Mt. Ellen 2-11-14

[Ride Delaware ?]

Afroman and I decided to come up for a little 5 day skifari, and so far, the timing looks pretty good. We missed an 8" storm last week, but they had an elevation based upslope event over the past 48 hours that dropped 12" at the base and nearly 3" at the bottom. It's storms like these that make me truly thankful for mid mountain lifts, no matter what their speed or length is.

 

Due to some things we needed to take care of at the Season Pass office, we didn't get on the snow until about 11:30. However, due to Mt. Ellen being more like a ski area and less like a resort like Lincoln Peak, it is never as busy. Today was no different.

 

We were able to score a parking spot in the second row and were maybe 2 of 100 people there for the day. We hopped on the GMX out of the base and hit Cruiser, Which Way, and North Star as warmups since Afroman hadn't been out yet this year. The snow was groomed but was silky smooth and the edges really dug deep. No ice to be found. We then hopped on the NRX and hit Rim Run/Looking Good. Upper Looking Good was ungroomed, windswept, and had thin cover. It wasn't enjoyable. Lower Looking Good has a manmade base but was ungroomed. It had about 6" of fresh and maybe 10 tracks. Awesome. Rim Rum was groomed but was real windswept and had some icy spots. It's exposed, so that wasn't surprising.

 

Next, we went down Cliffs to the bottom. It has a manmade base, but hasn't been groomed in weeks. It had some scratchy spots in the troughs, but otherwise, it was enjoyable with some nice soft bumps developing. After a quick warmup at the mid mountain lodge (the Glen House) since it was 3 degrees, we went over and did North Star again to the NRX. Hit Elbow off the NRX and cruised. Really good machine groomed packed powder.

 

At the end of the day I went up and hit Exterminator. Holy shit that was amazing. They didn't have a chance to make snow on it this year, so it's all natural and incredibly soft. There were still some flat rocks in the troughs that will dull your edges, but not much that will cause any serious base damage. On my way to the base, I decided to hop in and try some woods shots. It's still a little thin at the lower elevations, and while I avoided any base damage, I wouldn't say it was enjoyable. We are sitting at 120" for the season, so we are still low and the base needed in the woods to cover the obstacles just isn't there. Thursday's storm should help get everything in play if it is a slightly denser product. The upslope was very dry. Would have been fantastic for face shots if it had a base.

 

All in all, it was a good day. We are headed over to LP tomorrow. They opened Castlerock for hiking this past weekend, but with record crowds and marginal snow, they made the wise decision not to open the lift until yesterday. I've heard it's still pretty thin, so I won't try it out until Friday at the earliest, but thought some of you guys might find that interesting. I'm sure things are finally starting to fill in there nicely as well.

 

Here are some random pics:

Edited February 12, 2014 by Ride Delaware ?

[Johnny Law]

Nice dude, looks like a fine way to spend the day.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Nice dude, looks like a fine way to spend the day.

I made sure that Afroman was in some of the pics so at least you had partial action shots.

[zzslope]

I did not get onto Mount Ellen when I was there a couple years ago and by the sound of your report I missed out.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Is the slidebrook express running???

Slide Brook isn't running yet. At first it was because there wasn't enough snow to run the snowmo under it (deal with the Tramway Board), but now I am hearing that there are some mechanical issues as well. This weekend there should be plenty of snow, so we will see if it is fixed. It's really helped keep the crowds down at Mt. Ellen.

[Johnny Law]

I made sure that Afroman was in some of the pics so at least you had partial action shots.

 

LOL

 

Did you see my times last week ? I almost didn't make it and they were so bad, I was waiting for your comment.

[Ride Delaware ?]

 

LOL

 

Did you see my times last week ? I almost didn't make it and they were so bad, I was waiting for your comment.

I already got my "I watch from the sidelines" jackass comment in for the year. I don't ski or race, so, I shouldn't talk too much smack.

[Johnny Law]

I already got my "I watch from the sidelines" jackass comment in for the year. I don't ski or race, so, I shouldn't talk too much smack.

 

If there wasn't trash talking half the internet wouldn't exist and the other half would just be GSS posts.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Johnny Law

[Ride Delaware ?]

 

If there wasn't trash talking half the internet wouldn't exist and the other half would just be GSS posts.

Unfortunately, being in the NE hasn't really allowed me to meet many PASR's. I'd feel more comfortable at trash talking if I had met more people. I try my hardest to not be an outright asshole.