. It's still a little thin at the lower elevations, and while I avoided any base damage, I wouldn't say it was enjoyable. We are sitting at 120" for the season, so we are still low and the base needed in the woods to cover the obstacles just isn't there. Thursday's storm should help get everything in play if it is a slightly denser product. The upslope was very dry. Would have been fantastic for face shots if it had a base. All in all, it was a good day. We are headed over to LP tomorrow. They opened Castlerock for hiking this past weekend, but with record crowds and marginal snow, they made the wise decision not to open the lift until yesterday. I've heard it's still pretty thin, so I won't try it out until Friday at the earliest, but thought some of you guys might find that interesting. I'm sure things are finally starting to fill in there nicely as well. Here are some random pics:

Sugarbush has broken records every year since Win took over the mountain in 03. Growth is going well at the Bush...

Bolton needs work. They really need a resort developer like Jay to come in and do some amenity improvement. Lifts are outdated, base area is run down, and the Nordic center is falling apart. It is finally a profitable entity, but it needs help.

What's the update for this weekend/next week look like J Law?