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Mid Atlantic Powder Alert!!!

post #1 of 29
12/17/09 at 2:36pm
Thread Starter 
Hey, it looks like our turn for a little dump.  Latest forecast is predicting a "foot or more, 14"-20"in  northern NC, VA, and WV.    I have Sunday morning free to head up to 5,300 feet and try out my new 999s. I've updated the "Get Together, Let's Go thread too.  Anybody else getting some of this?
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post #2 of 29
12/17/09 at 2:43pm
 Timberline will go off guys!!
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post #3 of 29
12/17/09 at 7:35pm
Thread Starter 
Wintergreen might also be "in play".  I'll watch and wait then make the choice at 5 am Sunday
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post #4 of 29
12/17/09 at 7:56pm
It is certainly suprising to have a legitimate excuse to use more substantial skis in December... in the mid-atlantic. Hoefully the snow is not too moisture-laden. Either way, it looks like it should be a nice snow event without a rain changeover.
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post #5 of 29
12/17/09 at 8:04pm
Thread Starter 
The NC mountains look like they will be a bit colder, and are higher altitude.  For now it looks to be a dry snow event <fingers crossed>.  Honestly, Saturday morning and Saturday night look to be the best of it, but I won't be able to get there until Sunday morning.
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post #6 of 29
12/18/09 at 2:12am


 
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post #7 of 29
12/18/09 at 6:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by crgildart View Post
  Anybody else getting some of this?

Forecast here in PA is for 8-12 for Sat into Sunday possibly 12-20 if it tracks west (wishful thinking).

If any PA people want to make some turns Sunday morning PM me!!
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post #8 of 29
12/18/09 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trekchick View Post



 

Keep snowing, here;s a little dusting for appetizers:


It looks like Wintergreen VA will be ground zero for this event.  Beech, Sugar, and Appalachian should also get their share.  I'm still targeting Beech.
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post #9 of 29
12/18/09 at 6:48pm
latest computer models tonight are calling for stupid amounts of snow here in the DC area. Sadly, I will probably get more snow in my backyard than any of the area resorts. Unfortunately that only means that getting out of here in the morning for a drive up to Whitetail is going to be a major headache. Folks around here bug out when it snows 1 inch... it's complete hysteria when 1-2ft piles up.
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post #10 of 29
12/18/09 at 7:23pm
 Snow for people who don't need it. What a waste. Send it to higher elevations. 
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post #11 of 29
12/18/09 at 7:40pm

Tell me about it! I'd rather it stay west of 29 and north of Mason-Dixon... just makes things inconvenient around here. I just got back in from moving my car and it is a very dry snow, at least by VA standards... salt in the wound. As long as the roads aren't gridlocked in the morning, I will be leaving 1.5ft of pow in my yard to go ski 6inches of pow up the road a bit in PA. I call that a high-quality problem.

I am happy for all the kids though... good sledding and a white Christmas will bring smiles to many faces.

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post #12 of 29
12/18/09 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbprof View Post

latest computer models tonight are calling for stupid amounts of snow here in the DC area. Sadly, I will probably get more snow in my backyard than any of the area resorts. Unfortunately that only means that getting out of here in the morning for a drive up to Whitetail is going to be a major headache. Folks around here bug out when it snows 1 inch... it's complete hysteria when 1-2ft piles up.

It's piling up and no rush hour on Saturdays. First chair, no excuses. Allow twice as much travel time, drive carefully.
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post #13 of 29
12/18/09 at 7:49pm
 Go get it! No excuses! Pick me up at 4 tomorrow morning and ski for free! Yes, I buy your ticket! Let's go!
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post #14 of 29
12/18/09 at 8:33pm
Where do you live? Assuming I go, it certainly won't be at 4am:) But if you are interested in a later departure, we may be able to work something out. Don't worry about the lift ticket part though.
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post #15 of 29
12/19/09 at 1:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philpug View Post

 Snow for people who don't need it. What a waste. Send it to higher elevations. 



Snow in the low lands gets people in the mood to patronize the ski shops and ski resorts and THAT is a good thing 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbprof View Post



I am happy for all the kids though... good sledding and a white Christmas will bring smiles to many faces.


This comment brings a big smile to my face. 
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post #16 of 29
12/19/09 at 5:21am
I am finishing breakfast and getting ready to hit the road. It's 25 degrees at my house and there's about 10-11 inches on my deck. The meteorologists are still saying the heaviest snow is yet to come when the coastal low completely takes over and starts throwing back moisture. We'll see I guess.  I will make it out fine, coming home tonight will be a real treat though.
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post #17 of 29
12/19/09 at 6:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbprof View Post

Where do you live? Assuming I go, it certainly won't be at 4am:) But if you are interested in a later departure, we may be able to work something out. Don't worry about the lift ticket part though.

Oops sorry, I overslept. Thanks though. Enjoy. Let us know how it was. :)
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post #18 of 29
12/19/09 at 10:04pm
Got home about an hour ago. The driving was certainly an adventure... primarily in the areas close in to my neigborhood. Just ridiculous amounts of snow on the ground here. The skiing was quite good... basically I skied about a foot of tracked powder all day. Best skiing was between 5 and 8pm. No grooming, so most runs were mildly bumped up... more so earlier in the day. By the evening, the snowboarding grooming team had smoothed out large swaths of the main runs off the high-speed quad. They were blowing snow on all but two runs for most of the day... which I stuck to.

Whitetail claimed 16 inches, but I think it was more like 12... not too shabby though particularly because it was a dry snow. For big snow totals, here are a few from my house. This is what I came home to (for frame of reference, it is 2 ft to the surface of that porch):

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post #19 of 29
12/19/09 at 10:15pm

I measured a few places around the yard. I got anywhere between 19in at low end and 24 on the high end.

My back deck:

 

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post #20 of 29
12/20/09 at 3:06am
Road conditions were absolutely ridiculous on I-26 headed to the Boone, NC area on Friday night.

We were coming back to Knoxville, TN from East Tennessee State (about 1.5 hours normally). Took us 10. Counted 250+ disabled vehicles in 16 miles.

Craziest stuff I've ever seen, but was kind of pissed I couldn't have been marooned UP mountain instead of halfway home
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post #21 of 29
12/20/09 at 4:57am
 Way to get it, jpbrof!

Everyone who waited until today will be skiing groomers and maybe some soft bumps. It's going to be a great day today, for sure, but if you want to ski powder you can't wait until tomorrow. Had we departed from my house at 4, we might have gotten there for first chair, depending on the roads. (Normally an 80 minute trip.) I never worry about getting there too early. They serve breakfast.

I bet the first half hour was the best, although they may have only received half of the total by then, untracked is sweet. Of course, when the tracks are filling in with new falling snow, it says pretty good all day. 

Any other storm riders? Is jpbrof the only skier here?
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post #22 of 29
12/20/09 at 2:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trekchick View Post



 
Just rolled back up to the house and unloaded the gear.
We had some Double Black Diamond WROD driving this morning to get to the goods.  This counts as "earning the turns":


Then it got worse:


A good sign as I got closer:



It was fully socked in up there at Beech.  No flights taking off or landing here today.




There were no lift lines, not even any lifties out of the huts.  Self service skiing today

There was plenty of goods up there when I arrived.  I didn't take but two photos actually skiing, and just of the tracks that seem to have gotten covered in the time I took to dig my phone out of my pocket.




I'd say there was about 14"-18" blowing around up there.  FWIW, my Elan 999s were the fattest skis I saw, but there wasn't hardly anyone there.  A patrol commented "looks like someone brought the right skis today"  Now, time to slather them in storage wax and hang them back up for another 10 years LOL!


Like the above thread mentioned, many casualties along the was there and back.  I took route 184 all the way  there instead of cutting over to 105 and padding Sugar.  Tougher driving, but fewer obstacles (stuck folks).  I took the 105 route home to look at the remaining carnage
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post #23 of 29
12/20/09 at 3:41pm
 Nice! That was Saturday, right? We had blue skies today.
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post #24 of 29
12/20/09 at 4:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by telerod15 View Post

 Nice! That was Saturday, right? We had blue skies today.
Nope, that was today  The big dump was yesterday afternoon and evening, but it was still coming down today at 5,000 feet.
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post #25 of 29
12/20/09 at 4:34pm
Can you say powder day at Bradford hill in Haverhill MA???  However we didn't get as much snow as you guys...only got about 8 inches. Rhode Island, Cape Cod and parts of Connecticut got pounded though. Some people reported up to 2 feet of snow!!!
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post #26 of 29
12/20/09 at 5:24pm
Ski Bradford has about ten times the vert of the hill I skied today. Brentwood levee. Top elevation, 25 feet above sea level.
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post #27 of 29
12/21/09 at 11:14am
Thread Starter 
Storm totals from the Ski SouthEast website:

Beech 19"
Cataloochee 22"

Wintergreen 30"
Snowshoe 27"
Timberline 23"

 

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post #28 of 29
12/22/09 at 7:14am
 I believe the WTG total -- I stepped out of my skis yesterday on the way to the restroom, and immediately sank down to my crotch in snow (at which point I extracted myself, put skis back on, and decided to tour my way to the restroom...).  They are still digging out, and many sidewalks, decks, stairs, doors, were still blocked as of yesterday.  I saw them using barrels to carry snow off the deck of one lodge.

Sadly, it wasn't much of a powder weekend at WTG, as they groomed nearly everything down and were running snow guns while snow fell.  But the base is in excellent shape for December, as good as I have seen it since about 2005 or so.

I lost count, but I think I saw well over 100 cars in ditches, in the woods, etc while driving this weekend.  It was the worst winter driving I have ever experienced, anywhere in the country.  The high snowfall rates at the peak of the storm made the roads a mess and reduced visibility to almost nil.  One leg of my drive took 7 hours instead of the normal 2.5.  I don't want to ever do that again.
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post #29 of 29
12/22/09 at 7:49am
Thread Starter 
^^^^ I can almost imagine.  I've seen Ike Pass with almost 30".  That much precipitation in Central Virginia must have been Epic Disaster Driving.  I called my drive a bonefide Double Black.  We certainly earned out turns.
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