What makes a great season?

The season’s not over, but the approaching end has me looking back. For the second year in a row it looks like I’ll hit 25 days, significantly below my long term average of 35. It was also the second consecutive season where snowfall was below average, especially in areas closest to home.

CRV in a snowstorm
Logistics

Still, I find myself thinking I had a great season. How can that be, it makes no sense?

It is so, in part, because greatness is relative. It’s in the eye of skiing beholder. If you’re not local to the mountains, great seasons start with a good attitude and an eye on the medium-term forecast.

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Greek Peak: Ontario Powder

I pointed it out before, the tail is now wagging the dog. My ski destination choices are now about more than proximity, snowfall and terrain.

There are now other questions to be addressed. Have I been to a ski area before or is it new to my list? When was the last time we featured the area on the front page? Can I find someone to ski with me?

America

Editorially for us, New York ski areas are best, VT a close second. My goal every season is to ski new NY areas. Especially prized are ski areas in Central and Western NY. In New York, I’ve never skied west of Greek Peak and I want to do it.

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Belleayre Run

Confession time, but I doubt any of the NYSB authors will be surprised; I’ve got a bit of an OCD thing going on. I obsess about numbers, among other things. With just a few exceptions, the only truly legitimate numbers are even, and some even numbers are better than others. The best numbers are divisible by other even numbers like 12, 16, 24 or 36.

Route 28

It effects me at work, slowing me down when I have to set column widths in a spreadsheet. It’s also effects my ski day count and maybe even my skiing. Last week looking at the weather ahead, I was sitting at 21 ski days and the weekend looked wet. Friday, on the other hand, was forecast to be sunny and very warm, at the end of a warm week. Skiing Friday felt right.

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