Lack of expert terrain

[skiadikt]

and just when you think it's full steam ahead, we hit yet another little bump in the road yesterday. and when they're done w this round of resurfacing, the "expert" trails will remain at the back of the queue. guessing needles and upper skyeburst/lower wildfire are next providing 2nd routes in those areas and if we're lucky cascade. then route 4. but superstar is in desperate need of a makeover and they need to get highline open for the racing program. OL and the parks ...

[allskiing1]

and just when you think it's full steam ahead, we hit yet another little bump in the road yesterday. and when they're done w this round of resurfacing, the "expert" trails will remain at the back of the queue. guessing needles and upper skyeburst/lower wildfire are next providing 2nd routes in those areas. then route 4 and perhaps cascade but superstar is in desperate need of a makeover and they need to get highline open for the racing program.

It's New England there is always going to be "bumps in the road " the fact that they will blow to the bottom of skyship before the canyon or even just cascade is ridiculous.

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[allskiing1]

Yes, because you can fit a lot of cars up there by the base of the Canyon Quad.

So they want to open bear before they open two trails in the canyon for parking? Seriously? If that's the case they should give up all the free spots on a sat at the preferred parking area if they are so desperate plenty of parking in that area.

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[wtf021]

Yes, because you can fit a lot of cars up there by the base of the Canyon Quad.

You can also fit a lot of cars in the spots that sit empty every Saturday and Sunday in Bay 1 and 2 that go vacant when no one pays to park in them.
And if staffing is really an issue it makes no sense to run one lift to support one trail, Canyon 4 and LEF.

[klondick]

Yes, because you can fit a lot of cars up there by the base of the Canyon Quad.

[BoozeTan]

if staffing is an issue then they shouldnt waste employees on VIP parking that nobody is using anyway....as well as opening up the oh so needed parking spots to the general public...The weather certainly has not cooperated, but even out west where they got pounded, they still arent opening as much terrain as they could have open. Vail for instance is only at about 65%. They need staff as bad as Killington does

[brownman]

Its quite funny reading all this b!chin about expert terrain when 1/2 of you can barely manage a hitchkick on Bunny

The skyship route is important. Perhaps you haven't seen there is housing down that way and there are way more green dots who like GE than hack wannabes craving DD

.

[Pedro]

Yes, because you can fit a lot of cars up there by the base of the Canyon Quad.

I usually park by south ridge, easier to get in and out.

[Southside_Bobby]

2 things:

- Rollout has not been as fast as usual due to staffing, it isn't just weather. But everyone is feeling it. Sunday River is doing the best out of anyone. They have a lot of fixed equipment and good staffing levels.

- Making snow on the double blacks thus far would be an utter complete waste of precious snowmaking hours and manpower. Not only would it be constantly unskiiable due to lack of top coats and thaw/freeze cycles, but there is only a limited amount of people would ski it anyway. There is so much critical terrain to get open first.

That's the best explanation I've gotten yet.

Yes, it is. Because it isn't 100% "none of the above" from your original list of possible reasons for a slow rollout. It isn't just the weather.

It also isn't a knock on K to suggest that they are having staffing issues. Everyone is. Their snowmaking system is very labor intensive. In a normal year, that isn't a problem. This year, it clearly is.

Resurfacing aside, as for where to prioritize expansion, it is what it is at Killington. It is very spread out, with connecting routes that must be opened first. Whether we like it or not, Bear Cub, Sun Dog and GE will be more important trails for them to get open than any of our expert favorites. Assuming they can staff those lifts.

Actually, if they open Bear Cub, they can also open the SRQ (assuming they can staff it), so I'm very good with that.

[skiadikt]

and just when you think it's full steam ahead, we hit yet another little bump in the road yesterday. and when they're done w this round of resurfacing, the "expert" trails will remain at the back of the queue. guessing needles and upper skyeburst/lower wildfire are next providing 2nd routes in those areas. then route 4 and perhaps cascade but superstar is in desperate need of a makeover and they need to get highline open for the racing program.

It's New England there is always going to be "bumps in the road " the fact that they will blow to the bottom of skyship before the canyon or even just cascade is ridiculous.

this season has been riddled with potholes. up there with some of the worst starts ever.

and the "canyon" (east fall) has been open for about a month now. there's a far greater need to get minimally 2 runs open at both needles and bear - areas way busier than the canyon. and the skyeship also serves a much larger demographic than the canyon. it's a great run for beginners and it serves the only true ski on/ski off housing on the mtn.

it will be interesting to see the rollout the next few weeks as hopefully cold weather settles in. there is still so much to do. the highline racing venue, OL, the stash and timberline.

[newpylong1]

Bingo.

From an operating perspective, sorry yes Bear, GE to Route 4, and a lesser extent Sunrise are more important than the steeps on the Canyon. You don't have to like it, but that's the deal. When you have a resort that is so spread out and relies on multiple base areas (and real estate) to feed it that is a trade off. This is certainly not a new phenomena.

Yes, they are absolutely struggling to get terrain open due to resurfacing requirements and staffing. Normally you don't see 7 people making gun runs together, most of these guys are still green. They're lucky to have bodies. In most years it's a non issue. This isn't one of those "most years".

Seriously good (and sustained) snowmaking temps coming up, and they're going to need them. There is so much terrain to get open. I do hope for some decent snow as realistically there could be a good portion left off the list due to already being the first week of January. I could be wrong, we will have to see how it plays out.

[spanky]

I do hope for some decent snow as realistically there will be a good portion left off the list due to already being the first week of January.

FIFY. In better times, they’ve been able to make snow on Fiddle by MLK weekend. This year, we’ll be lucky to see snowmaking anywhere in the canyon by next weekend.

[hillbangin]

Normally you don't see 7 people making gun runs together, most of these guys are still green. They're lucky to have bodies. In most years it's a non issue. This isn't one of those "most years".

My kid just came home from skiing this morning and said something is broken up there - 8 snowmakers walking around - and only making snow on 1 trail.............

Trainwreck

We need SNOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

[snoloco]

They posted a video earlier showing snowmaking on Lower Header, and you can see on the webcam that snow is being made on Lower Skyeburst. So that's more than 1 trail. They could be transitioning between trails as they go back into expansion mode.

[skiadikt]

They posted a video earlier showing snowmaking on Lower Header, and you can see on the webcam that snow is being made on Lower Skyeburst. So that's more than 1 trail. They could be transitioning between trails as they go back into expansion mode.

also making snow on upper skyeburst down to bear claw with some additional guns on vipers and anti-venom.