Recent content by Tony Crocker

Official announcement today from Mammoth: Not a surprise, as it's hard to envision late spring operation without chair 1 AND the gondola.

True as evidenced by my solar panels still producing 20-30% even on 100% cloudy days. Nonetheless spring powder quality can remain good during storms and/or if the temperatures stay cold. Two of my top 5 lift served powder days were in April and another one was on the spring equinox.

Which Utah areas have ski free at 70? FYI Mountain High is raising its free age from 70 to 75 next season but those of us who already have the pass at 70 are grandfathered. The Mountain High Pass is good for 3 days at Powder Alliance areas even if they don't have ski free at 70 on their own...

I'm not sure how much powder I'd expect considering Saturday's winds were so high that only chair 21 was open. I'd say jimk has a good shot at powder in Utah. Unfortunately Snowbird has not been running the Peruvian chair midweek. They should make an exception for the big powder days but...

During one of our gondola rides at Mammoth, there was an LCC local who said Mammoth';s spring skiing was better because "it doesn't freeze overnight as often at Snowbird." So that data I looked up last season for a month in May/June was perhaps not coincidental. An average difference of 5.5...

Tiffendell closed during COVID and has not reopened. We hope to get to Afriski in Lesotho, which was not open last year but says they will be this year. Afriski is a 5 hour drive from Johannesburg on mostly decent roads. Tiffindell is 7 hours from Durban or 9 from Johannesburg on more...

We are at very high end parks in Namibia and Botswana in June. We are more on our own in South Africa July 1-9.

We are, to southern Africa June 8 - July 9.

To no surprise, JSpin viewed the eclipse from the top of Bolton Valley. View west over Lake Champlain: Champlain is lit up in afternoon gold sun reflection similar to the Catalina Channel as viewed from Baldy. Eclipse close-up: The big loop prominence that was visible at 4 o'clock when...

Wednesday had a harder overnight freeze but it was clear with little wind so more promising for corn snow development. As on our prior trip Wednesday seems to be the quietest day of the week. We got the same parking on the road by chair 2 as Tuesday despite arriving 20 minutes later. Our first...

We are back at Mammoth for a couple of days. Tuesday was clear, highs in the 40’s, but windy. With the clear skies the overnight freeze was fairly hard, and the wind delayed softening. Our 9AM start on Stump Alley was not as icy as on April 17, but far more than the next two days. With...

The word now is that Mammoth will close when chair 2 closes. For the first time I see a stockpile of snow being prepared to keep the base of chair 2 open. Is this necessary to keep chair 2 running to Memorial Day? Based upon my past visits, no. Memorial Day is generally the final day for...

This is Summit County's peak season relative to other ski regions: 1) Snowfall does not tail off in April like most other regions. 2) Excellent snow preservation 3) Crowds and traffic issues generally end.

Jackson is a nicer town, and since it's more a summer resort hopefully accommodation won't be exorbitant. As for the skiing, you can count on Targhee being in full operation while Jackson averages 80% open. Jackson's lift system has some vulnerability to crowds. In clear weather the...

There will definitely be a civil case. Lonnie had a concussion and lost 3 hours of memory, but he was skiing with a friend who saw everything.