Kelly’s Blog: Annual Scavenger Hunt
How well do you know Mount Snow? I snapped these shots during my travels around the mountain. See how many you can identify. I will post the answers on Monday, January 14.
#1. Let’s start off with something easy!
#2.
#3.
#4.
#5.
#6.
#7.
#8.
#9.
#10.
#11.
Happy hunting! Answers will be posted right here on Monday, Jan 14.
ANSWERS POSTED MONDAY, JAN 14:
#1. Summit Cell Tower – visible on your right when you are traversing over to the top of Sunbrook.
#2. A new feature in The Farm, the new park on skier’s left of Prospector at Carinthia.
#3. What we call natural Long John or the part of Long John that is no longer used. This picture taken from the top of Beartrap, just as you descend towards Long John.
#4. That is a rock in the tree. And you can see it as you travel up the Ego Alley lift on your right or as you ski down Ego Alley on your left. Near the bottom.
#5. You can find that sled on the wall at the entrance to the Grand Country Deli.
#6. Near the bottom of Long John, before you get to Cooper’s Junction, look off into the woods on skier’s right. I what not sure what this was so I asked Dennis, who is in charge of Lift Maintenance. He always seems to know this type of stuff and he did! Dennis told me those are the leftovers of an old “confidence course,” used for team building. It was a series of ropes and platforms.
#7. South Bowl race shack.
#8. Lift #16, Season’s Double. This is the only lift at Mount Snow where the drive is located at the bottom. This Hall lift was installed in 1972.
#9. Located on Thanks Walt, of course! After you go under the Sunbrook quad and after the little pitch, stay on skier’s right and look for a birch tree…..now look up.
#10. Mount Snow’s only rope tow located on Launch Pad. This year our lift maintenance dept painted the bull wheel gold to match chair #50’s. This lift was installed in 1998 and has helped so many kids learn to ski.
#11. My favorite – the owl andirons in the Sundance Base Lodge. It is also my favorite fireplace at Mount Snow. Especially, since Rich Hawes gave it a face lift in 2007. I imagine Walt Schoenknecht brought those andirons to Sundance.
Tiny URL for this post: http://tinyurl.com/aollbq2
kelly, why arent you guys/girls, blowing snow and getting base like the rest of the mountains.passes arent cheap and pass holders exspect a longer season to get there moneys worth. There are bare spots or grass showing all over the mountain and yet no snow making, why? P.S. nice photos. I can locate 4, and for GODS sake, please turn on the guns so we may injoy a full season
Corie, we don’t have snowmaking temps in the forecast until early next week, when we will indeed turn on the guns and resurface. We can’t control the weather.
whos in charge of the parks
why is grommit the only kiddie park, management must see the teen – agers and adults skiing it. A little commonsense say,LETS MAKE A BIGGER KIDDIE PARK like on the trails not in use, but yet snows says carinthia is 100% park. not true,there are at least 3 trails with little or no features on lets improve on this for the kids. Kelly i hate to be so critical of snow but your on a downword spiral and im hearing it from many sources,TRUST ME. You need to become the mt snow u were.Please trust your patrons were your bread and butter. I speak for the intire ski club and there familys and friends. There are many of us. The bluebird was a great improvement,unfortunitly it will not bring the crowds but im sure you no that by looking at your attendance. Great snow and parks bring crowds.I no this is what i do. I really hope you respond and not delete this commit like your employees do.
Corie, most of the comments that get posted are approved. At times we have to moderate comments if there are curse words or inflammatory content. I’ll answer a couple of these comments, and I’m sure Kelly will weigh in.
You’re actually pretty far off with your remark about Grommet being the only “kiddie” park. We have 3 small parks in our progression to Carinthia. Riglet, which is an introductory park specifically for children, Jiblet (on Coopers Jct) and Grommet. They are not for kids only, but for anybody looking to learn park. We love seeing adults and teens riding on Grommet. The majority of the park patrons at Carinthia prefer to ride bigger but not huge features, which is why Nitro is by far our most popular park. We think that having 3 learning parks puts us in the forefront of terrain parks in the East.
We typically do not put park features on some trails at Carinthia because they are Natural trails (they don’t have snowmaking), so there typically isn’t enough snow to push around to build features. However, when there is enough natural snow, the park crew will put features out (like a couple years ago). It’s all about the weather.
Hoping that if you indeed speak for the passholders, you’ll create a profile on the Ning forum for passholders and raise your concerns there. Thanks!
your lack of comprehension has promted me to talk to corporate about your complete disreguard for you customers and mountain finances. Im sure they will agree that pictures are more important. Thank god for stratton, they will be about 17 season passes ahead next year.I WILL SENT CORPRATE MY RECIEPTS.and let them no exactly why we changed mountains, HOWS THAT FOR PASSION. People first, thats a consept you really need to grasp,no matter what. Didnt they teach you the customer is ALWAYS right. BY you not responding ,you just cost snow big time. not to smart , looking forward to you deleteingmy message
i agree with corie,you should be making snow.A little to harsh thought
where the comments go. Ithought this was an open forum
It’s open, Quinten, but comments need to be moderated.
as of 2:44PM on 1/10/13
Stratton: 7 Open Lifts, 89 Open Trails, 469 Acres (including 13 Upper / Lower trails)
Mount Snow: 9 Open Lifts, 76 Open Trails, 558 Acres
I can guarantee that Stratton isn’t making snow until Monday at the earliest. It’s too warm until then.
Corie, with ll due respect I think your delusional. The mountain has done nothing but improve the past five years. The snowmaking is superb the new lift I fantastic and the parks are o top notch that the snowboarders at SMS buy Mt Snow passes to practice here when their school is at the base of Stratton.
By all means though feel free to “take your talent” to Stratton, I’m sure you will find there overcrowded mountain with antiquated mountain infrastructure to be more then satisfactory. You know I hear those new water and air snow guns they have been purchasing since the 1990′s are technology of the future!
Keep up the good work Mt Snow!!!!
Corie the best news in your comments is you are going to Stratton. Constructive comments are one thing, but yours are over the top. People I talk to love what Mount Snow is doing. Kelly and Dan keep up the good work. Corie I hope you enjoy Stratton, we don’t need you here.
hell yah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! snow snow snow make it. POWER TO THE PEOPLE
I think Corie needs to focus on his grammar and not to try and tell everyone how to do their jobs at running a ski mountain. Keep up the good work Mount Snow employees. You are the best at what you do and continue to put yourselves above the competition. You have the most dedidcated season pass holders out of any ski resort in the northeast (in my opinion)and anyone with some common sense will agree. I can go on and on about this childish post from Corie but I will stop at this. As long as you continue to offer the product that you offer you will have me and many other dedicated season pass holders for years to come.Keep up the great work Kelli and team.
PS. I have been following the blog for years now and never joined in on them until now. I Just had to give KUDOS to where it is due.
I agree with John. Corie- downhill spiral? This is skiing it’s all downhill! On a serious note, there are big plans for the mountain in its future. I mean BIG plans, much greater than the Bluebird. I doubt Mount Snow would be planning these plans if the mountain was in a “downhill spiral”. And since Mount Snow isn’t in that spiral, they must be doing something right. Did you see all the people wanting to ride the Bluebird last year!? Well, those people are back this year because of it, Carinthia, and most importantly, the best trails and snowmaking in Vermont!
Thank you Mt. Snow for working so hard to provide such a wonderful family skiing exerience. Corrie, good luck with Stratton. I am sure all is perfect there.
Corie I can pretty much say that most pass holders will tell you to go have fun at Stratton. Attitudes like your’s will not be missed. We are fortunate to have the best team possible running this place from the GM to Mountain Ops, Marketing. You guys all rock. That is why us pass holders are so passionate about this place we call home.
Agree 100% with John, I’ve only been a season pass holder for a couple of years but in my experience the staff at Mt Snow tries their hardest to make the skiing experience as enjoyable as possible for everyone on the mountain. At times I’ve found myself asking something like “why aren’t they making snow?”, but then you realize how many things factor into it (that we have no idea about) and you understand why the decision was made. None of us (well, myself at least) are experts, but the mountain staff is, I trust their judgment.
One quick aside – a team of people who made ANYTHING skiiable last year deserves a pat on the back and amnesty from complaining for at least a year…weather was a nightmare but there were a lot of people still enjoying themselves on the slopes.
Well done guys, keep up the good work!
Totally agree with Matt and John! Hope Corie goes to Stratton and takes as many unhappy snow boarders with her! Kelly, you’re doing a great job. My only complaints this season is to have both North Face lifts running by 10AM on weekends and please groom Plummet.
John – Amen.
Corie – nobody is forcing you to ski at Mount Snow. We couldn’t be happier with the job that the team does there under Kelly’s leadership. I believe I speak for the vast majority of the skiers on the mountain every weekend!
Kelly and team – keep up the fantastic work!
Wow! I take a day off and things heat up with this blog. Thanks to Dan for covering for me while I was off. Dan supplied you with all the correct info.
As soon as we have the right temps we will be making snow again. And we did make snow this week, the majority at Carinthia so we can build the parks out more and get the super pipe cut. And next on our list is the small Jiblet park on Cooper’s Jct. We also made snow there this week.
I am a little confused about Corie’s passion for parks and his/her’s choice of Stratton. I have skied Stratton several times this season and there are a lot of attributes that Stratton offers. In my opinion, Mount Snow’s freestyle terrain parks stand above Stratton’s and most ski areas in the North East.
I agree that there are bare spots on the mountain but most are on natural snow trails – trails we do not have snowmaking on. The snowmaking trails are still solid and a lot of fun, including Ripcord, Rollercoaster and South Bowl…which all received a healthy dose of snowmaking last week.
As for my photo blog, if you are a regular reader you know that I tackle everything from the science of snowmaking, truthful snow reports, things to do around the mountain and lighter stuff like scavenger hunts and history blogs. We are a recreation resort and I like to have some fun with my blog.
Dan made a good point. Please join our passholder forum. That way you can post questions, concerns and comments. Or you can privately message me. I check the forum and this blog almost every day. Thanks John for your positive feedback – it is always nice to hear. But we know we are not even close to perfect so the criticism is also important and we pay close attention.
This is what im talking about ,feed back.I am happy i get your attention.This can can only become a positive thing.It takes a little attitude to stir things up. TO JOHN, as for my grammer, it seems you understood my point.To the rest of you pround mt snow folk, I love feedback even if it is snow employees and townies.Never the less everyones made valid points but the fact remains the same no snow no skiing. Come april 24 and we dont receive abundant snow lets see whos right.The temps have been in the 20s at night. the wet bulb is good if not great. And last but not the end all i said was make snow, and top to bottom little parks for the kids.I just need to be heard and responded too. HEY JOHN if i made any mistakes feel free to help me
Corie, not sure why you want our attention so bad, since you’ve already moved on to Stratton, right? :)
Top to bottom parks for the kids likely isn’t going to happen. Mostly because any top to bottom trails at Carinthia are too pitchy for beginner features or already have parks on them.
We will be making snow again, when it makes sense with the forecast to do so. We’re expecting rain and warmer temps for a few days which our expert snowmakers usually steer clear of.
April 24? Who knows. If our guests are still coming, we will stay open, but our #1 goal is to try to have top-to-bottom skiing with a product that our guests will love and that meets our requirements. We don’t like to download guests or make people hike down to hit the next patch of fast grass. Just not our style, but we commend Killington for making that really late season stuff happen.
Suggestion: Place a sign at the bottom of the Seasons lift stating that you can access the Main Base Lodge by taking that lift. It would really take a lot of congestion off of the Tumbleweed lift and Seasons would actually see some use.
Corie
Did you see all the snow being made in the days right after the 12/27 storm?
Why do you think they were doing that?
Never mind, enjoy Stratton its full of people like you
You’ll fit right in
kelly,thank you for a very clear and direct answer.You have answerd my questions and concerns to a t and to Kelly and Kelly only,sorry i jumped the gun. I didnt no you were out. I LOVE MY JOB C.B. OUT till next time ski your ass off boys and girls
DAN DAN DAN, your not a wise man, snow is always open till easter>but you say not anymore because of spring sports.Im sure killington would argue that point. IF you made snow, it would be there april 24. Why is that hard to comprehend.Thats why Kellys in charge.She is able to answer a question with an educated answer.I will stop responding and head to stratton.Dan stay at fry cook where you belong
Sorry Corie, but even in our excellent snow season of 2010/11, we closed on 4/16. Last year obviously was an awful year, weather-wise, so we closed in late March.
Corrie, based on their past track record of many years, and their current corporate state, 1 mountain in Vermont that I’d say for sure WON’T be operating come April 24 is Stratton. Their events Calender has a Pond Skim/Spring Fling Weekend on April 6th, and based on past years (and very often business volume) you might give them 1 more weekend after the 6th. Also take into account that in years past, when Stratton hosted the Burton US Open, they did blow snow aggressively a bit later into the snowmaking season on select terrain. Now that the Burton US Open has moved out to Vail, my hunch is you won’t see that aggressive late season snowmaking effort……
Snowmaking isn’t cheap. So realzing that there is a limited budget (something as a small business owner myself I TOTALLY get), Kelly & Co. need to be aware of when the best time to make snow most efficiently is, especially now that with the exception of Plummet where the wind needs to be blowing from a certain direction so that the snowmaking equipment doesn’t bury itself, most everty snowmaking trail is covered with a substantial base, and in the case of Beatrap and South Bowl in particular, they took the added time to drag the snowmaking equipment much further across the width of the trail and then over the course of a few days pull it back towards the snowmaking pipes to get a much wider than usual “carpet” of snowmaking. Lastly efficiency wise and why when base depths are good, waiting for a better window works was perfectly illustrated in the main base area over New Years when literally over the course of 1 COLD night the base depth between the waffle cabin and the Bluebird went from about a foot to 4 or 5 feet! The amount of snow that has been produced in the last 3 weeks is amazing and has set the mountain up for a good season. Now, making the most efficient use of the system will allow them to more than likely use the FINITE snowmaking budget in a way that will give us deeper depths for a longer season (if customer volume dictates) than if they were to make snow at less efficient temps in a non post thaw-freeze up resurfacing scenario
Corie – you got the response that you so desperately wanted. Why make personal comments that are intended to insult Dan? Dan is doing his job, and doing it well – whether you agree or not. Have fun at Stratton.
Corie, we all know energy costs are rising. The energy to run the lifts, extra snowmaking, and lodge costs isn’t profitable, or break-even-able in the extreme early and late season. Mount Snow used to be open till May. Killington made it to June. This is proof ALL ski resorts- no matter the size, previous openings/closings, budget,etc. are closing earlier, not just Mount Snow. And why not stay a pass holder at Mount Snow? At least a few times a year there’ll be a big southern storm that gives Killington no snow, while Mount Snow gets buried! Who’ll be laughing then if you switch passes.
Agree!
Corie, If you are going to post to a public forum, a basic knowledge of English and Science (like third grade level) should be expected. I am not talking perfect spelling or grammar (God knows, mine are not), but enough to be understood would be nice (no what I mean?) No one can make snow when temps are up over 32, not even the great snowmakes at Mount Snow! If they are making snow further north, then temps there are lower.
I am all for skiing and riding, and even taking some time away from school on the pow days, but, dang boy, looks like maybe you took too much time off!
Back to the main topic of Kelly’s latest blog, the scavenger hunt!
I’ve got to do some looking for #’s 4 and 11 this weekend!
The other’s i’m 99% sure I know exactly where they are!
#11 will come easy. #4….well, let me know if you need a hint.
Nah, I don’t need a hint- I know all the thousands of trees on this mountain. That tree is the one that grows leaves on it in the spring and then sheds them in the fall :)
I know I can find #11 – just gotta look at a few fireplaces!
Now #4 – were we anywhere near it when you and me and “super skier Mike” were on the Bluebird during AM Express today??
I looked for #4 this weekend. Couldn’t find it. I checked the Station Tap Room. It was’nt there. I mentioned this on the passholders forum, but Sunday was a spectacular day. Thank you. We had friends up from Connecticut. They had so much fun (even though my 13 year old made them lap Bear Trap a few times).
looks like corie was on to somthing, no disrespect
No he wasn’t.
the tree,{what } how the he– can we find that
See answers above. There’s only a few trees with a rock cradled in the limbs.
Not sure why all the moaning after what has certainly been some great early season skiing. The skiing Saturday and Sunday was fantastic. Bumps on Chute were great with well set up lines. Ripcord was a treat. The bumps haven’t set up great yet, but you could hold an edge everywhere.
Then the scenery all weekend, looking out at the cloud carpet. The only thing missing Sunday were chicken barbecues at the base of North Face.
Mountain looks great, smiles abound, love what you’re doing.
Amen to that ! A sunny spring weekend in Jan. What a treat !
??? Would gromming the natural snow trails ( Jaws, Plummet, Chalenger, Olympic, Ledge, Overbrook ect ) make them skiable ??
.