Winter of '16

[geogymn]

For posterity's sake I will start a tread grumbling about how mundane this winter season has been.
I've been lucky enough to sneak out and make the best of it but when have I passed on an opportunity to moan?
You, skier's, down and cross, pipe in and relate your views, get any time skiing the bumps, for posterity!
How bout ice fishers? Ice had to be scary this year, no?
I'm not a fan of snowmobiles but find myself feeling sorry for snowmobilers and the rest of that industry.
Hikers gotta love it. Now's an opportunity of quick travel and uniquely extensive access.
Maybe my inner conscience knows that you can't experience the Yin without suffering through the Yang.
But my outer conscience knows any time inside is Yang and any time outside, regardless of conditions ,is Yin.
Spent the afternoon outside fireside and I correct myself, how can I moan, the Yin carried the day.?

[stripperguy]

I went for a hike today with MDB to my favorite BC ski spot...there was barely any cover, at most 4 inches where it had drifted and consolidated.

In the photo from this morning, you can see how sad the situation is...last year I was skiing in this exact spot, in untracked, knee deep powder every week or two.

I have been out to lift served skiing, the big K was pathetic. And Okemo, though not my sort of terrain, was surprisingly good. One bump run with little Barbie and Ken sized bumps, no hope of any woods skiing. But the temps were near 50F, and made for excellent spring conditions on Feb 1st!

It's not just the snowmobile riders suffering...seasonal plow guys have no income, stores that sell shovels, snowblowers, salt, all are suffering.
Winter carnivals all around are postponed or cancelled.
In the capital district, we are currently at 5.5 inches for the season, last year at this time we were over 50!!

I suppose there's still time to reach the seasonal average, but it doesn't seem likely. Hopefully, this is a hundred year event, this non-winter of 2016.
Back in November, I spent a few $$ and hours to reskin my plow and install a new pump motor...in the driveway it sits, as yet unused.
On the plus side, I've had no calls for no heat or frozen pipes from any of my tenants, and utility bills are low.

All in all, I'd much rather have a normal winter...I just hope that this isn't the new normal!!

[Wldrns]

I do miss the skiing on my own 5 mile loop through the woods out my back door. Only have done it a very few times this year. And I have only had to ski the almost 2 miles in to my family cabin once this year on Tug Hill to shovel 3+ feet of lake effect snow off the roof. In normal years I normally shovel it 3 times or more.

But feel sorry for snowmobilers... never. Even though I grew up and live in "snowmobile country". They are the reason, in their nonstop hoards with their constant screaming engines, even at 3:00 AM, that I no longer enjoy spending nights in the cabin. Part of my ski in is necessarily on a road which has become a high speed snowmobile trail in which I take my life in my hands. How is that any fun, especially since after the first one goes by the remainder of the pack cannot see anything at all through the thick cloud of snow dust created by the leader. Thankfully I can leave the road to take a short cut across an untracked beaver meadow for the last part of the way to the cabin.

[geogymn]

Excellent, this is the kind of anecdotal rendering I was hoping for. Went for a walk yesterday and it was like a brown, warm, spring day. Bummer!

Wldrs, That image is from this year?

[Wldrns]

Originally Posted by geogymn

Wldrs, That image is from this year?

The photo is from a year ago. But the image is always the same every time I head up there when I feel the roof might be in danger. When I went last month it was the same. Tug Hill has had 3 significant lake effect events (~30+ inches) this season, but each one was followed by a warming trend so I didn't go for the first two. I could have waited for the melt this last time too, but was worried about the extra heft of a forecast significant rainfall, before it melted enough to ease the weight.

In some years, as with later in the 2015 season, if the snow does not melt between storms then by the third visit I can actually step off the edge of the roof onto previously piled roof snow reaching almost roof high. Moving in the newly fallen light stuff is another matter. Unpacked lake effect snow tends to be extremely light and fluffy, but that does not mean that moving through it is easy. At chest high, movement through resembles swimming more than anything else to gain any distance. Even with skis on it is a slow sweaty trudge (snowshoes are worse), but the outbound return on my inbound track is a joy.

[JohnnyVirgil]

Originally Posted by Wldrns

But feel sorry for snowmobilers... never....How is that any fun, especially since after the first one goes by the remainder of the pack cannot see anything at all through the thick cloud of snow dust created by the leader.

I've often wondered about that myself. My brother in law is one of those people. They will follow each other in a single line, for 100+ miles and then brag about it. "We snowmobiled 108 miles on Saturday!" he will say, expecting me to treat it like some major life accomplishment. How is breathing someone else's fumes and looking at the ass end of their snowmobile for 8 hours fun? I don't get it. At. All.

[geogymn]

"At chest high, movement through resembles swimming more than anything else to gain any distance."
I can hardly remember the last time I had that exhilarating/torturous experience.

[geogymn]

Originally Posted by JohnnyVirgil

I've often wondered about that myself. My brother in law is one of those people. They will follow each other in a single line, for 100+ miles and then brag about it. "We snowmobiled 108 miles on Saturday!" he will say, expecting me to treat it like some major life accomplishment. How is breathing someone else's fumes and looking at the ass end of their snowmobile for 8 hours fun? I don't get it. At. All.

Those people sure do love it, I don't get it either, but to each his own.

[geogymn]

Looks like winter has arrived. Glad to see the ground get covered with snow before this frigid cold settles in. Good for most species methinks but unfortunately that includes ticks.

[Justin]

April Fool....
If you're heading outdoors in the Adks this weekend & coming week, stay safe!

[randomscooter]

Originally Posted by geogymn

Those people sure do love it, I don't get it either, but to each his own.

I'm not a snowmobiler either, but I do have a BIL and SIL (but no BFFs ) who enjoy it immensely. Maybe they do it for the same reason that people ride through the Adirondacks on their Harleys - to see the scenery, feel the wind on their faces, enjoy stopping for dinner at a favorite restaurant, enjoy the camaraderie. There is also a heightened level of self-reliance, especially on the trails in Quebec there are hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of trails.

We tend to think that everyone is out there just to go fast and make noise. But that perception is formed through our own eyes, not through theirs. I don't know what the percentages are, but I'd imagine that most people are out their to enjoy being in that place, doing what they love to do. I love running on trails; some people think I should run on roads, or on the high school track. IMO they simply don't understand.

I'm not condoning violators; those who ride where they are not legally allowed, those who show no respect for private dwellings by screaming by them at high speeds (is there a snowmobiling equivalent to a "no wake" zone?), etc.

Just my .02.

[JohnnyVirgil]

Originally Posted by randomscooter

I'm not a snowmobiler either, but I do have a BIL and SIL (but no BFFs ) who enjoy it immensely. Maybe they do it for the same reason that people ride through the Adirondacks on their Harleys - to see the scenery, feel the wind on their faces, enjoy stopping for dinner at a favorite restaurant, enjoy the camaraderie. There is also a heightened level of self-reliance, especially on the trails in Quebec there are hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of trails.

We tend to think that everyone is out there just to go fast and make noise. But that perception is formed through our own eyes, not through theirs. I don't know what the percentages are, but I'd imagine that most people are out their to enjoy being in that place, doing what they love to do. I love running on trails; some people think I should run on roads, or on the high school track. IMO they simply don't understand.

I'm not condoning violators; those who ride where they are not legally allowed, those who show no respect for private dwellings by screaming by them at high speeds (is there a snowmobiling equivalent to a "no wake" zone?), etc.

Just my .02.

Well said. I guess it's the difference between dudes on Harleys who obey traffic laws and idiots on rice rockets who weave in and out of traffic at twice the speed limit. Or the leave no trace people and the idiot frat boys. I get it. There are all kinds of snowmobilers just like there are all kinds of other folks.