Beech Mountain 12-12-10: Foggy Sunday

[jamsandwich]

Woke up this morning to 2-3" of overnight snow at my house in Boone. Hopped in the car and booked it to Beech. Wasn't sure if I was going to need my new Z chains, but I put them on in 'downtown' Beech Mountain just to try them out. Didn't need them but they helped me get to the top lot for better parking. When I got there this morning the visibility was decent, even with the snow coming down. There was tons of fresh, and the runs down the middle were ungroomed. That was a great call. By noon things had deteriorated, and the fog had rolled in. I had a couple of beers in the View Haus while I watched the Panthers suck, then headed back out to find any leftover powder. Beech is cool when it is snowing yet you can't really tell because it is so foggy. By late afternoon the wind was whipping at the top, and the snow was falling a little harder. White Lightning is still not open, and imo, its because they didn't mow down the shrubs on the steep part of the hill. The snow must have kept the crowds home because the place was a ghost town. All in all another great day on the slopes.



























Found this nice powder alley:





Exit of the powder alley:





The 'crowd' at its peak:

[bmwloco]

Looks a lot like when I skied there last year, and every year since '75 at one time or another.

[Ski Bunny]

Visibility stinks, but the snow looks good.

[Droogie]

Jamsandwich, thanks for another great TR. You sure are getting after it this year!

[time2323]

@jamsandwich 229413 wrote:











Cool shot. It's like a lift ride to infinity.



And good job on another good TR.

[skirt]

@jamsandwich 229413 wrote: White Lightning is still not open, and imo, its because they didn't mow down the shrubs on the steep part of the hill.



i always wondered why they don't cut those down. i believe the real reason of upper s.s. & w.l. not openeing is that it takes a ton of snow to make the transition over the road that passes thru the slope. good conditions this weekend though....a little ice on saturday, but sunday had some good pow.

[davidski]

Low vis but still looks great. Like the shot of the top of the quad



I wish I'd bought chains in Boone -- no one has them locally

[skipink]

@skirt 229445 wrote:i always wondered why they don't cut those down. i believe the real reason of upper s.s. & w.l. not openeing is that it takes a ton of snow to make the transition over the road that passes thru the slope. good conditions this weekend though....a little ice on saturday, but sunday had some good pow.



They also probably don't take them down because as windy as it is at Beech, a bare slope looses the base faster than with the grass and shrubs to hold snow in place.

[afrobigfoot]

kind of expect some creatures from "The Mist" to come at you in fog like that.

[skirt]

didn't see you this weekend skipink. we didn't get there until sat afternoon late and boarded the night session. sunday was great...no lines and a little pow.