Crazy that Purg and WC are expecting a full ft more than Telly. Stoked you guys are gonna get ripped.

Hitting Snowmass up tomorrow morning after yoga. Interested in seeing the conditions. They haven't been great recently so vamos a ver! Should be empty w X Games at Buttermilk this weekend.

Damn. Ski school/board days are Wed-Thur then we were leaving Friday and Saturday open for tubing and putt around the cabin. Sunday we fly back home- just never know with these winter trips don't ya.

Crazy warm this week in the Boat and across most of CO. Waterskiing temps Monday - Friday. I'll keep an eye on the melt and let ya know it looks like. The higher elevation mountains will probs hold much much better. Weird to say but Breck and Keystone may actually be the best rides for awhile. Vails base has melted off 6 inches in the past 72 hours and BC is down 4 inches over the same period. That's about 10 inches Vail has lost since last week. That's a lot BUT the high low temp combos should be turning what's left into a nice ice sheet that's harder to melt… So that's kinda a plus…I'd expect that melt to accelerate this week with the warmer temps so yeah… Vail will probs soon be in the mid to low 40s and BC will likely be in the mid to low 30s. I don't have a crystal ball, but 4/5 days with highs in the upper 30s/40s is a lot of sunshine and heat.

Needless to say, it's going to be any icy BIA these upcoming next 5/6 mornings. Highs in the 40s and lows in the teens is a recipe for lots of ice early mornings. Good time to layer because you'll be shedding as the day progresses.

Talk w snow ops at Vail earlier this week and they aren't pumping 24/7. They are pumping at night and once the temperature drops below 28 degrees. That's not enough to make up what's being lost. That's enough to keep the main arteries groomed. They pumped a lot of snow early season and they are on a quota so they can't just push full blast at this point. Plus, it's a low point in the season so they are keeping the ability to blast hard if they have to in their pocket for Presidents' Day / SB.

Thanks for update! While this week looks warm and dry, the following weekend a week look snowy, correct? The free sites I am seeing that go out that far seem to be showing that…

How far out can you see? Again, I'm most in interested in WC.

WC is getting hammered this upcoming weekend.

To put things in perspective

Wish you guys would share w the rest of the state.

CREAg87 said:

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RangerRick9211 said:

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Have you been in Hood River the past week? The ice storm was no joke. Weren't you heading to Bach next?

We're getting over Covid, but hope to ski this Sunday at Meadows. Been a bummer month between work travel, the wind/ice/tree induced home damage and now Covid.

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I was there on Wednesday night. Nothing of note minus the snow on the ground. I really enjoyed pFriem Family Brewers- great beers and excellent food.

I am in Bend now but held off on skiing again. Meadows was brutal on Thursday, easily 3x times harder than the last time I was there. I was skiing into the wind and wintry mix the entire time and the run conditions were messy in places.

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Ouch. Enjoy Bend, though! Lots of good beer!

Rainy weekend in the Cascades. My office has our annual ski party at Steven's this Friday. I hope to make it out and we return back to snow!

Conditions blow this weekend.

Drizzling rain, everything is slush, my new goggles are sitting at the house because they didn't come in before I left, so I'm wearing my old beaters that are strictly for bass tournament lake runs. Can't see crap so basically skiing blind.

I will give a big thumbs up to the waterproofing on Virtika bibs though.

Just got off our hill (Mt Ashland, Southern Oregon). It's rainy, but at least it's somewhat warm so the snow is soft. Highs are in the low to mid 40s until Wednesday here so we probably won't be back up until Thursday. My 5 year old still had fun but we are soaked.

Spring skiing in January! As a west coast transplant, I've grown to love spring skiing conditions on a warm sunny day.

You get my email about those QST 106s?

Yup. Mind if I give ya a buzz later tonight? About to head into the vapor caves and then to Iron Mountain. Super easy to take care of over the phone. I know the bindings have to ship to CO but I think the skis will ship to OR which is the big one. Never knew you didn't sales tax. I guess that makes up for not being able to pump your own gas.

Hey, we voted for the ability to pump our own gas last year… and it passed! It was an absolute mess for a couple of months, but the Oregonians figured it out. We have a a friend here that is a native who was absolutely terrified to have to pump her own gas.

Yeah, I'll send you my phone number in an email.

Way to add to the homeless population there by voting that in, you put people out of jobs

Well, in true Oregon fashion, they made it to where no more than 50% of the pumps can be self serve. So attendants still have a job… for now.

Vail has been done making snow for a few weeks and is not on a quota, Vail and BC don't have a quota. Whoever you're talking to doesn't know a thing about what's going on. But it has been warm, BC skiing icy as their snommaking has always had a higher water content, Vail has been softening up good most days and skiing much better.

Vail and BC both operate under the water rights they own, so might not call it a quota, but that is exactly what it is. And all resorts will make snow depending on conditions, that includes Vail. And after this weeks melt off, I'd bet serious money they will have the new guns fired up once conditions are ready for it.

Poop slap?

The new snow making capabilities they installed are really spectacular pieces of technology. The data they use to optimize snow making and minimize melt off etc has improved dramatically. All they need is a little cooperation from Mother Nature.

Well i'm not 13, so no on that. But as far as I know and believe, Vail operates under the water rights they own, so does BC, and virtually every ski resort in Co. Now they are both very Senior Water rights, but maybe you know more than me. Be interested in reading about it though, as I know as recently as of a handful of years ago, they were purchasing land with the main reason being for the water rights. Tell me what you know and how they don't have a "quota", thanks i'll listen and learn.

Yeah, the new remote operated guns, adjusting everything from a keyboard versus on the side of the mountain are pretty dang impressive and cutting edge as far as snow making goes.

1. Poop Slap Texags tradition
2. True they operate under the water rights they own. Searching for the analogy, say you have 10 yards of compost to top dress your lawn, but you usually use 4 yards, would you say the remaining 6 are your quota? While a true finite amount if you never come close to using them are they really a limit?
I will say with some certainty that Vail will not fire up its snowmaking system again this season.
As to the technology, not much has changed in the last 10 years, 08-12 there was an insane amount of innovation and effort put into efficiency in terms of air consumption and controls, but that has mostly matured with software updates. The last substantial new tech was the Snowlogic guns out of PC.

You have to remember I'm talking to a snow ops worker at Vail w a high school education but 1000s of hours manning snow guns. Dudes not a Rhodes scholar by any means but he does great work on the hill. I think what he meant by quota was "remaining water". We were also like 4 margs into some Sabor queso. I'll be in Bachelors Gulch all week. I'll lyk about the guns off 16. I'll have a great view of them from the back patio.

Damnit, Boat now shows high of 48 Wednesday. Bleh

I'm a bit comforted in the fact that the forecasts I'm reading have switched from rain to snow for Friday at vail. Skiing Thursday and Friday.

Im showing snow Friday afternoon.

WC getting 34+ inches over the next 10. Telly getting 2ft. Should be nice in southern CO end of next week.




Vail/BC/Snowmass/SS picking up 9-12.

Purg update

SUPER BUSY! A ski race, Snowdown and beautiful weather created a full parking lot today (ALL of them).

Ski conditions are still low snow, icy in places and tons of challenged people. Plenty of folks that take up the entire slope. impaired people and accidents because of the icey conditions!

What to do?

*slow down! Enjoy the beautiful weather and let's not get hurt
*drink less! Saw a young lady fall at the bottom of a lift, her friends helped her on, she fell getting off the lift… I assume It was an alcohol thing.
*arrive early- on the weekends, get here by 10:30 am.

Saw a bunch of people get bailed off the mtn today on sleds. Talked to a gal today that was hit very hard by a gentleman yesterday in his 60's that fell on ice and took her out, likely broke his hip.

Despite the above, had a ton of fun skiing with friends I met Up there. There is some decent snow on the edges of the runs. Decent bump skiing exists but the steeper runs have rocks and it's only going to get worse next week ahead of the storms!

LRHF

Man, 10:30 is like halfway through the day. It's gotten to where I leave the house at 7am Mountain to get up to Schweitzer at 7:30am Pacific so I can get a parking spot that doesn't require hiking up the 100 vertical feet ice/slush trail they call Cardiac Hill. Today, I think they had all three upper lots full by 9:30 Pacific, which means you're parking mid mountain and taking a shuttle or all the way at the base and riding a bus up.

rather be fishing said:

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Man, 10:30 is like halfway through the day. It's gotten to where I leave the house at 7am Mountain to get up to Schweitzer at 7:30am Pacific so I can get a parking spot that doesn't require hiking up the 100 vertical feet ice/slush trail they call Cardiac Hill. Today, I think they had all three upper lots full by 9:30 Pacific, which means you're parking mid mountain and taking a shuttle or all the way at the base and riding a bus up.

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On days like this, I "Apres Ski"!

It's amazing how many people are out skiing in the rain this weekend. I got my coworker's condo for the weekend, otherwise I would be making a tough decision tomorrow morning.

Best thing about my job is having a spot in a reserved lot that borders the gondola. It's made me totally spoiled.

Nothing worse than getting to the Snowmass Rodeo lot at 8:30-9:00am and it's already full. Total mellow harsher. Now we almost only ski there on weekdays because the weekend parking is so nuts.