2018-19 Season Recap

[jamesdeluxe]

Perfect for Tony with all that easily accessible offpiste! :wink:
https://www.afriski.net/360/Afriski_Cor ... orate.html

Click the dropdown in the upper right for #14, the 360-degree high-altitude contextual shot. Certainly looks better with a bit of snow and not what comes to mind when I think of Lesotho.

 

[tseeb]

I'm probably done as Mammoth sounds like it is more limited this week than last, but another day or two is always possible.
No new ski areas for me, will try to change that next season.

Season total = 65 days which beats previous high of 56 last season (and 52 the two preceding years).

Almost 1.4M vertical. If I’d known I was only 1,700 short, I might have taken a couple of quicks laps on Mammoth’s chair 3 on 7/3. Three days over 30K; two at Northstar plus a powder day at Snowbird. Monthly totals: Nov 3, Dec 6, Jan 10, Feb 14, Mar 19, Apr 10, Jul 3

Tahoe Local Pass 34 days - Kirkwood 14, Heavenly 13 (includes 2 days that I also skied Mammoth), Northstar 5, Park City, Stevens Pass gave me half-off

Ikon Base Pass 27 days - Mammoth 6 (2 with Heavenly), Altabird 5, Squalpine 4, Big Sky 3, JHMR 3, Crystal 2, Brighton 2, Deer Valley and Revelstoke

Mustang Powder 3 days catskiing

Day tickets at Ashland (OR) 1/2 day PM on President’s Day, Apex (BC)

Free ticket from ski show used at Sierra-at-Tahoe

 

[q]

Hot on the heels of my greatest ever season at Discovery in 2017-2018 with record snow and amazing conditions the early long range forecasts were not looking all that great for 2018-2019 but it turned into a stonker!

I flew out last year to celebrate Opening Day, Thanksgiving and hunting in November. I flew out on November 14th but Discovery got early storms so for the first time I remember they moved opening day forward and I missed it! 6am on my first day ever hunting I sat drinking coffee with the old timers and by 8am I had fired 1 shot and had my mule deer buck in the bag. Never did get my antlerless deer in the other district but I didn't mind.

I got 8 days skiing(7 Disco, 1 Big Sky) and had some of the best turns on Limelight I could ever have imagined. Thigh deep powder one Sunday afternoon after a buddy in patrol told us to be at the top at 1pm. Sure enough by ten past I was having a ball. I finished 3rd in a local 5k race despite being severely hungover.

Fast forward to February and I flew out on the 27th meaning I would get to ski my first ever Feb days at Discovery and would ski right through to closing day on April 7th.

I have never ever seen consistent cold like that in all the years I have been coming over. -30f with windchill and mounds of snow in town for the duration. It never felt all that cold on the hill. I skied every day with the exception of 16th March when I headed to Bozeman to run in the Run to the Pub 1/2 marathon. I got back to the bar at the bottom of the Discovery access road at 3pm but couldn't be arsed fighting my way to the hill for 1 run so drank beers with friends.

I landed up on that trip skiing 38 days.

TOTALS

Discovery 45
Big Sky 1

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Discovery 45
Big Sky 1

Fascinating how q takes a polar opposite approach to overseas ski trips from me, becoming a quasi local at one location/ski area.

Two months of holiday/vacation time per year -- as I've said before, must be nice! Are you planning to retire there?

 

[Tony Crocker]

q has free lodging from a friend in Phillipsburg. I'm one who is enough of a variety junkie to never have a whole season concentrated at one area. However, on my short list of top uncrowded areas, only Castle Mt. has better terrain quality than Discovery IMHO.

The Northern Rockies were very dry after mid-March. On-The-Snow shows Discovery's last big dump of 21 inches March 13-14. Then zero through March 26 and 13 scattered inches (no more than 3 on any one day) from March 27 - April 7.

However, Discovery is a cold mountain. My day there in early March was calm and sunny but I wore my heavier mid-layer all day. The best terrain on Granite and Limelight faces north, and I have little doubt that the steep lines on Limelight retained winter snow through that dry spell and up to closing day.

Most of the Interior Northwest areas and western Canadian areas with varied exposure and modest altitude would have had heavy spring conditions after mid-March.

 

[Patrick]

New Update:

Days 98 (84 Days / 14 nights)

Local Ottawa - 60miles/100km or less:
Edelweiss: 53
Ste-Marie: 6
Calabogie ON: 1
Fortune: 2* earned turns
Cascades: 1

Not local
Killington VT: 6
Mad River Glen VT: 3
St-Sauveur QC: 8
Smuggs' VT: 1
Cannon NH: 1
Burke VT: 1
Owl's Head QC: 1
Bretton Woods NH: 1
Middlebury VT: 1

A flight away - Summer fun
Mammoth CA: 8
Squaw CA: 3
Cervinia/Zermatt, ITA/SWI: 1

We came back from Europe on July 31 and we were feeling jet lagged and under the weather probably heatstroke related to the heatwave in Europe. Feeling some crappy that I bailed on some R.E.A.T. (Rare Eastern August Turns) at Tuckerman. I believe the last time I heard about August turns was 2 TRs from Chromer and Lfgly on FTO way back in 2001.

I still haven't decided where I was going to get my Aug/Sept turns? Looking for suggestions? August/September or even September only?

1) Glaciers in Europe = it been real hot this summer in Europe and I just came back. More glaciers open for skiing in September.
2) Chile (near Santiago) isn't having a good year?
3) Argentina? Bariloche doesn't seem as bad?
4) NZ? Not great from what I read.
5) Australia? I might be mistaken, but it seems like they are having another above average year.
6) Mt Hood?
7) Random patches?

 

[Tony Crocker]

This is probably a year to conserve resources and stick with Timberline.

48 inches season snowfall at Portillo this late says it all not only for there but for Valle Nevado and Las Lenas too. The only base depths above 100cm in South America are at the usual suspects, Chillan and Corralco. One of Chillan's volcanoes is quite active now, not great news for advance planned skiing.

North Island NZ got a recent dump and has 150cm base. Wind is the main issue there; word of mouth North Island is better for spring skiing. South Island is very low tide, though probably not quite as bad as the Central Andes.

Spencer Creek Australia base depth is 125cm, which is slightly below average. Patrick got a 90+ percentile season in Oz last year and shouldn't press his luck.

Hood Meadows snowfall was 91% of average in 2018-19. I have no reason to believe Timberline won't make it to September but I see no explicit closing date on the website. There is a music festival up there on Labor Day. I'd make a phone call before buying a plane ticket though.

 

[Patrick]

Timberline (...) I see no explicit closing date on the website. There is a music festival up there on Labor Day. I'd make a phone call before buying a plane ticket though.

I’ve already checked, closing date is Labour Day.

 

[tseeb]

North Island NZ got a recent dump and has 150cm base. Wind is the main issue there; word of mouth North Island is better for spring skiing.

North Island NZ seems like a very difficult place to operate a ski area. According to https://snowbrains.com/which-ski-resort ... the-world/" they need to have people knock the rime off lifts during storms to prevent lifts from being crushed. Then when recent storm ended, avalanche control started an avalanche that ran 4000 vertical feet and closed the ski area. See https://unofficialnetworks.com/2019/08/ ... w-zealand/"

Found these pictures of rime on Far West T-bar at Whakapapa in another online ski forum.

I’ve already checked, closing date is Labour Day.

We call it Labor Day in the US. And it's almost as early this year as it can be so that means you would only have 9/1 and 9/2 to have your September turns be lift served. But even if they can't run lifts those days, you could always hike for turns on Mt Hood or Mt Adams.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Those rime pics don't surprise me. Mt. Ruapehu is an isolated volcanic cone like Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor. Here's the top of Mt. Bachelor's Summit lift in April 2012.

Then there's Mammoth, windward side of Dave's Run, Dec. 2012.

Rime is almost routine during big storms at Baldy.

There are several volcanic cone ski areas in Chile: Chillan, Corralco, Pucon/Villarica, Osorno. None of those have lifts to the top. Chillan and Villarica, like Ruapehu, are still active volcanoes.

Wind seems to be a common factor in rime formation, and a nearby water source to supply humidity another factor. The snowghosts at Big White, Schweitzer and Whitefish are all downwind from nearby lakes. Baldy and Ruapehu are closer to the ocean than the Cascade or Chilean volcanoes. So with NZ's wetter climate it's plausible that Ruapehu is the world capital of rime, at least among ski areas.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I haven't redone these graphs for quite a while, so here are my 9 retirement ski seasons.

Another trivial stat which Patrick and I compared first back in 2013 was dates on the calendar skied. I was then at 239 and he was at 235. Since then I've "filled in the holes" and have every date from Dec. 26 - June 2, total now 257. It will be slow going adding to that list; June 8 and 21 were my only additions last season. I had several Southern Hemisphere ski trips from 2005-2015 but that's a much lower travel priority now. I've skied NZ 4x and the recent ski weather trend in South America is as bad relative to long term history as SoCal's.

This weather station is between Portillo and Valle Nevado at 9,075 feet.

Patrick's streak results in him adding dates faster. I think he was around 260 before adding several more on the late June California trip.

 

[Patrick]

Another trivial stat which Patrick and I compared first back in 2013 was dates on the calendar skied.(...)
Patrick's streak results in him adding dates faster. I think he was around 260 before adding several more on the late June California trip.

I just looked on my phone... at the start of last season I was at 258 (might be incorrect as I’m working on an old email and memory). With skiing on May 26, 2019...I’ve skied every date between Nov 18 to May 29. 193 194 days in a row.*
If not mistaken, the correct number is 269 271*.

Days missing per month

20 19 oct*
8 7 nov*
0 dec, Jan, feb, mar, apr
2 may
5 june
23 July
19 aug
20 sep
Missing total: 97 95*

Edit: corrected the actual number.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Days missing per month

28 oct
11 nov
2 dec
0 jan, feb, mar, apr, may
13 june
18 july
19 aug
18 sep
Missing total: 109

I knew Patrick added a bunch this year. I doubt since 2013 I've ever added more than 4 in one season. I devote much higher priority to adding new ski areas.

Another trivia point: Aside from February 29 with only 2 ski days, I have at least 100K vertical every day from Jan. 13 - Apr. 13. I've also skied some powder every day from Jan. 1 - Apr. 17.

 

[Marc_C]

Stop spraying. It's unbecoming.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Stop spraying. It's unbecoming.

Everyone has their hobbies, I guess.