Freeski919

I was up at the mountain today, working with the new instructors. They just groomed out School Hill and the top of Vista for us to use. But no lift access, had to hike it. The snow was actually pretty good though. Not sugary like it usually is. Looking forward to getting some real turns in tomorrow morning!

I bootlegged my own first turns last night. We had about 2 inches down at 1am, so I. Went to the local sledding hill with my rock skis and hiked a half dozen runs. Just good to be on snow.

According to my sources, they've been experiencing a lot of temperature inversion at Blue over the last two weeks, so the temperatures are better for making snow in the valley than they are at the summit. So I can see them cranking the valley guns longer and harder than the summit, and pushing that excess snow where they need it.

Go out with the better Explorer instructors.

No,we don't make any more during a private. And as seasonal employees, many of us don't even make that $8 an hour you're talking about. You've spent a lot of this thread bashing on instructors and 'industry people'. Get a clue. There are plenty of instructors who will kick your ass on skis

I saw the lights last night on my way to the sands. I shouted so loud I made my friends think we were getting in an accident. Hahaha

Fail.

Anybody know if employee passes will include airbag use?

The new GM is the guy from Ski Patrol w/ the white patch of hair on the back of his head. Just FYI.

Regardless of where you go, avoid MLK weekend (January 16-18 this year), and any time in February. I worked up in VT, and February was a nightmare from end to end. I usually didn't have a day off all month. Different states have different winter school vacations, so you end up with the Mass crowd one week, locals and NH the next week, NY/NJ the week after, and so on. Last week in January, you're likely to hit some good conditions and get some decently empty slopes. Downside, January is definitely the coldest month of the year in VT. But skiing with Canucks, they shouldn't have a problem with that.

As a native New Englandah, if you have a problem with us, please stay off of our mountains. Thanks.

They're the guys riding around the lot on the quads. I'm always at Summit Lodge, they're there constantly. Maybe it's a different story in the Valley.

Too Late. I'm the guy inside the fuzzy suit (usually). And it's not Snowflake... it's Snowball.

What would you consider a reasonable drive to/from the mountain in the morning? If you're willing to have a 20-25 minute drive to the mountain, I'd suggest staying in Waterbury. It's right off 89, and there are some decent places to stay around there. From there, you can reach Stowe/Smuggs in about 20 mins, and Sugarbush/MRG in about 25. Gives you tons of variety if you can put it together in your price range.

Sometimes its so easy it's just not worth it.

The test instruments were put up last year in October, and they were set to run for a full calendar year. If you were at the top of the six pack and looked up past the quad, you saw a tall mast w/ the instruments on it. The standard they're using to make a wind turbine viable is an average wind speed of 15mph. As of the end of the season last year, they were averaging 18mph, but the summer has lower wind speeds than winter. So the study period should just be wrapping up, and the final figures should be put together soon. Based on those figures, they'll figure out whether or not a wind turbine is a good idea.

Wasn't there a post in the improvements thread that said something about a trench that was dug on Challenge? Oh, and of course they improved their snowmaking system... they put guns on Nightmare. That's how the marketing department thinks.

It makes me a little uncomfortable to hear that they're doing major work on the snowmaking system when they should be opening in less than a month.

This is exactly the stuff that I hate. I typically don't ski or ride in my mountain uniform, but if/when I do, I take the opportunity to educate gapers when they're trying their hardest to get themselves killed. I don't go at it like some of the patrol nazis, but I let them know they're in the wrong, and the fact that I'm an employee usually cuts out the backtalk.

Make it cheap, but not free. $5 is enough to keep the random gawkers from getting the pass. And it would probably cover some of the cost of having a member of park crew or somebody to check the passes at the top of Sidewinder. And absolutely, it should only be for Sidewinder.

+1. I'll gladly pay like $5-10 and sit through the 15 minute video at the beginning of each season to cut down on the idiots in the park.

As far as improvement goes, I really think putting some kind of park pass into effect would be the best course of action. Honestly, any time I'm going up the six pack and I see some gaper dad and his 9 year old on their straight skis traversing across the landings of every jump, I skip the park that run. That adds up to skipping the park more than I hit it. I'm past the point where I even like to session the park all day, or even more than 3 consecutive runs. But at least 3 times a day, I'm looking to hit the park. Usually at least two of the times I'm scoping, there's gaperdad and his minigapers, or Sergeant Starter Jacket and his fluorescent platoon standing directly under the lip of a feature. I understand that even if you don't want to hit the features, you may want to check them out. But if they're going to be retarded about it, they don't belong in there. Hell, Blue even put those steps in at the top to be some kind of deterrent to gapers wandering in... then they blew snow onto the steps so you could just ride up them anyways. Leave the park for those who can handle it, and gawk from the lift like the rest of the rabble.

Personally, I think Blue's marketing model is fine. They realize that they are the southernmost major mountain, so they take advantage of that fact. They draw their business from the Lehigh Valley, Philly, South Jersey and Delaware. Why spend money competing directly with mountains they have a disadvantage against? They draw plenty of business from the areas they do market. Or would we rather see the trails more crowded on Christmas week?

Yes. I'll personally be standing out in front of the Summit Lodge screaming and crying until I see them deforest the entire mountain face, completely regrade it, and make the whole area into a single, mile wide, straight park. Until then, Blue is being a bunch of assholes, and anybody who thinks different is a douche.

Like I said about putting a lift next to the pipe, there's the rope tow that's on 'lower paradise' which they used to use before they moved the snowboard school over with the valley school. It's just sitting there not being used, why not move it over and get some use out of it? Put it between the new park and terrain run... it'll be great for training and high reps to session the rail park and the little kickers at the top of terrain run.