Will do. I have an old Army buddy that lives in Boise and I'm definitely gonna visit him so a day or 2 at the Idaho Indy resorts is definitely in the cards.Quote:
Originally Posted by Little Big Lost
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Will do. I have an old Army buddy that lives in Boise and I'm definitely gonna visit him so a day or 2 at the Idaho Indy resorts is definitely in the cards.Quote:
Originally Posted by Little Big Lost
Day 10: Pats Peak, NH (Indy Pass):
After taking Thursday and Friday off to accompany Mrs. MNIAW to Boston for some medical appointments (and a drive-by linkup with singlecross and Mrs single), I sat out the hot rain yesterday and got boosted at 2:45. I got pretty run over from Pfizer #2 so didn't want to venture too far from the 603 home base today. Decided on Pats Peak, a classic New England 700' vert feeder mountain that's about 30 minutes from our eastern casa and is an Indy resort.
Attachment 396369
I haven't skied here in 45+ years and had vague memories of the place. As I walked up there were at least 4 people in bright red jackets providing guidance for the lost and semi-lost.
Attachment 396370
I rode up a fixed grip triple to the top with a couple of instructors who were talking about their "passport" program. It offers 4 90-minute lessons, season rentals, and a season's pass for $460. That's how you grow the sport! The ride up was over bare but steep ground
Attachment 396371
Pats had the entire mountain that wasn't covered in snow freshly mowed to minimize the amount of snow needed. After a couple of laps, the line grew top about 3 minutes...apparently, that's too much for Pats Peak so they opened another fixed grip triple to the summit and it was ski-on for the rest of the day.
The summit was snowy and I proceeded to rotate on the 3 RODs down, 2 blues and a black that was steeper than anything at Okemo.
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Pretty sure the mountain with the antennas above the center of the lodge is Sunapee, where I skied last Sunday with savemeasammy. On lap #9, the Pfizer truck started tailgating me so I headed home. It did catch me and I slept through the 1:00 football game but am feeling better now.
Tomorrow is Stratton to link up with a good friend that used to run F&B for Magic...he's bartending at Stratton now.
The mountain you are looking at is Kearsage (99% sure). Pats has it’s obvious shortcomings, but they definitely crank out the snow. It’s better when the vortex double is spinning. You avoid most of the runout, and it’s pretty damn fast for a fixed grip lift! They also have a park that is away from the main mountain, so that helps spread things out.
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Yup, Kearsarge.Quote:
Originally Posted by savemeasammy
Day 11: Stratton, VT (IKON)
After a surprisingly good day yesterday at a small Indy, I decided to see what the conglomerates did to handle the most recent reset (on 12/11). Stratton certainly looked a little worse for the wear as I prepared to head up. A note on that...I'm booting up at the car like last year even though the crowds are small. It's a moot point at Stratton as they aren't letting people inside except in their cafeteria and bar (more on that later). Okemo (Epic) is allowing people to boot up inside and store bags in their lockers and cubbies.
Attachment 396529
The T2B gondola was on wind hold so I had to ride 2 chairs to get to the top. The wind hold was legit. Gusting easily to 50 up there. The upper chair is well protected and that's the only reason it was running. The SMS kids have graduated from drills to bashing gates so they closed off 2 of the 27 open trails but there was plenty of room to spread out the few free skiers that were out there today.
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Once again, I was impressed with the job that these areas have done to manage the snow despite mother nature being a real bitch lately. Some ice balls but mostly sugary snow over a firm but edgeable base. It was supposed to be warm today but low 30s and 50-ish mph winds made it feel like the coldest day of the year so far.
Did about 15 laps and then headed in to the upstairs bar (Grizzly's). The guy that used to run F&B at Magic is now bartending there and it was great to catch up. We're pretty good friends and we hadn't chatted in about a month. Had a Fiddlehead and 6 wings to end my day. I didn't really think about it until I was driving home but pretty sure my bill was just for the wings. Glad I left a big tip (38%).
Attachment 396530
Still not 100% over the remnants of getting the Pfizer booster late on Saturday but hopefully will be 100% by tomorrow. I'm thinking Mt. Snow (Epic) because the North Face there is the most challenging open terrain in SoVT right now.
Excellent reporting! I've always thought the Stratton midweek option gets you a ton of quality laps throughout the course of a season!
Are you finished with those wings?
Day 12: Mt. Snow (Epic)
Mount Snow is about 45 minutes from our VT base camp and I haven't been there this year so thought I'd giver 'er a go. The report last night and this morning looked promising. Sunny skies, diminishing winds and 2 trails open on the North Face...sounds better than Okemo.
It did not disappoint. Got there 15 minutes before 1st chair and the lot was pretty sparse...more employees than customers it looked like. Headed up the bubble 6-pack from the base to the summit and for once the weather report was accurate. Brilliant sunshine and no wind to speak of. Headed straight over to the North Face. The view over there is pretty spectacular:
Attachment 396668
Looks like Stratton was a bit cloudy at the summit and that same mountain that I skinned years ago with ML242 is looming in the distance. What's sad is that the reservoir isn't frozen and there's no snow in that wilderness area....
The North Face is the steepest terrain (other than Magic) south of Killington in Vermont. The 2 trails that were open weren't scary steep but I had to keep my speed in check. Not because of the crowds tho
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I'm working on fitness mostly these days and the steepness and hardness of these trails kept me on my edges. After 10 laps of T2B nonstop skiing (and skiing onto the lift obviously) my quads were feeling it. I also did 10 T2B nonstop laps on the main face (front side) which were not challenging in the slightest but enjoyable cruising to give my quads a break.
The main bitch I have is the choice of lifts on the North Side today. See the pic below
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The lift to looker's left is obviously higher than the one on the right. It was not open today. The main face is just a little further to looker's left. What this meant is that in order to ski the trail on looker's left, or to get back to the main face of the mountain, I had to hike up about 50 vertical feet. Don't get me wrong, I have no qualms about hiking for pow turns and do a fair bit of skinning throughout the year but for groomed hardpack? C'mon Vail. :fmicon:
That lodge at Pats Peak is beautiful.
The terrain is what it is...a 700 vert feeder hill but they make the most of it and people love that place. It's literally 30 minutes from the lake house.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peruvian
Lucky 13: Stratton, VT (IKON)
In comparing the 3 conglomerate resorts in SoVT, I have come to the conclusion that the snow is best at Mt. Snow, Stratton is in the middle, and Okemo is waaay behind the other 2. Before Vail bought Okemo, it was the undisputed king of snowmaking and grooming in the area. Hmmm, maybe bigger isn't always better.
Another easy day to be outdoors here in Vermont where it can be below zero, snowing sideways, or raining...often in the same day
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SMS kids seeding some bumps. Had never seen them do it before.
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One of the attractions at Stratton: This carved bear is at the summit. There's tons of bears on this mountain and in big snow years, they have to shut down before all the snow is gone because the bears wake up and start chasing the skiers.
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A few thoughts on another ski area that I won't be skiing this year:
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The ski area in the pic is Bromley, aka the Sun Mountain. It faces due south which is about the dumbest thing you can do with a ski area yet they make it work. I've had some great days skiing at Bromley and back in the days that we thought Magic might collapse, our bailout option was always Bromley. In past years, they've offered their Spring Loaded pass which gives you 4 days between March 15 and the following Christmas week for about $130. I always bought that and got my 4 days in late November/early December. They did not offer it last year which is sad because Bromley has great terrain and a very easy-going staff of Patrollers. Pic below is from early December a couple of years ago on a trail that may have been closed but it was snowing so hard we couldn't really see the ropes.
Attachment 396819
Unfortunately, there's a snowmaking pipe that runs right down the middle of that trail...ask me how I know. No harm but we did eventually get caught by the patrollers who told us to be more sneaky. Good group over there. I miss Bromley. But it's way to damn expensive to ski there without some hookup.
Great stuff MNIAW! Strangely enough, the downturn in Sunapee's snowmaking/grooming quality happened at the same time as Okemo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest
Yeah, gonna go sample it tomorrow just the same. I'll be in a blue FRS jacket and Mars Red pants in case you're out.Quote:
Originally Posted by powbmps
This is truly inspiring man, seriously enjoying you bringing us along. Thank you.
How’s the home hill looking?
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Sadly, it's mostly brown. They did blow all of last night in hopes of getting a variation (Vertigo) on the WROD for Saturday's opening. On a positive note, I have load tested the BLT taps and they are cleared hot for public consumption. New F&B guy this year but a familiar and friendly face and we won't be disappointed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aldo
I like the way they’re thinking- vertigo- still a ways to go but we’ll get there. Sounds like the safety net will be securely in place in the BLT!
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Day 14: Mt. Sunapee, NH (Epic)
It's been 10 days since I last skied here with savemeasammy and since then we've had 2 rain events and only 1 very small snowmaking window. The last time, there were 2 RODs to mid-mountain and then a single ROD back to the chair from there.
We got a smattering of snow last night before the temps rose into the mid-40s overnight. A little drizzle but not like the last 2 events. Got to the area and the "Drop Off Only" signs that led me astray the last time were gone. I parked close and headed on up.
Attachment 396985
Not clear and sunny but, "could be worse, could be raining."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC4VflOayBw
Anyway...there were now 3 RODs to mid mountain and 2 RODs from there back to the chair. I just rotated through the options ripping big GS turns on the cream cheese over a firm base. Unfortunately the non-RODs looked like this:
Attachment 396977
SoVT and SoNH are looking at a potential 8" of snow Saturday into Saturday night but there's nothing underneath. At least places like Sunapee have done extensive summer work to prep the trails to open with minimal natural snowfall. They have some tasty looking tree runs but not going to tempt fate by heading in there.
Always have to snap a pic of the lake when I'm here
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There were very few people there and I skied onto the lift every time. I like riding up and meeting new people but I'm not pushy about it. In today's case, it didn't really matter because there were no other lift riders in the queue when I went through. 15 times in just over 3 hours. Another good day and I'm happy I'm skiing and not sitting in front of a computer screen all day (just enough to type this up).
Sorry about the sideways thumbnails...I fought with TGR for a while to get that pic rotated correctly...
Day off tomorrow to take Mrs. MNIAW to Boston for some medical shit. Opening day at Magic on Saturday!
I love this thread - makes me so psyched. I liked in Germany one full winter on the border of Austria, I was on skis 115 days that year, about 70 at resorts. Kept a tracker on Excel that I still have with how much vertical, snow conditions, etc. Love it!
Exactly where in Germany? I lived near Nürnberg for 4 years (1988 - 1992) and skied all over Austria and absolutely loved it.Quote:
Originally Posted by AmmergauerTele
I lived in Oberammergau, just up the hill from Garmisch. Mostly skied at Garmisch Classic, Zugspitze, Erhwald, Lermoos, and some trips a little further in Austria, Italy, and once to France and Germany. Can't wait to go back. Got the green light from the wife to plan a trip for Xmas 2022!
We did a Christmas week in Lermoos one year. Loved that region. Many days in the Arlberg and also many in the Zillertal.Quote:
Originally Posted by AmmergauerTele
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Your TR is good shit MNIAW. I loved the "hiked 50 vert ft for groomed hardpack" comment. The "c'mon vail" was just icing.. haha!
Keep up the outstanding work.
Skied lermoos todayQuote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest
Great! Hope you enjoyed as much as we did 33 years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by beer30
Day 15: Magic Mountain, VT (Magic Pass)
As has become the norm on or around opening day, we are getting new snow as I type this. Not the 12" prediction that turned out to be 30" last year (almost to the day) but 6-9" will at least turn the lift rides white again. This was before it started snowing:
Attachment 397286
As has been the case everywhere, it's been a tough start to the season here in Vermont. Too much rain and not enough snowmaking windows. Many folks know that maggot DoWork took on the job of Mountain Ops Manager at Magic almost 5 years ago; where does the time go? His team has been stretched thin and a shoulder injury to a key member of the team has him back burning the candle at both ends. Had a great chat with him this morning before they opened the lifts and he looks exhausted.
Quite simply, the snow was fantastic today. DoWork has a strict wet bulb temp above which he won't make snow...it means Magic has less snow than other resorts, but his snow is far superior in quality. Did a couple of solo laps and then a bunch of regulars started showing up and it was like old home week. I really love this place.
At around 11:00 a strange white substance started falling from the skies:
Attachment 397287
Easily 3" on the ground by 3:00pm and no letup in sight. Probably won't open much terrain and I'm being fairly conservative in light of my goals stated in this TR so probably won't venture off the open trails tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be in the minority....
Day 16: Magic mountain, VT (Magic Pass)
That's not how day 16 was supposed to play out tho....Goniff called this morning and asked how bad do you think Stratton could be? My answer was, as it usually is, "How bad could it be, let's give it a try." So we arranged a linkup time and I started to get ready. Mrs. MNIAW used my car yesterday and it was warm when the snow started falling so it was pretty encrusted with ice under the 4" of dense snow that ended up falling. I scraped and I scraped and then I realized it was getting late and I had to hurry. Jumped in the car and headed over to Stratton.
I was directed past the paved lot, past lot 1, and past lot 2 all the way to the Sun Bowl parking lot...this is bad as the Sun Bowl side of the mountain wasn't open. I called Goniff (who got the last parking spot in Lot 2) and arranged a new linkup by the ticket windows. I headed to the back of my car to get my boots on (Stratton is not allowing boot-up in their lodge) and noticed that my skis were still leaning against the vestibule at my house (at least I surmised that fact because they were not in my car). Total JONG move. I called Goniff again and told him I was heading back to Magic and to just meet me there when he got sick of fighting the insane crowds.
Magic was pretty nice with a bit of new snow mixed in with the high-quality manmade that DoWork's crew puts out. At least the ride up the chair was mostly white underneath:
Attachment 397463
As the day wore on, the steeper pitches got progressively more scraped (there's only 1.5 RODs still) and the temps dropped throughout the day. Supposed to be single digits tonight and stay cold through the holiday so hopefully they can get a couple more RODs open.
Another good day to be outside despite the morning fuck up.
I think your subconscious mind left those skis at home.
lovin' this thread -
Thank you, MniAW !
skiJ
Concur!Quote:
Originally Posted by Vt-Freeheel
I just saw this thread for the first time. Bummer I didn’t know about it before or I would have taken a pic or 2 of you at Sunapee to contribute.
congrats! looking forward to following this
I may be there on Wednesday if you're around.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tolkien
Day 17: Okemo, VT (Epic)
Hooray, I actually made it with the 6 parts of the mantra my dad drilled into me starting at age 5; skis, boots, poles, hat, gloves, goggles. As the weather forecast predicted, it was a chilly start. Left the house around 8:30 and it had just reached double digits
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It was more crowded than I expected but at least I made it into the uppermost lot at Okemo today. By the time I got my boots on and was shuffling toward the lifts, they had started loading the middle lot. When I left, I noticed cars in the lower lot so it was a pretty good crowd today.
I stuck (mostly) to what Okemo calls expert terrain today. My 2 ventures onto the intermediate trails were frightening in the sheer number of near misses I experienced. There are very few good skiers at this place and most people are there for their once a year ski week. One trail (Okemo counts it as 3) in particular was deserted and in my opinion had the best snow on the mountain. I lapped it at least 10 times.
Attachment 397612
This is the view from that trail of Mount Ascutney, a monadnock (mountain not part of a chain) in southern Vermont. Ascutney used to have a ski area on it but its low base elevation (it sits right on the Connecticut River) and sparse snowmaking spelled its doom in the 90s. Fortunately for the owner, the lodge burned to the ground so he was able to collect on the insurance (not suspicious at all :fm:). In recent years, Ascutney has become a mini-Mecca for mountain biking and a much shorter trip for the folks from the flatlands than heading all the way up to the Northeast Kingdom. In the last couple of years, the local townfolk have installed a T-bar to return skiing to Ascutney. I've done a skin lap there (before the T-bar) and it was fun but definitely needs lots of natural snow...a commodity in short supply these days in SoVT.
A comment on the people at Okemo...they aren't very friendly. Nobody I rode with today wanted to chat. At Stratton, almost every lift ride sparks interesting conversations. Same was true at Sunapee. Maybe its because we're heading into a holiday week but my impression of Okemo skiers is not too positive.
Still, 'twas a glorious day to be outside with clear skies, temps climbing into the 20s and not a breath of wind. The skiing from 12:00 to 1:00 was the best as everyone went in for lunch and the lift lines disappeared.
Goniff said the same thing....:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Vt-Freeheel
Ascutney is known for the incredible trail riding, place has the best MTB network in Vermont. It’s so good.
Day 18: Stratton, VT (IKON)
Happy winter solstice Druids! Had low expectations based on what I saw yesterday at Okemo...was pleasantly surprised. Got to the base area right at 9:00 and was able to park in the paved lot right by the village. Booted up, had my skis, so I headed for the lifts. Somebody at Bromley must have farted this morning because the ganjala and the Snow Bowl chair were on windhold.
Was chatting with a guy on my first ride up about how nobody talked on the lift at Okemo and he said, "maybe it's you." I just laughed and asked him if I was that horrible a conversationalist. He laughed and got the joke. Linked up with another dude on a subsequent chair ride and we were skiing a similar speed (Star Wars warp speed compared to most of the people at Stratton but nowhere near Goniff or MMP speed). Did a buncha laps with my new friend Larry who used to be a part-time Magic patroller when Lynchdog was the Patrol Director there. Rode with another dude who does solo acoustic work and I promised to mention his name to the new F&B (and music) director at Magic.
Anyway, the skiing was mostly good with some glacial spots but overall, I've been impressed with how Stratton has played the hand dealt by that bitch Mother Nature.
Another lovely day...still not sure why those 2 lifts were on wind hold this AM because it wasn't even breezy at the summit at 9:15. They eventually opened. Here's a view looking at the side of Magic (all the trails face NNW). A bit hazy but another great day to be outside:
Attachment 397724
I usually spend most of my day on the upper mountain at Stratton because the lower mountain is really flat. As I was finishing up my day at around 12:30 I took this pic of the base area....apparently people go to Stratton to be seen in the base area and to dine on their very average ski area fare.
Attachment 397725
All good for me. Made it home and had a serving of Mrs. MNIAW's white chicken chili. No pic because according to the ECRC, chili is not soup!
We have to be in NH tomorrow so I think I'll head back to Sunapee. Not a terribly challenging hill but I do like skiing there.
Keep it up, MNIAW!
Heh, heh. That's what she said....Quote:
Originally Posted by Peruvian
"maybe it's you."
haha
Day 19: Mt. Sunapee, NH (Epic)
The day started dismally. At 6:30, whilst walking Mrs. MNIAW's dog, I discovered our dirt road was an absolute skating rink. Un-walkable. Had planned to meet savemeasammy at Sunapee at 9:00 but we both agreed that it would be prudent to delay.
The freezing rain stopped around 10 and temps rose above 32* around 11 so we agreed to meet in the Sunapee lot at 12:45 (it's a 45 minute drive for me and shorter for smas). Saw blue skies and sunshine most of my drive but the mountain was shrouded in clouds of its own making. No big deal.
We booted up and headed up. Same 3 trails open as my last visit but at least the trail under the chair was (mostly) snow. We sampled all 3 and then ran into powbmps and his son. Always like meeting new mags. smas and powbmps:
Attachment 397813
We continued to rotate the 3 trails until the weather turned decidedly colder and it was getting dark-ish what with the solstice yesterday and all. On one of our runs, smas snapped a few pics of me groomer zooming. Didn't even realize I was smiling....
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A random dude who was also skiing fast (and good) got between us at what I thought was a critical juncture but he didn't appear in any of the pics. To his credit, he was waiting at the bottom to apologize for messing up our photo. We told him we would only have been upset if he was snaking a pow line and we all had a good laugh.
Not the most beautiful day and tbh, groomer zooming is getting a bit stale but today's adventure was still way better than sitting on the couch binging Dexter.
You're impressing the shit out of me! I still don't have a desire to make a turn although my kid was at the Loaf today and some soft turns were had, so that peaked my interest.
Good to meet you today MNIAW. Sky was dark, and snow was firm in spots, but still plenty of fun.
Attachment 397836
Hopefully run into you on some other stops on your tour.
I’m glad I got out there with you yesterday AW - and it was good to run into you powbmps. I guess I should have taken a pic of you guys for the thread?! Let’s hope at some point we get to get off of the groomers! [emoji1696]
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