Royal Mountain Conditions

[Jim]

That was a fun and unexpected way to spend a Friday morning. You can't really call it a "powder day" opening, but the surfaces were nice on the groomers. Monday's powder in the ungroomed areas is hidden under Wednesday's crust. I decided to stick mostly on the groomed terrain and I'll finally get into the woods after tomorrow's bigger crowd has had a chance to chop it up. By the time I left, more people were starting to make some tracks so things should be at least skiable in the woods if not the nice powdery surfaces we're waiting for.

The official report was frozen granular on all open terrain but I'd lean more toward a packed powder on most terrain after some traffic. Parts of Queen and Challenge had some snow made on top as well since the precipitation ended.

@mel, good to see you on here. Doc's Drop was skiing great today. Your post reminded me to read the sign at the top today like I try to do a few times a season.

This was the first time I can recall Royal being open on a non-holiday weekday. The decision was made late, announced not even 24 hours before the opening. It wasn't busy by any means but more people were there than I expected. I talked to Jake about it on my way out around noon and he's thinking about doing the same kind of thing on more Fridays if and when we have good snowfalls during the week.

 

[Jim]

Crazy day at Royal today. The snow was great with about an inch of fluff that fell after grooming covering everything in the morning. It skied into a pleasant packed powder. Captain Jack's made its season debut and was really nice.

Combine the first Saturday after a snowy week since before Christmas with a sunny 35 degree day and hundreds of kids and their spectators for the Johnstown Invitational ski race, and things were a little insane. I am not sure I've ever seen so many people at Royal at the same time. People were parking in ditches and out on Route 10. To top it off, there's a snowmobile drag this evening and people (who were told not to come early) were lining up on the highway trying to park their snowmobile trailers. Ultimately, I think the biggest problem of the day was that the A lift had to come out of service for a mechanical issue for a little while in the middle of the day. Before that, both chairs already had lines about as long as you ever see at Royal, probably pushing 10 minutes. I didn't go back over to see how long it was with just the one lift running. Definitely unfortunate timing there.

 

[Jim]

Back to Royal for the first time in two weeks with last Saturday's weather closure. I spent most of my day teaching but did get a run on each of the main trails. An inch of fresh fluff overnight made the morning really nice. It was only about 30 degrees but the sun really softened things up. By the time I got my chance to get back up top after 2:30, the sun was gone and the surfaces were getting slick. The problem today was that the A lift continues to have some mechanical troubles and was only able to run for part of the day. B lift by itself isn't enough on a sunny mid-winter Saturday.

 

[Jim]

I went up for a short visit today, conditions were really nice on the main trails as things softened up in the sun. I popped into Duke for a bit (woods between Queen and A lift line) which was skiable but definitely thin.

Lines for B lift got to about 10 minutes with A lift still out of commission, eased up to just a few minutes after lunch time. A repair is expected this week, in time for the holiday week.

 

[Jim]

I was back at Royal this afternoon after being away last weekend. The snow on all of the main trails was really nice, mostly a good packed powder with a few spots skied off by late afternoon to the hard but edgeable layer underneath. Plenty of good ways down all the trails, though. I popped into Princess Woods, Maiden Glades, and Damsel Glades (latter two names I just learned on seeing Royal's new trail map for the first time today) on my second run. They were skiable but not enjoyable with some parts having a crust you needed to break through underneath the fluff on top, and other spots skied down to expose rocks and branches.

 

[Jim]

I'd say the snow for the week since Royal was last open on Sunday amounted to about 18" between the two storms, close to a foot from last night. This was plenty to open up 100% of Royal's terrain for the first time this season. Only the green terrain and half of Prince were groomed. Some snowblower troubles at home delayed my arrival until 10, and I only had time for a few quick runs before I had to teach a lesson. I started with my first runs this year down the T-bar line, down most of the way under the A lift, and the upper 2/3 of the Gladed Wench. The new snow was pretty heavy but manageable. In my lesson, I had the rare opportunity to introduce a high intermediate 6-year-old (who I've taught several times) to ski in heavy, ungroomed snow and he was doing great so I had the even more rare chance to introduce him to some trees. We first did about half of what is now named the Maiden Glades (between the bottom of Princess Woods and the cut from Prince to Knight known as Midnight), then did the entire Maiden Glades, and finally a personal favorite in Jacksland. After that and a quick lunch, I had time to go back out for just a few more, so I skied a few other places I haven't been able to yet this season. One run was down what I have heard called Dutchess, some of Royal's most challenging terrain in between Prince and Queen. Another was through Duke and then across to part of the Gladed Jester under the B lift, and into the lower pitch and mostly untracked area between there and the bottom part of Challenge.

There are just a few more places in Royal's trees I have yet to go this season, and I hope to get up there tomorrow to check them out.

 

[Jim]

The new snow groomed out really nice and with temperatures just above freezing, it wasn't all that heavy to push around today. Off the groomers, I checked out Glasgow (up the hill left of Knight) and the trees between Challenge and the T-Bar Line. Both were fun but the snow was feeling pretty heavy and in places a little hard to turn in. Jacksland was more skied out but still had a lot of cover and was the last part of my best run of the day.

Lift A was off line again today, plus we had the crowds that come out after a snowstorm, so we saw much longer lift lines at Lift B than usual. I waited as much as 8 minutes, which for Royal is an eternity. Jake and others were working on A quite a bit and had it moving a couple of times, but apparently it didn't go well enough to be able to open it up (at least not as of a little before 2 when I had to get going). It's unlikely to be needed a whole lot the rest of the season, but sure would be nice to get it back if and when needed to return to our usual situation where waiting 5 or 10 chairs for your turn is considered a long wait.

 

[Jim]

I spent my whole morning on the practice slope in lessons, but then had the chance to make 5 great runs from the top in the middle of the day. The trails were all groomed before the 2-3" of fresh snow fell. I did Challenge, the Princess-Maiden-Damsel Glades combo, then Duchess most of the way down between Prince and Queen, then Duke all the way down through the dense trees to the bottom. Most were the best yet this season. The bottom part of my run down Duke took a way I've never been before and was a really challenging steep and narrow stretch over rocks, and around trees and stumps. Then down Royal to meet up with a late afternoon intermediate lesson. That gave me a chance to ski really pleasant conditions on Knight, Captain Jack's, and Prince.

It was a pretty busy day, but Lift A was back in service so I never had to wait more than a chair or two.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to get back up to Royal at all tomorrow, will just be a little in the afternoon at best. Hoping the early week storm buries the place and that the possible rain at the end of the week doesn't wreck it before we get a chance to take advantage of it.

 

[Jim]

Just a quick report from a too-short visit yesterday. The snow from the storm (reported at 14" I believe) was skied a lot on Saturday then it was much colder on Sunday. I thought the groomers would be good and the woods would be too much with frozen-up ruts. But...some persistent and occasionally pretty intense squalls dropped about 2" while I was there, transforming the trails into a packed powder and made the woods not only skiable but nice. Still had to watch for the ruts underneath but they were not solid blocks of ice. You could turn, just had to be prepared.

Royal is very confident about staying open through April 2, hoping to be open April 7-8 for the start of Easter break, and would like to open the following weekend if the snow and people stick around. We'll lose the woods quickly when it warms up, but the snow on the main trails is deep.

 

[Jim]

It was a pleasant start on a groomed granular surface, with all the main trails skiing nicely. The ski report showed 100% open, and everything was skiable though not fun in my opinion off the groomers. Snow started and the wind picked up a lot by 11:30 which freshened up the surfaces a bit. Unfortunately it quickly became a wind-driven mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain, so I called it a day after lunch.

The base on all snowmaking trails is deep, and Royal will definitely be open next weekend. It would take a lot of warm and rain to melt enough snow to prevent being open for the Friday and Saturday of Easter weekend (but I don't mean to challenge the weather to do that).