Sunday, Feb 15 at 3:15

i have just completed a look at Ski Web Cams in WV, PA, & VA, never have lift line appeared shorter on a Presidents' Day Sunday!!!

i assume this is because of brutal temps.  Hope all avoided chill injuries!  So, how was it this weekend?

I noticed SS got pounded with another 9"!of snow, 20" since I was there a week ago!

Local Mets and the Weather Bureau folks are now forecasting a foot of snow+/- for the WV and VA resorts beginning Monday as the track of the next storm has shifted north and should impact all of VA.

Think Snow and Stay Warm!

The Colonel

Whitetail was very windy and cold on Sunday, but the lines were non-existant, and the snow on the experts side held up all day.  As the sun began to set, the cold became too much.  Hats off to the employees who had to stay and close the mountain.  Enjoyable day all around.

Had a great time at Massanutten over the weekend.  Sun was pretty cold, but that meant short lift lines all day.  My friend's 8yo son was introduced to bumps by an instructor and spent the rest of the weekend skiing Paradice bumps.  He goes down the line at a pretty fast clip.

Today was a bonus day.  Decided to stay since the kids won't have school in NC on Tuesday due to the weather.  Started snowing at 11am, 2-3 inches by the time we left at 5:30pm.  Light, fluffy powder.  Quite a contrast to the wet snow that came down briefly on Sat late afternoon for 30 min.  Most people left early, so no lift lines all day.  Forecast is for 6-10 inches overnight with continued cold temps.  Will be a fantastic powder day on Feb. 17, 2015 for whoever can get to the slopes.

Wisp for three days, crazy cold but skied good with little crowds, great day today espically 

I was woring at 7spring Sunday 7-3:30.   At 7am it was -9F.   The snowmobile ride to the top was brisk! My goggles iced up and then my eyelashes froze a bit at the corners of my eyes.   Other then that....the snow was alright and the crowds were light.   Lot's of folks hanging out in the lodge.

I was out at Wisp Saturday only. We were on the slopes 9:30-6:30 or so and when we called it a day it was around 0 with a windchill of -10. There was about a half hour of whiteout conditions at 4pm that sent everyone home and those of us left got a chance to enjoy an empty mountain for a bit. In general the lift lines were short for a holiday weekend, but our last few runs were amazing. Below is a shot through bobcat "bowl" which after the whiteout was untracked.

Snowshoe was fantastic yesterday.  Snowing all day and no real lift lines.  Plenty of powder.  Driving home...not so nice.  Wasn't able to convince my workaholic friends to call out today.  Ten hours to get home to DC with some drop offs on the way.

Massanutten was ok.  I chased sunshine for the first time ever - Mnut was forecasted to have higher temps and clearer skies than WV or PA resorts (where I would normally go).  It was cold enough to keep crowds at bay, but it wasn't too bad.  The blues were pretty icy and wind blown even in the AM. Blacks off lift 6 were in decent shape.  The view is very nice, too.  I would be nice if they were a bit steeper, and I wasn't big fan of the frequent stopping.  Not sure why folks were having trouble loading and unloading a lift that only serves "expert" terrain...  

All in all, I probably wouldn't go back except under similar circumstances.

I was at Snowshoe this weekend, too. 

I heard reports from lift-mates that Friday was near perfect for mid-Atlantic - Blue skies, fresh snow.

Saturday was cold at the Shoe. Single digits, but the snow was coming down for our late round of skiing, 3-4:30. The lift lines stayed pretty long right up to the final chair; not excrutiatingly long like Ballhooter can be, but longer than I usually tolerate. But with the snow coming down and the wind blowing things around, conditions were excellent.

Sunday was even colder. It started at -7 degrees, with terrible wind. The family got out for first tracks at 9, and my 6 yo and 8 yo went right back in after that one run. My 11 yo and miy wife did one more run, and caught us at the shuttle stop before it even came to get me and the two youngest. So I traded with the wife, and I turned around and went back to the slopes. I stupidly turned down her hand warmers, because if it wasn't for frozen hands I could have tolerated the cold for the good conditions. Lines were pretty much non-existant, even on Ballhooter. The Western Territory was pretty brutal. The wind was coming straight up the mountain, and blowing much of the good snow off. There were pockets on the Western Territory, but I could stand only one run over there for the wind. I went in at about 11 because my hands were seriously cold, but got a ton of runs in during that time. My wife went back out with her brother around 2, and the temp was at least in positive areas, even if was just 3 or 4. 

Monday was nice, 15 degrees at 9 AM and little wind. We did 5 runs or so with minimal lines again, the snow was great, it was snowing, but we decided to head out for the drive back to NoVA. Our drive was only 5.5 hrs, not 10, but we did see 6-7 cars stuck in a ditch on the way back. One was only 1/2 mile off the top of Snowshoe mtn, it had crossed over to the other side of the road, and was sitting longways on the top of the guard rail, tipped over at about 45 degrees toward the trees next to the rail. Yikes. I gave SERIOUS consideration to playing hooky today, because we had a hunch school would be cancelled (it is) but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I probably should have, but would be doing the drive right now which would be possibly even more torture after even more snow fell. 

So yes, super small lines, but for good reason - frostbite-inducing cold! 

Alpine Hokie wrote:

Massanutten was ok.  I chased sunshine for the first time ever - Mnut was forecasted to have higher temps and clearer skies than WV or PA resorts (where I would normally go).  It was cold enough to keep crowds at bay, but it wasn't too bad.  The blues were pretty icy and wind blown even in the AM. Blacks off lift 6 were in decent shape.  The view is very nice, too.  I would be nice if they were a bit steeper, and I wasn't big fan of the frequent stopping.  Not sure why folks were having trouble loading and unloading a lift that only serves "expert" terrain...  

All in all, I probably wouldn't go back except under similar circumstances.

Did you check out MAKAttack off Lift 5?  The bumps over there were not as icy as those on the lower half of Paradice.

WISP was cold sunday even with no exposed skin and rotating through goggles when they frosted over I still could only muster half the day. Monday was phenominal however with little to no lines and plenty of room for large GS turns. 

RBRTLAV that whiteout on saturday was unreal, i couldnt see the chair in front of me on lift 5 at times

marzNC wrote:

Did you check out MAKAttack off Lift 5?  The bumps over there were not as icy as those on the lower half of Paradice.

I never tried the very top because my buddy wasn't really into bumps. I did cross over at the first available pass from the blue next to it. Should have checked it out.

The Colonel wrote:

Sunday, Feb 15 at 3:15

i have just completed a look at Ski Web Cams in WV, PA, & VA, never have lift line appeared shorter on a Presidents' Day Sunday!!!

i assume this is because of brutal temps.  Hope all avoided chill injuries!  So, how was it this weekend?

I noticed SS got pounded with another 9"!of snow, 20" since I was there a week ago!

Local Mets and the Weather Bureau folks are now forecasting a foot of snow+/- for the WV and VA resorts beginning Monday as the track of the next storm has shifted north and should impact all of VA.

Think Snow and Stay Warm!

The Colonel

All the powder at 7S on Sunday was either groomed or blew off into piles with a few icey spots showing.  Somehow the packed powder turned into packed frozen granular, especially at the tops.

When I arrived at 8:46 like an idiot, there were two other cars there in the north lot.  It was -8 when I arrived.  At 9, with an extra layer on I walked to the slope and was barely able to hold onto my board due to the wind.  At one point I was holding it and felt as if two kids had each tip trying to pull the board out of my hands.  I was even sliding as I was standing still from the wind.  EXTREMELY cold due to this extreme wind.  I would say 40mph sustained winds with 20-30mph winds sustained throughout the day in many areas and at best 10-20mph in some areas.  Those areas felt like it was miami with the sun honestly.

I was able to make it about 15 runs with two 20 min breaks.  The only thing I had exposed was the nose.  I now have skin peeling and for about 2 hours my nose was stinging on the drive home.

Sad because the conditions were pretty good.  in some of the areas where the sun hit, the feeling of packed powder really came out but I just couldnt take the cold anymore.

I normally ride with a base layer, a somewhat thicker base layer, a sweater and my ski shell which is like a wind breaker.  For pants I use a thin base layer, fleece pants and my bottom shell.  Usually both shells have the zippers open on the legs and arms to allow air to flow.

I should add that moisture from breathing caused my mask to freeze to my face firmly.  I pulled it off and ripped pieces of beard hair off along with it.

Cold like I have nevr experienced....

sailandski22 wrote:

RBRTLAV that whiteout on saturday was unreal, i couldnt see the chair in front of me on lift 5 at times

I've skied/boarded fog and heavy snow before... I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that. We had actually decided that we were going to stop in the lodge to eat the snacks we brought when we were in the lift line right before it started, so we skied down in it and then walked into the lodge. There was a point where you could not see out of the lodge at all. The mass exodus during/after that was amazing though, the runs we took after that were empty and the snow was the best we had seen all day. 

Lift tickets were too expensive to deal with the cold on Sunday (-32 windchill at 9:30 am)... and I had to be back for work monday, so I only got the one day, but it was a nice vacation and I enjoyed a place I don't usually frequent. 

Roundtop Sat/Monday Presidents weekend No crowds, lines. Over on the left side somewhat wind protected. Snow surface was great. edge hold perfect. no irregular mounds or scrape offs. Just great riding.

I also went Friday for the mtn dew race nobody just great teary eyed fast riding!!  Cold again 5 degrees.

Gunbarrel was groomed at top so I ran that top to bottom as fast as possible....teary eyes fast

With  an extra layer top / bottom and full cover you can last 2 hours. antiperspirant on feet and hands helps too.

chem packs for heat need 30 mins to get going.....This week cold below normal.

7Springs 2/22

~6" of fresh snow from Saturday.  Unfortunally it was a fog most of the day.  Still the snow was good and crowds were on the light side.  The fog cleared out at about 5pm. 

Day 16 of the season for me.

7S saturday in the snowfall.....nice day for the Springs but the crowd skied it all off i the mean time. I found some semitracked late in the day at my favorite powder stash. It was good but not as good as last Tuesday with no crowd and a lot more untracked.

This past weekend at t-line had copius amounts of new pow-pow and we skied EVERYTHING!  The entire mountain as bumped up by 3 PM.  Not good for my bad back but all thet snow.... well somebody had to ski it.

I skied for 4 days at HV and 7S, ending yesterday, 2/24. What great conditions! I had a wonderful day of skiing yesterday at 7S. Great snow, blue bird skies and no crowds. I was worn out by 3:00 PM.