Glenn

No worries. I still had a blast. There were about 10 plastic bottles littered all over nile so I set them up as bonks on a couple of the birms on the sides of the trail. Trucking through the bumpier stuff is a good time though, I was just expecting something a little different based on the report. The bigger issue I was worried about was the lift lines, but when I got there they weren't that long, and at most I waited for 5 chairs.

It's well known that CB closes when ticket sales stop not when they run out of snow.

Also when I first arrived every chair I was on someone slammed the bar down either hitting or nearly hitting me in the head. No warning, not even time to get situated in the chair. At least it's just an annoyance since I wear a helmet.

The mountain was a little more beat up than I expected from this report. There were plenty of bumps everywhere, and some hardpack patches in all the usual spots before the sun went down. When things got cooler the mountain firmed up a little, but there was plenty of soft stuff in the bumpier areas. Pretty good but not fantastic. I'm going to do my best to get out tomorrow morning at around 10 to get some of this snow after a good grooming.

I think I'm on my way to CB right now. Hopefully the crowds will have dispearsed a little, and the cooling temps don't ruin the evening.

And you yourself said it was fine to not have certified members in the snow monsters program. A teacher who sees a classroom of students 5 days a week to track development for 25 students. They right lesson plans for multiple subjects and are involved with the mental, emotional, disciplanry and social development of a child. A ski/board instructor teaches someone who to ski/board better for what a few hours every week. They aren't on the same plane. I think just about anyone can help a kid with their multiplication tables if they understand them by themselves. It doesn't require a degree or certification to tutor at any level. And I'll say I wouldn't be the snowboarder I am today if it wasn't for the countless times I just rode with someone who was better than me, could field questions and point out cool features. I've had certified lessons as well. Some were good, some weren't worth my time. So in my experience, certifications mean little in terms of what leaves a lasting mark. I stick by what I said before, teaching kids how to have fun on features and having a progressive program are way more important than certifications.

So what? There are plenty of PSIA "ceritied" instructors that can't teach, or don't care to. There are some that are great. Likewise I'm sure there are uncertified instructors (and even friends ) who can can help you improve a bunch. It's freestyle not open heart surgeory. Do the instructors teach kids how to ride cool features and help them progress? Won't the progression not the certifications determine the quality of the program?

The were out. Most of them we saw seemed pretty irked by all the off trail action. Today was a really good time.

Stevenson broke for a couple hours today. Call me crazy but maybe the wind issues are technical issues that either 1) CB is covering up for 2) CB hasn't correctly diagnosed. I do alot of trouble shooting for computers and sometimes things don't add up because I'm not looking in the right place. Maybe CB's sensor are buggy, or the computer has issues. This makes WAY more sense to me than closing constantly when no other place does. This also makes more sense than closing for all sorts of issues which didn't exist previously. I suppose the employee issues are a problem as well. At this point its a bit late in the season to find help. You would think that there would be employees who get paid more because they are available in weather and in tough situations where people don't show. Maybe they have employees like that but only use them in weekend/holiday situations.

Thanks for the laugh. I think I'm going to bookmark that beauty. The 20+ person crash was a personal favorite.

Looks like the ski patrollers at CB were having some fun...

Oh man, I didn't even realize that was this weekend. I'll do my best to make it!

The blue mountain forum is where the Blue Mountain reports are generally posted, not the conditions forum. Here is a thread with several trip reports from yesterday. http://www.paskiandride.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8302

Park is small on skiers far right hand side (I think it used to be towards skiers left somewhere in the middle). The park is small with maybe 10 features, none of which are really anything to get excited about. I'm sure they will have plenty of snow, and depending on melting, plenty of opportunities to duck into the woods (just don't get caught!). Still no high speed lifts, but you should have a good time none the less.

I can't imagine those boot socks work well with the contact patterns of most snowboard boots. They are advertised for snowboarding as well, but I'm not sure I believe it. Anyone have any experience? Not that I'm looking to get beat up in the poconos but...

I wish I could watch quicktime :-/

Wezlo is the man. Keep it up bro!

Actually, our biggest problem with reps is that we didn't have a big enough pull for any of them to find us "worth while." Those days have passed, and they come to us.

Well, I don't think thats going to happen for a number of reasons. First, any information provided by CB would be hearsay as well, and it's their credibility in question. They could (potentially) provide whatever numbers "work out" so they are acting in a fashion which would make the die hards happy, or at least less irritated at their decision. Secondly, if their data did show that they were way to conservative about wind speeds, or in fact wind speeds had nothing to do with the decision this puts some member of the CB staff to blame. Basically the rep would be setting up his co-worker to get reemed on the internet. Some might not care about that, others would alot. There is no way I would knowingly show how any of my fellow PASR staff members screwed up and "leave them to the dogs." Thirdly, the CB reps currently are content letting members complain as the members of the this board are largely not in their target demographic. We don't have enough pull yet to change the minds of the weekenders, so CB still makes their money, and doesn't have to own up to mistakes, or otherwise dumb decisions. I'd be thrilled if they did post the info, but I just don't find it likely that accurate info will be posted. In the meantime, see my previous post.

Ok, lets put it like this... Either CB was extremely negligent in installing the stevenson in such a way that it experiences extreme wind conditions that other mountains in both poconos and elsewhere do not have issues with, or CB has a hair trigger on shutting down the stevenson. I think everyone on this board was giving them the benefit of the doubt on not being extremely negligent on installing the quad. There is clearly a large group of people on this MB who feel that the mountain is poorly operated (for whatever the reason) because a significant portion of the mountain shuts down on a regular basis. That is fact. There also seems to be a large number of reasons, few or none of which seem to make a whole lot of sense as to why the lift shuts down so often. Again fact. It's the internet and if companies like dopplymayr don't publish that sort of information on the web (which they don't) then it's all left to hearsay anyways, so complaining about hearsay is futile. You can believe who you want, and if you stick around for a while, there are some people who really know there stuff, and some who don't.

Ouch. No real response to that one.

Why is the unloading area of special importance in terms of wind? I never considered the location of the loading/unloading housing to be of particular concern in terms of a wind hazzard. Surely the issue isn't related to the skiers themselves? The chairs lock into a grove and can't be thrown around in the housing when they come off the cable. I've been in some SERIOUS wind at other mountains on high speed lifts, with no issues. At one mountain in particular the wind was so strong that my sister was blown off the snow covered unloading ramp onto the wooden stairs next to the ramp.

Unprovoked personal attack. Actually 2, 1 for nipples one for papasteeze. Have fun on your 2 day ban X 2. Also thread is closed. If you have a way to get your point across without attacking members you can start another thread. If you start up with the attacks again I will give you a perma-ban.

... looks like I can't spell.

The ghost comes at the end. He gives a "black handshake" to a guy sipping on some coffee that is standing and watching.