Had a great day at Massanutten today.  100% open after non-stop snowmaking during the cold spell.  In the low 30's so the snow held up very well.  DJ and Paradise were great in the morning.  There were plenty of snow whales that weren't flattened by the groomer, so lots of contours to play with.  Upper Showtime was . . . challenging . . .because of variable snow.  Some hard ridges on the edges, crusted snow that was ungroomed, and soft ungroomed snow whales.  More than one skier was caught in the soft snow and lost skis.  Upper MakAttack is open but not exactly bumped up yet.

Pretty empty in the morning.  More people showed up in the afternoon.  No pics since I was doing another Silver Clinic.  No one else showed up so I got a private with Walter today. :D

Snow piled high at the end of the ramp

Paradise with contours from snow whales

Snowboarder instructors training on Lower MakAttack

Unfortunately the first day of the demos this weekend may have rain.  Should be nice on Sunday.  Definitely better than last year.  With Mass Transit open, it will be much easier to test out skis on MakAttack.

Here is the list of skis that Freestyle plans to bring to the Massanutten Demo Days Jan. 11-12, 9:00-3:00.  No charge, need a lift ticket, driver's license, and a credit card.

Blizzard Bonafide & Brahma
Volkl RTM 81, RTM 84, Kendo
Rossignol Experience 83, Experience 88, Soul 7
Head Rev 80 Pro, Rev 85 Pro, Supershape Magnum
Scott Reverse, Crusade, The Ski
K2 Rictor 90 XTI, Amp 80 XTI
Blizzard Black Pearl
Nordica Wild Belle
Volkl Yumi, Charisma
Scott Luna
Rossignol Temptation 82, Temptation 88
K2 Superific, Superglide

The special Intermediate Clinic on Jan. 12 is at 1:00-3:00 for $30 with a Level 2 or 3 instructor. The special Women’s Clinic in the morning, 9:30-11:30, may have more than one group based on ability. Also $30 for two hours.

The Freestyle demo days were fun.  The weather wasn't great for Saturday.  Most people were scared off by the threat of rain, although it was fine in the morning.  After it started pouring at 11:30, Freestyle packed up for the day.  However, they let my friend check out a pair of skis after lunch.  By 3pm, no rain and nice soft show made for fun skiing with very few people on the slopes.  Sunday was great, sunny and warm enough to soften everything enough by mid-morning but not too warm so conditions stayed good all day on the upper slopes.  The extra excitement was after the demo tent closed up.  There was a major power outage on the mountain around 4:30 that lasted well into the evening.  Mnut staff quickly fired up generators to get the lifts running and people off.

Freestyle will have more options at Wintergreen since they have a shop there.  Limited by weight on how many skis they can put in the van.

Gonna have to get down there one of these Nor'eastr days.

scottyb wrote:

Gonna have to get down there one of these Nor'eastr days.

After skiing at Whitetail and Elk in temps below 10 degrees at midday in the last couple weeks, I've got a new appreciation for the advantages of skiing farther south.  On a small hill, more fun when there is no need for so many layers of clothing.  More importantly, less likely to have deal with icy conditions for days on end that are found farther north in PA, NY, and New England on a regular basis.

marzNC wrote:

scottyb wrote:

Gonna have to get down there one of these Nor'eastr days.

After skiing at Whitetail and Elk in temps below 10 degrees at midday in the last couple weeks, I've got a new appreciation for the advantages of skiing farther south.  On a small hill, more fun when there is no need for so many layers of clothing.  More importantly, less likely to have deal with icy conditions for days on end that are found farther north in PA, NY, and New England on a regular basis.

Ever skied at Sugar Mtn? 

The famous Ski Sugar cam.

http://www.skisugar.com/sugarlive/

scottyb wrote:

marzNC wrote:

scottyb wrote:

Gonna have to get down there one of these Nor'eastr days.

After skiing at Whitetail and Elk in temps below 10 degrees at midday in the last couple weeks, I've got a new appreciation for the advantages of skiing farther south.  On a small hill, more fun when there is no need for so many layers of clothing.  More importantly, less likely to have deal with icy conditions for days on end that are found farther north in PA, NY, and New England on a regular basis.

Ever skied at Sugar Mtn? 

The famous Ski Sugar cam.

http://www.skisugar.com/sugarlive/

 

Yep, skied at Sugar.  Went to Sugar and Beech a few times back in the 1980s.

I went to the SugarFest in Dec a couple times  when there were demo tents since getting into skiing regularly in 2004.  Also skied at Beech, Winterplace, and Snowshoe for a few years after my daughter could handle the Lift 6 blacks at Mnut at age 6.  Didn't get season passes at Mnut until 2009-10.  Sugar and Beech are 2.5-3.0 hours from my house.  Sugar has decent terrain but very slow lifts and big crowds on weekends.  I like Beech better, especially when Oz is open.  Same issue with lift lines on weekends though.  NC ski areas have lots of folks driving from NC, TN, SC, GA, AL, and FL.

I thought as much.  I have stayed at Ski Sugar(near the top) in the summer when down there for the GF Mtn Highland games.  I love the area even though its been highly developed.