NE Skiing: Intel needed

[72gmc]

Looks great! As great as anywhere can look in a snow year like this year.

I also have Nordica skis and like them a lot.

[j44ke]

Looks like a nice evening well spent! Ice started coming down later?

I can see the lights at the top from my porch. And when they make snow, I can hear the machines humming. Not loud. Just there.

On a night right at freezing temp with a "wintery mix" coming down (what we had here last night,) do they make snow just to protect what they have or does that just add to the slush factor?

[SlowPokePete]

I think they make snow if they can no matter what.

SPP

[htwoopup]

I think they make snow if they can no matter what.

SPP

That’s interesting. In my little North Country town, the local hill is in a National Park within a Province and in the local Village. Laws somehow work really differently than the US as to what takes precedence.

Our town actually has 100 lakes, 5 rivers and who knows how many ponds. Some folks get their water from wells and we (like many neighbors) get our water from the lake we abut.

That said, our ski hill has to stop making snow on some date in January due to a town environmental law to protect the water supply. Which is also so interesting because one would think that the melt would just run off the mountain into the lakes at the bottom of the hill and the two rivers that run through that area. And, the electricity which runs the pumps is all from HydroQuebec which is hydropower.

So, I am not sure how the law became necessary but it is an absolute don’t mess with it law. Makes me wonder if there is any reason to worry about water supplies or flora/ fauna or something in the Berkshires/ Catskills or if the Quebecois are thinking of something else.

[caleb]

@htwoopup No idea about Catamount, but some places have dug their own ponds so they don't draw from a municipal water supply or a well.

[j44ke]

@htwoopup No idea about Catamount, but some places have dug their own ponds so they don't draw from a municipal water supply or a well.

Catamount has at least one holding pond and maybe two. Their property is also at the headwater of a tributary of the Roeliff Janesen Kill that flows through Hillsdale and almost the rest of Columbia County. I don't know if they tap into that, but it is a good location.

[vertical_doug]

Is this Temblant? I don't think the law is a date as much as a water budget thing. They probably have a fixed budget for the amount of water they can draw from the surrounding water shed. I suspect they plan to make as much base as the water budget allows, and once spent, the efforts focuses on preservation of the base with specific grooming plans etc. Once the days get longer and it begins to warm , you can't make snow, and the few days it gets cold enough to snow, the artificial snows doesn't last long enough to justify the added expense of making.

[htwoopup]

Is this Temblant?

It used to be a budget thing. But between 5 and 10 years ago they made this local enviro law..it came up in a dinner party convo again right before Christmas with a facilities person at Alterra who was hoping for the temps to drop enough so they could run the guns 24/7 because the weather had been so warm and they needed to get the base up before the guns were not allowed at some point in January. Last year, it was a later date but it is based on a usage number somehow. They had the money to run guns longer but the Village prohibited them and they actually had to close some of the trails at the end of January and through February because they didn’t have enough snow last year (and this year we have only just over half of last year). As to budget, I am not sure how anyone new will come to the sport. The day tickets are a couple hundred Canadian, rentals are crazy, lessons are 700 CAD. And the place is crowded as they are selling over capacity. They are building new hotels (as surmised above) so there isn’t necessarily a budget issue. This guy was saying it is a dance between days they can blow, how much water they are moving, and the village.

Edit to add I am thankful that I am legally a Canadian and Mont Tremblant resident so they are required to sell me a season pass (with some restrictions) for very little.

[htwoopup]

Of course @verticaldoug, you may be right and the mountain employees (particularly at the level this guy is at) would rather blame the gubmint than admit that they didn’t quite do their job right.

[ides1056]

A first place in World Cup competition for a US skier:

https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/n...%20on%20Sunday.

[Bobonli]

Pete, good for you!! Catamount is an excellent place for the location, particularly since you live right there. I took the family there in 2021 and had a great time and nice AirBnB in Hudson, run by the local real estate agent. Plenty of stuff to ski.

I'm just back from Killington. Haven't been there since 1996 and, honestly, I didn't recognize a damn thing about the place. I got into a discussion with a random stranger visiting from MT, who asked me "What the hell is this...a parking lot reserved exclusively for Subarus!?!? I don't recognize this (expletive) planet anymore!" Lift tix and rental for 4 people was over $2500 for 3 days of skiing. $143 per day, per adult for the lifts. My kids are still growing so rentals are pretty much required at this point...though if we had our wits about ourselves we would've done a local seasonal rental for a lot less. It's not an inexpensive sport.

We've been alternating between Whiteface and Gore. Killington seemed to have better snow conditions and since we haven't been there with the kids we thought we'd take the trip. It really is a very nice place and they make a delicious cheeseburger ($26) but when you total it up you realize you can really only ski at a place like this once a year. I can only imagine what it costs to ski at Vail, Snowbird or a place like that, not even counting the airfare.

Catamount is within a nice striking distance from Long Island. It would be a long day in the car, back and forth, but much cheaper than Windham. Maybe we'll squeeze in a day trip before the snow melts.

[j44ke]

...

Catamount is within a nice striking distance from Long Island. It would be a long day in the car, back and forth, but much cheaper than Windham. Maybe we'll squeeze in a day trip before the snow melts.

Tomorrow might be the day to do that. Tonight it is going down to 13F and no higher than 39F Sun. However, next week in the avg day temps 40-45F and night temps avg above freezing with rain Weds and then rain all first week of March.

Of course last year I think we got two snowstorms in March so maybe.....

[Bongobob]

Pete, how old are you? When you hit 70 the rates at a lot of areas decrease. My season pass at Thunder Ridge was $299. Small area, only 45 minutes from White Plains. I am 74, just happy to be able to make turns. A friend's pass at the Middlebury snow Bowl was about $160. I think Catamounts pass for super seniors is reasonable.

Windham--many years ago Windham was open to the public, then went private, or semi private. Have cousins who were members, had a house in Windham for quite a few years. The experiment failed. It went public again. I was there in the fall a few years ago. The base area is really developed now, high rise condos, much more developed than when I skied there twenty years ago.

[SlowPokePete]

I'll be 60 for next season, and Catamount gives a discount on some tickets for 60 and up.

Now I am looking at Belleayre...$57 for day ticket during the week and only 1 1/2 hours away.

SPP

[SlowPokePete]

This might be the first time in my entire life that I wanted winter to hang on a while longer.

February 25, 2024 by SPP™ SlowPokePete, on Flickr

SPP

[ides1056]

Any farmer around will tell you its not over yet.

[vertical_doug]

I'll be 60 for next season, and Catamount gives a discount on some tickets for 60 and up.

Now I am looking at Belleayre...$57 for day ticket during the week and only 1 1/2 hours away.

SPP

I actually think if it is snowing and Ripper and Catapult are open, it is the best deal around. Otherwise, I'd haul my retired ass up to Sugarbush or Jay.

[Tom]

Whiteface.

I haven't been to Gore since a lot of the new trails were added but the old place was great. Unless that one lift stalled after you came out of the woods and there you were in a forty mile an hour wind straight from Alberta.

[Bongobob]

Two weekends ago EISA--the D1 ski schools in the northeast- raced a slalom at Catamount. It was a makeup race for the UVM slalom that was postponed. I read one report, the coaches and racers said they felt Catamount made them feel wanted, not felt at all the areas they race at.

[SlowPokePete]

I actually think if it is snowing and Ripper and Catapult are open, it is the best deal around. Otherwise, I'd haul my retired ass up to Sugarbush or Jay.

You are definitely overestimating my level of ability lol.

Anyway, a very cold Thursday and quite the deal at Butternut for Friday ($25 full day pass) means that's where I'm headed on tomorrow.

After that, the weather is looking consistently warm, so potentially the last ski of the season.

Not to worry, though...I've got my eye on this old BMW airhead that's been tucked away since Fall...and bicycles, and kayaks, and ................

SPP