Gone into Powder Mode- This is gonna be unfrigginreal

[ono]

yeah- my mind's been in powder mode for about 12 hours.

even if this storm fails to deliver fully (knock on wood) and we see the low-end of the forecast- well, that's still damn good.

this things churning up the coast- light snow here in DC this AM, heading up, looks like things are coming together.

i'll be on a train in 12 hours or so with my new powder boards heading... north i believe. psyched beyond belief.

where's everyone headed?

MRG thursday
smuggs or the vicinity friday

 

[EssexCountyBC]

I would give two weeks pay to be in Northern Vermont on Thursday instead of working in Beantown. Please take and post a few pics for those of us who have to wait until Saturday backcountry to get the pow!

If there was any doubt before, there is none now...the east is back!

 

[appskiah]

Yeah, I'm in DC metro as well. I got tommorow off work early last week when this storm starting showing up in the long range models. I don't want to drive any further than to Blue Knob, PA. Unfortunately, there might be a layer of ice on top of our powder down in central PA.

Enjoy the crust free powder up north!

 

[JimG.]

Good things come to those who wait.

And we've had to wait all season here in the east, so this is going to be sweet.

Thursday thru Monday is going to be epic.

 

[Judz]

Good things come to those who wait.

And we've had to wait all season here in the east, so this is going to be sweet.

Thursday thru Monday is going to be epic.

Still waiting here in SoCal, with a natural snow base of about 1". I almost wish i was going with my mom to upstate NY on thursday instead of vail considering the east is about to be dumped on, anyway, hope you guys have some fun this weekend!

 

[Tony Crocker]

I almost wish I was going with my mom to upstate NY on thursday instead of Vail

Not really. There are terrain requirements (adequate pitch, glades or bowls and not just cut trails -- think Baldy vs. Big Bear) as well as snow for decent powder skiing. And only the Northern Vermont snowbelt has adequate amounts of both suitable terrain and snowfall in the Northeast.

I'm expecting epic reports from well positioned locals like powderfreak, riverc0il and JSpin. I'll be interested in seeing how many other FTO easterners will be able to get to the goods in time, given the likely road conditions.

Best of luck. Tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of the 7 feet in 54 hours at Baldy.

 

[riverc0il]

double post

 

[riverc0il]

Not really. There are terrain requirements (adequate pitch, glades or bowls and not just cut trails -- think Baldy vs. Big Bear) as well as snow for decent powder skiing. And only the Northern Vermont snowbelt has adequate amounts of both suitable terrain and snowfall in the Northeast.

Tony, I disagree with your assessment. As my early season reports have shown, two feet of powder on top of no base opens up all but the steepest and rockiest of trails. Most sections of New England besides Northern Vermont have at least some natural snow base. Any New England area that gets the expected two feet of snow barreling into the mountains is going to be epic, not just the Northern Greens. Despite my pass to Jay Peak, I have plans for hitting Cannon sometime this weekend. Actually, I am currently debating between Burke and Cannon today as the College is shut down and I have the day off. \/

 

[yak]

... I'll be interested in seeing how many other FTO easterners will be able to get to the goods in time, given the likely road conditions. ...

This ain't California - we drive in snow! It's what 4WD was made for...

 

[Anthony]

Tony , Take a look at my pictures of Mansfield from last Saturday before today's storm . Today's storm which is now hitting Quebec and the US North East is going to make conditions epic .

 

[jamesdeluxe]

only the Northern Vermont snowbelt has adequate amounts of both suitable terrain and snowfall in the Northeast.

 

[JimG.]

I almost wish I was going with my mom to upstate NY on thursday instead of Vail

Not really. There are terrain requirements (adequate pitch, glades or bowls and not just cut trails -- think Baldy vs. Big Bear) as well as snow for decent powder skiing. And only the Northern Vermont snowbelt has adequate amounts of both suitable terrain and snowfall in the Northeast.

I'm expecting epic reports from well positioned locals like powderfreak, riverc0il and JSpin. I'll be interested in seeing how many other FTO easterners will be able to get to the goods in time, given the likely road conditions.

Best of luck. Tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of the 7 feet in 54 hours at Baldy.

Whoa...is this a slap down or a challenge? Sounds like a bit of both. I know nobody out west is jealous that the lil' ole east is finally getting her due? Right?

I'll be out tomorrow through Monday...loving every second of it.

 

[Patrick]

only the Northern Vermont snowbelt has adequate amounts of both suitable terrain and snowfall in the Northeast.

:lol: I have to agree with James here.

Tony , Take a look at my pictures of Mansfield from last Saturday before today's storm . Today's storm which is now hitting Quebec and the US North East is going to make conditions epic .

It's snowing hard here in Ottawa now, the forecast is now for 15cm (6"). Many areas will be hit, you should see how many people will be hitting the Appalachian north of the border, from Sutton to Massif du Sud (near Quebec City). Some terrain and snow amount in New Hampshire, Maine and New York will make the skiing there also great. Even if Whiteface doesn't get a lot of snowfall, a artificial snow base make the lack of natural snow less of a problem. Terrain and Challenge at Whiteface isn't second rate.

I'm expecting epic reports from well positioned locals like powderfreak, riverc0il and JSpin. I'll be interested in seeing how many other FTO easterners will be able to get to the goods in time, given the likely road conditions.

Lucky Luke is suppose to go skiing today....tomorrow...and the day after tomorrow.

If the road conditions aren't too crazy, I'll go skiing tonight at Fortune for my Wednesday race series. We'll see for the next two days. Not skiing on Saturday, I need to buy concert tickets for The Police. :shock:

This ain't California - we drive in snow! It's what 4WD was made for....

Yeck, my Mazda doesn't even have 4WD. :lol:

Tony, I disagree with your assessment. As my early season reports have shown, two feet of powder on top of no base opens up all but the steepest and rockiest of trails. Most sections of New England besides Northern Vermont have at least some natural snow base. Any New England area that gets the expected two feet of snow barreling into the mountains is going to be epic, not just the Northern Greens.

My sentiments exactely plus add the Quebec and Upper New York.

Actually, I am currently debating between Burke and Cannon today as the College is shut down and I have the day off.

Yeah, GREAT. You're going to be skiing today after all.

Have fun everybody... \/

 

[Harvey]

Gore isn't in Vermont, but I'm sure it's going to be wide open and I'm sure I'll find freshies either at Gore, or in the 120,000 acres of wilderness in the Siamese Ponds, that is a mile from our place. Come on.

 

[sven]

I'll be driving up to Stowe in a ford with no snow tires and no 4wd - having either of those would be nice but if youre used to driving in snow enough its not that big of a deal.

I almost want to detour to Hunter mtn and take photographs in an effort to prove Tony wrong, but this storm precludes the need to prove anything :wink:

 

[Tony Crocker]

I may have overgeneralized, but I've been reading eastern reports (and it's the ones from Cannon that stick out in my mind) here for 7 years. At most of these other places, it's once in a blue moon and this may well be one of those occasions. But if you only have trails and the woods are too dense, it's going to be tracked out in no time.

The Baldy comment was not oneupsmanship, just a fond reminiscence. That storm was probably even more rare than what the East is getting now. I personally have a hard time understanding why someone would ski "two feet of powder on top of no base" when Northern Vermont has a base (as recently verified by powderfreak and JSpin) and will probably get more than the 2 feet.

I haven't seen as many Quebec reports, but Le Massif, Valinouet, etc. probably get enough snow to produce decent powder days with some regularity. I would also presume that the Eastern Townships are geographically the extension of the Green Mountains and share most of their attributes. But for the great majority of eastern areas that average well under 200 inches with low standard deviation, single storms of 2 feet+ are going to be as rare as that 2001 storm at Baldy.

Baldy vs. Cannon is an instructive comparison. Both average 150-175 inches, but the volatility at Baldy is much more. That means in half of seasons Baldy is never more than half open. But in the top quarter of seasons you get an 8+ foot base, wide open steep skiing for at least a couple of months and some big powder days. Cannon seems to have 50-75% of terrain open mid-season on a fairly consistent basis. But I'm not sure I've ever seen a report from there that doesn't mention obstacles on the steeper trails or in the woods. Has Cannon ever had as much as 8 feet of snow on the ground?

Once you move to Northern Vermont some of these variables change. The 250+ snowfall average means you get the 40-inch natural base that someone here said is necessary for worry-free skiing in the woods. At that point you get powder skiing after the small storms as well as the big ones, as powderfreak has documented here. Plus most of the storms have 50% more snow than the other areas.

With regard to the road comments, one of the references mentioned that I-87 and I-89 might close. And no matter what car you have, how long will it take to drive from someplace like Boston to Vermont tonight or tomorrow? Much longer than my drive time to Mammoth I suspect.

 

[takeahike46er]

And only the Northern Vermont snowbelt has adequate amounts of both suitable terrain and snowfall in the Northeast.

When this storm is all said and done skiers of Cannon, Whiteface, Gore, Sugarloaf won't care what is going on in Northern Vermont because they ALL will being skiing well. There is sick terrain at these mountains.



Ohh... and Whiteface and Gore already have a good natural base for glades. I can speak from being there. Have you been there?

 

[Tony Crocker]

I'm going to let admin put his 2 cents in here about terrain comparisons. He was the one who explained the "Vermont brush line" to me a few years ago. Those are the only eastern glades I've seen, and if brush, debris and spacing is much worse elsewhere I wouldn't be able to ski much of it. I speak only for myself because I've seen some of the claustrophobic lines people like admin and Patrick can squeeze into.

I do know that when you have low snowfall averages along with low standard deviations, you will rarely have enough snow at one time to produce decent powder days. There are quite a few Colorado areas that have this problem to a lesser degree.

The current storm is likely to be a happy exception to the norm. It may be so widespread that good powder can be had at mountains closer to where more people live, so that marathon drives to Vermont will not be as necessary.

 

[Admin]

I'm going to let admin put his 2 cents in here about terrain comparisons. He was the one who explained the "Vermont brush line" to me a few years ago. Those are the only eastern glades I've seen, and if brush, debris and spacing is much worse elsewhere I wouldn't be able to ski much of it. I speak only for myself because I've seen some of the claustrophobic lines people like admin and Patrick can squeeze into.

As a Westerner, you have a completely different perception of what constitutes a skiable woods line than an advanced Eastern skier. Rabbit warrens are fun! Where woods are brush free, everything's fair game. Where they aren't, there are woodchucks up there all autumn pruning secret lines -- they're everywhere, at nearly every Northeastern ski area.

Cannon has some phenomenal terrain, much of which is frequently skiable.

IMO you're really barking up the wrong tree here. (pun fully intended :wink I will agree, though, that the hardwood forests of the mountains in the northern third of Vermont and the Eastern Townships of Quebec have what I've found to be the best natural (unpruned) lift-served tree skiing in the Northeast. Other areas either have more brush, or a forest that's comprised primarily of tight conifers, the aprons of which dramatically reduce spacing between the trees.

 

[JimG.]

And only the Northern Vermont snowbelt has adequate amounts of both suitable terrain and snowfall in the Northeast.

When this storm is all said and done skiers of Cannon, Whiteface, Gore, Sugarloaf won't care what is going on in Northern Vermont because they ALL will being skiing well. There is sick terrain at these mountains.



Ohh... and Whiteface and Gore already have a good natural base for glades. I can speak from being there. Have you been there?

As well as the rest of NY state...the Catskills are getting pounded with some of the heaviest snowfall, right now about 1 1/2" per hour. The woods will be fully skiable this weekend.