Downhill Skiing conditions

[TriDad]

How are the conditions over at Gunstock (Tuesday 12/27)?

It looks like a number of trails near the top are closed. Is all of the traffic from the top going down to The Flats and then through Derringer?

How are the crowds?

[Gatto Nero]

I was there today with the kids. The conditions were fine and the lines weren't bad either. Although we tend to use the singles line, which helps a lot. The problem was that since there aren't too many runs open yet everybody is pretty much going down the same two or three and that makes for a crowded ride down. We have seasons passes so the kids get kind of spoiled, but they wanted to go home around noon because of the "crowds".

[SIKSUKR]

Better get out there today.Thursday has heavy rain forecasted and rain/showers towards the new year with temps near 40.The weather does look better after Friday with light snow/snow showers for New years eve.We skiers get very deperessed with weather like this in the winter.Oh well,make the most of it!

[GTO]

some of the best skiing I have had at Gunstock is on Superbowl Sunday. After noon time the place just empties out and you get plenty of runs in with little or no lines. (keep this a secret)

[Beggaman Thief]

This is always a frustrating time of year for skiing. I think if I owned a ski mountain in the Northeast I would be on Prozak!

[fatlazyless]

Half the world was at Waterville Valley today and the line for the main lift was huge, so I skied the upper half of the mountain using the Sunnyside, Northside and High Country lifts this morning from 8-11. Conditions were very good. Gema & Ciao, single back diamonds, were all full of death cookies and no fun, but everything else was good stuff....Main St, the Chute, Utter Abandon, Tippecanoe & Tyler Too, High Country, and that low-inter long tail that starts from the behind of Schwinde Hut. Forget its' name.

Anyway, home-made snow is tough and very rain resistant, and this year is off to a very good start. They raised the prices to $55./day for Mon-Fri, weekend, holidays: same high price, everyday. However, a season, www.threedompass.com ,pass costs from $229. to 329. or so, and it beats working for a living!

[gravy boat]

We hit the slopes last night for a few hours. We decided against daytime skiing after driving by and seeing all visible lots full. The shuttle to remote parking was going as well.

The conditions were more icy than Christmas Eve Day...but enjoyable (the usual New England conditions -- ice in the middle of the slope, the powder pushed off to the sides). We stuck to Smith's, as we had the three girlies with us (the youngest is 6), and wanted to take it easy.

After I was taken out by an out-of-control snowboarder (he was just learning), and my husband by an out-of-control skiier (a beginner going like a bat out of you know where), we decided to head for safer grounds (our living room and a DVD).

Today is rain, so we'll try again tomorrow and then again every day through Monday and hope to see some nice conditions.

Happy New Year to all!
Gravy

[SIKSUKR]

Cannon Mt seemed to have lucked out from this recent rainstorm.They recieved 5-6 inches of snow after some rain.I checked around at other areas and no place else had more than 2 inches.Lucky me,I have a place right next door!!

[Merrymeeting]

My son was at Waterville today. He reports that it was very icy and hard.

[BroadHopper]

After skiing Loon, Waterville, Attitash and Cannon last week, Sunapee was refreshing change today. Tickets were $32 for Adult all day. All lifts were running and the conditions were excellent! There was a crowd but the lines were moving fast. The mountain did an excellent job at pairing everyone to allow the lifts to run at capacity. I haven't skied Sunapee in 20 years and I think the mountain is a refreshing change to the mountains on I-93 and Mt Washington Valley.

[B R]

i've skied WV every weekend since Thanksgiving (yes, i have two racers in the family). before christmas, the skiing was unbelievable. the rain on monday was more than the mountains could take. tuesday was a sheet of ice. wednesday at cannon, it was a sheet of ice; especially after 11:00 or so. thursday at WV again for a GS race. decent conditions in the morning, then rain in the afternoon--cannon got 6" of snow at the end of this rain on thursday. friday at WV a sheet of ice. saturday at a slalom race at gunstock, sheet of ice after 11:00ish. sunday back at wv, very good skiing. they actually had gema filled with a ton of man made snow with huge soft moguls--good enough for me. monday at wv again, skiing is almost back to pre-christmas conditions. they flattened gema so all those moguls were packed into smooth fast corduroys!!! unbelievable skiing. chiao was the leg killer for the day--bumps.

[BroadHopper]

I raced at Loon Saturday. The conditions were excellent in the morning but the crowd skied off the good snow and the slopes and trails became icy before noon. The weather was perfect!
I'm leaving for Brekenridge Tuesday. I will be attending the infamous ULLR fest that is being held every year. In the mean time everyone think snow. When I get back I want to enjoy the skiing and sledding that NH has to offer.

[Beggaman Thief]

Conditions were the same on Saturday. In the afternoon, I found some trails from the summit on the Attitash side that didn’t get much traffic that made for some great skiing to finish the day out with!

Can we get you to bring back some of that Colorado/Breckenridge “powda” ????.....

[secondcurve]

Does anyone have updates on the local ski areas? It can't get much worse than this in January. Have any areas closed?

[Resident 2B]

This was on the Gunstock web site today:

Due to severe rain, wind, and possible thunderstorms, Gunstock Mountain Resort will be closed on Wednesday, January 18th. However, the forecast for Thursday is for sunny skies, and we'll be regroomed and ready with skiing and riding top to bottom on 36 trails. We hope to see you Thursday or this weekend!

They had a fairly deep base and the skiing was great until the monsoon season started a week ago. I have not been there since last Tuesday.

Loon says they are in good shape. That has to be confirmed.

[BroadHopper]

Wish I could bring back that glorious powda! After skiing on over 200" of natural snow, 18" fell in the past week, it was depressing to come back in the rain last night. The new 'Summit Express' quad at Brekenridge is the highest lift in North America. At 12,840 feet elevation. You see the mother lode of all scenery.
This year was the first year that I skied Vail under the clear Colorado blue skies. I got a chance to ski the Blue Sky Basin. It felt like heaven.
I have a race at Attitash this Saturday. I need to sharpen those edges!
Anyone wants to trade a week on the lake this summer for a week in one of Breckenridge finest homes? Let me know.

[SIKSUKR]

Just checked all my favorite areas snow reports and reading between the lines and just comman sense tells you they all took a pretty bad hit between Saturday and yesterday.My area Cannon,has had a rough go the last 5 days.Saturday we had heavy rain and 50-60 mph winds all day and night,followed by 10 inches of snow by Sunday morning.Not too bad you say?Well that snow was on top of some green stuff and a lot of frozen stuff but hey,it's white right?They have opened the top of the mountain only Tuesday and did not even open at all Wednesday.Today the top is still closed and I'm pretty sure I know what the rest of the mountain looks like.There was wind damage at my skihouse in Mittersill village,branches,shingles,broken windows.Winds over 80 mph!January in New England can be torture for snow lovers sometimes.Let's hope things get back to normal.

[Mr. V]

I'm going skiing tomorrow, for the first time this year.

26 degrees, 14 inches of fresh powder, 150 inch base, 5 mph wind.

Timberline!

[GTO]

Went to Gunstock last night and surprisingly the conditions were great (considering). We stayed on Redhat most of the night with no ice showing and some snow to dig into. The place was empty and the temps were perfect. No slush at all as I expected.

Great job Gunstock!!

[Beggaman Thief]

Skied at Gunstock today in 52-degree weather and it’s the closet thing to spring skiing you’re going to get! (What’s today’s date? January something?) I’m surprise at how well the snow has held up though.

[gravy boat]

We skiied Gunstock from 9 am to 2:45 today. The conditions were better than I expected. Some slopes were good early and icy later -- Phelps was good early, then Smith was the best bet later on the lower mountain. Terrain Park and Pistol were probably the best from early to later. Flintlock was VERY icy. Redhat was pretty good -- better than I expected. Didn't venture to Tiger as heard folks saying early in the day that it was very icy.

Overall, as mentioned above, Pistol and the Terrain Park were the best bets today. And the parking lot about full today. But no overflow parking needed.

We met up with some friends who skiied Gunstock yesterday -- they said it was excellent -- Spring-like conditions.

Hope to check out some mid-week evening skiing.

Have a great week, everyone!
Gravy

[BroadHopper]

Saturday, Attitash was better than expected. The grooming was done early the night before so the surface was frozen. The sun was out and soon the trails turned to spring like crud. Around one PM the clouds were dark and the winds were strong. I felt rain drops so called it the day. I met skiers at the Red Parka Pub from Wildcat and they say the conditions were very good. Hopefully we get a measurable amount of snow this week.

[SIKSUKR]

Very springlike conditions at Cannon Saturday.Sunday was bullet-proof.What a beautifull winter day but we had very firm snow(ya right!),ok ice.The good news,It looks like the weather patern has finally gotten back to normal.

[NHBUOY]

...By the looks of the snow falling...skiing should be pretty good...manana...

[B R]

Saturday was good spring skiing. Very warm and the snow was soft. On Sunday, it was good if you skied on the runs they made snow on. If it wasn't new man-made snow, then it was hard packed. As someone put it, bullet proof was a good choice of words!! You didn't want to fall on those trails.

Even with the small amounts of snow expected, I think this weekend might be the best of the new year

[NHBUOY]

Looks good for tomorrow, the way it's snowing........................

[fatlazyless]

Hey, great shot of a whole lot of snow guns all up & down the hill at Waterville Valley right now. Same as what I see from the window of my multi-million dollar mountain side mcmansion.....absolutely! And now visible via the web cam link to the snowy owl cam. If someone was smart, they would save that shot for something as it is worth saving or something, or other, or other.....a dramatic mountain photo with the sun - clouds- snow making guns...all that good stuff. Makes you want to stand up and start singing a few verses of God Bless America or something.

Speaking of which, here they come...... two A10S fighter jets - 'Wharthog' tank killers - which supposedy are the Connecticutt Air Force National Guard and the two jets frequently practice their manuevers flying low, up & down all the mountains around here including the ski area mountain.

[Beggaman Thief]

Did some runs this afternoon at our be-loved Gunstock and was quite surprised with the amount of snow cover!! Skiing was excellent and it wasn’t very busy. They had Flintlock Extension roped off as the snow guns were running wide open. There were 10’-12’ high piles of snow all the way to the bottom on that trail and it was very tempting to sneak under the ropes and make that run........ but didn’t......

If we get tonight’s storm (we know what snow in the backyard does) and with school vacations coming up, things will get very busy.

Bring on the snow, the Meredith fishing derby, lots of ice, snowmobiles, snow dances, you name it, so we can salvage this winter!!!!!!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Beggaman Thief

Did some runs this afternoon at our be-loved Gunstock and was quite surprised with the amount of snow cover!! Skiing was excellent and it wasn’t very busy. They had Flintlock Extension roped off as the snow guns were running wide open. There were 10’-12’ high piles of snow all the way to the bottom on that trail and it was very tempting to sneak under the ropes and make that run........ but didn’t......

If we get tonight’s storm (we know what snow in the backyard does) and with school vacations coming up, things will get very busy.

Bring on the snow, the Meredith fishing derby, lots of ice, snowmobiles, snow dances, you name it, so we can salvage this winter!!!!!!

Went skiing at Gunstock on Friday afternoon/night. Conditions were good. A little icy in spots but it was all their own snow. They had the snow guns going in full force and some trails it felt like you were in a blizzard as you went past the guns. Ahhh, the joy of winter. Weather was the only damper on the evening as it was bone chilling cold. Missed seeing Nero gato there, maybe next time.

[Gatto Nero]

GTO,

The kids and I are there every Saturday. You can usually find us at the summit at about ten minute intervals or playing around at Blundersmoke Park. Yesterday I was easy to spot. I was the guy with the look of sheer terror on my face as I hit a jump and got shot way higher then a guy my age has any business going. All ended up OK though and we'll be back again next week. Maybe we'll run into you. As I recall you have a big number 3 on your back so easy to find, right?

BTW, the conditions were great. All we need is another 3' of snow so that they can open up the glades.

[gravy boat]

As mentioned, Saturday was some nice skiing and no crowds. Parking lot half full most of the day.
Sunday had the snow -- more folks, but mostly for the race. Conditions were quite breezy (gusts of about 35 MPH, which did prevent us from getting up some speed). If you were dressed warm in multiple layers, then it was a blast!

Here we are Saturday...from the Gunstock website....photo section...from 2/11/06 photo 6216...

http://digitalmagic.fotki.com/gunsto.../_dsc6216.html

[GTO]

[QUOTE=Gatto Nero]GTO,

As I recall you have a big number 3 on your back so easy to find, right?


We usually end up there on Friday nights as sometimes I caperone for the High School. Hey, free lift ticket, a ride on a Spartan bus to and from, can't go wrong. Hardly anyone there both times I went. No lines so its up, down and right up again.
And yes dear, I still have the #3 on the flourecent orange and lime green jacket. You'll usually see me at the bottom just skiing in circles.

[HotDog]

Originally Posted by B R

i've skied WV every weekend since Thanksgiving (yes, i have two racers in the family).

how is wv now? and yes i am on the wv ski team also..

[GWC...]

How time does fly when one is having fun...

A little update;

http://www.weatherunderground.com/ski/NH/

P.S. - If anyone should miss the credits at the bottom:
S = Snow Report provided by SnoCountry http://www.snocountry.com/
M = Snow Report provided by Mountain News Corp (OnTheSnow.com) http://www.onthesnow.com/

P.P.S.- For those who like to cut to the chase for NH and New England conditions (check out Cam Views):

SnoCountry:
http://www.snocountry.com/snowclient...tsMap&state=NH

Mountain News Corp (OnTheSnow_com):
http://www.onthesnow.com/NH/skireport.html

[Lakegeezer]

Killington is only about 90 minutes from the lakes region, and has really amazing conditions considering how the season has been going. There are four peaks open, and numerous ways down the mountain. Conditions on Sunday were lots of "moon dust" powder with only scattered patches of ice. A few rocks here and there, but pretty easy to miss. The mountain wasn't too crowded on Sunday, but those who had been there Saturday said it was a zoo. While there are lots of other mountains open, Killington has the most terrain so far. Its plenty good enough to get your skiing ya-yas out.

[SIKSUKR]

Went to Sunday River Saturday and the snow was actually pretty good.They had 3 peaks open,Locke,Barker and Spruce,along with the South Ridge area.Skied my home Mt-Cannon on Sunday and it was about what I thought it would be,1 run down from the detach and a few hundred people.Oh well,I was skiing and happy about that!