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dbostedo

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For now I'm staying optimistic that it will be clearing out and my drive to Frisco Thursday evening will be OK.

Normally I drive up 9 and through Breck... but I'm guessing I'd be better off going back up toward Denver and taking 70?
 

Green08

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Hoosier Pass in a storm? 9 and 24 out and exposed if the snow is blowing? No thank you.

That route is great when the weather is nice, and has far fewer variables without all the traffic. But, in adverse conditions there is not much civilization between FairPlay and Woodland Park. Hartsel or Divide are not much.

Check traffic cameras on cotrip.org when you plan on leaving. Game plan from there.

If this is anything like the blizzard of last month, the shut off from blizzard to wind and no snow could be sharp. The drive south could get spared. CO Springs got hammered last month. Yet, Pueblo just got high winds.
 

dbostedo

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tball

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For now I'm staying optimistic that it will be clearing out and my drive to Frisco Thursday evening will be OK.

Normally I drive up 9 and through Breck... but I'm guessing I'd be better off going back up toward Denver and taking 70?
Agreed, you don't want to drive across South Park with blowing snow. The snow will have stopped by Thurs evening but it won't matter much with the wind still blowing. Here's the hourly forecast for Fairplay:
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapCli...105.9926&unit=0&lg=english&FcstType=graphical
 

TexasStout

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So, @nay , if Opensnow forecast high side is accurate for Loveland and they get 12" on Wednesday, are the odds high that lift 9 and the ridge will be closed for Thursday morning while they do avy mitigation?
 

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I think I figured out my East Wall “Can there really be winter snow in this heat?” question.

It looks like winter snow. Up close and watching somebody ski. But it’s warm cold snow. You know what I mean.
Yeah, I'm surprised to say I'm pretty sure the upper north facing parts of the East Wall would have felt like winter snow today. This did a bit lower this afternoon:

IMG_20190409_141601.jpg

That was top of Union Peak at 12,300 feet and it very much felt like winter snow and skied very nicely for the couple hundred vertical feet of the steep pitch. Below that was "icy," loud and not much fun to ski. Just below that was fantastic corn from 11,500 down on the whole Timberline pod. Pretty amazing variety of conditions for similar aspects at close elevations at the same time.

I'm guessing that "warm cold snow" wouldn't ski nearly as well in the morning before it warmed, but would still be nicer than the refrozen everywhere else. It hasn't quite been permanently damaged yet.
 
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tball

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I guess I should mention the fantastic corn harvest at Copper today. Super fun day.

A large majority of the mountain had fantastic surface conditions that persisted for most of the day after the clouds rolled in at just the right time. The resort was totally empty except for the USASA competitors.

2300 vertical feet of corn on the Speed Center DH course with nobody on it was worthy of a bunch of laps.

IMG_20190409_122902 (1).jpg
 
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So, @nay , if Opensnow forecast high side is accurate for Loveland and they get 12" on Wednesday, are the odds high that lift 9 and the ridge will be closed for Thursday morning while they do avy mitigation?

9 could open Thu morning of visibility is ok - they control it in sections. They’ve been doing a good job of having that chair open in some pretty ugly conditions this season.

Bigger question I think will be if the snow is dense and wind compacted again like the last one. I like snow like that if it is smooth, but it can be tough if the wind compaction is creating variable density you can’t see.

Of course, if that’s true you could stay lower and more in the trees. Hard to see there being a ton of people up there tracking it out quickly.

I think Friday will be the better day with a chance for windfill to smooth things out, but hard to tell how long this storm will blow.
 
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I'm guessing that "warm cold snow" wouldn't ski nearly as well in the morning before it warmed, but would still be nicer than the refrozen everywhere else. It hasn't quite been permanently damaged yet.

Good description - and it kept regenerating with windfill blowing over the top.

It was amazing how quickly aspects changed today. The more winter feel stuff (microwave hotspots notwithstanding) changed instantly to corn across certain aspects. You can see it clearly in this pic - sudden transition dead center of the shot.

E7ACE447-3D45-4C56-9B72-F404EB3E78A8.png

This was Jelly Roll. It skied nicely enough, but you can just make out the tracks. That wasn’t corn(y) at all.

4CD4B661-9DAA-44F4-B9AF-BFCCA9C06E59.jpeg

Either way, gonna be stoked if spring skiing keeps up like this.
 
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dbostedo

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So now that the storm is a bit clearer, I'm still thinking A-basin on Friday (or maybe Copper?) and Loveland on Saturday.

Any opinions?
 
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So now that the storm is a bit clearer, I'm still thinking A-basin on Friday (or maybe Copper?) and Loveland on Saturday.

Any opinions?

Storm is on the low end so far for totals/impact. There’s a weak storm projected for Friday so maybe make a decision on visibility. A-Basin is really tough in a storm if the steep tree terrain (Pali/Beavers) is too much.

Loveland apparently had the Ridge Cat open today, so they were all systems go.
 

tball

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@dbostedo I think you're gonna want to go to Copper. I can pm you a F&F pass if you like in the morning if you like. I think it's $79, but you can call guest services to confirm.
 
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25" total from this storm.

You have to love these occasional April days where WP’s northern position leaves them under a burst that nobody else gets.

959DF5D1-1074-4284-88DF-4AAF33BEFCD4.jpeg

Interesting thing about this storm is how cold it came in - it was 10° at my place at midnight and instead of impenetrable wind compacted drifts it is 6” of cold fluff. The full wind impact never really materialized, either - it blew hard, but nothing too unusual.

The trailing storm that will come through the Four Corners tomorrow is even colder - the core is forecast at -26° C. That’s not at ground level of course, but it’s causing convective feedback issues in the models, for example an inch of liquid where I live. Could be a sleeper, so I’m hoping everybody who is still skiing went nuts today.

@dbostedo I tend to agree with @tball on Copper for tomorrow. My only hedge on that is how good a cold storm will be in the alpine, provided visibility is reasonable.

I wouldn’t do A-Basin for what you are looking for, but you storm skied Loveland last year and if it didn’t bug you visibility wise, then it will be a lot more interesting than Copper’s (lack of) variety of blue terrain.

Highs are supposed to be well below freezing, so I’d think everywhere will be skiing awesome.
 

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Or go to Winter Park now. They have 18” on the stake this morning :drool:.

I'm pretty sure a one point I suggested staying in Gtown and hitting MJ and Luv.

I'll be at Copper this afternoon and tomorrow leading my nephew around in my orange jacket and green pants. Say hello or find us at bump happy hour on Little Burn 2:30-3:30 if his legs hold out. Or, you can join me on the mile-long bumps to just barely catch the A-lift at 4 pm. :D
 
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Monique

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Not mulching, but may put some fertilizer on the lawn tomorrow and let the new snow dissolve it. Or is that a jinx?

There was just a post out on our Nextdoor from an ex landscaper or some such - warned against fertilizing too soon, as it will just result in dead grass.
 

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How’s the snow at WP? Deep and heavy? Blower? Surfy?
Did Pano run? No?
 
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dbostedo

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I believe I'll do Copper tomorrow after all. Even if vis is bad there I know the mountain a bit. And Loveland Saturday... the vis there last year bothered me some up high but overall it wasn't bad.

Thanks for the advice folks! Heading to Frisco now.
 
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