Wintergreen 2/18
February 28, 2005
Went up to Wintergreen. Considering the recent warm spell, they were in great shape. Snow guns were running all day -- some very wet snow but what they need to build the base back up. I could have done without that, but otherwise it was a great day. Many of the trails were icy in the middle (where the herd skis) but the outer edges were fantastic. So it looks like they pulled a rabbit out of the hat for Pres. Day weekend. Let's hope it lasts a couple more weeks.
Craig
That's good to hear. Have they let any moguls form on wild turkey, or are they still grooming it every night?
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That's good to hear. Have they let any moguls form on wild turkey, or are they still grooming it every night?
You can tell that they were probably trying to let the moguls form on the left side (facing uphill) of upper Wild turkey, but it just looks like ungroomed ice/granular at this point, with a few bare spots. I have a feeling they will probably blow snow on that and regroom, or let it go at this point.
Last year at this same time, they had some great moguls there!
Craig
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Last year at this same time, they had some great moguls there!
They sure did. Early this season I was talking to a patroller there and he said that the idea this season was to let moguls form on the one side of upper wild turkey, as well as on the part of lower wild turkey that parallels turkey chute. That would have been one fantastic mogul run! Maybe next year...
I was down on Wintergreen yesterday (2/23) and it was wet mashed potatoes all the way down. Killer fog all day kept me going slow, too...
I never made it over to the blues, but I spent some time on the greens hanging out with friends. Those slopes were in excellent shape considering the temperatures. The blacks and double-blacks, on the other hand, had very little snow remaining in spots. Lower Cliffhanger was especially bare -- I did three runs, and every time I got new gouges in my skis. I'm still impressed overall, given the heat wave it's been suffering under.
LordHedgie, I'm just wondering....how much longer do you think that Wintergreen will stay open? Do you suppose that they'll make it until the second weekend in March? I've been skiing 7-Springs every day for the past 5 days. And, with the exception of last Monday, the weather has been seasonably cold; but even so, the base is rather thin in a number of places. I'm always amazed at how much warmer the weather is at Wintergreen when compared to 7-Springs. Of course, a large distance separates the 2 resorts. Considering the mild coastal weather that Wintergreen often receives, they sure have done an awesome job of making snow this Winter.
Be positive...as usual, Wintergreen will make it to late March with good conditions. Watch out for the Big Bang weather-wise early next week!
The Colonel
MM- What do you think Laurel and BK will be like after thursday's snow?
jimmy
I had jsut about given up hope. But accoridng to this Upper extrover is open today. What about lower part though? Who would have thunk it?
BK Conditions
Currently snowing in Charlottesville, Wintergreen website reporting 6 inches of fresh and still coming down! Even correcting for "ski report inflation" it still sounds like it would be a good day to go up there. I'm at work now but I feel a sudden sore throat coming on...
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Last year, I watched them "build" that Upper Turkey mogul field with the snow cats. They pushed up some small, regular piles to get things started, and the skiers did the rest. Could be there just hasn't been enough snow this year, but based on the depth of cover surrounding the guns, there's over three feet on Turkey yet.
I do miss the old Turkey Chute, but that fall-away wall where the trees used to be offers some pretty interesting terrain too.
I bet it takes some real effort to get skiable moguls in the mid-atlantic. You could make tons of snow and just let it go like Timberline does on Off the Wall but then you get some funky lines on the whales. Seems like if you made a bunch of snow and then smoothed it out beginners would plow down through it and mess it up the moguls while its still powdery. I've seen places set up slalom poles where they want the moguls so they make a good line. Just once I'd love to be able to start the moguls on a really steep run.
MM,
To answer your question, based on what I saw this week I would say "Another two weeks or so." However, I'm not sure how much of Thursday's snow they saw, or how much of the coming front is going to hit them as snow. If they're getting good weather from here out, they could stay open another month.
Remember that nasty heat wave we got in January?
I was told over the weekend that WG is commited to making snow all next week (I've never seen a snow gun run there after 2/28 in the past, supposedly due to preferential electric rates until March). With temps forecast for the teens, they could make another two feet of snow.
Wintergreen saw about 4 inches from last week's snow, and the current front has hit as snow. It's really coming down here in Charlottesville. Is anyone planning on heading up there tomorrow (tuesday)?