Ski Southeast Messageboard

Just got back from a weekend in Boone/Banner Elk. Got in 2 days of riding at Beech and it was two completely different days. New Years Eve was fun, not as crowded as I was expecting but still long lift lines. Pretty good snow quality but a definite loss of base from the last time I was up there which was two weeks earlier. Ran into some people from the board which was cool. Made a lap or two with jamsandwich (video already posted on his TR) and rode with carvebeast and my girlfriend. They had some park features up which was awesome. It was cool to hit a sculpted jump finally. An overall fun day.



Skirt and his kids at rope drop.

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At the top of Robbins following my girlfriend.

[IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD3n ... PR0433.JPG[/IMG]



Looking back up at carvebeast.

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Intersection of Robbins and Lower Shawneehaw.

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A box in the park.

[IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD32 ... PR0473.JPG[/IMG]



One of the jumps.

[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD4A ... PR0479.JPG[/IMG]



In midair.

[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD4C ... PR0480.JPG[/IMG]



At the bottom.

[IMG]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD4J ... PR0490.JPG[/IMG]



The lift line around 1130ish. Not as bad as I was expecting.

[IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD4L ... PR0493.JPG[/IMG]



Went to the New Year's celebration at the Beech Tree with my girlfriend. Was really fun.



The band was awesome. I think they were called The Walrus or something? Played a variety of stuff. Really good.





These guys enjoyed them too.





Took Saturday off since the weather was so crappy. Went up this morning and what a difference a couple days made. It was foggy, wet, and just overall a really terrible morning weather wise. And the quad wasn't open until midday. So we got to ride the lift that goes up Lower Shawneehaw. I'll be completely honest. The morning sucked. Big time. Icy in spots, terrible visibility, and crappy lifts. Number 6 started running after a couple runs so we got to the top, but damn it is so slow. Makes Sugar's look fast.



Never a good sign to see this much water draining off the mountain.

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Gross.

[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD4h ... PR0502.JPG[/IMG]



White Lightning. I don't think they groomed it overnight. It was terrible in the morning.

[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD4q ... PR0521.JPG[/IMG]



Down into the clouds.

[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6ZpZ87ZNRbI/TSD46 ... PR0546.JPG[/IMG]



Starting to look rough.

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My camera died right before we went over to Oz. It was like night and day between the front and backside. Oz was clear and it was fun to cruise on it for a bit. Met up with MellowYellow and made some laps with him, then once the quad opened up we headed to the frontside. It cleared up over there too for a bit. Made some laps with him down White. The snow softened up a lot and the snow conditions today were comparable to early March, not early January. Lots of bare spots and slushy. The weather and holiday traffic over the past week or so has really hurt Beech's base. Hopefully they can blow a lot of snow starting this week. They need it. Interesting observation that Mellow and myself noticed today though. It seemed like they didn't have all of the snow guns out. Maybe they just moved them off the slopes for the holidays and increased traffic or something, but it definitely didn't seem like they were all out there. Either way, the return of cold weather this week is much needed. If you ever stay in the Boone area, I suggest the Hidden Valley Motel. Good rates, clean and spacious rooms, and a convenient location between Boone and Banner Elk. The only complaint I have is the towels there smell funky.

didn't your momma teach you.... dry your face and THEN your backside

wow. crazy how much things changed between friday and sunday. what was with the quad delays today? maintenance? nice pics man.

Nice TR Ken. I always enjoy living vicariously through your POV shots/films.



On a side note: Anybody have any idea why Beech gets to looking rough before the other resorts? Are they simply not laying down/capable of laying down as much snow as Cat and Sugar or is something else afoot? I'd think their elevation would play to their advantage (lower temps, greater snowmaking window, etc.).

@paholler 232474 wrote:Nice TR Ken. I always enjoy living vicariously through your POV shots/films.



On a side note: Anybody have any idea why Beech gets to looking rough before the other resorts? Are they simply not laying down/capable of laying down as much snow as Cat and Sugar or is something else afoot? I'd think their elevation would play to their advantage (lower temps, greater snowmaking window, etc.).



Thanks man I appreciate it. I like to document my trips. As for Beech, yeah they just don't have the snowmaking capacity that Cat and Sugar do. They also have a really bad exposure problem. The wind up there can get intense and just blows a lot of the snow they get/make away.

I could see two lines of trees on that last photo making a world of difference

damn i'm glad i stayed off the slopes saturday. looks sloppy out there. i just hit app for the night session on my way back into town and they are holding up great.



nice shots

great to see you guys out. sat night was alot worse after the rain than sunday. they did a good job of pushing the snow around on robbins & wl sunday morning. the #6 lift (take a nap lift/tell that long story lift) makes one really appreciate the high speed quad.

Nice TR! The conditions on the 31st looked very nice.

White Lightning always gets rough in those spots. Because of the wind they can't keep snow there. I got over 20" from the last storm, but my front yard had 0. The NW winds bring the snow, but they are brutal.