Ski Southeast Messageboard

Great day at Beech! I got there right at 9:00. Not early enough to be on the first chair but not far from it. The snow was great. Early in the morning the blowers were on and there were a few patches of 'powder brakes' that almost made me do a front flip but it was all smoothed out pretty quickly. The massive crowd showed up sometime around 10:30 and was thick until noon, then tapered off a little bit from 12-1 but was worse than ever at 2:00. We left at about 2:30 because the quad line was backing up to the base of the steep drop between the lifts.



All of the blowers were turned off sometime around noon and it was just a flat out beautiful bluebird day with great snow and lots of obstacles to dodge at the bottom of the slopes.



I learned a lesson: NEVER RIDE THE 2 SEATER WHITE LIGHTNING LIFT!!!! Even though there was no line, it moves at a snail's pace and was stopping frequently. It was like torture.



I'm getting more comfortable with jumps and don't feel like such an old geezer on my skis. 32 isn't that old! The complete lack of skiing time from 20-28 years old took a little while to get over.



My only photos are on Instagram:



Massive crowd at about 11:00







Beautiful morning, taken at about 9:30







I'll be back up on Monday morning with everybody else :>)

Forgot to say....



Shawneehaw was fun with good snow all day.



Robin's Run was beautiful. Groomed in the middle until it got tore up, and the sides were beautiful and deep in spots. Southern Star was the most fun for me, but had thin coverage and I swear I water skiied through a puddle at the bottom once. I rotated between those two all day.



I never went over to White Lightning because it didn't look worth the effort. Bare spots galore. I long for the day that WL is opened from top to bottom again. How long has it been, three years?



There was a fun little jump near the bottom (whatever that's called, can't remember) right under the lift. When timed right to avoid the carnage of beginners in the area you could wow them with some good air.



The terrain park eventually opened, maybe 1:30, but only the lower half, and that's not my thing anyway.



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Oh my that looks crowded. Glad the resorts are making money.

A picture is worth a thousand ... people.



Still glad you made it out and that the storm and last minute cold saved the bacon for the resorts to make some money from MLK



Aside from the crowds on all the webcams, it all looks pretty good.



As far as White lightening goes -- i'm pretty sure I skiied it all the way last year and before, but I think one time it was during the only 4 day window.



With this cold and the new base if a non-tropical storm could just roll in --



Oh yeah -- AND STOP VIBEING THE FLORIDIANS, honestly, it's just fish in a barrel

White wasn't open from the top at all last season. With the upcoming cold this week hopefully they can start blowing on it soon.

@theKENDOG 285266 wrote:White wasn't open from the top at all last season. With the upcoming cold this week hopefully they can start blowing on it soon.



That is correct! Last year was my first year with a season pass since '98. This year is my second.



I didn't really ski more than once a year from 2000-2008. What a loser!

I'll piggyback my pictures here.



As BennyG said the snow was good. Got there a little late, due to being held up by an accident in Foscoe, but was on the snow by 9:30. Even then it was already tracked out. There were a few grooming problems, thin snow on parts of Star and early on there were lots of pebble sized chunks, especially at the bottom of Upper Shawneehaw and at the top of Robbins. Lower Lightningwas very thin at the lower crossover from Star but the bottom was fine.



Unlike Benny, I loved having lift 6 open. There was almost no line there. The longest I waited was 2 minutes while the line at the quad was 20 +. I would rather ride the slow lift sitting, than standing in line for 20 minutes with my skis being constantly stepped on from behind.



The other positive to line 6 being open was that you did not have to thread the needle to get to the quad. With Powder Bowl closed, the only was there was through Freestyle, and it was crowded. Since PB opened later in the day, that may have helped but getting past the Lower Shawneehaw lift line would have been challenging.



Was it crowded? Yes! The buses were running and parking was full, even parking up behind the Brick Oven. Why did we go on a holiday weekend? The beauty of a season pass! Ski until it gets crowded and then leave, and you don't feel like you didn't get your money's worth! Came with no expectations and had a good time. Left around 1:30, not because of the lines but because the slopes were getting just a little to crowded and squirrelly for my comfort zone.



I was really glad to see everyone at the slopes to ensure there will continue to be skiing in the southeast.



P.S. Sugar was even more crowded.



Pictures!



Lower Lightning looking good.











Thin on the cross over







Workers attaching air hoses to the guns on White Lightning. A good sign for the future!











Lift 6 shot







About 11







1:15











And the sledding hill was busy too.

We'll have to race next time. Up the mountain. Quad vs Lift 6!!!!



Great photos. I drive a Honda Element and park in lot 3. Holler at me sometime.



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We'll be there on Monday

Looks like a great day at the Beech despite the crowds.