Whiteface Conditions (2017 - 2018)

snoloco wrote

Sacrifice a third of your mountain....

Are you suggesting that the Lookout pod represents one third of Whiteface’s skiable acreage?

Certainly is a third of the good skiable acreage.

ADmiKe wrote

Daymn, ADmiKe.  I was hoping you pulled that from last year's posts.  I might save it for next December when this topic restarts.

I'm just mad they won't be blowing snow in sugar valley glades. Kinda wanted to ski them MLK weekend.

I would've recognized it if you did pull it from last year.

That being said it's going to be in the 40's Thursday and Friday and I would not be surprised if they do a bait n switch and don't finish it when the temps go back down.

Bro, I'm glad you're back

snoloco wrote

It's about time.  My bitching and complaining paid off.  

Yeah...there was never a plan to blow snow there until you chimed in.

Your level of narcissism is down right Trumpian.

Come on you didn't realize I was joking about that?

This isn't really the best time to blow Wilmington weather wise while last week was, but I'm just glad they started on it.

One complaint I heard from someone on the gondola earlier this year said that they don't work with the weather when it comes to snowmaking.  Instead they are hard set on maintaining their pre selected order and often make snow in certain locations during not optimal times.  That seems to be true here.

snoloco wrote

This isn't really the best time to blow Wilmington weather wise while last week was,

I disagree that last week was the best time. You have to take in consideration the extreme cold and wind chills that were going on and the fact that those temps could put snow makers in danger (especially at night) with the many hours they would be exposed to those conditions.

You seem to have some knowledge with how the pump houses work. Last Fri. morning around 7:30 there was a power outage in Wilmington and Whiteface lost all power. The water in the hoses can't move up the mountain so left standing all the lines would freeze. So all the lines had to be drained down the mountain to keep that from happening. That is time consuming and painstaking in the best conditions, brutal in Fridays weather. The next day, with the power back, all the lines had to be recharged before snow making could begin again.

Those are just 2 things that could go wrong that did. The point I'm trying to make is that there are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that can force a change in schedule. WF's management is totally committed to putting out the best possible product they can and part of that product is definitely Lookout.  

I was referring to the whole week not just Friday Saturday.  And even I wouldn't put the crew out there in those conditions if I were GM.

Wilmington needs about a week of consistent temps to open and they had that had they started last weekend.  It looks like they've got 2.5 days then a warm up and then around 5 or so days following it so that should be enough time to have it open by the weekend after MLK Weekend.  But I'm concerned that they'll give up on it after the warm up.  Driving to VT mountains every weekend is gonna get old real quick if they continue to put off opening Lookout.

Highpeaksdrifter wrote

 Last Fri. morning around 7:30 there was a power outage in Wilmington and Whiteface lost all power.

From what I saw this happened in many places across northern NY and VT. I wondered if the extreme cold across the north country create too much demand for the grid in places.

When the power goes out at a ski hill in those temps, it's a sprint to drain the system. I honestly don't know how guns run without clogging up in those temps.

I would think it was the 50 to 100mph winds that did it

Good point.

snoloco wrote

Come on you didn't realize I was joking about that?

On a consistent basis, the level of detail that you give in your posts suggest more fact-based posting, e.g. statistics, and less emotional-based posting, i.e. the opposite of MountainHigh.  Therefore, I don't know if anyone would have known you were joking.  I didn't.  The smiley faces go a long way in helping your cause.  

Looking at the weather it's going to be full on iceface this weekend and a total shit show on high traffic trails with low level skiers falling and sliding all over the place.  But they can't and shouldn't resurface because they have to finish Wilmington or continue to be way behind everywhere else in terms of terrain.

Or it ends up changing back to snow Friday night into Saturday and a great weekend is had by all.

If it doesn’t change over to snow it will be a shitshow weekend for everyone, not just “iceface”.  

Z, que it up!!

What does that say about you, who laid out hundreds of dollars, for such a show?

Doesn't say anything about me.  Unless it changes over to snow early enough it's going to be very icy and that combined with low level skiers on terrain above their ability level will result in a shit show.  Just the way the weather works out sometimes.  Always seems to be a r*in event during or just before every holiday weekend.