Bristol Conditions

[Andy_ROC]

Nice night last night. No wind, good temps and a fun beer league race course. Crowds went up and down, but with full chair loading the singles line moved pretty quickly. Kids don't want to ride with old people though.I got ditched a couple of times-join up with a twosome or threesome, then as you advance to the chair they stay back.Lifties need to do some yelling!

Johnny, any signs they are going to start making snow on Lower North Star?

Also they really need to adjust the line set up at Comet Express. The alternating lines were too cramped last Saturday and they still need a good line sheriff to make the groups efficiently. Singles were coming through thinking they could pair up only to see them out of a group and riding alone while there was a big line behind. There's one girl that is a really good line boss.

Yeah and those big groups of kids... I hate to sound like a grumpy old man, but I call them Mountain Vermin.

 

[Johnny V.]

Johnny, any signs they are going to start making snow on Lower North Star?

I'm sure with the next cold spell they will get it open. Seeing it off Upper North Star, it's a good drop and you can see how much snow it takes to cover it.

Conditions today were nice, although we had gate training most of the morning. Soft piles were nice even on race skis. Still big whales on Upper Universe and Sunset-I imagine they will groom out at lease Sunset before the weekend. Not sure about Universe as last year they let that get moguled up.

Yes, they need a hard ass line attendant to have people quad up, although one woman and her two daughters last night did not want a single riding with them-OK, I respect that. I DO have granddaughters down there, so I have to be somewhat tolerant of the kids, but they sure can be a pain in the ass sometimes!

 

[Johnny V.]

Very firm today as opposed to yesterday's great conditions. Glad I'm not skiing at night tonight-it's gonna be a scraped off ice rink. I feel sorry for the patrollers who will be either giving courtesy rides or hauling carnage off the hill.

Guns on Upper Meteor and the Loop, and I'm sure they will blast tonight and tomorrow to resurface with the cold temps. I'll pass on tomorrow, possibly ski Sunday and probably brave the MLK day crowds to ski with my grandkids.

 

[Andy_ROC]

Very firm today as opposed to yesterday's great conditions. Glad I'm not skiing at night tonight-it's gonna be a scraped off ice rink. I feel sorry for the patrollers who will be either giving courtesy rides or hauling carnage off the hill.

Guns on Upper Meteor and the Loop, and I'm sure they will blast tonight and tomorrow to resurface with the cold temps. I'll pass on tomorrow, possibly ski Sunday and probably brave the MLK day crowds to ski with my grandkids.

Hmm I was considering going tomorrow but I'm not a fan of skiing on very firm trails. But that happens. The cold doesn't really bother me.

 

[Johnny V.]

Today's report-day 21 for me:
Bluebird skies! With the cold I probably wouldn't have gone if it was overcast and gray. I got on the slopes about 9:40 and it was not too frigid, especially with the sun. Guns going on Upper Meteor, Morningstar, and the Challenger terrain/jump park. Conditions were better than Friday, but still slick and hard in some spots, especially Lower Galaxy. With the larger crowds (especially beginners and low intermediated-no knock, everyone has to start somewhere), you needed to keep it dialed down in many areas. New trails opened: Milky Way and the brand new Polaris trail off the Galaxy chair.

It was what a friend of mine refers to as a "lemming day"-the outer parking lots were filled when I left around 1:15 and there were quite a few people buying tickets (good for the montain!). The green slopes were crowded, but the steeper stuff wasn't nearly as bad as expected. The only major trails not open at this point are Morningstar and Lower Northstar. We'll see what happens with the predicted snowfall.

 

[Johnny V.]

According to the website, about 10" of new snow. If it's as heavy down there as it is in Rochester, it'll make for a good base. Full report later.

 

[Johnny V.]

It kept coming down! Pretty heavy fresh-Bristol claims 16" which is probably close. Chopped up by the time we got out, but still fun and a lot of work. As it was MLK day, the crowds were out, but there is enough terrain open to spread people out. The grandkids were down and I spent time in a backwards snowplow trying to help the 4 year old grandson learn. Unfortunately, the Magic Carpet was closed due to snow, so we were stuck taking him up the Sunset chair. He did OK, but it's time for a real lesson with someone who knows how to teach kids.

Should be nice tomorrow as the relatively heavy stuff will really help the base.

 

[Ripitz]

trying to help the 4 year old grandson learn.

Have you tried a hula hoop? They work great.

 

[gorgonzola]

Have you tried a hula hoop? They work great.

back saver for sure, unfortunately didn't learn about it until the third child

 

[Johnny V.]

Have you tried a hula hoop? They work great.

I suggested it to my daughter. I saw a couple of demos of it from a Google search and it looks like it works.

Today was what you may have expected when 16" of fresh snow gets groomed (on most trails)-smooth and soft early on then bumped up later. Pretty busy today-don't people work anymore? Our beer league training course held up ok, then we free skied as the sun came out.

The hill is pretty much all open except for Lower Northstar. I heard today that there is an electrical problem in that section which is not allowing the snow guns and lights to operate. Hope they can find and fix the issue soon.