Massanutten 2015-16

[marzNC]

Finally . . . Massanutten is open for the season! I don't count the single day the week before Christmas. Today only Southern Comfort (long green). On 1/6/16 all the chairlifts will be running and the core trails, including Diamond Jim and Showtime.

The demo weekend by Freestyle on Jan. 9-10 is on, usually 9:30-2:30.

 

[marzNC]

The snow guns were on when I arrived at Mnut on Sun evening. Have been blasting on closed trails and the snow tubing area non-stop the last two days. Today the guns on Southern Comfort were off when it was open 9am-5pm. Overall, the snow was pretty decent with a few slick sections but mostly was packed manmade snow that had never melted.

Showtime (blue) on left, Diamond Jim on right


Big snow cloud on left is for snow tubing, added lanes and a second conveyor on the other side


Looking towards Geronimo (green)


Southern Comfort (long green) off Lift 4, around 12:30, temps in the 20s

 

[marzNC]

As of today Massanutten has all chairlifts running and night skiing is an option. Only Upper Showtime is not quite ready and will have snow guns on as long as it's cold enough. Just in time for the demo weekend by Freestyle of Charlottesville.

Definitely the latest full opening in my experience since starting to ski at Mnut in Dec 2004.

1/6/16 at 7:30 am - Massanutten's Ski Slopes are now open for day and night! Snowmaking will be in progress as temperatures allow.

Today we will be skiing and riding top to bottom on Lifts 3,4,5,& 6 serving terrain for all levels of ability. 9:00 am - 9:00 pm. Lift #5 is open to midstation today, Upper Showtime opens tomorrow. Regular Season rates will be in effect. College Days special, $40 Slope Use ticket with valid College ID.

Snow Tubing is scheduled to open today at 3:00 pm.

Freestyle Demo Days on Saturday at the base of lift #6.

 

[marzNC]

Pretty fun today. Unfortunately there was a power outage overnight that meant about 6 hours when the snow guns were off. DJ was a bit rough with what I think are called "chicken heads" in the morning when temps were in the 20s. Late afternoon it was better but still not much fun. In contrast, Lower Showtime was good. A few guns were still running there until about 10am.

The bottom of Geronimo is much bigger. With the new ski school building, there is now one entrance to the training area for both kids and adults. The temporary fencing put up no longer includes the old entrance that had the bell.

 

[LauraVa]

@marzNC. Did you go today? I was keeping an eye out, wondering if you were there.

 

[marzNC]

@marzNC. Did you go today? I was keeping an eye out, wondering if you were there.

Yep, was skiing from about 10:00. Mostly on Lift 5. Did the Silver Clinic with Walter there in the afternoon too. Got to ride up a few times with Julie. Sorry I missed you.

Upper Showtime was very nice after it soften a bit. DJ was okay but I prefer Paradice.

 

[LauraVa]

Sorry I missed you. I was there from around 12 to 2. See you Sunday.

 

[marzNC]

Will be skiing all day Sat. Demo skis available 9:00-2:30 at base of Lift 6. Hopefully doesn't rain too much Sat night.

 

[marzNC]

Finally going to be a "normal" weekend. Although still only the core trails with any snow. But that’s happened before. The first time Freestyle did a demo weekend, it was very warm and not that much was open. Coverage on DJ will be better today than that season.

1/9/16 at 7:15 am - Cloudy with highs around 45, rain possible this afternoon and tonight. Snowmaking tempeatures return on Sun.

Regular Season rates are in effect.

Snow Tubing opens at 9:00am today.

Freestyle Demo Days on Saturday & Sunday at the base of lift #6 from 9:00 - 2:30

 

[va_deb]

@marzNC Thanks for the update. Thinking about going down for demo day tomorrow but I just checked the forecast and it looks like a lot of rain overnight into early a.m. Do you think they have enough of a base built up? I'd hate to drive all the way down if conditions are bad and they cancel the demos.

 

[marzNC]

@marzNC Thanks for the update. Thinking about going down for demo day tomorrow but I just checked the forecast and it looks like a lot of rain overnight into early a.m. Do you think they have enough of a base built up? I'd hate to drive all the way down if conditions are bad and they cancel the demos.

There is plenty of snow on the trails that are open. But the connector between Lift 5 and 6 is not open. I took some skis over to Showtime any way since it wasn't that busy today. Don didn't bring as many skis this time. Freestyle definitely plans to demo 9:00-2:00. Might pack up early if not many people interested after lunch.

Conditions today were pretty much good spring skiing. Temps in the 40s. Clouds on the top half of DJ, but not really an issue for Upper Showtime. Can tell how much faster Mnut can build base when the weather cooperates. Much deeper than in the past when a Jan re-start was requited. Coverage is side-to-side even on Geronimo after a few warm days.

As for how much it rains on the mountain, hard to say. Since it won't freeze, I'm not that worried.

 

[va_deb]

Good to know that coverage is side to side on Geronimo at least. Was it crowded there today? Hoping tomorrow will be lighter. Too bad Don didn't bring as many as he did last time. Which ones did he bring? I'll look forward to your demo report.

Hope he has some in longer lengths too. Since I liked the Hells Belles in 162 last time I demoed I'm curious about the updated Wild Belle. I'd love to try at least one from each manufacturer.

 

[marzNC]

Coverage is side-to-side on all open trails. I mentioned Geronimo because it gets the most sun and tends to thin the fastest during "early season."

It's never crowded the first weekend after the holidays.

 

[marzNC]

The demo skis brought by Freestyle were Blizzard, K2, Rossignol, and Volkl for both men and women. Mostly two lengths for each of the women's skis, usually one around 150 and the other around 160. Per usual, more for Mid-Atlantic or front-side groomers. Width ranged from 77 to 90 underfoot.

Blizzard Viva X7ti
Volkl Yumi
Volkl Kenja
K2 BeLUVed
Rossi Temptation 77
Rossi Temptation 80

 

[marzNC]

Woohoo! the snow guns are on at Massanutten! It's 26 degrees as of 11pm after being at 50 degrees when I was leaving around 2:30 this afternoon. Should be snowmaking temps every night this week. Should be pretty nice for the MLK weekend.

 

[LauraVa]

Skied from 12 to 2 today at Mnut. They were blowing snow on Paradice and Yee Haw the entire time. Hoping they'll be open Thursday as they are looking good.

 

[marzNC]

Skied from 12 to 2 today at Mnut. They were blowing snow on Paradice and Yee Haw the entire time. Hoping they'll be open Thursday as they are looking good.

Certainly hope so. Decided to head back to Mnut tomorrow. Will ski Thu morning, then do another Silver Clinic. My friends with kids will drive up on Friday for the holiday weekend. Very happy with the timing of the cold weather!

 

[marzNC]

Really, really fun day at Massanutten today! Paradice and the connector trails between Lifts 5 and 6 opened for the first time. Even though air temps were in the 40s, the base is already deep enough that Paradice had shady sections that never softened. DJ was very nice all day.

@LauraVa was around in the morning. We skied a few runs with another Gold Clinic participant off Lift 6. The Gold Clinic is an experimental multi-week program on Sun mornings for Level 6-9 folks. First session was last Sun. I got another solo Silver Clinic with Walter in the afternoon. Trying to work on technique as much as possible to heading out west in late Jan.

 

[va_deb]

Great to see you last week, @marzNC, and sorry I missed you, @LauraVa. Mei Mei, any idea how Mnut blacks and blues fared with the rain Friday? Mr. vaDeb is debating between Mnut (he got the value pass) and Timberline tomorrow.

 

[marzNC]

Great to see you last week, @marzNC, and sorry I missed you, @LauraVa. Mei Mei, any idea how Mnut blacks and blues fared with the rain Friday? Mr. vaDeb is debating between Mnut (he got the value pass) and Timberline tomorrow.

Only rained a little on the mountain in the late afternoon and early evening on Thu. Made virtually no difference in the snow conditions on 1/15. Today was an excellent day with spring conditions, temps in the 50s, and mostly blue sky. The base on all the open slopes is deep enough that there were no thin spots to worry about. Great for my friend's kids who were having their first day on snow with the help of ski school.

Sunday morning the slopes will be on the frozen side in the morning. It's already down to 33 on the mountain as of 8:30pm. I assume the groomers will go right to work as soon as night skiing ends.