method9455

My girlfriend just called and told me it is snowing by her (Poughkeepsie) so it must be in the Catskills as well. Southern Vermont got some showers too. In Delaware - nothing. Why did I move so far south? I'm such an IDIOT.

Hmm, definately changed views from earlier. Before it was showing one of their standard pole air/water nozzles (that produce a TON of snow). So I really haven't a clue anymore.

Lets have the PASR Annual Chinese Downhill on Saturday at the freedom park at boulder, don't know if you can handle it BRAH.

Nice. I have no idea where that is but that is a nice quantity of snow. Maybe when I graduate I should go work for SMI or Dopplyemuer because I love the stuff that makes skiing possible.

I'd rather have 6 small features than 3 big ones early season. Check out Mount Snow's opening hikeable park setup, 10 or so small features, plenty of fun, spread out the people, avoid injuries when people aren't warmed up yet. Plus, don't need much snow and you can adjust quickly for any melting in the future.

Awesome, thanks man. Here are the official JFBB pics from their website (jfbb.com, check out the media section) Must not be all that cold yet since they aren't running that much water through them in this picture. Though I'm sure as the night goes on that will change. This one is the base of freedom by the conveyor Tower guns in action

Earlier tonight, maybe 2 hours ago?

I love guys like you. Think you are so damn smart simply because you are older. But in actuality, you a complete moron. Do you know we have a problem with people in landings not because we are punk assholes but because people get KILLED that way. I'm one of the more vocal about people in landings - I tell people they need to move 100% of the time they are there - but I"m not asshole or punk. I just understand that a metal edged snowboard or ski flying at 40 miles an hour is little different than a broad sword, except there is more force behind it. The Joe the Plumber quote just jacks up the irony to another level too.

Thanks, wonder if they are making at JF or only at Boulder

What is the URL for the webcams now? My bookmark is set to http://www.jfbb.com/webcams.asp and I'm getting nothing

bump Hoping NiftyShifty puts his pictures in here rather than creating another thread on the topic, also hoping those pictures show some snow getting made

No. And on a side note, we now have at LEAST 6 threads about this topic, how annoying is that?

True, a lot has changed recently though. On Vernon, you now have all of the former park trails off the top of the Cab, and I would say walking off the cap 25 feet and going down there will be more interesting in a lot of cases than off the triple. Going down Great Northern to Indian, then across the bridge and down Sayonara is fun. Off the triple, take the trail that leads to Granite and cut back for Vernon, usually uncrowded. Actually the trail that leads from Vernon to Granite is great with those switchbacks. Sojourn is completely do-able for a snowboarder without pushing at all. I get it 99.99% of the time unless one of my friends is a dick because we always try to push each other over on the way. Wax, tuck, stay flat based. South and Bear are now pretty much all park. I never found much to love on South but Bear has some good runs and small crowds. Midweek can be a blast if you wait for good weather and a lot of trails open, but they will generally have the worst snow of any mountain in the area, so keep that in mind.

This doesn't apply right now because we are basically getting to the time when all the resorts pull the trigger and make snow at every oppurtunity but often times there are reason. Early Season - If it is too early and they don't have the staff, the budget, or have some special arrangement with the power company concerning dates or times of snowmaking, often times cold weather windows pass without them making snow - Water temperature is too high early in the fall makes it more difficult in marginal temperatures - Generally early season, there will always be a warm spell and if you can't make enough to get through that period it is a waste. Even if you can, you have to weight out if the money spent to make snow is worth the number of people who will show up in November. Generally the marketing alone seems to be worth it for smaller places that want to make a mark (JFBB, Shawnee for a time all are small PA mountains. Mount Snow is smaller than most VT mountains, A-basin and Loveland are always making prior to the bigger places in CO, Danbury CT is pretty much smaller than my backyard). Killington seems to be the biggest place that makes snow early, but that is a whole different can of worms Late Season -Budget is spent -They close due to lack of business Right now though, there is a big temperature window, water should be cold, and the season is upon us. You should see the mountains making snow for 100% of their capacity during 100% of the time during which temperature, wind, and power considerations make it possible.

The geographical center of the Lake Harmony zip code is less than 1,000 feet from Big Boulder. It is all an extrapolation because they obviously don't have a forecast for every town, but if you compare the forecast for Lake Harmony and Blakeslee, all of the Lake Harmony temps are about 2 degrees colder. I'm sure if I tried a town closer to Camelback it would be even warmer. There is an elevation change that accounts for the difference. The top of Camelback and the top of Boulder are basically the same height, but the bottom of Boulder is about 400 feet higher than the bottom of Camelback. 1 degree F per 100 meters would be about 1.2 degrees + some differences in aspect to the sun would account for most of it.

To narrow it down, the bolts are metric M6 course thread flat head machine screws in 8, 10, 12mm lengths depending on the thickness of the baseplate.

As Nick said, definately spend the money on the boots. You can always fix a board, it is just a question of how close it will be back to normal. I have a board where the rail ripped out over a 4" stretch and it was unrepairable, so I cut the rail out and just ptexed a filler. (it is kind of like a dom slick now actually), At the other end, a minor pull can be put back so that you would never know. Depends on how bad it is. For the boots, they are only going to get worse. Once they pack out, there is really no going back. Inserts are a mixed bag. The idea behind most inserts is to have a hard arch under your foot for more support. Compared to the usual felt ones that come with boots, this pulls your toes back because obviously now your foot is going over the arch instead of a straight line. This is often the solution for people who have ski boots that are a bit too tight lengthwise, but have room height wise. For you, if it is packed out you have the opposite problem, too much length in the boot. Raising your arch will only make it worse, except that the top of your foot is now jammed into the bottom of the roof of your boot. This might help keep your foot in place for a time but it is not comfortable (and generally you don't even get much pressure out of it to hold you anyway), and the boot isn't meant to work that way so it will pack out quickly. An insert won't hurt, but it will not do much to solve your problem long term. I ride with inserts 100% of the time. I had the $30 plastic preform ones your trim (super feet?) and now I have some other $50 ones that are more adjustable, don't even remember the name, but they are no better. Don't go for the expensive cork ones unless you really need to for some specific reason, the cheap plastic ones make a world of difference and if you buy them now, you might get a few more days out of the boots plus you can put them in all of your future boots. But truthfully for the amount you ride and the way you ride, you are going to have to buy new boots eventually so why not sooner than later?

Lets say 75% humidity Sunday night (Forecast is for 65-75%), we need a temp of 29 degrees. You are only going to get that about 3 hours Sunday night, really starting at about 3am according to Accuweather. It might be a little better than that forecast, and their guns might be a little better than this chart, but I'd say it won't be too productive Sunday night. But monday night, temps are good after about 10pm, maybe even at 9. I think you will see some by then, and it only gets better as the week goes on. 2 days out, you have to start trusting these forecasts. This week is the window, I wouldn't be suprised to see mountains other than JFBB start blowing this week. In fact I'd be surprised if Camelback, Shawnee, Blue, and Sno aren't also going to start making snow this week. I haven't looked at the temps at Mountain Creek or Bear Creek, but the NE Pocono mountains should start going. Papasteeze is probably right about the 22nd, they should be able to get Freedom open this week.

Its not just that it is a green, Horizon is literally the Jersey Turnpike crossing the mountain. Yes, Mountain Creek is as bad as everyone says, probably worse. I was a pass holder there for YEARS, compared to the PA mountains it is nice and local for me, but it isn't even worth it anymore. The terrain is FLAT. Go look at maps.google.com. Search for Mountain Creek, put it on satellite you can see the trail layout, then click on terrain and you will see the topographic map. Now do the same with Camelback, Sno, Blue - hell even Boulder, and you will see how flat it is. That wouldn't bother me that much if the snow was decent, but it never is. Its not that they have a weak snowmaking system per say, its that they have such a sprawling layout that the base is thin everywhere and they don't groom it all that well. And yes, the crowds are terrible. And while I don't really care how rude they are, the fact of hte matter is there is just not that much worth skiing there these days. If you are going to go, only go midweek (and their midweek is monday-thursday, they charge weekend prices on friday), and go when they are 100% open and the snow conditions are favorable. You will find some interesting trails (Granite and Bear peak are the best, specifically Devil's Bit on Granite, if thats not open, don't go because it is probably the most fun trail there). Bear has a nice quick steep part, but then it is all run out. It is actually shorter than Jack Frost if you can believe that. And as TP4 said, on Vernon the blacks are cut up by the green you have to stop for.

Picking the right pocket helps. I have an inside pocket of my jacket that I rarely fall on so it works a lot better than keeping it in my pants.

Ah ok. I don't know facts on it I'm just going by what has happened to most of my friends. All of my breaks have been single occurrences (knock on wood). I actually stick my arms out when I fall in an attempt to break MORE bones, because chicks dig scars.

It is pretty cut and dry to me. If you go midweek, go to Camelback because the lifts are faster and you will get more runs in. If you go weekends, go to Sno because the crowds at Camelback are an utter killer. I made the decision to start driving to PA rather than Mountain Creek based on crowds. My drive went from 35 minutes to an hour each way, but I more than make up for that time by getting more runs in and not waiting in lift lines. The difference between Sno and Camelback would be the same on the weekends. However during the week it is time spent on the lift vs time driving. If you do a mix of weekend/midweek, get a pass for whichever mountain you have gone to less often in the past. If equal, I would go to Sno simply because the weekend crowds at Camelback are such a turn off.