New England 2018/19 Northeast

[EricG]

Conditions at Smuggs were quite nice this morning, but the zoo quickly opened its doors and the animals awoke from their drunken stupor (I witnessed 2 people puking on the trail). Groups of 15-20 people were blocking the entry to trails as they figured out where they were going. The lifts were continually stopping as people had continued issues loading and unloading the old school non-detachable double chairs. On my last ride up Madonna the lift stopped 7 times. I knew at that point it was time to call it a day. In the 4hr 20min I was clicked into bindings I skied a total of 1hr 28min skiing. The remaining time was in lines or on the lift.

 

[KevinF]

Conditions at Smuggs were quite nice this morning, but the zoo quickly opened its doors and the animals awoke from their drunken stupor (I witnessed 2 people puking on the trail). Groups of 15-20 people were blocking the entry to trails as they figured out where they were going. The lifts were continually stopping as people had continued issues loading and unloading the old school non-detachable double chairs.

Sounds lovely, especially the part about people puking trail side. What kind of wax do you use for puke?

On my last ride up Madonna the lift stopped 7 times. I knew at that point it was time to call it a day. In the 4hr 20min I was clicked into bindings I skied a total of 1hr 28min skiing. The remaining time was in lines or on the lift.

What's your usual ski / wait ratio at Smuggs?

 

[EricG]

What kind of wax do you use for puke?

I find bleach wipes work best. Apply after every run.

What's your usual ski / wait ratio at Smuggs?

Usually 60:40, not 40:60. I use the ski tracks app to track it. Some days are faster:slower than others. Im generally not in a rush as I took at 15 year hiatus from skiing and came back last year. So I'm still trying to get my feet back under me.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Is it OK if I mention Stowe now? Stowe was actually really good today. It was windy so the Forerunner and the Gondi were both running slow in the morning (I didn't ski Mansfield in the afternoon so don't know if they sped up). We seem to have dodged the rain bullet last night, and pulled in a few inches of heavy snow that really groomed in nicely. Chin clip was nice enough for 4 consecutive runs, Hayride was pretty good and Tres Amigos (middle section) was practically untracked at 11:30. In the afternoon it was Sensation laps, Whirlaway, Sterling and Smugglers were all good, Main Street headwall got icy and definitely stymied some tourists. So did Horsebarn pitch on Side Street which bumped up pretty good and looked like Omaha Beach.

 

[Josh Matta]

confirmed first 2 runs in the woods on mansifield were creamy slightly wind buffed powder. Groomers were sweet.

 

[LKLA]

Is it OK if I mention Stowe now? Stowe was actually really good today. It was windy so the Forerunner and the Gondi were both running slow in the morning (I didn't ski Mansfield in the afternoon so don't know if they sped up). We seem to have dodged the rain bullet last night, and pulled in a few inches of heavy snow that really groomed in nicely. Chin clip was nice enough for 4 consecutive runs, Hayride was pretty good and Tres Amigos (middle section) was practically untracked at 11:30. In the afternoon it was Sensation laps, Whirlaway, Sterling and Smugglers were all good, Main Street headwall got icy and definitely stymied some tourists. So did Horsebarn pitch on Side Street which bumped up pretty good and looked like Omaha Beach.

I skied everything off the triple and it was ALL great. Heard from the crew that Nosedive woods were “interesting” and that Centerline was “great”.

 

[dbostedo]

Is it OK if I mention Stowe now?

Always! Some pics would be nice too.

 

[RJS]

Cannon was surprisingly good yesterday, and not very crowded. The upper mountain avoided the rain and was excellent in the morning. I did some laps of Profile and Vista Way, and skied some pockets of deeper fresh snow on the sides of the trails. The lower mountain got some rain overnight before freezing, resulting in a crust over the new snow for the lower 1,000 vertical of the mountain. The groomers were excellent everywhere. There were flurries on and off throughout the day, but no real accumulation.

I waited for maybe 7 minutes at one point on the Cannonball lift because they were only loading 3 people on the 4-person chairs, but other than that one line the crowds were not bad. The Zoomer and Mittersill lifts were mostly ski-on, and I had some chairs to myself. I even had some tram cars that weren't fully packed. Even though the main parking lot looked full from the top of the mountain, the crowds were nowhere near as bad as MLK Sunday, which was a powder day.

Cannon 2/16/2019

• RJS
• Feb 17, 2019

Hiking the saddle felt easy after hiking the Headwall many times at Jackson Hole a few weeks ago. Cannon also felt less steep than I remember, again probably because this was my first time back out since Jackson. Kinsman and DJ's were not open.

 

[EricG]

Smuggs skied well this morning. The lower trees got pretty skied out yesterday and were pretty icy today. The groomers were fast but the ice layer is starting to show by noon so I called it a day to come make some lunch with the family.

On my way back to the condo I watched an outa control smuck hit and knock down 5 little kids in ski school. The instructor was amazingly calm as she picked up the kids, put their skis back on them, and texted her boss about the situation.

 

[PinnacleJim]

Reports from Killington have been good. New lifts seem to be handling the holiday crowds well and good snow and weather are icing on the cake. Nice to see the NE have a good one.

 

[Marker]

Reports from Killington have been good. New lifts seem to be handling the holiday crowds well and good snow and weather are icing on the cake. Nice to see the NE have a good one.

After skiing hard the last two days, I had to leave the mountain early to take a nap and let the legs recover for tomorrow morning. We'll leave at noon to return to our regular scheduled program in PA/DE.

Started at the bubble until the crowds appeared then moved on. Masses could be avoided by hitting the Needle's Eye and Bear quads. Didn't make it up top to the Canyon.

 

[Phelmut]

SKied Killington today and while the lodges were mobbed, we avoided lift lines all day. Started at Bear at 8:15 which was in great shape and not crowded until ~ 10:30. Headed to the Canyon and Escapade?? was a sheet of ice 2/3 way down. Other trails in that area were in pretty good shape. Needles EYe was in good shape as they were blowing snow. Bear at the end of the day was mostly in good shape and they were blowing snow there also. Surprisingly good day and will be going to Stratton tomorrow on the way home.

 

[LKLA]

Stowe was great the last few days. Today, it’s off the charts

 

[EricG]

Stowe was great the last few days. Today, it’s off the charts

Yes today was awesome!

It was quiet at Smuggs, snowed till early afternoon and I found fresh snow till I called it a day. Today was almost the best day of ‘19 for me.

 

[Phelmut]

We went to Stratton today and they probably got 2"overnight and it was snowing all day until we left ~ 2:30. i am not a Stratton fan but we had a really fun day and virtually no lift lines. Run of the day was Liftline which had great snow and big soft bumps down the left sideline. Hero snow.

Traffic on the thruway was brutal for some reason, not just the usual volume, but there must have been several accidents that caused bumper to bumper crawl much of the way.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Snowed at BWoods all day long. Everything's open. Most of the glades are pretty filled in, but they are open.
I was on groomers most of the day with British teens on winter vacation. Floppy beginners in too-large boots, happy kids.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I've been busy teaching but managed to get runs in here and there. Bromley had a nice powder day yesterday so it was nice to get out there. Only 2 more work days and then I'm looking forward to skiing Magic this coming weekend. Michael will ski Magic today.

 

[Slide of Hans]

I've been busy teaching but managed to get runs in here and there. Bromley had a nice powder day yesterday so it was nice to get out there. Only 2 more work days and then I'm looking forward to skiing Magic this coming weekend. Michael will ski Magic today.

How were the holiday weekend crowds at Broms? I'm curious as to how Bromley is making out with all of their big neighbors covered with a multi-mountain pass.

There is a Telefest at Bromley this coming weekend!

 

[Marker]

SKied Killington today and while the lodges were mobbed, we avoided lift lines all day. Started at Bear at 8:15 which was in great shape and not crowded until ~ 10:30. Headed to the Canyon and Escapade?? was a sheet of ice 2/3 way down. Other trails in that area were in pretty good shape. Needles EYe was in good shape as they were blowing snow. Bear at the end of the day was mostly in good shape and they were blowing snow there also. Surprisingly good day and will be going to Stratton tomorrow on the way home.

I heard the wait was 45 minutes at the lower Skyeship gondala loading station. At the end of the long easy green, Great Eastern, so a lot folks just ski down and pile up there!

Monday was very nice in the morning until we had to hit the road. Stuck to the Needle's Eye and Superstar high speed quads to maximize vertical in a short session. Never saw a crowd. Superstar was fun until my legs were cooked.

 

[Phelmut]

Yeah, crazy how crowded the lots and lodges were and minimal lift lines, but Killington has a lot of places to hide.. Gondola is always a shit show until very late in the day when most people have mailed it in.