New England 2017-2018 Northeast Thread

[Erik Timmerman]

At least a thaw will soften the ice. An inch or two of fluff won't really help anyway.

 

[Josh Matta]

the thaw that is this weekend is nothing like that rain storm....

we still have 3 more months of snow ....

 

[DonC]

the thaw that is this weekend is nothing like that rain storm....
we still have 3 more months of snow ....

How would the (light?) mix of rain/sleet/snow forecast for Monday typically affect conditions?
More generally, what is the snow in N.VT usually like when the temps hover in the mid 30s?

 

[LKLA]

How would the (light?) mix of rain/sleet/snow forecast for Monday typically affect conditions?
More generally, what is the snow in N.VT usually like when the temps hover in the mid 30s?

You are overthinking this.

The only thing general and usual about temps and snow conditions in New England is that they are neither general nor usual.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Believe it or not Stowe is skiing great today.

 

[Spelunker]

Some on the way....most likely the last snow before the prolonged thaw

Looks good for the Catskills!

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Mont Orford and Owls Head skied very nicely this past weekend. Orford had their version of a powder day on saturday. Snowed for much of the day and there was a couple inches of powder. Of course there was ice underneath but we had a lot of fun. Orford was it's usually icy self on Sunday but my Laser AX skis did fabulously as always. We have a new name for Magog run and that would be Icegog as the lip entry into the run is always icy. So many fun blues off of there. Part of the way down parallel to the park is pretty narrow and this used to give me much heartburn but skiing down the narrow ice chute was actually fun this time around. Sunday the race course was open so we got to play down that. Monday at Owls Head was a beautiful day. The Lake chair wasn't running. My only regret was we didn't go to the summit but it was a beautiful day and the conditions weren't icy at all. Owls Head is up for sale so they expect a transition in the next year so I'm hoping it's a good one and the new owners take care of the place and don't change much as I think it's quite a gem. Demoed a pair of Dynastar Speed Zone 10 skis which I didn't care for so I quickly went back to my Stocklis which were fabulous. Headed to Banff this saturday so really looking forward to that.

 

[LKLA]

Believe it or not Stowe is skiing great today.

I can see that because - believe it or not - it seemed to be skiing better and better as the day went by yesterday. Maybe it was because there was barely no one on the mountain past Noon.

 

[TheArchitect]

I canceled my Stowe/Mad River Glen trip for this weekend and I'm planning to do a day trip instead. I'm thinking of hitting Cannon since I've never been there and I'm curious. Anyone been there since the rain hit? How good/bad is it?

 

[James]

I canceled my Stowe/Mad River Glen trip for this weekend and I'm planning to do a day trip instead. I'm thinking of hitting Cannon since I've never been there and I'm curious. Anyone been there since the rain hit? How good/bad is it?

@LiquidFeet ?
Personally, I'd think you're way better off at Stowe in terms of surface. But maybe it's too far away.

 

[TheArchitect]

@LiquidFeet ?
Personally, I'd think you're way better off at Stowe in terms of surface. But maybe it's too far away.

You're probably right about the surface but it takes me about 3 1/2 hours to get there. If the front 4 were all open I'd do it but they're not. Cannon might be fun but one of the forecasts is saying it'll be very windy.

 

[Wilhelmson]

After a few inches of snow after the rain the other day, Cannon had mostly hard snow with some ice but pretty good overall. Rained out moguls were crunchy on top and icy in the troughs. A radio station on Saturday morning said Montreal had 20 cm of snow so Jay could be worth a drive with 186" this season.

I mysteriously lost my ice edging (and apparently some technique) this season but made some progress this weekend.

 

[SkiEssentials]

Believe it or not Stowe is skiing great today.

We believe you...

 

[ScottB]

The B&B I stayed at last weekend was very good, the 1906 House in Enosburg Falls, VT and it was 20 miles to Jay and 23 miles to Sutton in Canada. You might have a slight delay crossing the border, but both mtn's are easily skiable from there. I had to stop at UVM on my way up to Enosburg Falls so 89 was the preferred route. I tried to get a room at Jay but everything except their $400+ a night cottages was booked. I bet they had cancellations, but the B&B was $140 per night with breakfast versus $180 per night at Stateside at Jay with no breakfast. The drive to the mtn was the negative for the B&B, but anything closer was a lot more $$.

If your going all the way up to Jay, Sutton is not much further. I haven't been there, but I might try it another trip.

 

[jack97]

Looks good for the Catskills!

Yes it does, JB thinks it possible that areas north and west of NYC will be the sweet spot. Still keeping it open for now but Berkshire East seems like a possibility this w/e dependent if they open the glades

I canceled my Stowe/Mad River Glen trip for this weekend and I'm planning to do a day trip instead. I'm thinking of hitting Cannon since I've never been there and I'm curious. Anyone been there since the rain hit? How good/bad is it?

If MRG is on your radar, I would suggest Wildcat if you plan on going to the whites. They have been leaving the majority their trails ungroomed. Reminds me of MRG and this place is the reason I have not been back to MRG.

The natural trails are be in rough shape so maybe not this week because the storm this week seems to favor Southern NH but its still early.

 

[dbostedo]

Some on the way....most likely the last snow before the prolonged thaw

Prolonged thaw? Depends on where you're talking about I guess, and what you mean by "prolonged".. and "thaw" for that matter. Sugarbush forecast, for instance, shows 3 days above freezing in the next 15. And those are 36, 33, and 36 for high temps. (Just checking that one, since I'll be there this weekend!)

 

[KevinF]

We believe you...

That's pretty awesome alpine skiing in a tele setup on the lower stretches...

 

[jack97]

Prolonged thaw? Depends on where you're talking about I guess, and what you mean by "prolonged".. and "thaw" for that matter. Sugarbush forecast, for instance, shows 3 days above freezing in the next 15. And those are 36, 33, and 36 for high temps. (Just checking that one, since I'll be there this weekend!)

This week end is the start of the thaw an will last into next week (1/24), the abnormalities are about 8 to 10 deg above normal. That's about 5 days but is still early to tell if it will go longer. I think this is a GFS bias forecast and the model has been under performing this season. The good news is the abnormalities are low. Overall, it should be fine, my point is this will the last chance for fresh natural snow and for Southern areas its limits snow making windows for trails that may need it.

As a comparison, last weekend's 1/11 to 1/13 thaw was about 18 to 30 deg above normal. I skied Thurs (1/11), the snow felt close too spring like.... a 50 deg day made a difference.

 

[Josh Matta]

yeah right now the forecast is for no rain this weekend and not even that warm ....about 38 on top..

 

[QueueCT]

Y'all are making me very happy that I didn't cancel my trip to Copper this week. Crappy ski conditions are all relative I guess.