The weather in the East STINKS right now!

[tinymoose]

It was a bizarre 67 here in SE PA when I went out for lunch. Felt like late spring.

 

[MissySki]

It was a bizarre 67 here in SE PA when I went out for lunch. Felt like late spring.

Wow that’s insanely warm!! Low 40s in MA today, amazing how much warmer where you are.

 

[ski now work later]

I just HAVE to vent.

After a slow start to the season, we had TWO FEET of snow here in Vermont right before Christmas, and then.....the rains and warm temps arrived.. Now we're supposed to get rain again for the next two days, after which it'll finally cool down. I know they'll be blasting snow once that happens. And really, who am I to complain, since (as of today) I have 27 ski days? And actually, I like the nice, soft snow. It's just that the coverage is deteriorating now and it'll only get worse before it gets better. And the drop in temps is going to make everything freeze up after the rain. And we look at the weather reports and see how they're getting HAMMERED out west.

God, it's frustrating being an East Coast skier.

Tell me about it, I have not even had day 1 yet because I was busy during that short window when we had snow and my local mountain didn't have too many trails open. Sigh.

 

[ski now work later]

We're planning two days at Bershire East, 2 days at Waterville valley, and then a quick stop in at Pat's Peak on the way home.

Which days at Berkshire East? I'm hoping to head up on Sunday morning for my first turns of the season.

 

[Lmk92]

Which days at Berkshire East? I'm hoping to head up on Sunday morning for my first turns of the season.

Hopefully Sunday and Monday. Sigh. My daughter was just told her front tooth could break off at any time, and she's leaving for Morocco at the end of the month, then off to Togo not long after she gets back. So we're scurrying to get her seen at the periodontist. You know it's going to be during our trip.

 

[Flowergirl88]

Go with Steamboat. Of course, I've never skied the east so what do I know? But I have skied Steamboat!

Thank you for the vote of confidence! I'm debating between Copper Mountain and Steamboat now...!

 

[santacruz skier]

I’ve al

Thank you for the vote of confidence! I'm debating between Copper Mountain and Steamboat now...!

I’ve also skied Copper. Another good choice!

 

[SarahXC]

I have skied both Steamboat and Copper. For me Steamboat is worth the extra travel!

 

[marzNC]

I have skied both Steamboat and Copper. For me Steamboat is worth the extra travel!

While I agree in general, for a quick trip (Jan. 25-29) with younger kids there is something to be said for sticking with the simpler layout that Copper has for advanced beginners and intermediates. That assumes the family can handle the higher elevation. Base of Steamboat is around 7000 ft while the base of Copper is close to 10,000 ft.

We have a trip planned out for Sunday River at the END of January (1/25 to 1/29). HOWEVER, I managed to book super cheap fares with Frontier last night to Denver

Have to say I would never fly from where I live in the southeast to ski in the northeast. All my skiing in the northeast has been when I had other reasons to drive north during ski season.

 

[Amie H]

Hasn't been too good in the Chicagoland/South-Central WI area, either. Rain, rain, and rain. Haven't had a chance to use my bonus days at Wilmot yet, but hopefully by mid-February they will have the place open! I'm determined to do a Friday night ski at Cascade, too. Soon!

 

[artistinsuburbia]

Thank you for the vote of confidence! I'm debating between Copper Mountain and Steamboat now...!

I skied Copper last year. Fun mountain. And you can hit up A Basin while you're there or Breck or Keystone or Loveland...

 

[Abbi]

So... what would you ladies do? We have a trip planned out for Sunday River at the END of January (1/25 to 1/29). HOWEVER, I managed to book super cheap fares with Frontier last night to Denver to hit up Steamboat instead for that week. The only downside of this is that we will be holding about $600 of Southwest credit if I cancelled our flights out to Portland, Maine. Other than that, the lodging cancellation only has a $25 cancellation fee for Sunday River... and I managed to find somewhat reasonable lodging out at Steamboat already... What would you do? Stick with the original Sunday River plan? OR... just keep the Southwest airfare credit for some trip somewhere later and head to Steamboat for the same time? Thanks!

STEAMBOAT!

 

[Mudgirl630]

So... what would you ladies do? We have a trip planned out for Sunday River at the END of January (1/25 to 1/29). HOWEVER, I managed to book super cheap fares with Frontier last night to Denver to hit up Steamboat instead for that week. The only downside of this is that we will be holding about $600 of Southwest credit if I cancelled our flights out to Portland, Maine. Other than that, the lodging cancellation only has a $25 cancellation fee for Sunday River... and I managed to find somewhat reasonable lodging out at Steamboat already... What would you do? Stick with the original Sunday River plan? OR... just keep the Southwest airfare credit for some trip somewhere later and head to Steamboat for the same time? Thanks!

Forget Sunday River, wherever that is I have never heard of and go to Steamboat.

I ski in Aspen the entire seasons. It has been one of the best seasons ever. We are expecting more snow tomorrow. Today will be my 47th day.

 

[Iwannaski]

I’m super grateful that I had time in December to ski 6-7 days, because we had cold weather and snow cover. This last week has devastated the hill. It’s open today, but I’m not going because it was ice chunks, ice sheets and other miscellany last time I went and while it is a good challenge, I don’t want to. ;)

It looks like they will have good blowing weather friday and Saturday nights, so hopefully I can maintain my Sunday am routine for the next two weeks before we head to granite for our third annual weekend there with our friends.

If this weather is the new normal, I’m thinking of getting the Indy Pass add on with a different hill pass, because at least then some further north options would open up if the weather here craps out. It’s a bummer because I think of the easily driveables, ours has the BEST snow management, but there’s only so much they can do about this warmth!!

 

[MissySki]

Sunday River was able to start blowing again last night, and say they will be doing so today too. I imagine others who can will also take advantage of any blowing window that presents itself. They have 364 acres open still today, Killington has 325 acres. Those are some of the best in the Northeast I imagine, and some of the resorts who can recover more quickly and better than most after these events. They are used to it and will push hard. Temps look good going forward for quite awhile now for blowing temperatures at night and some days too. It's still early East Coasters, lets see what happens through this month. There are many times when late December and early January are real crap shoots here and then things turn around.

I still think it's early to freak out about it in generalities of new normals etc. Yes, early season has been warmer in general the last few years, but we are also in a specific pattern where the cold for the East coast is being blocked from descending right now. Frustrating for sure. I won't be able to do the concept justice by explaining, but if you check out Skiology Weather and News on Facebook - Skiology Matt did a great write up on it a couple of days ago. Hopefully the pattern changes soon, that's the tentative hope for the backside of this month, but we'll see.

 

[marzNC]

If this weather is the new normal, I’m thinking of getting the Indy Pass add on with a different hill pass, because at least then some further north options would open up if the weather here craps out. It’s a bummer because I think of the easily driveables, ours has the BEST snow management, but there’s only so much they can do about this warmth!!

Getting the Indy Pass as an add-on to a 1-location season pass is a great idea. Really only takes 1-2 weekend trips to get good value out of it. The primary advantage of a multi-mountain pass of any kind is being able to get to somewhere with decent snow when the local region is having weather issues.

Ironically, the southeast mountains will probably rebound faster because they are used to starting over in Jan or Feb after a warm spell. Been happening for decades. Current snowmaking technology and water supply makes it easier than for some other regions. The West Virginia ski areas/resorts were able to keep more than 70% of the trails open this week. Snowmaking weather returns shortly.

 

[Luvs2ski]

So... what would you ladies do? We have a trip planned out for Sunday River at the END of January (1/25 to 1/29). HOWEVER, I managed to book super cheap fares with Frontier last night to Denver to hit up Steamboat instead for that week. The only downside of this is that we will be holding about $600 of Southwest credit if I cancelled our flights out to Portland, Maine. Other than that, the lodging cancellation only has a $25 cancellation fee for Sunday River... and I managed to find somewhat reasonable lodging out at Steamboat already... What would you do? Stick with the original Sunday River plan? OR... just keep the Southwest airfare credit for some trip somewhere later and head to Steamboat for the same time? Thanks!

I would also vote Steamboat (never skied there), but the weather here in New England is just so erratic …feel like you may get better snow out west?!

 

[bsskier]

So... what would you ladies do? We have a trip planned out for Sunday River at the END of January (1/25 to 1/29). HOWEVER, I managed to book super cheap fares with Frontier last night to Denver to hit up Steamboat instead for that week. The only downside of this is that we will be holding about $600 of Southwest credit if I cancelled our flights out to Portland, Maine. Other than that, the lodging cancellation only has a $25 cancellation fee for Sunday River... and I managed to find somewhat reasonable lodging out at Steamboat already... What would you do? Stick with the original Sunday River plan? OR... just keep the Southwest airfare credit for some trip somewhere later and head to Steamboat for the same time? Thanks!

If you booked air tickets already, I’d say your headed to the boat.

 

[Flowergirl88]

Sorry ladies... forgot to give an update! We are FOR SURE heading to Steamboat! The hot springs are calling my name...! And I managed to get excellent lodging for last minute 'cheap' pricing!!! Which will make managing the little ones a LOT easier. I'm super super super excited!!! Thanks for all the help and advice with deciding everyone!

 

[Jenny]

Any optimistic forecasts out there? @BlueSkies - How is Jay looking?