Report from Friday, December 30th

I woke up this morning, checked the forecast, and it was 52 degrees out at the base of Stratton. After hardpack conditions for the last few days, this thaw is something I really have been looking forward to.

Stratton has received 43 inches of snow this year, and some of it has stuck around in north-facing spots, so a decent amount of the mountain is open right now. Both the bumps and groomers are skiing pretty well now, with soft snow just about everywhere. As for the woods, they are not officially closed, but they’re certainly not advertised as open either. There has been a lot of snowmelt in the last few days, if you enter these areas, bring your rock skis.

I spent the morning lapping Middlebrook and the Downeasters on the Sunbowl side of the mountain, and around 1 pm I made my way over to Upper Standard. The top section was good with some corn snow-esque bumps, but near the bottom, it got pretty sticky.

The Winter Break crowds have mostly died down at this point. The longest line I waited in today was about five minutes.

It’s supposed to be warm for the next few days, which should keep the snow soft. Temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing again sometime next week, giving us a chance to get some much-needed snowfall.

Weather Forecast