Made it to Okemo on Sunday (3/17) PM as first of close to 6 inches was falling. Conditions were enormously disappointing - some nice soft powder bumps, but amazingly slick ice between them, presumably courtesy of rain earlier in the week that left its mark even as Okemo heroically pumped out the man-made. Other skiers also voted with their feet - lift lines were essentially non-existent at South Face in afternoon, on a Holiday Sunday to boot ... <BR> <BR>Monday was much better - bumps on Sel's were very skiable, but glades were ice under some rather nice looking natural from day before. Natural trails were mixed bag: Off the Rim off South Face Quad was incredable - tons of loose powder with minimal ice. Challenger, probably my favorite run at Okemo, was really iced, but at least had some soft bumps to turn on. Most other runs were decent skiing, given holiday crowds. <BR> <BR>+++begin{complaints} <BR>Finally, while I am big fan of Okemo's ability to get mountain in shape after numerous setbacks this year, I do have to note a couple of disappointments. <BR> <BR>First, web-site conditions bear little connection with reality - I've taken to averaging Statton and Killington to figure out just how bad the rain/freezing rain was at Okemo since you'll never see any mention of it on their site. <BR> <BR>Second, rumor has it that the Mueller's are parked in Colorado try to close deal on Steamboat (courtesy of ASC fire sale), and I am starting to believe that their focus out there is hurting management of Okemo. (I am probably in minority here ...). Over MLK weekend, Glades lift shut down for 4 HOURS due to serious mechanical problem that required outside help. My take, unprovable, of course, is that they are experiencing far more brief mechanical outages on their lifts than ever before. NorthStar high-speed shut down for several minutes (more than enough time to get prone skier upright again ...) on President's day. <BR>+++end{complaints}
Okemo, VT: 3/17 - 3/18
- Thread starter Rick
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