Snowmaking

From my friends at AB Ski and Sport in Frisco (
http://www.abskisport.com ):

Copper has been blowing snow-- they plan to open the front part of
the mountain on November 1st!! A record opening!!

A-basin also has been blowing snow and plans to open on 10/18!!!
Loveland says they are opening on the 18th also, but I just went thru the
tunnel yesterday and there is not one ounce of snow anywhere on that
mountain, so who knows for them.


--
Chester Bullock,
Ethical, custom website hosting, design and programming
Tenxible Solutions, http://www.tenxible.com
Web Based Autoresponder and DRIP system, http://www.toolsre.com
AIM: tenxible YahooIM: ccb247

Chester Bullock wrote:

From my friends at AB Ski and Sport in Frisco (
http://www.abskisport.com ):

Not sure what this link is all about.

Message below came from where?
Copper has been blowing snow-- they plan to open the front part of
the mountain on November 1st!! A record opening!!

I seem to recall Copper getting open late October when they USED to
be in the open first race. November 1st wouldn't be a record for
Copper.


A-basin also has been blowing snow and plans to open on 10/18!!!

As of last weekend there was NO evidence that A-Basin has been
blowing snow. I hiked all over their area, and not ONE snow gun
is sight, nor any home made snow.

Loveland says they are opening on the 18th also, but I just went thru the
tunnel yesterday and there is not one ounce of snow anywhere on that
mountain, so who knows for them.

I think Loveland got started yesterday. You can't see the run
Catwalk from the highway. It is well hidden. That is the run
that sees the guns first. BTW, the Kiwis they hired last year
to do kick ass snow making job are due in next Monday. Oct 18th
might be a real open date.


--
Chester Bullock,

Sam "Ready to log turns on the twin tips" Seiber

I seem to recall Copper getting open late October when they USED to
be in the open first race. November 1st wouldn't be a record for
Copper.

Copper hasn't really been in the "open first" race. Their average opening date
has been about 11-14. So 11-1 would definitely be a record.

They once opened one trail for a few hours in late October for a charity event
but didn't open to the public till several days later.

Since the advent of snowmaking the race has always been between Loveland and
Keystone. Recently Keystone has backed out, leaving the field to Loveland.
This year maybe A-Basin?

Current plans: both are making snow.

Loveland - 17 October
A - Basin - 18 October

TCS (The Colorado Skier)
Loveland opens in 2 weeks!

TCS wrote:

I seem to recall Copper getting open late October when they USED to
be in the open first race. November 1st wouldn't be a record for
Copper.

Copper hasn't really been in the "open first" race. Their average opening date
has been about 11-14. So 11-1 would definitely be a record.

I am talking Copper of 20 years ago. ISTR they getting open first one
year
on Loverly. Copper hasn't really been in the race over say the last 10
years.


They once opened one trail for a few hours in late October for a charity event
but didn't open to the public till several days later.

About 2 years ago. Maybe last year. I forget.


Since the advent of snowmaking the race has always been between Loveland and
Keystone. Recently Keystone has backed out, leaving the field to Loveland.

Breck used to go out of their way to open as early as they could. In
general
the race was between Loveland & Keystone.

This year maybe A-Basin?

Maybe A-Basin? You havn't read that the race between Loveland & A-Basin
is OFFICIAL? A-Basin says so right on their site. They sent me an
E-mail explaining it. Winning area gets a trophy, and a party at the
Dillon Dam Brewery paid for by the loser.


Current plans: both are making snow.

Didn't see any sign of snowmaking at A-Basin last Saturday.


Loveland - 17 October
Loveland has said 16 October on their web site for the last
month or so. Colorado Ski Country says the 18th.

A - Basin - 18 October
18 October is the Colorado Ski Country number. A-Basin
has yet to say via their web site what the day will be.

TCS (The Colorado Skier)
Loveland opens in 2 weeks!

Loveland or A-Basin, two weeks, BE THERE!

Sam "Watching the Loveland web cam" Seiber

I am talking Copper of 20 years ago. ISTR them getting open first one
year
on Loverly. Copper hasn't really been in the race over say the last 10
years.

Sam

Hmmm. I didn't realize you were talking that long ago. I only have data back
to 1985 close at hand. Give me a few days to do more research.

However: In 1985 Copper did open on 30 Oct. So 1 Nov would not be a record.
But that year Copper only came in 4th, after Berthoud (!), Loveland, and
Keystone.

FWIW, 1985 didn't have much early snow. Most open areas reported "manmade"
until well into November. Nowadays Keystone has set the standard of calling
minimal manmade snow as a depth of 18 inches. Back then everyone just called
it manmade.

My info on Loveland and A-Basin opening dates comes from a Loveland ski
patroller. But upper management doesn't have to share everything with the ski
patrol leader.

More (historical) data later.

Meanwhile it is in the 70's all week here in COS. (But snow down to 11,000
feet on Pikes Peak.)

Cheers, TCS

TCS (The Colorado Skier)
Loveland opens in 2 weeks!

TCS wrote:
Hmmm. I didn't realize you were talking that long ago. I only have data back
to 1985 close at hand. Give me a few days to do more research.

Well, TCS, you have better data than me. I am just going by the memory
of a 47 year old brain. I started skiing Feb '81. I think it was
around
'83 I was into "opening" a ski area.

However: In 1985 Copper did open on 30 Oct. So 1 Nov would not be a record.
But that year Copper only came in 4th, after Berthoud (!), Loveland, and
Keystone.

I wonder if that is the year Berthoud opened something like October 7,
on all
natural snow. I remember one year opening Berthoud on a single digit
October
date. Since it was real snow, it was also fairly thin. It was served
by
a T-Bar on the Lodge side of the pass. Tow line was something like 30
minutes. Sadly I don't recall if they had to close later to wait for
more
snow or not.

More (historical) data later.

I do indeed enjoy your history lessons.

Meanwhile it is in the 70's all week here in COS. (But snow down to 11,000
feet on Pikes Peak.)

It has been warm here in Denver too. Looks like as the week goes on
CO should start cooling.

Cheers, TCS

TCS (The Colorado Skier)
Loveland opens in 2 weeks!

Check out their (Loveland) snowmaking progress (with real pictures):
http://www.skiloveland.com/snowmaking
Nice to see my beloved turning a bit white.

And since this continues the topic:
Crashj wrote:
Heck, you want flat and grass covered but skiable, c-mon out to Ski
Roundtop, Central PA any frosty morning after say, about November
15th. The last thing we do before we start blowing snow is to mow the
grass.

I found out last weekend Loveland also mows the grass before
turning on the snowmakers. I don't know how standard that is for
the CO ski areas, but I found it interesting. I would like to
have seen what kind of machine they use to mow that stuff.
Loveland isn't as grassy as Roundtop, but some of the runs they
make snow on have been at least smoothed out. Whatever they
use, it can cut through small willow bushes.

Sam "Loveland opens in *less* than 2 weeks ;-)" Seiber

Sam Seiber wrote:
Sam "Loveland opens in *less* than 2 weeks ;-)" Seiber

Oops, may be wrong on that. I see on the Loveland website
that it may slip to October 24. We are close, I just don't
know how close. I still don't know what A-Basin is going
to open on opening day. Perhaps just a blue off Exo.

Sam "Standing by for opening day, gotta call off sick" Seiber

Sam Seiber wrote:

Sam Seiber wrote:

Sam "Loveland opens in *less* than 2 weeks ;-)" Seiber


Oops, may be wrong on that. I see on the Loveland website
that it may slip to October 24. We are close, I just don't
know how close. I still don't know what A-Basin is going
to open on opening day. Perhaps just a blue off Exo.

Sam "Standing by for opening day, gotta call off sick" Seiber

The rather warm weather down here has to be contributing. I am sure it
is staying warm up there as well...

--
Chester Bullock,
Ethical, custom website hosting, design and programming
Tenxible Solutions, http://www.tenxible.com
Web Based Autoresponder and DRIP system, http://www.toolsre.com
AIM: tenxible YahooIM: ccb247

Chester Bullock wrote:
The rather warm weather down here has to be contributing. I am sure it
is staying warm up there as well...

Yeppers. Generally, take the Denver temp, subtract 20 degrees, and that
gets you the temps at Loveland and A-Basin. 80 here in Denver is 60 up
there. Real hard on homemade snow, that is landing on warm
ground/rocks.
I see on the Loveland cam that they are making snow on "Homerun". I see
fairly large patches of snow in the morning, but by late afternoon, the
patches don't look so good. At least we are close to first turns of
the season. I am not picky. Something, anything, is fine with me.

I have one goal for this season, and that is to be able to ski the
new gear I got this season. It is time to retire some of my old gear
of 18 years.

I have a possible second goal, and that is to take my fathers real
old gear of about 45 years old for one lap down an easy run at Loveland.
I hope that I can do that by one real good ski tune (on wood skis, etc)
and get them to slide well enough to get wood skis & leather boots down
from the top of chair two. Forty five years ago, my father used those
skis to pack down runs at Loveland for a free tow ticket for the rest
of the day. If I could get one lap down Loveland with them, well, that
would be a special day. I am still toying with the idea.

Sam "Gonna be an interesting ski season for me" Seiber