NewEnglandSkier
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I hadn't made it up to Vermont at all this season until this weekend. If this warm weather keeps up like it's supposed to, I think it may be my only weekend in VT this season.
Anyway, I was at Okemo on Saturday and it started out about 39 degrees and cloudy with fog down to about mid mountain. Considering it's only mid March, at first it was a bit horrifying how much snow they have lost. It was definitely "spring conditions" with soft wet snow, a few rocks, grass etc. Some areas had pretty good coverage (Vortex and Quantum Leap over at Jackson Gore come to mind) while others were quite thin. Below is a photo taken from one of the lifts which shows what is left of one of the trails (I can't remember which one, it might be Ledges)
In the afternoon the sun came out and it got slushier. Up until about 12pm it was just wet snow for the most part but when the sun came out it started getting more liquify so I quit at 1pm.
On Sunday I went to Killington and it started out at about 46-50 degrees and got warmer from there. It had stayed warm over night so the snow didn't set up at all.
Below is a picture taken about 11:30am of some of the water on the trails--this was fairly typical and in some places it was worse.
It's hard to tell from the picture but it was pure water in some places--not slush--pond skimming anyone?? The water made conditions a bit tricky and there were deep puddles getting on and off many of the lifts that you really couldn't avoid.
I feel like I didn't ski my best the past 2 days due to the wet conditions, but I am happy that I managed to survive the days without incident. And 2-3 years ago I wouldn't have been able to handle these sorts of conditions at all, so I guess that is improvement. I stopped skiing at 12pm when the water really started to flow. In the afternoon I took a snowboarding lesson instead of skiing, as "waterskiing" didn't really appeal to me, but "surfing" looked like more fun. The lesson was good and i was happy I didn't fall in any puddles.
Everyone was talking about how the conditions looked more like mid/late april than mid march and even employees were saying they were wondering how they were going to make it closing day . . .and if they do it will likely be just a few trails. So unless we get a freak snowstorm in the next few weeks I think my season is done. Just 10 days this year but the last 2 were fun anyway despite the conditions. Now I just have to clean my skis-- they are filthy dirty from being submerged a few times!
Anyway, I was at Okemo on Saturday and it started out about 39 degrees and cloudy with fog down to about mid mountain. Considering it's only mid March, at first it was a bit horrifying how much snow they have lost. It was definitely "spring conditions" with soft wet snow, a few rocks, grass etc. Some areas had pretty good coverage (Vortex and Quantum Leap over at Jackson Gore come to mind) while others were quite thin. Below is a photo taken from one of the lifts which shows what is left of one of the trails (I can't remember which one, it might be Ledges)
In the afternoon the sun came out and it got slushier. Up until about 12pm it was just wet snow for the most part but when the sun came out it started getting more liquify so I quit at 1pm.
On Sunday I went to Killington and it started out at about 46-50 degrees and got warmer from there. It had stayed warm over night so the snow didn't set up at all.
Below is a picture taken about 11:30am of some of the water on the trails--this was fairly typical and in some places it was worse.
It's hard to tell from the picture but it was pure water in some places--not slush--pond skimming anyone?? The water made conditions a bit tricky and there were deep puddles getting on and off many of the lifts that you really couldn't avoid.
I feel like I didn't ski my best the past 2 days due to the wet conditions, but I am happy that I managed to survive the days without incident. And 2-3 years ago I wouldn't have been able to handle these sorts of conditions at all, so I guess that is improvement. I stopped skiing at 12pm when the water really started to flow. In the afternoon I took a snowboarding lesson instead of skiing, as "waterskiing" didn't really appeal to me, but "surfing" looked like more fun. The lesson was good and i was happy I didn't fall in any puddles.
Everyone was talking about how the conditions looked more like mid/late april than mid march and even employees were saying they were wondering how they were going to make it closing day . . .and if they do it will likely be just a few trails. So unless we get a freak snowstorm in the next few weeks I think my season is done. Just 10 days this year but the last 2 were fun anyway despite the conditions. Now I just have to clean my skis-- they are filthy dirty from being submerged a few times!
... surfing is fun (I've yet to try it on a snowboard though)
