Avila QC – July 4, 2015 – AKAMP Banked Slalom

July lift served…. Oh yeah!!!!

The question has I went on to bed on this warm Ottawa night was….which skis do I take tomorrow? Not my good race skis, but it’s a race??? Old race slalom? Older all-mountains? Snow is going to be dirty. Hope they ain’t too many bugs. Ski ya tomorrow.

Picnic tables near the beaches

Rope tow

I ended up bringing 3 pairs of skis. The Akamp had been a jibbing snowcamp that has been held on the lower slope of Mont Avila. The 8th edition started with a few events: JR Games which was a slopestyle competition and a Banked Slalom. The camp has been running for the last few seasons and is either held during 4-5 days in late June or early July. The snow from the Mont Avila snowpark is stockpiled in a huge mound at the end of the season and covered with hay. I had experience the Akamp snow or leftover snow in 2013 and 2014.

Today was the first day with Mogulskier and I signing up for the Axis banked slalom. For the first year, you could use a ride up on a lift. Here is what Mogulskier had to say about the experience: “interesting rope tow installed with a scaffold ramp to start-it was really fast, probably faster than a detachable lift really neat set up. Lots of brown snow up higher, many features set up for the week-long A Kamp. I managed 2nd place overall, MadPat beat me by a tenth we came in at 15.6-8 seconds, it was fun and quick/short. Got lots of laps in outside of the event, a really enjoyable afternoon/evening on snow.”

My advantage were longer poles…the difference was all in the pushing through the dirty snow prior to the first bank turn. I didn’t know my time until I reached the start for my season run. I finally opted for my long Rossignol B2 which were fairly beaten up. We had a few practice runs and the rope-tow definitely ease the work on this hot Summer day. They also had other activities for the kids registered to the camp, like trampoline and skate half-pipe. Our registration got us a drink and a delicious stove over pizza.

Skateboarders

Liftlines (chair and rope tow)

Racing action: Don’t eat the dirty snow

Snowboard racing

One of the three Fat Bikes registered for the race

View on the Mont Avila Lodge

Finish line and Rope tow setup

Picture by Mogulskier: MadPat and the Rope tow. As my tiny wet glove got wet, the grip became harder as the rope started sliding through my hands. Later on I would go gloveless.

The mud from above the snow made the some dirty, however the snow was much better lower down.

Mogulskier’s daffy

Air

Mogulskier’s carving

Al finally showed up

Mogulskier and Al

Initially the race was supposed to be done by teams, but not sure what happened between the concept and the race, probably a lower anticipated turnout. Alex was suppose to show up for the race and ski with us, but we showed up after the rope-tow was turned off. He still managed to hike up for some turns, Mogulskier joined him will I enjoyed my first first place medal and rewarding beer.

Beer

Gold

Ottawa trio

Goodbye

Parting shot

MadPat’s Gallery:
Mont Avila QC – 4 juillet 2015

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Mont St-Sauveur QC – June 3, 2016 – Connecting the patches

MSS: Disconnected patches

Picture by Mogulskier: MadPat adding some extra weight. Probably the beer.

After leaving St-Sauveur on May 22, the snow depth looked deep enough that it would survive into June even if the hill was closing the following day. A source had told me that it was still continuous snow from the lift to the top of the pitch on Sunday May 29. On that day South of the border Killington was still offering lift-served skiing, although they was some walking required. K was even hoping to offer some skiing on June 1, however the continued heatwave squashed those plans.

Mogulskier’s Stealth approach

Out of sight

I could have gone to Killington to earn my June turns on the Superstar patches with a number of likeminded snownuts, but I was somewhat afraid of the response I would get from the Customs Officers: drugs testing or locked up in an asylum. So I decided to keep my skiiing shenanigans closer to home this time. Forecast was calling for heavy rain at time on Thursday June 2, but the weather was perfect the Friday June 3, plus I had a partner in crime with Mogulskier. We meet up in front of a very green Mont St-Sauveur, however approaching the mountain you could definitely see some snow was still present higher up on part of Hill 70 and Nordique. The question on the amount was hard to see from a distance; it just looked like a bunch disconnected patches.

Snow!!!

Crest of the final pitch

Middle flats

Near the base of Hill 70, workers were getting things ready for the Summer activities and Waterpark, so we decided to use a stealth approach in a less obvious location. We joined Hill 70 just above the final pitch and witness our first patch of snow. Snow was semi-continuous on the middle flats on looker’s right close to the trees and shade. Someone had definitely been around as the two box features were moved a few feet from the last open day to the remaining snow area. Bri7 had mentioned that the patch was still continuous on Sunday with 2-3 choking point, this was clearly no longer the case. As we moved above the mid part, there was a wet grass/mud field. Through the trees onto the next trail there was the appearance of an important Nordique patch.

Upper pitch with two distinct patches

Mogulskier on lower patch

Lower patch’s snowbridge

Picture by Mogulskier: Upper patch

The next important patch was on the upper pitch, however there was a cut/snow bridge on the verge of collapse where a stream. Once we arrived at the clearing at the top of the triple, there was no longer any remaining snow. We dropped on gear and celebrated the verge of my first descent of Quebec June skiing with a couple of bottle of beer. As for Mogulskier, he had skied Mont St-Sauveur with the lift running back in June 1997. We hiked over to take a look at the upper pitch of Nordique and the patch looked more impressive through the trees. It was only one narrow cross trail patch, so not necessarily enough to fight the adversity. The adversity had found us and it was black flies. We quickly chugged what was left of our beer and jumped into our ski boots still attached to our skis.

Where the snow that we saw on Nordique?

Nordique’s snow patch partially hidden

Funny, I was so focus on carrying a pair of bottles that I had forgotten my ski poles. D’oh!!! We hurried down from our spot before bug lunch, connecting the patch as best we could via grass and mug skiing. That included the perhaps ill-adverse skiing over the snow bridge. The upper patch was definitely the steepest if you didn’t mind the few yards of grass skiing. The main patch was definitely the middle of the trail, a few hundred feet of partially suncupped hard snow. Although it was hot, the snow didn’t have the cream cheese fell. The main patch curled over the crest of the pitch with one tiny patch in the middle of the pitch and ended on fresh ankle-deep grass. Fresh tracks top to bottom with only one portage. Woyou!!!!

After reaching our car, we drove off to look at possibility our next mission on the neighbouring ski area in a few weeks time.

Maximum vertical

Upper patch

Connecting patches

Pretty much continuous

Timelapse video of Mogulskier

Fresh tracks

Top to bottom

Next mission?

MadPat’s Gallery:
Mont St-Sauveur QC – 3 juin 2016

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Mont St-Sauveur QC – May 14 & 22, 2016 : May Repeat

Another May weekend, what else to do, but enjoy the cool snow and warm breeze while skiing in a t-shirt?

After last weekend double destination at the last two ski resorts open in the East, it was time to focus on the more local area for me.

Picture by Jari from http://planetskier.blogspot.ca

Saturday May 14:

Definitely less driving this weekend: Mont St-Sauveur is under 50 miles from Montréal and 100 miles from Ottawa. MSS was having an end-of-the-year party with a band, the popular exterior bar, BBQ, $1 hot-dogs, inflatable jumping structures for the kids and it was also the last weekend to take advantage of the Waterpark season pass special of $59 for the season-pass. This would explain why there were 25 people in line in front of me at the Customer Service desk.

Mogulskier hitting the bumps on the final West Hill 70 pitch

Planetskier carving outside the bumps lines

Mogulskier on Hill 70

It was also “May repeat” from the previous weekend, everyone was out for what was initially the last weekend (which was changed the previous day) of skiing. A repeat in the warm t-shirt weather, the Ottawa crew was here, the two Dan, Danmelon and MTL_Ripper, Mogulskier, a few people from Zoneski and a few bloggers like Tom from Estski and Jari the Planetskier. The previous Friday I meet Jari at Killington, this time he made the trip from Boston (not Finland) to ski at MSS and Québec which he had never skied. His other option for weekend turns was Iceland, but MSS wasn’t as an expensive option.

Nordique was official closed, but that didn’t really stop anyone

The entrance of Nordique wouldn’t last the day, but coverage was 100% on everything about the finally pitch which was roped off.

I don’t recall the last time I saw so much coverage in mid-May at MSS? Snow was pushed all the way to the lodge’s patio. The official trail count was one, Hill 70 West, but part of 70 East was covered and skied. The main difference in one week was the official closing of the Nordique trail, however it didn’t stop anyone from skiing it. The coverage was thin and became non-existent at the entrance of the trail plus the final pitch was roped off with undermined snow at bottom and ended on pavement with two parked groomers. A few bump lines were seeded, a box and rail setup on Hill 70: Fun for all. The surface was pretty firm due to the salting of the Hill 70, Nordique was soft while the finally roped pitch was nice and firm, you really had to work your skis.

MadPat and Mogulskier at the top of a closed Nordique trail
Picture by Jari from http://planetskier.blogspot.ca

Clouds moving in above Nordique

Planetskier on Nordique

Bottom pitch on Nordique which skied really nicely, thank you very much.

Besides Jari from Finland, MSS had a 3-time gold medalist at Olympic and World Championships in Moguls. There were also a few plates from New England and New York. So MSS didn’t just drag out the nuts; although a few of them continued to ski when the rain came. The rain stopped just in time for last chair.

Mini-bar crowded, patio empty during pouring rain

MSS is very steep … in history. Dartmouth College raced here for the 1st or 2nd intercollegiate race against McGill in the 1930s. After the day of skiing, I showed the Laurentian Ski Museum in town where we got totally drenched … again.

The crew enjoying Après-ski beer
Picture by Jari from http://planetskier.blogspot.ca

Hardcore bumpers hiking for turns after 5pm

St-Sauveur church in the village

Sunday May 15:

The forecast for Sunday was may rain or may snow. Snow flakes failing from the sky, it is somewhat ironic considering that it was a sub par winter. Killington received 6% of the yearly snowfall on this “event”. Part of the Ottawa crew were considering a May repeat on Sunday, but as the weather was less than favourable. But like the weather was less favorable for Sunny Spring skiing, MSS didn’t open due to the risk of rain…again. As for Jari, we returned to ski Killington on this wintery day.

Saturday May 21:

Three-day ski weekend on both side of the border, Killington was going Friday-Sunday as always this May, while St-Sauveur were opening an extra day on Victoria Day Monday (Saturday-Monday). My plan was skiing Sunday and Monday and may again at Killington the following Monday May 30.

Waterpark is going to be open soon, but we’re still skiing

Like skiing in Summer

Sunday May 22:

Mogulskier was already skiing when I showed up, his kids and wife were at the MSS’s F.U.N park. Another week of temperature hovering around the 30c did a dent on the snowpack, especially the closed Nordique which was official closed the weekend before with excellent coverage on 3/4 of the trail. The trail was reduced a series on disconnected patches, however the snow was Hill 70 tight. But the coverage was showing a side of weakness in the middle of the Hill 70 pitch; as the day passed, water puddles and bare spots in the moguls field started growing. I don’t recall seeing this on Hill 70 in May in previous year. It’s a sign that the end is near. There was definitely not the number of skiers of the previous weekends, maybe they were spread out over last 3 opening days? Part of the Ottawa crew were there and other regular. It was getting really hot at noon with made it really difficult. As Mogulskier left for Dad duties in the park, the clouds started to move in and we even got a small drizzle for 15 minutes to cool us off. The pitch of Hill 70 was ugly, tomorrow is definitely the last day of the season for St-Sauveur.

There is still a few lines for Mogulskier.

Middle of Hill 70 pitch was getting uglier as the weekend passed. This section of the trail was bare on the last day.

Still enough snow for June on the middle of 70?

Wayne on the final pitch

The last hour crew

Monday May 23: May repeat, Maybe not, May June?

Alex sent me an email Sunday night and asked me if I was going back, was I going to repeat or not? After some consideration, I decided to spend Holiday Monday at home with the family. That being said, I hope that K makes it to June. In fact I hope MSS and K … and a bunch of others make it as long as possible. The more the merrier. I may go to Killington if they are open on Memorial day, meanwhile for MSS, today was definitely the last day of ski operation, even if the snowdepth at some places on Hill 70 will may survive into June. June turns at MSS, I may go for that.

The end

Bye Bye

MadPat’s Galleries:
Mont St-Sauveur QC – 14 mai 2016
Mont St-Sauveur QC – 22 mai 2016

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Dueling Mothers – Killington & St-Sauveur, May 6-7, 2016

Two left!!! One in Québec and the other in Vermont.

The same two that started the (and my) 2015-16 season over 6 months ago. My last visit at Killington was in early December, prior to that were my last two days at Mont St-Sauveur in October and November.

Killington like a beacon on the horizon

There was also at long last the meeting of two geography based ski bloggers, Ski Mad World and PlanetSkier…or should we say Ski Mad Planet and World Mad Skier?

Jari from Finland was in Eastern North America for a business meeting and for anyone that has followed his blog, it was pretty clear that he would have been eager to get some turns no matter how far or complicated it was.  As mentioned on the Dual May Days for Mothers’ Day – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 6 post, Killington and Mont St-Sauveur were the only two ski areas in the East still spinning lifts, actually no one was spinning midweek.

Getting closer: Skyelark, Superstar and Cascades (closed) under Killington Peak

Two open trails: Thin Skyelark and Fat Superstar

Bottom of Superstar

Wall-to-wall bumps

Superstar Glacier

Deep Superstar Headwall

Friday morning: Killington

The only ski area open today was Killington and that’s where I was going. Two runs on the menu for this warm +18c temperature and a sunny blue bird sky. A tale of two runs, Skyelark and Superstar. One was thin and levelled to a thin layer and the other was fat and bumpy. They groomed the middle of Superstar and everything to the sides was bumped up. I had time to test out the two runs before Jari arrived.

Jari on Skyelark

MadPat at one of the Skyelark chokes
Picture by Jari from http://planetskier.blogspot.ca

Jari taking an alternative route to another choke on the trail

Skyelark

The final pitch on Skyelark at the end of the day…now it’s really Thin

Skyelark was on its last miles with a thin base which would become none existing as the day went on. What was left of the snow was a firm thin layer and bare spots are a few chokes on the coverage. If you didn’t want to risk damaging your skis, it might be better to stay on Superstar. Some walking was required if you wanted to access the trail from the top, but most people reached the trail at the cutoff below the Superstar headwall. As the day went on, the trail sketchy areas before even more troublesome for nice ski bases.

Superstar

Superstar was everything that Skyelark wasn’t; it was deep, bumpy and corny. Based on the height of snow, they still had a few weekend of skiing planned. You never know with Mother Nature, but the cold Spring helped preserved the stockpiling of snow. Incredible, but this season is probably one of the worst on snow accumulation in this millenium. 75″ inches of snowfall (they would an extra 5% of their annual snowfall on May 15) and the base depth on Superstar was double that number on most of the trail. The mount above the headwall was huge and the middle of the trail snow level was close to lift height. There was some good coverage left on the Canyon area, Cascades looked particularly inviting.

Picture by Jari from http://planetskier.blogspot.ca

Picture by Jari from http://planetskier.blogspot.ca

It was top to bottom coverage on Superstar and as the day went by, there were the groomed centre made way to top to bottom, wall to wall moguls. Once at the bottom, there was side of snow and parking tailgating, but we continued riding the Superstar Express Quad which zoomed us up 1199′ (365m) vertical. Jari and I were hurting, broken rids ridding a horse to go skiing a few months ago in Morocco and myself the broken ankle in early season that didn’t like the moguls. Or maybe it was just me, I recall that skiing the bumps was easier in the 1990s. 🙂 I might be skiing like 20 years, but the tailgating in the parking lot and on the side of the lift was serious.

Lower Superstar

Canadian and Finnish skibloggers in Vermont
Picture by Jari from http://planetskier.blogspot.ca

Driving towards next destination

Saturday: Mont St-Sauveur

Snow on the two open run: Hill 70, Nordique as well as other runs

Open terrain

St-Sauveur was opening for the public on Saturday. For the last few late season, they’ve have hosted “Summer” race camps midweek and early morning weekend on Hill 70 and Nordique. Like Killington, MSS had two runs going, however coverage were groomed and equally deep on both runs. The only terrain that was bumped was on the East Hill 70 pitch which was an added bonus on the terrain. The MSS crew build a few bump lines plus the usual box and rail on the flatter part of 70. As I skied, I ran into the Ottawa crew having fun in the bumps as well as the regardless late season suspects. The usual early and late season closing lift was running on approximately 607′ (185m) vertical and everyone was having a great day skiing in t-shirt or shorts.

Wall to wall Hill 70, East and West

Deep base on Nordique

Nordique

Nordique’s bottom pitch

A good part of Hill 70 and Nordique had be salted for the race camps, so most of the base was firm and consistent. Sharp edges were definitely a plus, but there was also softer corn snow accumulated outside the race area. The finally pitch of Nordique was as fun as always to ski even if it was firm. The +21c didn’t really soften it up.

The base depth on Hill 70 and Nordique were a few meters deep. Mont St-Sauveur was getting ready for to open their summer park schedule to open on May 21, ski season was suppose to end on May 15, but with the important depth of snow left, MSS decided to give skiers an extra weekend closing on May 23. Interesting enough, MSS received more snow than Killington which isn’t common: 103″ (262cm) versus 75″(190cm) (81″ currently, 206cm). Even it was also a very warm winter north of the border, the few degrees difference was often the difference between snow and rain. Not to be outdone and new this season, Mont St-Sauveur converted a shipping container into a bar next to the snow. Ingenious!!! Snow + Sun + Warm + May + Beer = What Spring Skiing is about.

Bottom pitch of West and East Hill 70

East Hill 70 bump field

Ottawa Crew

Sunday: Sun only in name.

Friday and Saturday were the real Sundays, this day was more a wet day. Mont St-Sauveur didn’t bother to open due to the weather and skiers at Killington in the cold and wet conditions. As common this time of the season, MSS didn’t bother spinning when few would bother buying lift tickets in the wet & cold May day. Some flurries even fell over the Great White North. Meanwhile south of the border, Killington spun for a few diehards “wet” skiers. Snow isn’t going to melt much in the first few days this week, as freezing (or close to freezing temps) are forecasted overnight.

However it was a beautiful first half of the weekend, hopefully it wasn’t the last Spring skiing of the season. Nothing can be taken for granted this time of the season: despite deep snow at the last two ski resorts still running lifts in the East, the end is near. Amazing May skiing was had by all you did, like the sun and the warm weather, showed up on the first part of the weekend.

As it stands now, MSS & Killington last days so far is respectively May 7 & 8. This is pretty respectable on a terrible snow year.

Growing lake

Snow + Sun + Bar

Heading home

MadPat’s Galleries:
Killington VT, May 6, 2016
Mont St-Sauveur QC – 7 mai 2016

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Deep into May – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 8

As it snowed in parts of the Laurentians and Green Mountains this morning, two ski resorts are still planning to provide some lift assisted for the hardcore winter sport enthusiast next weekend. Despite a low snow year, snowmaking and a cold Spring days has extended the season longer that many would have hoped. The warm weather has been inconsistent, but generally offer us one or two great Spring skiing days. This weekend was no exception, like the previous week, Mont St-Sauveur in Laurentians didn’t spin on the Sunday due to the less than favorable forecast for beautiful Spring skiing (Thundershowers hit during the Après on Saturday. Killington spun as schedule on Sunday and even saw some snow.

The longest ski seasons in the East…opened respectively on October 18 and 19, Killington and Mont St-Sauveur are still looking to reopen this coming weekend. MSS was planning to close on May 15, but the amount of snow left and the amount of people showing for fun in the sun it have convinced them to go for an extra weekend.

Previous years:
Here was the head-to-head showdown since the Beast came back in town.
2013:
May 26 – Killington
May 19 – MSS
2014:
May 19 – MSS
May 18 – Killington
2015:
May 25 – Killington
May 10 – MSS
2016 so far:
At least May 15 – Killington
At least May 14 – MSS

LIST OF 2 SKI AREAS TENTATIVELY OPEN THIS WEEKEND
Open DAILY : 0

Superstar and Hill 70 are the only two trails left in the East; choose your trail for your lift assisted laps this weekend.

An important note to remember, this information can change at any moment. Even if there is snow, call ahead, prices, deals, trails, some might not bothering spinning if the weather doesn’t compare with the notion of Spring skiing.

Mont St-Sauveur QC – May 23 (weekend and Victoria Day)
Lift : L’étoile
Trail : Hill 70
Time : 9am to 5pm
Cost : $20CDN for 2 hours / $28CDN for 4 hours / $32CDN full day lift tickets (plus taxes)

Killington VT – TBD (Fri-Sun only)
Lift : Superstar Express Quad
Trails : Superstar
Time : 8am (9am on Friday) to 4pm (5pm on Saturday)
Cost : $58US lift tickets – 50% with pass from another mountain.

Last chair in the East since 2006:
2006: May 5 – Bretton Woods
2007: May 6 – MSS, Killington, Sugarbush, Wildcat
2008: May 11 – MSS
2009: May 4? – Sugarloaf on Monday?*, MSS, Jay and Sugarbush
2010: May 3? – Sugarloaf on Monday?*, MSS and Jay
2011: May 22 – MSS
2012: May 6 – MSS
2013: May 26 – Killington
2014: May 19 – MSS
2015: May 25 – Killington
2016: ???

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Ski Mad World’s weekly Eastern Closing 2016 posts:
Let’s move Past EASTer & Go Easterner – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Part 1
Freeze Frame – Eastern Closing Thread 2015-16 – semaine 2
Monday, Monday…Eastern Closing 2016 Update – Week 3
The best of Spring Skiing – Eastern Closing 2016 – Week 4
May continue skiing – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 5
Dual May Days for Mothers’ Day – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 6
May it last? Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 7

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May it last? Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 7

Nothing can be taken for granted this time of the season: despite deep snow at the last two ski resorts still running lifts in the East, the end is near. Amazing May skiing was had by all you did, like the sun and the warm weather, showed up on the first part of the weekend.

The situation wasn’t so sunny on Sunday, let’s just say that it rained on the ski resort Spring day parade. As common this time of the season, MSS didn’t bother opening when few would bother buying lift tickets in the wet & cold May day. Some flurries even fell over the Great White North. Meanwhile south of the border, Killington spun for a few diehards “wet” skiers. Snow isn’t going to melt much in the first few days this week, as freezing (or close to freezing temps) are forecasted overnight.

As it stands now, MSS & Killington last days so far is respectively May 7 & 8. This is pretty respectable on a terrible snow year. If you look at the past decade, half of the time the season would have been over, but to have two ski resorts still considering to open next weekend is awesome. The only thing that isn’t awesome now is the forecast outlook for this coming weekend; Friday-Sunday is still a few days away, but with the current forecast, it will be hard to work on your tan.

Frequency of number of ski areas spinning into mid May since 2006:
2 ski areas : 4 times (Kmart and MSS)
1 ski area : 2 times (MSS only)
0 ski areas : 6 times

Two are left: Killington and St-Sauveur.
The same pair closing out the season again. After over 200 days after opening the Eastern ski season on October 18 & 19 respectively, with Sunday River joining the pair, they are duelling it out for until the end.

Previous years:
Duelling areas, here is the respective closing dates for MSS and Kmart since Killington returned to their last to close tradition. These two areas have been the only ski areas in the East to open this late in the last decade and have been the last two standing for the last three years.

Here was the head-to-head showdown since Kmart came back in town.
2013:
May 26 – Killington
May 19 – MSS
2014:
May 19 – MSS
May 18 – Killington
2015:
May 25 – Killington
May 10 – MSS

LIST OF 2 SKI AREAS TENTATIVELY OPEN THIS WEEKEND
Open DAILY : 0

Killington will be down to Superstar and MSS will have Hill 70 and Nordique might still be open next weekend. Same schedule as last weekend. As for the possibility to extend further towards the following weekend on a number of factors: a) MSS need to get their Summer park ready by modifying their lift. Sign mentioned an May 21 opening. MSS has extended their season by an extra weekend after mentioning it was their last weekend; b) Snowdepth and now Thin are the resorts willing to go; c) Now Deep our their pockets or how Thin is their bank account. 2015-16 has been a difficult season for Eastern Ski Resorts. All this being said, this might be or not be the last ski weekend in the East. MSS might extend, Kmart might call it a season, all scenarios are possible with these two players.

An important note to remember, this information can change at any moment. Even if there is snow, call ahead, prices, deals, trails, some might not bothering spinning if the weather doesn’t compare with the notion of Spring skiing.

Mont St-Sauveur QC – May 15 23 (weekend only)*
Lift : L’étoile
Trail : Hill 70, Nordique
Time : 9am to 5pm
Cost : $20CDN for 2 hours / $28CDN for 4 hours / $32CDN full day lift tickets (plus taxes)

Killington VT – TBD (Fri-Sun only)
Lift : Superstar Express Quad
Trails : Superstar
Time : 8am (9am on Friday) to 4pm (5pm on Saturday)
Cost : $58US lift tickets – 50% with pass from another mountain.

*UPDATE: Thursday afternoon confirmations. Killington and St-Sauveur are schedule to be open, however for MSS, better confirm as forecast calls for r*in and they might not open. HOWEVER MSS as mentioned in this post earlier this week, MSS is adding Victoria Day weekend to their season. New Closing Date: Monday May 23.

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Ski Mad World’s weekly Eastern Closing 2016 posts:
Let’s move Past EASTer & Go Easterner – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Part 1
Freeze Frame – Eastern Closing Thread 2015-16 – semaine 2
Monday, Monday…Eastern Closing 2016 Update – Week 3
The best of Spring Skiing – Eastern Closing 2016 – Week 4
May continue skiing – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 5
Dual May Days for Mothers’ Day – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 6

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Dual May Days for Mothers’ Day – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 6

Choices on Mothers’ Day.

Should I go skiing or not? Will my mom or wife agreed to this?
If I choose to go skiing, which ski resort to choose? A or B?
Once the resort chosen, which ski trail? A or B?

Skiing lift served in the East come down to those questions.

After all the closing on May 1, that left us with Mont St-Sauveur and Killington still committed to reopen for next weekend. May 1 marked the last day of the season for Jay, Sugarbush, Sunday River, Sugarloaf and Mont Comi; it also marked the last day of daily lift served skiing in the East as Killington, the last to offer daily skiing, is moving to a Friday-Sunday scheduled for the rest of the season.

Two are left: Killington and St-Sauveur.
The same pair closing out the season again. After starting their season on October 18 & 19 respectively with Sunday River joining the pair; they are duelling it out for until the end.
Friday to Sunday and weekends only.

As people often ask me, there is still skiing? Skiing on Mothers’ Day isn’t even uncommon in the East as it has happened at K and MSS for fourth year in a row.

Frequency of number of ski areas spinning in second weekend in May:
3 ski areas : 2 times
2 ski areas : 3 times
1 ski area : 1 time
0 ski areas : 5 times

Previous years:

Here was the status of what was happening at the same time in previous years:

Numbers from previous seasons: Total:
2016 : 2 (Killington, MSS)
2015 : 2 (Killington, MSS)
2014 : 3 (Jay, Killington, MSS)
2013 : 2 (Killington, MSS)
2012 : 0
2011 : 3 (Jay, MSS, Sugarloaf)
2010 : 0
2009 : 0
2008 : 1 (MSS)
2007 : 0
2006 : 0

LIST OF 2 SKI AREAS TENTATIVELY OPEN THIS WEEKEND
Open DAILY : 0

The ski areas trail count might differ, but it’s likely to come down to these two runs. This past weekend MSS had official the bottom pitch of East Hill 70 meaning the entire width of Hill 70 was open and skiable plus the SilverPark.

An important note to remember, this information can change at any moment. Even if there is snow, call ahead, prices, deals, trails, some might not bothering spinning if the weather doesn’t compare with the notion of Spring skiing.

St-Sauveur QC – May 15 (weekend only – tentative on weather forecast)
Lift : L’étoile
Trail : Hill 70, Nordique
Time : 9am to 5pm
Cost : $20CDN for 2 hours/ $32CDN full day lift tickets (plus taxes)

Killington VT – TBD (Fri-Sun only)
Lift : Superstar Express Quad
Trails : Superstar, Skye Lark
Time : 8am (9am Fri) to 4pm (5pm on Sat)
Cost : $58US lift tickets – 50% with pass from another mountain.

((*
*))
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Ski Mad World’s weekly Eastern Closing 2016 posts:
Let’s move Past EASTer & Go Easterner – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Part 1
Freeze Frame – Eastern Closing Thread 2015-16 – semaine 2
Monday, Monday…Eastern Closing 2016 Update – Week 3
The best of Spring Skiing – Eastern Closing 2016 – Week 4
May continue skiing – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 5

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May continue skiing – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Week 5

MAY

What do I mean by “May continue skiing”?

a) Ski area might open this weekend
b) Ski area might go beyond this weekend
c) Skiing into May
d) Lifts aren’t an end to all means.
e) All of the above

People always wonder; Where is their skiing in May? May skiing is greatly very possible even if you live in the East. Never in the last 11 years that I have kept track on the Eastern Closings has there hasn’t at least one ski area spinning their lift for the skiing public. Next weekend will not be the exception, currently 8 ski areas are planning to spin, but as it is always this time of the season, you can’t take it granted. Although we had a terrible snow year, the cold of the last week has slowed down the melting. Cold weather is supposed to continue for the next few days.

Frequency of number of ski areas spinning in May:
7 or more ski areas : 3 times
6 ski areas : 1 time
5 ski areas : 1 time
4 ski areas : 3 times
3 or less ski areas : 3 times.

Previous years:

Here was the status of what was happening at the same time in previous years:

Numbers from previous seasons: Total / Daily until May:
2016 : 8 7 / 1 MSS, Jay Killington, Sugarbush, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Wildcat, Comi*
2015 : 9 / 2 Wachusett, Sunday River, Miller, Sugarloaf, Wildcat, Sugarbush, Jay, MSS, Killington
2014 : 6 / 3 Comi, MSS, Jay, Killington, Sugarbush, Sugarloaf
2013 : 4 / 2 MSS, Sugarbush, Sugarloaf, Killington
2012 : 1 / 0 MSS
2011 : 7 / 2 MSS, Miller, Jay, Sugarbush, Killington, Sugarloaf, Saddleback
2010 : 3 Jay, Sugarloaf & MSS
2009 : 5 Jay, Killington, Sugarbush, Sugarloaf & MSS
2008 : 4 Jay, Sugarbush, Sugarloaf & MSS
2007 : 4 Killington, Sugarbush, Wildcat & MSS
2006 : 2 Bretton Woods & Killington

We have the familiar actors in the May skiing skimming pool. A few ski areas closed last weekend (Stowe, Ste-Anne, Le Valinouet, Lac Vert and Val d’Irène), most of them had a closing fixed date and Val d’Irène even decided added an extra day passed that date. Some had enough coverage, especially in Eastern Quebec, could have continued their season, but there are other factors to take into account.

Ski areas that have spinning in May since 2006 including this coming weekend:
Mont St-Sauveur QC : 10 times (91%) – last 10 years in a row
Killington VT : 8 times (73%) – last 4 years
Sugarbush VT : 8 times (73%) – last 4 years
Sugarloaf ME : 8 times (64%) – 8 of the last 10 years
Jay VT : 7 times (73%) – last 3 years
Wildcat NH : 3 2 times (27 18%)*
Sunday River ME : 2 times (18%)– last 2 years
Comi QC : 2 times (18%)– 2 of the last 3 years
Miller QC : 2 times (18%)
Bretton Woods NH : 1 time (9%)
Wachusett MA : 1 time (9%)
Saddleback ME : 1 time (9%)

By Provinces/States:
Quebec : 10 times (91%)
Vermont : 10 times (91%)
Maine : 8 times (73%)
New Hampshire : 4 3 times (36 27%)*
Massachusetts : 1 time (9%)

Only Killington will be open daily to the public until May 1, after it’s going to be Friday and weekends only for the rest of the season. With the exception of St-Sauveur, Killington and Mont Comi, all remaining areas have clearly stated that next weekend will definitely be their last weekend of the season.

An important note to remember, this list can change at any moment. Even if there is snow, call ahead, some might not bothering spinning if the weather doesn’t compare with the notion of Spring skiing.

LIST OF 8 7 SKI AREAS TENTATIVELY OPEN THIS WEEKEND (only Killington open daily)*

Wildcat NH – May 1 (tentative weekend only)*
Sunday River ME – May 1 (tentative weekend only)**
Jay VT – May 1 (tentative weekend only)**
Sugarbush VT – May 1 (tentative weekend only)**
Sugarloaf ME – May 1  (tentative weekend only)**
Comi  QC – May 1 (weekend only)

Killington VT – into May (daily until May 1 then Friday-Sunday only)
St-Sauveur QC – May 14 15 (weekends only)**

* Update: April 26: Wildcat is done for the season
** Update: April 28: All remaining have confirmed for the weekend.

If you include the Midwest, Lutsen is adding an extra weekend and is eyeing on May 1 also.

Ski Mad World’s weekly Eastern Closing 2016 posts:
Let’s move Past EASTer & Go Easterner – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Part 1
Freeze Frame – Eastern Closing Thread 2015-16 – semaine 2
Monday, Monday…Eastern Closing 2016 Update – Week 3
The best of Spring Skiing – Eastern Closing 2016 – Week 4

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Camp Fortune QC – SUNday 17 April, 2016 – Serious Spring Skiing

Sun
Hot
Sunglasses
Beer & BBQ
A band playing
Shorts, Bikinis, underwear and topless skiing
Corn
…and some bumps

This is what Spring skiing is about. Mother Nature gave us warm weather, sunshine and corn weekend. While some people were enjoying their Summer activities in the cities which includes patio drinking, cycling and try to forget about snow, for others it was just another really to go skiing and soak in the rays.

Skyline Parking

View from Skyline Deck with band, BBQ and beer on the left side next to chair

Here is a report of CTV News in Ottawa : Temperatures soar in the capital
http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/temperatures-soar-in-the-capital-1.2862873#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=Facebook&_gsc=yJMiHId

My teenaged daughter questioned my sanity. “It’s going to be 21c today, why would you want to be skiing? My reply was, “Exactly, it going to 21c, why not go skiing?” It’s on days like these that you see who the real skiers are.

Slow Sunday morning, it was 11:30, it was SUN and +17c. Barely twenty minutes later, I arrived at a packed Skyline parking. Camp Fortune was the closest skiing from home, the next closest options were Tremblant, St-Sauveur and Whiteface between 2 and 3 hours away.

The Valley was closed, Skyline was where it was happening, amongst the best concentration of Spring skiing on a 590’ vertical around, similar to the old lost Gray Rocks used to offer.

Today was a day where all the hardcore weren’t going to miss. If the locals weren’t at Tremblant, they were here. As the afternoon went on, I started to meet more and more people I knew.

The mountain had been groomed, but it was definitely corning up when I started skiing. Skiing from from left to right.

Chute, Middle Canadian and Bud Clark from Lower Canadian

Lower Canadian

Camille on the edge on Chute

Aaron’s Cornapolooza

Sparks : the longest and easier trail offered. It was a great place to get started. Corn was already deep.

Bud Clark : close to wall-to-wall coverage, but a few thin spot poking out. Deep corn lower down.

Canadian : Steeper than Bud, a fun steep pitch and some slightly firm snow on the side. Bumps were popping out as the afternoon progressed. Middle Canadian had a few large patches, but it was roped off. It still made for some beautiful nice turns on some of the firmer undisturbed corn snow.

Chute : The steep drop which can be terrifying for some racing kids when it’s solid ice at -21c. Today was +21c and keep you on the edge. The more on the edge, there was a nice small drop to jump off from.

Lower Canadian : the wide part concluding the 3 runs above. There was a few rocks poking through and you had to negotiate a puddle that became biggest has the snow melted.

Heggtveit

Heggtveit : The long steep bumped run that was used for the Canadian Moguls Championships for a few weeks ago. It started off fairly smooth after this was groomed, but like the other steep runs, it bumped up in a few places. The edge of the built up snow was particular a lot of fun. The run needed probably another few hours to become a real mogul field par excellence. Still tons of snow left on Heggtveit, probably a few weeks left for those that want to earn their turns.

Swan Dive with Chute, Canadian, Bud Clark and Sparks in the distance

Swan Dive : Officially closed, but that didn’t stop some brave skiers to try to hope from snowpatch to snowpatch on this steep natural run. It might be the last day of the season.

The tiny Skyline lodge was empty expect for those wanting to buy the $20 lift tickets and using the washroom. People taking a break were sitting outside on the bench and picnic tables setup at the bottom. People smiling in the lift line. The band was playing that you could hear from the top of the lift, burgers were flipping and the beer was flowing. People stayed outside until long after the lift stopped turning, the last beer was served and the last burger was flipped. This is what Spring skiing is really all about.

There was a glimmer of hope for a repeat weekend, but Camp Fortune decided to call it a season after the rain on Monday. Now it’s earned your turns season locally or head to closer open ski hill 2 hours away at Mont St-Sauveur which will continue spinning on weekends until May 14.

Ottawa hardcore (Carmen, Rog, Ben, Aaron) from Japan, Dubai, Europe, South America to Camp Fortune

End of season

MadPat’s Gallery:
Camp Fortune QC – April 17, 2016

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The best of Spring Skiing – Eastern Closing 2016 – Week 4

FOURTH WEEKEND OF APRIL

This is what Spring skiing is about. Mother Nature gave us warm weather, sunshine and corn weekend. While some people were enjoying their Summer activities in the cities which includes patio drinking, cycling and try to forget about snow, for others it was just another really to go skiing and soak in the rays.

For a good number of the remaining ski areas in Eastern Canada, this meant last weekend of the season. Some places had excellent coverage, but either fixed dates closing, economics or generally logistics made areas like Tremblant, Val St-Côme, Massif du Sud, Le Relais and the more remote areas of Val d’Irène, Monts Edouard, Miller, Gallix, Chalco and Vidéo in Québec. Smokey Mountain in remote Labrador City NL and Blue Mountain in Collingwood ON, the further Northeast and Southwest ski areas in the East also closed, but problem for different ski related reasons. Whiteface was the only ski area in the Eastern US to official call it a season on Sunday.

A few others like Wildcat and Camp Fortune outside Ottawa are hoping to make to an extra weekend.

With Lutsen and Ski Brule in the Midwest, we are now down to 15 ski areas East of the Rockies are still hoping to spin next weekend; only 6 are opened daily (all in Vermont and Maine). Let’s hope for another beautiful weekend of skiing. On the bright side, we now have 6 ski areas talking, hoping, to offer us some May skiing.

Here is a report of CTV News in Ottawa : Temperatures soar in the capital
http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/temperatures-soar-in-the-capital-1.2862873#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=Facebook&_gsc=yJMiHId

Numbers from previous seasons: Total / New York & New England
2016 : 14 / 8
2015 : 10 / 7
2014 : : 11 / 5
2013 : 8 / 4
2012 : 6 / 3

An important note to remember, this list can change at any moment. Even if there is snow, call ahead, some might not bothering spinning if the weather doesn’t compare with the notion of Spring skiing.

LIST OF 13 SKI AREAS TENTATIVELY OPEN THIS WEEKEND (6 open daily)

QUEBEC : 6

Camp Fortune – April 24 (tentative weekend only)*
Val d’Irène – April 24 (Sunday only)***
Le Valinouet – April 24 (Friday-Sunday only)
Ste.Anne – April 24 (weekend only)
Lac Vert – April 23 30 (tentative weekend Saturday only)****
Comi – May (weekend only)
St-Sauveur – May 14 (weekends only)

EASTERN US : 7
Wildcat NH – April 24 May 1 (tentative weekend only)**
Stowe VT – April 24 (daily)
Jay VT – TBD (daily)
Sunday River ME – May 1 (weekend only)
Sugarbush VT – May 1 (tentative)
Sugarloaf ME – May 1 (daily)
Killington VT – into May (daily until May 1 then weekends only)

* Update April 19 : Camp Fortune and Ski Brule are calling it a season.
** Update April 20 : Wildcat is confirming they will be open this weekend and now aiming for May 1 closing date.
*** Update April 20, 11:30pm : Val d’Irène decide to reopen for Sunday only.
**** Update April 22 : Mont Lac Vert is mentioning that their last day will be Saturday April 23.

Ski Mad World’s weekly Eastern Closing 2016 posts:
Let’s move Past EASTer & Go Easterner – Eastern Closing Thread 2016 – Part 1
Freeze Frame – Eastern Closing Thread 2015-16 – semaine 2
Monday, Monday…Eastern Closing 2016 Update – Week 3

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