Snowing out in Gorham

I dont expect any accumulation but its snowing at 1400 feet of elevation in Gorham around 2:30 PM.
I was just out at noon putting in my driveway markers for the winter.

Hooray for snow!

I know Not New England but just checked the cam on top of Whiteface Mt. NY...snow is flying

cragway said:

I know Not New England but just checked the cam on top of Whiteface Mt. NY...snow is flying

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And, not natural snow but Killington is opening on Friday.

peakbagger said:

I dont expect any accumulation but its snowing at 1400 feet of elevation in Gorham around 2:30 PM.
I was just out at noon putting in my driveway markers for the winter.

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Throw another log on the fire Peakbagger!

Got about one inch of fresh at 1800' in Keene, NY. Very pretty! It will melt in the next day or so, of course. Putting out the driveway markers tomorrow. We are on the same schedule!

TCD said:

Got about one inch of fresh at 1800' in Keene, NY. Very pretty! It will melt in the next day or so, of course. Putting out the driveway markers tomorrow. We are on the same schedule!

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We got a half inch at very high elevations in Southern VT yesterday.
So awesome; I am psyched for the snow.

I'll get this out of the way now. Do you think we need Snow Shoes?

skiguy said:

I'll get this out of the way now. Do you think we need Snow Shoes?

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If so, I hope you bought them already

Tim

I was coming through Franconia Notch southbound yesterday and the guns were in operation high upon the trails on Cannon. It seemed pretty warm to make and keep any snow, but I'm no skier.

Cannon put their snowgun photos on Facebook yesterday. Most ski areas are at least testing the snow making system(s) as soon as it gets below freezing for a while, even if that snow doesn't stick. Killington is planning to open tomorrow

Tim

bikehikeskifish said:

Cannon put their snowgun photos on Facebook yesterday. Most ski areas are at least testing the snow making system(s) as soon as it gets below freezing for a while, even if that snow doesn't stick. Killington is planning to open tomorrow

Tim

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Good comment ... snow making systems are pretty complicated mechanically and electrically. Makes sense they'd be test running systems now so they can make any repairs or changes before weather gets too brutal up there on upper slopes.

Ski slopes shoot for certain targets to open and Thanksgiving week is a holy grail. If they can give the impression that there is snow in the mountains enough to ski that gets their season off early and once folks start heading to the slopes they tend to keep going. They will stockpile snow when they can. The claim is the Covid restrictions in place last year have been substantially lessened. The hassle is like every other tourist business is finding and retaining good employees.

Jazzbo said:

Good comment ... snow making systems are pretty complicated mechanically and electrically. Makes sense they'd be test running systems now so they can make any repairs or changes before weather gets too brutal up there on upper slopes.

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Not sure about other mountains but I have seen a small parking lot full of diesel generators operating the snowmaking equipment at Wildcat (and probably the lifts too, although I don't think they were turning the day I hiked past.)

peakbagger said:

Ski slopes shoot for certain targets to open and Thanksgiving week is a holy grail. If they can give the impression that there is snow in the mountains enough to ski that gets their season off early and once folks start heading to the slopes they tend to keep going.

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They shoot for the longest seasons as well as that helps them attract and retain season pass holders.

Tim

peakbagger said:

Ski slopes shoot for certain targets to open and Thanksgiving week is a holy grail. If they can give the impression that there is snow in the mountains enough to ski that gets their season off early and once folks start heading to the slopes they tend to keep going. They will stockpile snow when they can. The claim is the Covid restrictions in place last year have been substantially lessened. The hassle is like every other tourist business is finding and retaining good employees.

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When I was a big time downhiller "back in the day" (translation: the mid 1980's to mid 1990's) many places were open with plenty of trails by Thanksgiving. I used to ski Sunday River a lot and they generally had 10-20 trails open by Thanksgiving just about every year. It was always a goal to get a trip in before Thanksgiving dinner. I skied Wildcat a lot as well and they seemed to always be open too, albeit with conditions that weren't as great as Sunday River. Nowadays you're lucky if there is enough snow, or any snow, for Christmas vacation week. Crazy global warming I guess....

The sun was out all day but it was decidedly chilly. One shade patch of my lawn still had snow on it this evening. Then again there is warm up for next week but with clear weather temps are probably cold enough to make snow at night.

The old saying goes you never know what Winter is going to be like until April.