Ride Delaware ? Posted January 28, 2014 Report Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) 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. Edited January 28, 2014 by Ride Delaware ? 2 Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) I would describe that snow as squeaky snow. One of my least favorite to ski. How is Lincoln peak doing? Natural snow trails open? Anyway nice report. I was wondering what you've been up to. 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. Edited January 28, 2014 by Ride Delaware ? Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Posted January 28, 2014 It wasn't gondalicious... Quote
guitar73 Posted January 28, 2014 Report Posted January 28, 2014 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. that sucks....i think we're planning to hit up sugarbush in march (on our way home from stowe)....def hoping for things to pick up! Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Posted January 28, 2014 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. 1 Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Posted January 28, 2014 $3.50 roll back the clock day at mad river glen today.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. Quote
toast21602 Posted January 28, 2014 Report Posted January 28, 2014 $3.50 roll back the clock day at mad river glen today. back when they had snow? 1 Quote
toast21602 Posted January 28, 2014 Report Posted January 28, 2014 Report for MRG says 40 trails open. So does Blue's haha 3 Quote
guitar73 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Posted January 29, 2014 Report for MRG says 40 trails open. ya, but with like a couple of inches of base....sounds kinda scratchy to me. Quote
guitar73 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Posted January 29, 2014 they didn't post a depth, but they did say it was quite thin. also, i saw a few pics of the trails posted on FB and they looked rather brown.... Quote
Johnny Law Posted January 29, 2014 Report Posted January 29, 2014 My fav is to yell bear and shit while riding that long ass lift between the two, everyone looks around and then herbs from other states will totally tell you they saw the bear too.........back in the day good slack skiing in the crotch.....now it doesn't snow anymore apparently. Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted January 29, 2014 Author Report Posted January 29, 2014 My fav is to yell bear and shit while riding that long ass lift between the two, everyone looks around and then herbs from other states will totally tell you they saw the bear too.........back in the day good slack skiing in the crotch.....now it doesn't snow anymore apparently.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. Quote
vinnyv11 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Posted January 29, 2014 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. Wow that's horrible. By far my favorite part of that mountain was slidebrook Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Posted January 30, 2014 Wow that's horrible. By far my favorite part of that mountain was slidebrookWe are still over a third of our way to our annual total. A good February should do it. Quote
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