Temperatures in the 40’s are refreshing, 30’s are brisk, 20’s are cool, teens are chilly. Welcome to winter- the NYC region is chilly this morning, becoming moderately cool by lunchtime.

Ski conditions

From the mhvxcs Google Group, a skier’s account of Minnewaska conditions yesterday has good descriptive detail: “1-2 inches of frozen glazy stuff underneath 1 inch of fresh cold, 27f. No grooming, but I did see a pair of tracks going classic around the lake clockwise… They were able to do a gentle snow plow down the hill on the back side of the lake, down towards the outflow. Sunny intermittently now, very nice out, with hoar frost on the lilac bushes atop the cliffs way.”

By now that 1″ of new snow has probably been skied off, and what’s left is probably some patchy frozen granular and boilerplate ice.

Heroes and Mother’s favorites

Who are the heroes of grooming this week? I’d say Canterbury, Pineridge, Notchview, and Prospect Mountain. Canterbury and Pineridge came through with some real dedication, as did Notchview. Prospect Mountain did a great job as usual. Too bad it’s not an hour closer to get to.

Mother Nature played favorites this past week, and snowfall amounts were distributed unevenly. Osceola got 7″, Garnet Hill got enough to open trails again, and Mt. van Hoevenberg went from 1k of open trails to 35k. They must have been working the snow factory. East of the NY-VT border, snowfall amounts dropped off and only higher elevations got enough to make for decent skiing.

(Side note: I don’t know what to make of Cascade Cross Country’s ski reports. They don’t make sense to me, when compared with Mt VanH’s. I’m beginning to wonder whether they’re really updating)

‘State of the touring centers’ is updated. Here’s the snow depth map for daytrip distance and a quick getaway during the holidays:

If you could do a quick trip, Canterbury or Pineridge are closest. If you want to try Minnewaska, think of it as a rock skis-worthy challenge. Make sure you’re on good terms with your physical therapist if you hit the deck.

Should you be considering taking a couple of days off on the spur of the moment, Lapland Lake, Lake Placid and the Mount Washington Valley might be booked up, so how about joining the Brattleboro Country Club, or see if Garnet Hill has some rooms available at the last minute?

Early Christmas week weather

Forecast: Wintry temps will persist throughout the northeast till Sunday, when they will move above freezing most places except the high elevations and most northerly parts of the region. Our area will be getting up into the 40s on Sunday (refreshing!), and things will continue that way at least through Tuesday.

No precipitation at all in the forecast for the next several days. So the touring centers that have snow will have to work with what they’ve got. The good news (I guess this is the baseline for good news) is that nighttime temps will allow snowmaking. Backcountry skiers might not find a lot of joy in the woods, what with icy conditions hidden by the few scant inches of snow earlier in the week.

Thanks for reading.