Sno was dead wrong!

Back in the day - when I had the white Subie, so it would be 2000?  2001?  Mount van Hoevenberg hosted Junior Nationals.  They hauled dump truck loads of snow from either Intervale or WF to cope with a melting base in the stadium.  A massive effort.

This year, Mount van Hoevenberg is again hosting xc Junior Nationals.  Now they've got a great snowmaking device that will blow pow in temps up to 80 F.  They will go to the efforts necessary.

Just a week after the Gore ski bowl opened and it's now done toast finished for the season.

It was rocky last weekend and had to be worse this weekend and is going to be totally bare after the r*in this week.  They spent what like 3 days blowing 46er and it never opened.  Peaceful Valley is a dumpster fire trail that no matter how much speed you build up you'll lose it all and have to skate out.  That snow could've been used to have better conditions on the summit and connections to and from it for spring or resurfacing Sagamore so that Burnt Ridge isn't fully closed anytime there's racing on Echo.

Sags needs more love. Fustrating when its sister (or bro) Echo is so good but Sag left without the love this year.  Can spend hours on those two runs.  Not this year.  

Now I'm not saying Whiteface planned their snowmaking perfectly.  They're far from it in fact.  But it's all on their failure to get a good base on the top of Skyward and connect upper and lower Skyward and has nothing to do with Wilmington, which is what this thread was started last year about.

Did Wilmington reopen last year after Z declared it finished? A lot of Gore trails looked finished, but then we got that March storm that saved the season.

I'm no expert, but I think mountains should try to open the terrain they have. I know that's controversial stuff.

I’d expect that Wilmington will be toast by Friday if we get the high temps and rain that are forecasted.  That snow could have been on Skyward.  

Last yr it didn’t reopen.  It won’t this yr either.  It is very th8nnly blown and does even go the full width for about a mile of its length this yr.

Matt is right that it did open after Z said it was done, but only for a couple days before they decided to close it to save money and use the thaw as an excuse.

It is better covered this year than last year.  The first part to go is always that pitch into the first cliff section.  Last year it had rocks poking through the entire time it was open.  It was covered very well when I skied it yesterday and this year's thaw is less sustained than last year's was.  I think the snow there will last longer than they choose to run the lift.

Skyward and Mountain Run is what I'm concerned about.  The very top of both is very thin while the rest of the trails are covered well.  Lose both those spots and there goes expert terrain for spring and I will be skiing elsewhere.  And those would've been covered fine if they gave up on Parkway and didn't resurface Excelsior quite as many times as they did.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

Did Wilmington reopen last year after Z declared it finished? A lot of Gore trails looked finished, but then we got that March storm that saved the season.

I'm no expert, but I think mountains should try to open the terrain they have. I know that's controversial stuff.

Sure but look at what the weather is doing these days. It’s like there is very little balance, it’s always one extreme or another and I’m not talking about politics here.

Although I like the concept of the ski bowl interconnect, I knew from day one when they built it that they were spreading themselves thin. Literally. I've been to Gore dozens of times, and only once has the full on interconnect been open. Thankfully, Gore has plenty of other fun stuff to keep one entertained.  I've been to whiteface 6 times, and not one of those times was Lookout open. And 5 of those times were mid-season.

Ethan Snow wrote

Although I like the concept of the ski bowl interconnect, I knew from day one when they built it that they were spreading themselves thin. Literally. I've been to Gore dozens of times, and only once has the full on interconnect been open. Thankfully, Gore has plenty of other fun stuff to keep one entertained.  I've been to whiteface 6 times, and not one of those times was Lookout open. And 5 of those times were mid-season.

E--I agree with you, but I won't give up on the bowl. No doubt they've had a tough battle with mother nature this season and given the total gore acreage "spread", it is tough to do everything they want to do.....right now.

But I'm optimistic for the future. Some positives I've noted this year:
-Saddle and summit building redos....those are major improvements.
-leaving a few trails ungroomed for extended periods (surely they're in trouble now)...it was nice to have Topridge whales for a solid week, Hawkeye bumped, Rumor gnarliness
-a slightly more--shall we say--"accepting"--woods policy
-increased staff...anyone else notice more folks maintaining the base, summit, saddle? Though I wonder if this came at a cost to snowmaking staff (I don't know enough to say one way or the other).
-Ski bowl activities--the commitment again this year to have the nordic trails open and groomed plus all the races they've been hosting is a good thing, and as a downtown property owner is a source of some pride

And yes--there are some negatives that need to be corrected still....but it takes a long time to turn a big machine like Gore...I can't help but feel we're on a positive course.

snoloco wrote

Skyward and Mountain Run is what I'm concerned about.  The very top of both is very thin while the rest of the trails are covered well.  Lose both those spots and there goes expert terrain for spring and I will be skiing elsewhere.

The top of Mountain Run is usually sparse because of the wind.  I'm surprised they don't do any snow farming just under the M.R. chair.

Riva Ridge is tough to get snow on as the winch cable scrapes it (or so I'm told).

If they can’t blow extra on Riva ridge they could blow a huge whale just off the top of parsons on the left and push push it up and then over the side into Skyward

What was Sno dead wrong about originally?

The meaning of life

Harvey wrote

What was Sno dead wrong about originally?

That Whiteface should open Lookout Mountain last season.

ScottyJack wrote

The meaning of life

His choice of major?

Harvey wrote

What was Sno dead wrong about originally?

The list is long.   Maybe start a thread!

The better thread is who gives a rats ass what  that entitled little brat spouts off about ?  

But SJ ill play . Answer : Damn near everything !

Brownski wrote

ScottyJack wrote

The meaning of life

His choice of major?

Where babies come from?

YUKON CORNELIUS wrote

Brownski wrote

ScottyJack wrote

The meaning of life

His choice of major?

Where babies come from?

OMG that was LARRY!