Climate Change: The End of NY's Ski Industry?

Sometimes there is the need for a HSQ on a 600 vertical run.  Killington's Snowshed area is about 575 vertical over a run of 3,500 feet.  The HSQ runs great for a beginner lift.  It is run slower than most HSQ'S.  It runs at 800 fpm making the trip in about 5 minutes with very few stops.  The doubles next to it are a royal shit show.  They slow down and stop constantly and take at least 10 minutes to ride.  That's what happens when you put a bunch of beginners on a fixed grip.  

^^ Mr. Tangent arrives.

I don't think most people are grasping the full ramifications of climate change.

Hope I believe is a critical component of the human experience but I also think it can be as blinding as religiosity or extreme nationalism. I'm going to hold onto hope until the very end, I think we are programmed to do that. It keeps us moving forward no matter what the outcome. That behavior is pretty darn comparable to cancer cells. Maybe technological advancements will help us adapt to the changing world but if I'm completely honest with myself I think we are rapidly headed towards some very serious shit.

This has happened before just never at this magnitude or with such a massive globally connected population. Historically every civilization collapses and it's often related to climate change. It's followed by famine, disease, wars, and large scale die offs.

If the climate continues the way it is headed now things are probably going to get ugly. Like really ugly and it's going to happen in the not so distant future.

Just watch what happens this summer for you guys. With all of these warm temperatures and standing water for so long I imagine your mosquito and tic season is going to be pretty big. Those little buggers carry bacteria, disease, and parasites. Climate change is going to bring in a whole new batch of super bugs.

Crops? Forget about any stability in our food production. Drought for several years to flooding the next isn't going to create any stability for agriculture. Farmers won't be able to stay in business unless they are aided with tax dollars.

How many more times is New Jersey going to rebuild the shore before they decide they can no longer afford to do so?

Throw in some serious displacement of the huge low elevation ocean side populations and then you have yourself one serious shit sandwich developing. Will you guys that live in those suburban communities outside of NYC help take in the millions of refugees? I hope you have some guns to defend your food cache.

The 1% or what I like to call the corporation will probably develop their own hold outs, gated communities safe from the rest of us. Heck, even you engineers, doctors, dentists, and business folks making a quarter mill a year won't be included in that club. You will be right here with the rest of us fighting over the scraps. The Donalds kids and grandkids will get to build his wall but ironically the people that support him right now, well their kids and grandkids will be locked out.

Like the Anasazi, our civilization will collapse and be followed by famine, disease, and war. The Anasazi though fought with rocks and sticks, we now have nuclear, chemical, and who knows what else weapons. Those with the power will control the robots, the flying drones, etc.

If you think I'm being dramatic and it's silly I don't think you are paying enough attention. This has happened before.

We are already watching the ecosystems evolve right before our very own eyes here in the west, especially here in the southwest. Millions of acres of forests are burning up every year. Here on the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau we have one of the largest stand of Ponderosa Pine forests, as they burn up they are being replaced with Juniper and other various desert scrub. Last year I saw a sounder of Javelina's at 8500 ft. That was a first. They have only been in Sedona for about 50 years, a tropical beast that has migrated up through Mexico over the last 100 years. These sort of changes are being observed all over the globe.

Skiing? Lift ticket prices? Snowmaking? HAHA! We aren't going to be worried about pleasurable recreational pursuits, we are going to be focussed on the next meal.

Kids like Sno with his baby skin soft hands won't survive for long.

Yup, it's bleak but it's the unfortunate reality.

I'm not on your doom and gloom bandwagon. Seems like the sun has a good say in it which no one has a handle on yet

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/SORCE/sorce_04.php

Its what will likely happen if these patterns or more like lack of patterns continue. I'm trying to stay hopeful. I have a kid and I'm going to school. I want better but I'm also not going to ignore the very real red flags right in front of our faces.

snoloco wrote

Sometimes there is the need for a HSQ on a 600 vertical run.  Killington's Snowshed area is about 575 vertical over a run of 3,500 feet.  The HSQ runs great for a beginner lift.  It is run slower than most HSQ'S.  It runs at 800 fpm making the trip in about 5 minutes with very few stops.  The doubles next to it are a royal shit show.  They slow down and stop constantly and take at least 10 minutes to ride.  That's what happens when you put a bunch of beginners on a fixed grip.

And sometimes there is a need to shut your pie hole instead of spewing keyboard diarrhea where your tedious agenda doesn't even apply.

Dude??
How do you get up in the morning??

I hear a shot of Potassium Chloride is quick and painless

I:)skiing wrote

  Upstate NY will be a great place to live if all the predictions come true.   It will be the North Carolina of the future.

funny, I always joke that we should buy property in North Carolina because it will eventually have Florida's climate.

'Zona's directorial debut.....forget the zombie apocalypse, it's World War C (for Climate).

Not saying I disagree, but my bother is the one who is going to pass all of his semi-autos to my boys, who will be the ones to fight the war after I'm returned to dust.

JasonWx wrote

Dude??
How do you get up in the morning??

I hear a shot of Potassium Chloride is quick and painless

 
HAHA! I know, it sounds terrible but it's the reality! Or possible future reality.

I don't know how people keep ignoring what it all really means or what the likely outcomes actually are.

That being said I have dark fantasies of living in a post zombie apocalypse world.

YUKON CORNELIUS wrote

snoloco wrote

Sometimes there is the need for a HSQ on a 600 vertical run......  

And sometimes there is a need to shut your pie hole instead of spewing keyboard diarrhea where your tedious agenda doesn't even apply.

hahahhahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahhhahahahahahahahahahahah!  

good one!!  

that dumb ass is part of the problem and not part of the solution.  MORE MORE MORE!  

Holy doom and gloom

It's almost trout and turkey season --- i got shit to do to get ready

   

Let me be a light in the darkness here. NY Ski Forums in general really needs some more optimism.

 I know this has been mentioned before, but look at last year. The temps were actually way below average, and our ski season in NY lasted almost until May. We did not really have all that much snowfall, but it just never went anywhere. What snow we did have just hung on until about April 12 in CNY.  If the temps were 10 degrees higher every day last year I'm pretty confident that the natural snow still would have lasted until at least March 12. Maybe longer.

This year was almost the opposite. Temps were way above average, and we actually had a ton of precipitation, but in the form of r**n. (please excuse my French) For Plattekill, this actually meant they could make more snow because their pathetic little pond that empties quickly stayed full this year. I don't necessarily see a warming trend per se, but what I do see is extreme weather swings. It was 20 below zero this February, only to be followed by temps around 50, 48 hours later. That's a 70 degree temp swing. The same thing that happens from day to day, is happening from season to season in general.

This year was an El Nino which always means a shit winter.  I'll be willing to debate climate change next year at this time after we see what happens. If it is a repeat of this season, then I may not be getting up in the morning either. IMO, this season wasn't all that bad. Some mountains like Plattekill really had it easy last year as they barely made any snow after Mid Jan. Base was like 12", it just didn't go anywhere. This year we had to pay back a little and hold our own a little, and I think many ski resorts did a fine job doing so. I think next year is supposed to be a La Nina. In the mean time, I am boosting my snowmaking power over the summer.

11-12 was a La Nina.  That was a pretty good year compared to this one, but Hunter still did great.

snoloco wrote

 but Hunter still did great.

who'd'a' thunk it...they must have good snowmaking or something

You know what Sno, as much as people (including but not limited to myself) occasionally find you slightly annoying, I can't agree with you more that snowmaking is the main source of livelihood for a ski area. 11-12 was not great either, but was better than this year. La Nina doesn't really effect the east so much, so I'm hoping for at least an average winter. 12-13 was a fine winter. Nothing special happened, but it was a very reasonable year for ski areas.

Hunter always does a great job and every year I struggle do decide wether to get a Hunter pass or  Plattekill pass. For me is ultimately comes down to the social aspect which I enjoy more at Plattekill, and the shorter lift lines/ skier density. If I could ski mid-week, I wouldn't be skiing Plattekill. I would be skiing Hunter. Powerful snowmaking is the only way a ski area in the East can survive, and most places aren't doing enough of it. But yes, Hunter has got is right! in fact, I even give Plattekill a lot of credit for this season. North face and Plunge still has tons of snow. When they finish their lake, Plattekill will be a force not to be reckoned with. I can't wait to see what that place looks like in 10 years. Could go either way.

Optimism or cognitive dissonance?

Ya, ElNino which normally produces for the southwest but guess what? Every place in the 4 corners is below average and the PNW got the snow. Nothing is "normal" any longer. That's the deal, weather is all over the place and that's going to lead to much bigger problems than freaking snowmaking capacity

I think, for now, inconsistency is the new normal.  This is my 6th season in the PNW, and none of the 6 have been consistent.  From record-breaking draught last year to the best 10 weeks I have ever seen this year.

It will be unpredictable to say the least... you've just got to make the best with what your given

Several folks I talked to/rode lifts with in my PNW trips this year are hoping La Niña helps you break some records next winter.  FF miles for two trips left for next year!

Hey
You can't predict the weather, right?