cross country ski conditions-how much snow is where?

[hikerfast]

In the white mountains, any idea how much snow is where at the lower elevations for cross country skiing?

 

[bikehikeskifish]

In the white mountains, any idea how much snow is where at the lower elevations for cross country skiing?

I have found that the Waterville Valley Nordic Center reports are pretty fair and honest. Personal inspection of the trails is rarely in conflict with the published reports.

Having said that, they currently advertise 4-9" on trails and 11-15" in the woods. They have 59K open (been a while since I've seen that much) but they are still suggesting spare/rock skis.

http://www.waterville.com/info/nordic/nordicconditions.asp

I can't comment on other places, being a seasons pass holder, I don't ski anywhere else (used to ski at Norsk once or twice per year for a change of scenery, but alas they are gone.)

Tim

 

[sardog1]

forestnome's New snow! thread has reports from last weekend.

NOAA's NOHRSC Interactive Snow Information map has some excellent info available. Look for a recording station near your locale of interest and use the map also to see where depth boundaries lie.

 

[DougPaul]

Jackson (NH) XC ski http://www.jacksonxc.com/ also has very informative snow condition reports: http://www.jacksonxc.com/Ski_Conditions/ski_conditions.htm

Doug

 

[gaiagirl]

Jackson makes and grooms however, and they do an excellent job of it, too. Further south in the Tamworth, Albany, and Conway areas there is enough snow to ski now, but only just enough. I would imagine most areas of the Mt. Washington Valley are skiable now, but more snow would certainly be welcome.

 

[Amicus]

SkiNH - XC conditions page

I've found this page to be the quickest way to get a sense of NH XC conditions. It has links to all the XC areas in the State that are open, including Tim's Waterville Valley page. By checking the areas closest to where you're thinking about going, you can extrapolate a little. The Bretton Woods page, for instance, persuades me that they finally have enough open for me to use on Sat. one of the two "free" passes there I got when the GG-to-BW Nordic Adventure was cancelled last March.

http://www.xcskinh.com/snow.cfm

 

[trailbiscuit]

I skied at Great Glen Trails earlier this week, and the coverage is great...no need for rock skis.
The word on the street is that the Balsams is fantastic right now. I'm headed there this weekend, so I'll let you know.

 

[Peaks]

I skied the higher elevations of Jackson on Thursday 2/8/7. Their recommendation was the Prospect farm area at the end of Carter Notch Road. Conditions were great! I skied Bretton Woods the day before and conditions great also.

But, established areas usually don't need much snow to have great conditions. I suspect that back country skiing is pretty rough still.

 

[trailbiscuit]

As promised, here's my Balsams report:
We skied both Sunday and Monday. Conditions are really quite good. As usual, their grooming is sporadic, but this actually turned out to be great for us since we were able to enjoy 2-3 inches of fresh on top of the groomed surface on a few trails. They're running the big machine over everything, which may be too much for the snow pack as a few peppers of rocks sprout up here and there. Easy to avoid though. Overall, I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[Amicus]

I skied Bretton Woods the day before and conditions great also.
But, established areas usually don't need much snow to have great conditions. I suspect that back country skiing is pretty rough still.

The B. Woods XC conditions remained fine on Saturday and they had a good crowd - pent-up demand, I guess. One little patch of ice ascending the Coronary Hills Trail but otherwise all 20K or so of (mostly) Blue trails I covered were very nicely tracked and groomed. Your point about the advantage of the established areas in marginal snow is well-taken, which is why I'm glad to have them around on weekends like last. We all hope the promised storm this week will open up the back-country for all.

One odd sight was the large number of folks schlepping around the well-packed trails on snowshoes - rental Tubbs, they looked like. These were people who otherwise would never be out there at all, I suppose. As I was completing my circuit, I overtook a middle-aged guy walking on one set of Tubbs and carrying a second. Ten paces in front, his wife (I assume) was barebooting it. I could almost hear her sarcastic "These are worse than useless!" as (in my imagination) she flung them in his general direction.

Trailbiscuit - Maybe I'll finally make it to Balsams later this winter - you confirm prior positive reports.