New England weather blues

[liquidfeet]

Darn!

I'm packed up, and ready to go north to ski this weekend. But just took a look at the weather reports. Rain Rain Rain. Sunday looks sunny, but after all that rain I guess I'll be honing my ice skiing skills. Which is OK, but no Friday nor Saturday skiing. Darn!

Anybody else have anything more eloquent to say about the weather so far this year in New England?

 

[Jilly]

Yes this liquid snow if driving me nuts. But I don't have to pay some guy to plow the driveway, but I may have to get the lawn mower out. As for skiing, try to buy a r#@n poncho. Mine is made by Descente. Its great. It's big enough to go over my suit and because I'm kinda short (5'5) it falls below the knees so I can sit on it on the chair. The plastic garbage bags just don't cut it after this purchase. As we say on the Tremblant-insider forum - SNOW DANCE FOLKS.

 

[RachelV]

It's going to be 67 here on Saturday! SIXTY-SEVEN!!! On January 6th! I think I'm going to go sit in the park and contemplate the coming apocalypse. :P

We're actually thinking of taking a leisurely drive up to Killington on Saturday morning, then skiing Saturday afternoon (hopefully the rain will be done by then) and all day Sunday. Sunday does look like it's going to be absolutely beautiful... hopefully things aren't too torn up by then. We'll check the weather tomorrow morning and decide then. If we don't ski, at least we'll be able to get a nice bike ride in. :P

This is really getting a little ridiculous.

 

[Kimmyt]

I'm bummed. I have a trip to So. VT planned for the end of January. If the weather doesn't get any better I don't know what I am going to do...

I figured that end of Jan was a safe bet! I mean, come on!

Anyways, I'm going CYCLING this weekend since it's supposed to be sunny and 70 degrees (after the rain stops anyway). I can't believe I'll probably be rocking my shorts in the middle of January on a bike ride!

Sheesh this is crazy!

 

[ski diva]

I skied this morning at Okemo, and it was, shall we say, somewhat less than stellar. Soft snow (which I don't mind), along with spritzy rain and a lot of bare spots (you really had to be careful). I'm afraid what the rain and warm temperatures predicted for tomorrow will do. I have friends coming up from PA to ski Monday and Tuesday, and I don't want them to be disappointed. :(

 

[num]

I'm in New York right now and flying back to Chicago on Sunday. I was originally planning to bring my skis and take a little trip with my friends out here, but with the way the weather's been I realized it wouldn't be worth it. Maybe I can shoot up to Wisconsin for a night ski Sunday.

I knew it was supposed to be warm out here, so I came wearing a tank top and a cropped sweater shrug thing and I was way too hot. I'm hot blooded in general, but come on, it's January!

 

[ski diva]

NBC had a feature on the news this evening about the unusually warm weather in the northeast. In the report, NOAA said that the warm-up in the region is not the result of global warming; rather, it's due to an El Nino that began last summer and threatens to continue throughout the winter -- even into the spring!

Curse you, El Nino!

 

[Grace]

this is totally awful!

we just got back from Jay Peak - couldn't cancel the guest house so decided to go despite the conditions - there were barely any trails open and what was open was a mix of sheet ice and bare ground. And poor Blue Mountain closed today!

 

[Jilly]

That would be both Blue's. Blue Mountain, Collingwood, Ontario an Intrawest resort, had to close too because of the weather. Many other places are closing too. Snow dance divas!!

 

[ski diva]

From Reuter's News Service:

NEW YORK (Reuters) — El Nino, a climate pattern that can wreak havoc around the world, will stay at least until spring 2007, a monthly report by the Climate Prediction Center said Thursday.
The CPC, an agency of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, said on its website that El Nino will stay "for the remainder of 2006 and into the northern hemisphere spring of 2007."

El Nino is an abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean which causes wild swings in weather from Asia to South America — causing searing drought in some and rampant flooding in others.

El Nino means 'little boy' in Spanish. The phenomenon was given the name by its first observers, South American anchovy fishermen in the 19th century, because it normally peaked around Christmas.

The CPC said "typical" El Nino effects are likely to develop over North America during the winter.

This would include "warmer-than-average temperatures over western and central Canada, and over the western and northern USA, wetter-than-average conditions over portions of the Gulf Coast and Florida, and drier-than-average conditions in the Ohio Valley and the Pacific Northwest."

And that's what they say is responsible for this mess of a winter in New England.

 

[SnowHot]

Crystal Mountain Michigan has gone above and beyond to make skiing bearable here. Alas, they are losing the battle.
Friday I took the afternoon off to ski with my nephew before he went back to college. It was horrible!
Poor Crystal...the base they worked so hard to keep on the main hills is not only bare but non existent in many spots.

I am NOT a ski snob. I will ski in pretty much any condition and have a smile on my face while I'm doing it. But this made me take my boots off and head home.:(
This is a first.
The good news is:
There is snow and cold temps in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday.
The Bad news is:
I don't trust the forecast

 

[Lola]

Well, the weather has been giving me the skiing blues. The forecast today for the Philly area is 68°. Can you believe it? I remember when El Niño hit in the 1990's. It was the second weekend in January, and we were set to ski an entire week at Surgarbush in Vermont. We drove up on Sunday night, and bright and early Monday morning, we drove over to the mountain. When we got their, my son, (who was about 5 or 6 at the time) looked up at the ski slope from the car and said, "You call this a ski area? Give me a break!" which was, after all, a fairly realistic observation (out of the mouths of babes).

We decided to ski Sugarbush North anyway. So we had to ride the first chairlift up with our skis over our shoulders, because there was no snow. Then we had to walk over to the second lift and carry our skis up. When we got off at the top of Sugarbush North, there was one trail open with very thin cover and lots and lots of brown spots. We skied the trail which only went about 3/4 of the way to the lift, becaue the snow stopped. Sugarbush had laid hay down for the last 1/4 of the trail. So then we had to trek over the hay to get to the lift.

We took the trail maybe 3 or 4 times before we decided to quit at about 10 am. We got the rest of our money back from Sugarbush for our lodging and drove home the next day. I actually went back to work on Wednesday of my vacation week. What a flub of a ski vacation. Ah, but what great memories of skiing on hay!

:D

 

[SnowHot]

Lola,

That sounds just awful! Do you have any pictures to go with those great memories? I am sure Phil was a trooper through the whole week.

 

[Lilgeorg]

Lola,

That sounds just awful! Do you have any pictures to go with those great memories? I am sure Phil was a trooper through the whole week.

That is not my memory. My memory says that we left Sugarbush and went to Okemo where the snow was somewhat better. But, we did leave on Wednesday. Phil was less than cheerful. That was before he was " go with the flow Phil."

 

[volklgirl]

If we don't get the cold weather they're predicting, Crystal will be closing. They've shortened their hours starting tomorrow and are considering being closed during the week. We've gone from a high of 24 runs this year to 8, and many of those are beginning to have huge dirt patches. While racing today, the snow was so soft we were actually digging into the dirt at one of the gates. Not the brown dirt that gets pulled up by the snowcats....actual black dirt with chunks of grass and stones! Yikes!

Still....at least we are skiing. All the resorts south of Caberfae are closed and The Homestead never even opened.

 

[Lola]

Lola,

That sounds just awful! Do you have any pictures to go with those great memories? I am sure Phil was a trooper through the whole week.

These pictures were taken 1/15/05. As bad as this year is...

The base of Sugarbush North

The summit chair at Sugarbush North, See the hay we had to ski on to get to the lift?

"Thin Cover", a bit of an understatement, don't ya think?

Notice I am on 193cm skis and Lil is on 195's!

See, Phil is actually smiling, what a trooper. He must already be "Go with the flow Phil" by now! Sarah, Kristi's friend is in the yellow SOS. Lil is in the blue SOS. Jim is enjoying life. Kristi's hand is in the corner, note the pink SOS*.


*Phil made me note all the SOS, he is soooo 1995 with style.

 

[ISki]

I hope you get some cold weather and some snow!

Just checked the Mount Snow web site 'cause I'm familiar with the mountain. WOW, not good, so much is closed! I remember one very bad season we skied on hay there but it was before snowmaking equipment was put in.

It's still kinda sorta early, though. The season is still young.

Think snow!

 

[snowflake]

Sounds like you ladies need a trip out west. I would suggest either CO or WA.

PS. Lola...great pics!:D

 

[Margaritamarcia]

STOP THE JET STREAM

That's the key.....alas......there is nothin here either. Not even enough to try and go up a few hours drive to check it out.

The good news for us is that we will be going to Aspen for ESA in 2 weeks. Then in Feb. to Tahoe for a few days. (Thanks for frequent flyer miles). So there will be skiing in my winter, but I think that will be the only days on snow. :(

Loved the photos.

 

[SnowHot]

*Phil made me note all the SOS, he is soooo 1995 with style.

LMAO
At least he's not wearing Red with the purple ski pants.;)
BTW, are those pants around your house anywhere? I'd like to see if your son can wear them on Retro Day!