Ride Delaware ?

That sounds familiar...

Your dad doesn't make that call any more? They giving you more responsibility?

Elk was only reporting 4", but CB was reporting 9". Looks like the changeover line is a little north of Easton right now.

I'm back in the 302. Hopefully heading back up to VT Monday if the roads are half decent.

I thought it was because the sun never sets on a badass...

That CB? They love blocking lift lines with little trees...

I'm on the flip side of things. I've been up since mid January and need to get back.

Easy access to North Jersey and the big city. Good for money, bad for runs.

I'm supposed to leave Tuesday, but if Wednesday pans out, I'm totally game to stay until Thursday.

Very true. And much drier. Damp cold really sucks.

Depends on where you are out west. For lots of resorts, that's also cold. Thanks for taking the time to write this up. Keep getting at it.

What's the consensus on the 4th-6th? What changed?

The race team at Mt. Ellen still has a Poma and a T-Bar.

We are still over a third of our way to our annual total. A good February should do it.

They can't even open the Slide Brook lift because Vermont Tram says they have to have enough snow to drive a snowmobile underneath it for evacs, and we are still about a foot short of that.

Before I patrolled, I only went through 1-2 boards every 5 years. With patrolling I go through about a board a year. I would say the ski to snowboard ratio here in VT is 5:1 at the very least, maybe even greater.

They've had enough snow to reopen, but I think it's only the mellower stuff. Might be worth a trip for $3.50 though.

Your best bet is going to be the VBRO option around Elk. Unfortunately, most of the actual ski house rentals are in the Poke N Hoes. Huge rental market in and around JFBB and CB.

Stowe generally gets more snow, about 50" a year, but if they are getting snow, it usually means we are as well, just a smaller amount. If it's good there, it should be decent here. Let me know when you'll be around. I'd love to take some runs.

It wasn't gondalicious...

It has been a challenging year up here. It has been cold, and was a stellar start to the season, but for two weeks after 12/20, every time it precipitated, the temp would rise just long enough to rain and then plummet. It has really put a damper on their snowmaking budget which they really try to stick to up here. They wound down snowmaking last week at Mt. Ellen and they are only planning on one more week at Lincoln Peak. They have had some really busy days, but overall, the lack of natural snow (97" so far), has really hurt skier visits. Natural terrain has also been limited. There is "enough" of a base to open some trails after new snow, but often they have to close them a couple days later. Paradise has been open a handful of times and we haven't opened Castlerock yet. There is currently no tree skiing. Hopefully it steps its game up in February and March.

A friend of mine from NH came up for a ski weekend on Friday, and we decided pretty early on that we wanted to avoid the crowds and head to Mt. Ellen. There was snow in the forecast, and it was shaping up to be a pretty good weekend. Fast forward ahead to Saturday, which ended up being quite windy and quite busy, and we decided to go up to Waterbury instead. The upper mountain lifts were all on wind hold and the lift lines at the base lifts were insane. It just wasn't worth out time. It started snowing midday on Saturday and snowed late into the night. However, it also brought some cold temps and gusty winds. We woke up at 7, but due to the frigid temps (-2 ambient), we decided to take our time and make some breakfast. We picked up our equipment at the shop and finally got to the mountain around 10 AM. The temp was holding steady at around -2 at the base. The Summit lift was running on and off throughout the day, but the North Ridge Express was down for the day. We decided to warm up on the lower mountain and rotated between Cruiser and Which Way. Temps at mid mountain were about -6 with some wind. After 4 runs, my toes were cold, and we went inside to warmup. After a quick warmup, we headed back out. My buddy was suffering with cold hands and didn't want to go all the way to the top. We rotated a couple runs on North Star, Which Way, and Cruiser. After another 4 runs, my buddy said his legs were toast and his hands were frozen, so we called it a day. Overall, conditions were stellar. With the cold temps, the snow was that super chalky sticky stuff (does Steeze have a name for that?). I had cold temp wax, but it didn't make too much of a difference. Everything had very minimal skier traffic and we never waited in a lift line. Everything off the GMX was manmade groomed with pockets of powder off to the side. Which Way started getting some Blue Mountain Death Cookies by the end of our day, but everything was fast and edgeable. Not too bad a day for it topping out at 2, -4, and -12 bottom to top. I didn't take any pics on the hill since I wasn't willing to take my hands out of my gloves and get them frozen, but I shot some at the base before I left just for shits and giggles.

Maybe it was North Creek, but we were at least 20 minutes from Gore...

It wasn't. No titty sparkles or anything...

He was on the phone walking out by the road because cell service was spotty, and some cop stopped him and have him a bunch of hassle. He would know more than me. After 7 years my recollection of events are a little hazy...