I was at Snowshoe this past Saturday. It was my first time there in a couple years, and I have to say, I was impressed by the new slopes. Sawmill was especially fun - it had bumped up nicely by the afternoon. Perhaps Sawmill could be maintained as a bump run?

One note that I am sure Robbie A. will appreciate - while riding the lifts I met, on two separate occasions, former midwesterners who mentioned a great little area just outside of Cincinnati. Thanks to Robbie's reports, I knew they were talking about Perfect North. Long live Hoosier Skiing!

Informing the masses, it is what I do!

robbie A

Good weekend. I was actually surprised how decent the snow was Friday (only slightly icy), and it got better all weekend. Monday's snow was excellent. The tiny amount of natural snow, plus sub-zero snowmaking temps, really got the slopes in excellent shape. I went into the weekend a bit apprehensive, but it looks like we lucked out once again.

Sunday, all but two of the lifts were closed at Snowshoe because of winds (gusts hit 70mph), and the lift lines got kind of long on PowderMonkey and PowderRidge. But by 11am, the place was a ghost town. I think the windy weather and early lift lines scared all the crowds off. Despite the limited number of trails open, we had a good afternoon.

Monday was very good, with all the lifts/trails open (except lower Shays), excellent packed powder, bluebird weather (albeit COLD!), and low crowds. I am glad we have started extending our weekend trips to include Monday -- it's always been a great day to ski SS.

By the way, the Snowshoe TV snow report (channel 6) sucks. They made no mention of the closed lifts/trails on Sunday. On Monday, there was no mention of the late opening of the Soaring Eagle lift. The website was updated, which is OK for those with internet access, but the TV report was useless. I will know to not rely on this in the future.

Skier, the entire TV lineup at Snowshoe is in disarray. Not only Channel 6. The old Adelphia's system was going to hell in a handbasket. Our condo dropped them for non-performance. We've got a new provider, along many of the condo complexes at the Shoe. But the new providers don't even carry Channel 6. Yes, it may die a natural death unless someone at Snowshoe's management starts putting some emphasis on both the availability as well as the quality.

I called information at around 7PM and asked about wind speed. I was told that the highest it had been so far was 79mph...EEK! I believe most people went to Silvercreek, which wasn't effected as much by the wind and was able to keep lifts open. The wind that Snowshoe saw on Sunday broke lamppost's, ripped off shingles the littered the Village, rolled little kids through the Village (as well as adults), and even pushed skiers back up hill (no lie!). Oh, and the doors...expedition station's glass door shattered, signatures' door broke, as well as one at the offices at Sawmill Village. I know I have skipped over a good bit of damages from the wind, and I can't forget the one that shocked me the most...

For a while the Snowshoe channel had several very informative programs, especially in the morning, including conditions, etc. Then Joe Stevens left and each subsequent year there is less fresh programming, and last year when I visited, nothing original on the weekend. It obviously is not a priority.
The Colonel