Quick TR for 12/25

[Ski]

I actually didn't think they were going to be open today and only accidentally checked the website...

 

Anyway, the rain and warm temps did take a bit of a toll. Groomers turned up a lot of small stones and everything looks a lot less winter-like because the snow in the parking lot and between slopes is thin. Where you could ski to your car (or at least to the blue ticket trailer) is now dirt.

 

But the biggest surprise was how well Boomer held up. The in-run has a few small stones, but once you get to the headwall, it's edge to edge and the snow is as white as can be. I only had time for a half-dozen runs and ended up just lapping the same slope, so I can't really say much else. There's still a ton of snow at the NF base area and after being careful around some of those little rocks on the upper part of Smoke, the rest of it looked fine.

 

There were maybe 100 non-employee cars in the lot, but only five or six people on the NF. It looked like everyone else was in the park. The lifty down on the Phoebe was a chick with really cool dreds.

 

Switch took a hit to the right of the lift towers, but it looked like there was snow still up to the start house----good news for NASTAR.

 

 

All in all, a few hours of snowmaking will get the slopes right back to where they were.

[Melissa]

Thanks for the report!!! I'm sitting here in Doylestown wondering what shape the mountain was in. I'll keep my fingers crossed that temps tonight will be cold enough to blow!!

[PeterC0523]

Think sno will be worth a 2 hour drive tomorrow? We were planning on visiting sno for the first time tomorrow, but according to their site only ~70% of the mountain is open (including bunny slopes).

 

Maybe we should just stay local tomorrow and hit up Blue... ??

Edited December 25, 2007 by PeterC0523

[Ski]

Think sno will be worth a 2 hour drive tomorrow? We were planning on visiting sno for the first time tomorrow, but according to their site only ~60% of the mountain is open.

 

Maybe we should just stay local tomorrow and hit up Blue... ??

 

All of the North Face is open, but I'm sure the park took a hit, along with most of the upper mountain. It's supposed to be 21 degrees tonight, but some ski areas don't have a snowmaking crew on Xmas night. I just don't know if they are hitting it tonight. If they were, I'd say definitely come up. Otherwise, I'd give it another day.

[PeterC0523]

All of the North Face is open, but I'm sure the park took a hit, along with most of the upper mountain. It's supposed to be 21 degrees tonight, but some ski areas don't have a snowmaking crew on Xmas night. I just don't know if they are hitting it tonight. If they were, I'd say definitely come up. Otherwise, I'd give it another day.

 

Ok, thanks for the info. Will there be NASTAR tomorrow? If so, which run are they closing off for that?

[Ski]

Ok, thanks for the info. Will there be NASTAR tomorrow? If so, which run are they closing off for that?

NASTAR is run on Switch. I suppose it's possible that they'll set a course, but I'd only say it's very slight. Even before the rain, a lot of dirt came up when they drilled for the gates---it takes a decent base to set turning gates. My guess is that the next course will be Friday's Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge, then Sat/Sun NASTAR.

 

Whistler should have the best upper mountain snow for laps.

[PeterC0523]

NASTAR is run on Switch. I suppose it's possible that they'll set a course, but I'd only say it's very slight. Even before the rain, a lot of dirt came up when they drilled for the gates---it takes a decent base to set turning gates. My guess is that the next course will be Friday's Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge, then Sat/Sun NASTAR.

 

Whistler should have the best upper mountain snow for laps.

 

We ended up going today and had a good time. Wasn't a whole lot open and it was hard pack conditions in the morning, but once things warmed up the runs were a lot nicer. There wasn't much of a lift line, so we got a lot of runs in. Spent most of the day on the three double diamonds, White Lightning was a lot of fun.