Ski Dates for 2012

Well, Killington has taken down the Peak Lodge to rebuild, and shut the South Ridge Triple, and Hurricane Irene took out at least half of the K1 Lodge and we're not quite sure what else. It's going to be different up there this year. We heard from the Chalet Killington, and the people and the building are fine.

I'm looking for people interested in joining me on ski trips. I go to Killington, where I have a season pass. I am an all-day skier... I like to start by 9:00AM and I'm usually not off the mountain until well after the lifts close. On some occasions, we get on the road at 6AM to arrive at the slopes by 9 for the first day. Others we leave the night before. Lodging is at Chalet Killington which has a good and fast hot breakfast, leaving us with a one-mile drive to Snowshed, two to Killington Base, or about 4 to Bear Mountain. We leave for home after the lifts have closed on the last day. Nothing is sweeter than getting on the last chair at 4pm and having that nice long last run after normal folk have gone home.

I don't own a car, so normally I rent one to drive up. If you provide a car, you share the room for free. If you don't have a car, and still want to come, I'm always eager to have company for the ride, so we'll figure out something that works. Sometimes Killington gives me a few discounts on tickets with my season pass, and if they do, I'm happy to provide them. Let me know if you are interested in joining me on any of these weekends.

The Chalet has free wireless, so you can sit in front of the fireplace and work, surf the web, or drink beer. There's a sauna and jacuzzi, and a heated outdoor pool. Dinner is available at the Baja Burrito right in the hotel, so you can walk down to dinner from the room without even putting your shoes on.

Once again, we have the ski house for a week in February. It's a great opportunity to get in some mid-week skiing, and relax and enjoy dinners at night with your OSL friends. The house holds at six people, and we look forward to filling it. Unfortunately, it's not child-safe.

We've got a couple extra days planned the weekend that starts NU's spring break, so at a minimum there will be skiing that Monday and Tuesday. If you are in the west, there are plans for a skiers' hookey day or a weekend at Mammoth in December, but no details yet. Someone in Boston will have to organize the event there this year.

Think Snow!

Here is some historical info on the lifts at Killington. They just updated this to reflect the new SPQ and the loss of Devil's Fiddle Chair, but they haven't noted the recent and unfortunate loss of the South Ridge Triple.
Here are some pictures from Ski-House Week 2009.

Capital M and C in this equation? Is this an indication of their knowledge of the subject they plan to teach?

Full weekends are in yellow. The usual plan is to drive up either Friday night or leave Cambridge at 6:00AM Saturday (groan) and return Sunday night.
Unavailable weekends are in red. I'll be there in spirit those weekends.
Weeks marked "No Friday Travel" are open for (1) 6:00AM Saturday drive for 2 days of skiing, (2) Saturday afternoon drive and ski Sunday, or (3) one-day trip on Sunday, leaving at 6:00AM.

DATE
NOTE
PLANS, [and RESULTS]

Dec

Possible Spur-of-the-moment early season trip if the snow is unusually good.
Skiers' Hookey Day at Mammoth, Mon-Tue 20-21 Dec. Sierra Lodge confirmed for 2 Sun. & Mon. Roarke will drive. [Not much snow, but good grooming. Days 1-2.]

Jan
1 (Sun)
Sabbatical

5-6 (Thu-Fri)
No Classes

6-8
Chalet K res for 4 Fri+Sat
Andy. Stacia and Jason. [Very little snow for this time of year. Thanks to snowmaking, it was "ok" skiing. Soft bumps under the guns on East Fall Sunday. Days 3 and 4.]

13-16 MLK 3 Days
No Friday Travel Chalet K res for 2 Sat+Sun
Steve and Colin. Travel up Sat PM. Return Monday PM. [Very cold, with a lot of lifts with unexplained "mechanical problems." Finally some fresh snow, both natural and from the guns. What was open was really good. Days 5 and 6. ]

20-22
Travel to San Francisco

26-29
Squaw Valley: Drive up Thu 5pm, Ski Fr, Sa, Su. Drive to SFO Sun 5pm.
[Broke my hand Friday AM. Skied half a day in mediocre conditions. Upper mountain finally opened for the season. Day 7]

Feb
3-5
Chalet K res for 2 Fri+Sat
Stacia and Jason. [Nice cover of machine snow on top of solid ice. Skiing in a cast. Days 8 and 9.]

10-12
Chalet K res for 2 Fri+Sat
Andy [More machine powder over ice. More snowmaking than I've ever seen at one time. Very cold on Sunday (High of 4F). I'd swear we saw a robin in the trees by the Snowdon Quad. Days 10, 11.]

17-20
Chalet K. Fri through Mon.
Chris and Heidi Sat and Sun., Steve G. Dave S. 3 days, Joseph Monday. [Still machine powder over ice. Cheers to the snowmakers. Bronx cheers to management for removing the Devil's Fiddle and South Ridge Chairs. With the old Snowshed Crossover closed, there's only one way out of Bear, and the crowds on the Skye Peak Quad cost us a couple runs a day. Days 12-14.]

24-26
Reserved Chalet K.
Ali G. [Freshies! Haven't used that word all season. About 5 inches of new powder Friday night and more all day. Wind closed a lot of lifts, but we got some great skiing. Best of the season so far. We were beginning to think it wasn't going to happen. Sunday more freshies with another 5 inches overnight, and perfect blue skies. Bear Mt. was the best. Days 15-16. (Break-even day for my season pass.)]

Mar
2-6
Chalet K res for 2 Fri-Mon
One long weekend from Fri Night. Jason and Stacia for the weekend. Joseph Sunday night for Mon and Tue skiing. [A few inches of fresh snow Fri night and a little bit of rain around 5AM. Nice soft carvable snow all over and some great bumps. The expected rain never happened, and the very bad visibility early gave way to blue skies around 11. Best day of the season so far. Jason and Stacia did Big Dipper and Patsy's tree runs, among others. Sunday .cold weather made for some firm snow, but still some good skiing. Sunday night turned cold with 5 inches of very dry powder for even better Monday conditions than Sat. Nice soft powdery bumps. Joseph did his first top-to-bottom run, and we had good all-day skiing with a high temp of 15F.Days 17-20]

Mar
7-9 (W-F)
NU Spring Break
Research travel.

9-11
No Friday Travel Chalet K res for 2 Sat
[Plans got confusing and I ended up solo for this one. However weather luck has been with us lately. Warm weather late in the week hurt the base, but we had fresh snow Friday night. Still lots of powder left by mid-day Saturday. Sunday was a warm and windy spring day, going up to high 40s at Route 4 and low 30s at the top. Great for a goggle tan. This could be a short season. First sign of spring: Next year's season passes are being advertised. Days 21-22.]

16-18
Chalet K res for 2 Fri+Sat
Jason (Fri PM for Sat Only) [A legendary spring weekend. Parka came off Saturday at lunch, and I left it in the car Sunday. Shorts and T-shirt by 11, and no shirt after 1:30. Soft bumps (and big ones) everywhere. Rt. 4 base went down Saturday, Ramshead on Sunday. Snow is disappearing really fast. Lots of bare spots by the end of Sunday. Days 23-24. ]

23-25

Jason. [Getting down to the end of the season. This has been a very short and snow-starved season. This weekend saw Superstar and the Skyelark, High Road, Bittersweet route open off the Superstar Chair. At Bear, the Outer Limits, Wildfire, and Bear Claw were open with some walking and lower Dreammaker with pretty decent coverage. Wildfire and Bear Claw closed Sunday, and it was the last day for the whole Bear area. Big bumps and soft snow with temps in the 50s. A little rain Sunday morning. Days 25,26.]

30-1 One last blast at Sunday River. Chris, Dick, Jason, Tristan, Joe R. [The winter that never really started seems to be postponing its end as well. Sunday River (and 3 others) made snow even though it's the end of March. A lot of open trails, mostly blue, in surprisingly good shape. With temps in the 40s, it was just a little soft in the sun. Days 27-28]

Apr
6-8

and beyond???
April Skiing is unpredictable. We'll go after this only if it really looks good. In 2010, we hit Jay Peak on 1-2 May to close the season.

12 April. It looks like the end of a relatively dismal season. We kept waiting for winter to start and it never did. This was a year of little snow across the country, and for me most of the winter I was skiing with a cast on my hand. I still managed to get 28 days. My two new areas for the year were Mammoth for early season skiing and Sunday River for the last blast in spring.

Watch this space in early May for summer bike trips, and look in November for the next ski season.

	DATE	NOTE	PLANS, [and RESULTS]
Dec		Possible Spur-of-the-moment early season trip if the snow is unusually good.	Skiers' Hookey Day at Mammoth, Mon-Tue 20-21 Dec. Sierra Lodge confirmed for 2 Sun. & Mon. Roarke will drive. [Not much snow, but good grooming. Days 1-2.]
Jan	1 (Sun)	Sabbatical
	5-6 (Thu-Fri)	No Classes
	6-8	Chalet K res for 4 Fri+Sat	Andy. Stacia and Jason. [Very little snow for this time of year. Thanks to snowmaking, it was "ok" skiing. Soft bumps under the guns on East Fall Sunday. Days 3 and 4.]
	13-16 MLK 3 Days	No Friday Travel Chalet K res for 2 Sat+Sun	Steve and Colin. Travel up Sat PM. Return Monday PM. [Very cold, with a lot of lifts with unexplained "mechanical problems." Finally some fresh snow, both natural and from the guns. What was open was really good. Days 5 and 6. ]
	20-22	Travel to San Francisco
	26-29	Squaw Valley: Drive up Thu 5pm, Ski Fr, Sa, Su. Drive to SFO Sun 5pm.	[Broke my hand Friday AM. Skied half a day in mediocre conditions. Upper mountain finally opened for the season. Day 7]
Feb	3-5	Chalet K res for 2 Fri+Sat	Stacia and Jason. [Nice cover of machine snow on top of solid ice. Skiing in a cast. Days 8 and 9.]
	10-12	Chalet K res for 2 Fri+Sat	Andy [More machine powder over ice. More snowmaking than I've ever seen at one time. Very cold on Sunday (High of 4F). I'd swear we saw a robin in the trees by the Snowdon Quad. Days 10, 11.]
	17-20	Chalet K. Fri through Mon.	Chris and Heidi Sat and Sun., Steve G. Dave S. 3 days, Joseph Monday. [Still machine powder over ice. Cheers to the snowmakers. Bronx cheers to management for removing the Devil's Fiddle and South Ridge Chairs. With the old Snowshed Crossover closed, there's only one way out of Bear, and the crowds on the Skye Peak Quad cost us a couple runs a day. Days 12-14.]
	24-26	Reserved Chalet K.	Ali G. [Freshies! Haven't used that word all season. About 5 inches of new powder Friday night and more all day. Wind closed a lot of lifts, but we got some great skiing. Best of the season so far. We were beginning to think it wasn't going to happen. Sunday more freshies with another 5 inches overnight, and perfect blue skies. Bear Mt. was the best. Days 15-16. (Break-even day for my season pass.)]
Mar	2-6	Chalet K res for 2 Fri-Mon	One long weekend from Fri Night. Jason and Stacia for the weekend. Joseph Sunday night for Mon and Tue skiing. [A few inches of fresh snow Fri night and a little bit of rain around 5AM. Nice soft carvable snow all over and some great bumps. The expected rain never happened, and the very bad visibility early gave way to blue skies around 11. Best day of the season so far. Jason and Stacia did Big Dipper and Patsy's tree runs, among others. Sunday .cold weather made for some firm snow, but still some good skiing. Sunday night turned cold with 5 inches of very dry powder for even better Monday conditions than Sat. Nice soft powdery bumps. Joseph did his first top-to-bottom run, and we had good all-day skiing with a high temp of 15F.Days 17-20]
Mar	7-9 (W-F)	NU Spring Break	Research travel.
	9-11	No Friday Travel Chalet K res for 2 Sat	[Plans got confusing and I ended up solo for this one. However weather luck has been with us lately. Warm weather late in the week hurt the base, but we had fresh snow Friday night. Still lots of powder left by mid-day Saturday. Sunday was a warm and windy spring day, going up to high 40s at Route 4 and low 30s at the top. Great for a goggle tan. This could be a short season. First sign of spring: Next year's season passes are being advertised. Days 21-22.]
	16-18	Chalet K res for 2 Fri+Sat	Jason (Fri PM for Sat Only) [A legendary spring weekend. Parka came off Saturday at lunch, and I left it in the car Sunday. Shorts and T-shirt by 11, and no shirt after 1:30. Soft bumps (and big ones) everywhere. Rt. 4 base went down Saturday, Ramshead on Sunday. Snow is disappearing really fast. Lots of bare spots by the end of Sunday. Days 23-24. ]
	23-25		Jason. [Getting down to the end of the season. This has been a very short and snow-starved season. This weekend saw Superstar and the Skyelark, High Road, Bittersweet route open off the Superstar Chair. At Bear, the Outer Limits, Wildfire, and Bear Claw were open with some walking and lower Dreammaker with pretty decent coverage. Wildfire and Bear Claw closed Sunday, and it was the last day for the whole Bear area. Big bumps and soft snow with temps in the 50s. A little rain Sunday morning. Days 25,26.]
	30-1		One last blast at Sunday River. Chris, Dick, Jason, Tristan, Joe R. [The winter that never really started seems to be postponing its end as well. Sunday River (and 3 others) made snow even though it's the end of March. A lot of open trails, mostly blue, in surprisingly good shape. With temps in the 40s, it was just a little soft in the sun. Days 27-28]
Apr	6-8
	and beyond???	April Skiing is unpredictable. We'll go after this only if it really looks good. In 2010, we hit Jay Peak on 1-2 May to close the season.