Category: ski conditions report

April 5 update

Had to check one more time- Notchview gave it up last weekend, while Mt. van Hoevenberg came back and updated on 4/3 with minimally skiable conditions. One way or another, this is MvH’s last weekend though. Garnet Hill still had 6k as of Thursday, so it looks like this will be their last weekend as well assuming they even bother. Call ahead.

Great Glen is open and says the trails were groomed but didn’t post an actual grooming report. Bear Notch, Jackson XC, Waterville Valley, Trapp, and Craftsbury are still skiable.

And the great fallback for every cross-country skier in the NYC combined statistical area of 24m people, Prospect Mountain, is going to make it through the weekend with granular snow and a 6-9″ base.

So one last time, you can hit the ‘State of the touring centers’ to see how things are in detail, and get your last look at snow cover in map form here:

Closures

[as of April 1st]: Notchview hung on at least through Saturday, while Viking called Sunday their last day. Lapland Lake, Wild Wings, Rikert, Mountaintop, and Bretton Woods all squeaked their way into April, each marking the 1st of the month as their last day of the season. I suspect Cascade and Mt. van Hoevenberg have called it a season as well.

[4/2 update]: Mt. van Hoevenberg will be open Wed-Sun, conditions permitting.

Hanging on

Garnet Hill is still open as of Monday, and Gore Mountain’s XC trails will open for one last weekend.

The usual suspects are doing OK- for now

As predicted, the low that brought rain to the tri-state and Hudson valley turned over to snow for some in the north country. Prospect Mountain got 3″ of new snow, and Osceola 5″, resulting in something like mid-winter conditions today. More predictably, Trapp Family Lodge, Great Glen, Bear Notch, and Craftsbury are still going, and Jackson NH is keeping trails open without grooming.

But nobody’s expecting to have much of anything skiable by April 15, so this week is pretty much it.

One for my baby

…and one more for the road!

Take one last look at the ‘State of the touring centers’ link above until next fall, and see below for my last snow depth map of the 2018-2019 season.

Don’t forget to prep the skis for storage, and change over the utility area for bike season!

Stay tuned

There’s still a couple more posts I’m working on to sum up this season of Across the Snow Line. Plus, there might be a random thought or two filed under ‘Commentariat’ during the off-season.

Spring skiing forecast

Executive summary: Wee amounts of snow may refresh trails in the north country on Sunday, but better spring skiing conditions will be in the first part of next week. The warmth and wet weather makes grooming impossible for now. Call ahead.

[3/30 update]: Prospect Mountain and Viking are open.

[3/31 update]: Rikert declared today the last day of their season. Lapland Lake is calling April 1 the last day. Lapland Lake says the drop in skier visits and mechanical problems with grooming equipment contributed to the call, despite a decent base. Cascade and Mt van Hoevenberg are closed today, likely due to rain and/or wind.

Poor weather for the weekend

A storm has moved in from the west. Downstate we’ll see scattered rain showers, but the north country will see more rain and some wind as well. Up north the rain could alternate with some snow; however with the warm temperatures forecast for Saturday the remaining snowpack will get wetter and more compact (if that’s even possible). Trails will be wet and mushy or slick if ice is exposed.

An ominous sign: for the first time this season Prospect Mountain hasn’t updated just before the weekend. Viking is closed Friday and Wild Wings is closed for the weekend.

Hit up the ‘State of the touring centers’ link for details. Snow depth map is below:

On Sunday a cooling trend begins, so precipitation in the mountain regions may change over to snow. The Tug Hill plateau, Adirondack high peaks, and select areas of VT and NH might get a bit of a refresh on the base by end of Sunday before the front moves out. The cooling trend lasts thru Monday.

Does anybody really care what day it is?

With the early week forecast to be a bit cooler and below freezing at night, it looks like a chance for some nice spring skiing in the mornings on Monday and Tuesday, maybe even Wednesday. Advise calling your chosen touring center before you go.

Good time to be someone who sets their clock by the seasons and not the day of the week.

Time for rock skis

More debris and soft, wet snow means breaking out the old waxless skis.

The countdown begins

I’m starting to hear a fat guy readying for his last aria

…bless ’em all (with apologies to Frank Sinatra, Jack Segal, and Robert Wells), because against all odds, Notchview is hanging in there with skiable conditions.

The award for spirited and dedicated grooming goes to Notchview in Massachusetts, and Minnewaska State Park in New York. Both have done incredibly well in a less-than-optimal winter. The award is of course, issued by the authority of me.

Notchview might be forced to give it up by this weekend despite a late-season snowfall that revitalized them as well as several other centers. Hope they manage to make it through the weekend just to say you could ski there through the month of March.

This may or may not be the last real update of the season, but for what it’s worth you can check out the snow depth map below for an overview of skiable territory, and hit the ‘State of the touring centers’ link above for details about conditions.

Spring skiing forecast

We’re starting to wind down the ski season in earnest. Weather in the early part of the week will help maintain spring ski conditions, but with a warmer weekend in store, expect that much of the snow base will melt off by next week.

Skiing into April isn’t just a possibility- some of the places that have a really good base now will continue to have something to ski on after this weekend. The snow last Friday helped out areas from southern VT up through to the High Peaks region. The places to go to are going to be pretty familiar: Prospect Mountain, Lapland Lake, Garnet Hill, and Osceola being the closest with the best. In addition, places like Cascade and Mt. van Hoevenberg in the High Peaks, and Timber Creek, Wild Wings, and Mountaintop in Vermont are all looking pretty good for now.

How good? Take a look at the pic below:

View this post on Instagram

Perfect track, perfect weather, perfect skiing!!!

A post shared by Mt. Van Hoevenberg (@skivanho) on Mar 25, 2019 at 8:18am PDT

To some extent, what you want to call ‘skiable’ conditions now depends on your expectations. Unless you can get on trail pretty early, trails will be soft and wet. And less well maintained. Every area will be watching for the cost-benefit intersection on grooming. In addition the people involved in operating a touring center for the winter will have springtime jobs to get to and might not be available after next week.

So count your blessings- skiing’s out there if you want it!