The Winter of 1969

Maybe the greatest snow year ever in the east.
By February the reports from Vermont were 100-150 inch bases. The tram face at Jay was skiable to those with less than perfect form. Stowe  that spring was deep well into May. Then there was that party in Bethel N.Y. in August. It was some year. Where were you in the winter of '69?

2000yearoldskier wrote

Maybe the greatest snow year ever in the east.
Where were you in the winter of '69?

My way-back machine doesn’t go that far

I remember the winters of 92-93 and 93-94 being pretty darn good on the EC. I would drive up to Vermont a lot on the weekends, sometimes taking 10 or so hours to get to the MRV in blizzard conditions. I remember skiing a lot of powder in Vermont and the cats. I suppose time can sweeten the memories and my idea of high quality skiing has probably changed but I sure had a lot of fun.

Anyways, as good as it was or at least the way I remember those years , they weren’t anything like how this article describes the winter of 69.

https://retro-skiing.com/2012/11/the-winter-of-1968-69/

2000yearoldskier wrote

. Where were you in the winter of '69?

11.5 years from being born.

My dad was 19 and went to Super Bowl III with my grandfather.

I was at the summer party, started XC skiing the next winter after freezing my butt off waiting in lift lines at Great Gorge [mountain creek] for 45 minutes. Haven't had a locked heel since.

BRLKED wrote

I was at the summer party, started XC skiing the next winter after freezing my butt off waiting in lift lines at Great Gorge [mountain creek] for 45 minutes. Haven't had a locked heel since.

Haha - mountain creek flipped ya!

2000yearoldskier wrote

Maybe the greatest snow year ever in the east.
By February the reports from Vermont were 100-150 inch bases. The tram face at Jay was skiable to those with less than perfect form. Stowe  that spring was deep well into May. Then there was that party in Bethel N.Y. in August. It was some year. Where were you in the winter of '69?

Hmm, maybe that's why I had so much fun learning to ski.  My first winter on skis was at North Country School near Lake Placid in 1968-69.  Every student had leased gear if they didn't have their own skis and boots.  There was enough snow by early November to open the hill above Round Lake (part of the school's campus) in the afternoons for hike & slide.  The NCS ski hill with the rope tow opened right after Thanksgiving.  I managed to pass the little test that allowed beginners to ride the rope before winter break.  Back then students got to ski all day 3-4 times at Whiteface, usually on Mondays.

2000yearoldskier wrote

  Where were you in the winter of '69?

I was 3 clomping around my grandparents farm in Bakersmills

I wasn't skiing yet but that was the best winter for sledding and tobagganing. We sledded hard everyday after school and on weekends we kept going into the night until we were too cold and wet to continue. We enjoyed demolition runs, trying to knock each other off our sleds. We enjoyed piling on as many people as possible on a sled or toboggan and then launching downhill. We tried to see who could go the farthest. Of course, we built jumps. We must have burned a thousand calories and fell asleep as soon as we hit the bed. And best of all, the snow stayed on the ground the entire winter without gullywashers or warmups. In fact a warmup was the temp hitting 32 degrees. Great times.

I was 12 and in my first year of skiing with the Raven Ski Club. The Ravens took kids from Montreal and bussed them to Jay Peak for 10 Saturdays in a row. My brother, seven years older, was an instructor. That first winter is a bit of a blur in my memory bank. On the first day, I froze my feet and had to get carried to the bus. Somewhat embarrassing but I got over it. Later years were more memorable, one time we skied the trees on skier's left of the Upper Quai. Every time I ride the Freezer, I stare at those trees and wonder how we did that. There must have been a shit tonne of snow.

That summer I was just killin’ time, working down at the drive in.  Met my girl there, actually.  Come to think of it, Jody got married that summer.  Yeah, Jimmy quit after that and the band fell apart.  Man, that summer seemed to last forever.  Good times, best days of my life!

Shit, acid flashback.  Sorry.

Winter of ‘69?  Diapers....

Uh 1969 was a seminal year ,was 26 then , had 2 kids , one a newborn ,bought my home in 1969 .

 My son was born in 69 , I  got my first really big promotion at the college and was responsible for planning the interiors and buying all the equipment for14 additional buildings on a brand campus over the next 7 years .

Travel was extensive, Was in either Albany or Manhattan a couple days a week with architects  and consulting engineers getting this campus designed ,built and equipped . Timing was crucial we sold our old campus to another college and had to occupy the first several new bldgs built in the 1965 -67 first phase of construction and so in 69 we also moved from our old campus on the other  side of town i.  That  was a huge undertaking

Was Busier than a fart in a windstorm , and was  also  coaching college hoop squad then , but quit when my son ( john irving wrestles bears )  was born in August of 1969 , my asistant coach took over . I missed the kids on the team ,but my new responsibilities made coaching impossible .

Simply No time for skiing at all . But great times ,nonetheless, we were young full of piss n vinegar and having fun . Most of my colleagues at the college were under 30 , the college was undergoing very rapid growth we hired 100 NEW faculty in 1969 , so we all worked hard and played harder .

I think we grew up pretty quick back in those days ..BUT that also makes me sound like a GD curmudgeon so lets just say It WAS different .

JTG4eva! wrote

That summer I was just killin’ time, working down at the drive in.  Met my girl there, actually.  Come to think of it, Jody got married that summer.  Yeah, Jimmy quit after that and the band fell apart.  Man, that summer seemed to last forever.  Good times, best days of my life!

Shit, acid flashback.  Sorry.

Winter of ‘69?  Diapers....

I was born in a small town.

warp daddy wrote

Uh 1969 was a seminal year ,was 26 then , had 2 kids , one a newborn ,bought my home in 1969 .

 My son was born in 69 , I  got my first really big promotion at the college and was responsible for planning the interiors and buying all the equipment for14 additional buildings on a brand campus over the next 7 years .

Travel was extensive, Was in either Albany or Manhattan a couple days a week with architects  and consulting engineers getting this campus designed ,built and equipped . Timing was crucial we sold our old campus to another college and had to occupy the first several new bldgs built in the 1965 -67 first phase of construction and so in 69 we also moved from our old campus on the other  side of town i.  That  was a huge undertaking

Was Busier than a fart in a windstorm , and was  also  coaching college hoop squad then , but quit when my son ( john irving wrestles bears )  was born in August of 1969 , my asistant coach took over . I missed the kids on the team ,but my new responsibilities made coaching impossible .

Simply No time for skiing at all . But great times ,nonetheless, we were young full of piss n vinegar and having fun . Most of my colleagues at the college were under 30 , the college was undergoing very rapid growth we hired 100 NEW faculty in 1969 , so we all worked hard and played harder .

I think we grew up pretty quick back in those days ..BUT that also makes me sound like a GD curmudgeon so lets just say It WAS different .

That is awesome!

Thanks for the great memories,

warp daddy wrote

Uh 1969 was a seminal year ,was 26 then , had 2 kids , one a newborn ,bought my home in 1969 .

 My son was born in 69 ,...
 ...but quit when my son ( john irving wrestles bears )  was born in August of 1969 , .

Ha,I knew it! That's funny, I think I called that one a while ago. I wasn't even a wet spot on the bed in '69.
Does anyone have any pictures of the snow that year? I found this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_1969_nor%27easter

In February 1969, my brother, a college friend and I went skiing at Great Gorge. We met some friends there and one of the girls came back with us. On the way home, we got stuck on the Cross Bronx Expressway (which was the border of civilization back then) because of the snowstorm that tanked the John Lindsay's political career.

My brother boots me and my buddy from the car, and we find a subway and end up in Times Square. There's nothing going on there, so we jump on the F train to Flushing, then hitch hike to my buddy's house in Little Neck. Along the way a deranged off-duty cop points a gun in my face. (Always be polite to people with guns.) The next day I hitched out to my parents' house on Lawn Guyland.


IT was a memorable 48 hours.

mm

 My son<quote author="Johnnyonthespot">

warp daddy wrote

UDoes anyone have any pictures of the snow that year? I found this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_1969_nor%27easter

My brother got married the day after that storm. Most of us missed the ceremony because of that storm.

Later that winter, I spent several weekends in Stowe in an unheated cabin with an outhouse. It was sub-zero every night I was there, and most days too. That was the coldest place I've ever been in my life.

mm

I moved to Albany in late 1970, and that winter still holds the snowfall record for most of the Northeast. There was no rain or January thaw that year either.  I was impressed, but the locals took it in stride.

mm