Epic/Vail woes

[sorcamc]

I am so aggravated and this will sound so petty, but I am so mad at Vail. We bought the passes hoping to use them Christmas week. JFBB had absolute crap conditions so we didn't use them at all. I bought passes for two of my three "adult" kids. My daughter has Spring Break, but air fare to Park city (and anywhere out west) was over 700 a piece, so I looked at predicted closing dates of resorts and saw "mount snow April 17". Thought - GREAT! They are known for some of the best snow making on the East coast, so SURELY, on March 13, a full month earlier, they'd make snow...right? Right?? Well, no. As of now, they are 34% open. They were 100 percent open just over a week ago. They got 4-6 inches of snow last night, so I thought they'd open more, but so far they havent. I booked a ski out condo that is non refundable (another frustration with Air BNB) and now I feel like I am taking my daughter on a crappy vacation. I am so disappointed. Mad at myself for not just booking the $ flights...really mad at Vail that my kids didnt even get to use their passes (son refuses to wait in hour long Iines) and daughter away at college so THIS was going to be our week. Why the F isn't the resort making snow if they have a month to go~ SO annoyed. Do you thin maybe they are just letting the new snow go untouched do they can open more for the weekend?

 

[sorcamc]

I am so sad. I just wanted to give my daughter a quality trip and now we are stuck at a mountain with very few trails. Anyone at a mountain with snow wanna adopt us for a couple days?

 

[newboots]

I’m not sure about Mt. Snow. Some resorts don’t make snow in the spring. Others, like Killington, make a name for themselves with a long season.

But in better news, a bigger storm is on its way this weekend. I’m not sure where its coverage will be, but check the weather reports for Snow and check out Skiology Matt on Facebook.

 

[sorcamc]

Yes, I have been following it like crazy, You think if they get 6-8 they will reopen the trails?

 

[newboots]

I don’t know! That storm will add to whatever they have. And they might be making snow - not all resorts do.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

As Newboots mentioned many resorts especially out west do not make any snow after the 1st of the year for water conservation reasons. Our temps were too warm in Jackson Hole for most of december so our current snowpack is the worst ive seen it in 20 years. We had a 20 inch dump the past two days and they are not reopening the 15 per cent or so of the runs that had lost too much snow the past few weeks. 20 inches of snow fall pack down to only an inch or two. Some of the issues go far beyond the corporate greed, such as climate change and the unpredictability of weather and snow fall. So sorry this happened.

 

[marzNC]

I am so sad. I just wanted to give my daughter a quality trip and now we are stuck at a mountain with very few trails. Anyone at a mountain with snow wanna adopt us for a couple days?

So sorry it's not working out.

The worst ski trip for my daughter was during a high school spring break. We went to Alta and Powder Mountain the second week of March. That's mid-season so obviously we were hoping for great snow. But the weather was warm that week . . . way too warm. Meaning in the 50s by the afternoon at Alta and mid-morning at PowMow. The snow was too sticky to bother to stay on the slopes after 1:30 or so.

Mother Nature is still in charge when it comes to whether or not March and April are good for skiing, regardless of what snowmaking infrastructure is in place at a ski resort.

 

[Jilly]

There is quite a cost to making snow. Any business has to look at the that versus the revenue it will create. So if they turn on the snow making equipment now, will the expense be retrieved. Probably not. As the snow leaves everyone's backyard they start to think about golf, tennis and beach. They are done with winter.

I know in Quebec, Hydro Quebec gives the ski resorts a deal on power to make snow. But it only lasts so long. And there is limit to how much water they are allowed to draw from the lake. Even with a snow-making pond. Not sure how it works, in the north-eastern US.

 

[Christy]

Sorry the conditions are so bad. :( That is very disappointing. I don't have any insight about snowmaking, but I think some of us have strategies to help deal with potential poor conditions on vacation. For example, only booking refundable reservations (this would be hard for me as the hotels/cabins I like are never fully refundable), booking last minute (not without it's downsides), or, my own strategy: booking only a place where I will still be happy even if conditions are so poor I don't ski much.

 

[sorcamc]

Sorry the conditions are so bad. :( That is very disappointing. I don't have any insight about snowmaking, but I think some of us have strategies to help deal with potential poor conditions on vacation. For example, only booking refundable reservations (this would be hard for me as the hotels/cabins I like are never fully refundable), booking last minute (not without it's downsides), or, my own strategy: booking only a place where I will still be happy even if conditions are so poor I don't ski much.

Yes!! If nothing else, it’s a learning experience for me and my daughter. My gut was to book through the resort directly, but then I switched to Airbnb- I looked at so many I thought this was refundable. Live and learn. If it’s not ski out- due to conditions- I will def take that up w air bnb since I asked earlier this week if I could cancel and get a future credit

 

[SallyCat]

Most resorts in the east don't make snow after the February vacation period. As Jilly said, it's crazy expensive. Mt. Snow has really good snowmaking capability, but this winter's weather has been brutal. There must be rock-hard boilerplate underneath everything at this point, and even a good snowstorm can only do so much to mitigate that. It's not really Vail's fault, we've just had a terrible winter.

Dover's a pretty area and not too far from Manchester. Maybe plan some off-mountain activities just as a Plan B? (I don't mean to minimize your disappointment, which I totally understand).

 

[Lmk92]

OTOH, NY resorts seem to continue to make snow whenever they can. I noticed Belleayre (in the Catskills) had their snow guns blasting just a few days ago. It really seems to depend on the mountain.

I've also been watching Jay very closely. I'm going there at the end of the month, and my fingers are crossed for maintaining their current conditions.

 

[Lmk92]

Oof. I just took a peek at Killington's status. This is the week we would be there, had we gone. None of the condo trails are even open. Rough year for skiing.

 

[ilovepugs]

@Lmk92 when are you going to Jay? I might join you. Unlike here in Chittenden county just north of Sugarbush where most land is just visible bare dirt, the Northeast Kingdom still has plenty of snow on the ground.

 

[sorcamc]

I see Okemo has more open, so it looks to be an hour drive. I guess all is not lost. I know Okemo a bit, so we can do day trips if mt snow is less than ideal

 

[Lmk92]

@Lmk92 when are you going to Jay? I might join you. Unlike here in Chittenden county just north of Sugarbush where most land is just visible bare dirt, the Northeast Kingdom still has plenty of snow on the ground.

That would be great! I'll be there March 23rd. I'm watching those blue glades very closely

 

[Lmk92]

I see Okemo has more open, so it looks to be an hour drive. I guess all is not lost. I know Okemo a bit, so we can do day trips if mt snow is less than ideal

I switched my plans from Mt Snow to Okemo for that reason. I'm going March 21st

 

[elemmac]

Sorry about the disappointment. It's always a gamble when booking in advance. But, there's still hope...I've had some amazing vacations even when the conditions weren't note-worthy. I agree with other suggestions for looking at off-mountain activities, or day tripping to another mountain. Manchester is a cute town to explore or the Village Roost in Wilmington is an amazing little coffee/sandwich shop that I stop at whenever I'm out that way. You say "adult" children...if they're 21, the Vermont Distillers near Hogback mountain might be a good way to spend an afternoon (I've never stopped at the distillery but their Maple Liqueur is a regular purchase from our local liquor store).

 

[sorcamc]

I was just at Okemo in Feb and it was great. Figured Id try something different..Bad decision! LOL. oh well. Time in car w my girl will be nice. I just know she will want to sleep, so early morning push will be a struggle, but she's never turned down an afternoon/evening nap..hahaha. I have another friend going also, so we will make most of it

 

[sorcamc]

I was going to ask, any fun bars not far from Mt Snow? Cool restaurants? If the snow isn't epic, we can at least make the meals/drinks/memories epic. Near mountain would be best so we can uber, but if anyone knows more great places, Im up for suggestions...even on road between mt snow and Okemo...I think that's 100