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Sunday fun day

The weather is just amazing today with sunny skies, light winds, and the temperature reaching into the 20’s. I’ve been snowboarding more this year and I’ve been having a blast. I love carving on Lower Morse Liftline. It is wide and it’s not too steep. I rode the corduroy on Lower Morse Liftline three times this morning before switching to my skis. I took the Village Lift and skied over to the Upper Mountains. I then took a few photos before heading back to my office in the Village. I did a blog entry and then got ready to hit the slopes again. My snowboard caught my eye, so I switched my boots again and headed back to the Village Lift. I got to Mid-station then the lift attendant looked at me and said “You can’t make up your mind!”

Tomorrow we plan to have 5 lifts operating, Madonna I, Madonna II, Village, Mogul Mouse’s Magic, and Sir Henry’s Glider. The Sterling Lift will be closed for a few days for a mechanical repair. We have 67 skiable trails and 44 lift-accessible trails open tomorrow. 25 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including, Upper FIS, Shuttle, Snow Snake, Lower Rumrunner, and the Practice Slope for a grand total of 105 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 16 to 50 inches. Currently, it is sunny and 12 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 30 degrees. If you park in Parking Lot 1 you can ski or ride back to your vehicle by taking Shuttle, Crossover, Treasure Run, Lower Exhibition, and the Practice Slope.

Sterling Mountain is open during the day to uphill traffic. Please use Parking Lot 1, Practice Slope, old rope tow line, and Black Snake to ascend. There will be downhill traffic on Lower Rumrunner, Treasure Run, and Lower Exhibition.

View from Madonna II
Playground
Father Bob’s
McPherson’s
Playground
Ruthie’s
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Let it snow

Today was another wild weather day with wind, rain, and snow. We started off today with rain and mixed precipitation. The conditions were nice and soft. The temperature was falling throughout the day and the mix turned to snow. We received 1 to 2 inches of new snow in about an hour and a half this afternoon. We could see another inch of new snow tonight. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with a high of 12 degrees and windy. The Madonna I Lift will be on cold hold tomorrow. We have 68 skiable trails and 52 lift-accessible trails plan to be open tomorrow. 28 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley, Snow Snake, and McPherson’s for a grand total of 115 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Tomorrow is going to be partly sunny and windy with a high of 12 degrees. It’s time for function not fashion and a mask goes with everything.

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Snow in the forecast for tomorrow

We received an inch of new snow on top last night and 16 inches in the past week. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mixed precipitation at lower elevations and snow in the higher elevations with 1 to 3 inches of accumulation possible. The high of the day will be 36 degrees and the temperature will be falling throughout the day. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 5 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 68 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 16 to 50 inches. 27 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Thomke’s, Snow Snake, and McPherson’s for a grand total of 117 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Great views
Sundog around a rime ice covered tree at the summit of Madonna
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Fresh snow

Morse Mountain ticket sales are closed at this time. We reached our comfortable capacity. We received 4 to 5 inches of new snow overnight. We also received some sleet and mixed precipitation. The Madonna 2 Lift is presently on wind hold. We have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna 1 Lift. We have 77 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are heavy powder and packed powder with average base depths of 16 to 50 inches. 26 trails have been groomed for today, including Log Jam, Smugglers’ Alley, and McPherson’s for a grand total of 116 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently it is 25 degrees at the summit of Sterling with sleet, fog, snow, and freezing drizzle, winds of 20 to 30 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for snow and sleet in the morning becoming snow in the afternoon 2 to 4 inches of accumulation possible and a high of 31 degrees.

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Freshly groomed terrain and sunshine

Today we have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 4 lifts operating. We have 32 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. The Madonna I lift will not be open today. In the case of a lift evacuation, the icy surface on Madonna Liftline would make it hard to get the skiers and rider off the mountain safely. The Sterling Lift, Madonna II Lift, Village Lift, and Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet are all operating. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 14 to 52 inches. 31 trails have been groomed for today, including McPherson’s, Curley’s Cutback, and Snake Bite for a grand total of 114 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently, it is sunny and 15 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 10 to 20 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 37 degrees.

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Fresh snow overnight

Joseph Paul Quico clearing the new snow at the Village Lift

We received 1 to 2 inches of new snow overnight and 181 inches of snow this season so far! Today we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We plan to have 77 out of 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 16 to 54 inches. 33 trails have been groomed for today, including McPherson’s, Snow Snake, and Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 133 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Upper FIS was groomed on the skier’s right side last night. Currently it is partly sunny and 12 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 15 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 22 degrees. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for 3 to 5 inches of new snow.

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Winter Wonderland

Sterling Rock
Tony finds a nice powder stash in the trees
Snow Reporter testing the product

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We now have 73 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and packed powder with average base depths of 14 to 50 inches. 32 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including McPherson’s, Snow Snake, and Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 127 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Upper FIS will be groomed on skier’s right from Catwalk down to the top of Dan’s Ford. Dan’s Ford down to Times Square will be groomed full width. Currently, it is cloudy and 21 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tonight’s forecast is calling for some snow showers with an inch of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is mostly cloudy skies with a chance of snow showers mainly before noon with around an inch of accumulation possible with a high of 33 degrees.

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Freshly groomed terrain

Lower Morse Liftline

32 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley, Thomke’s, and McPherson’s for a grand total of 131 acres. Today we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We now have 73 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 14 to 50 inches. Birch Run Terrain Park, Log Jam Terrain Park, and Riglet are all open. Currently it is 22 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 1 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a chance of flurries before noon and a high of 30 degrees. Today we have our Free Family Fun Race on Lower Madonna Liftline from 11 am till 2 pm being sponsored by Hearth Stone Stoves. Find out who’s the fastest in your family.

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Snowmaking in progress

Snowmaking cloud seen from the
Madonna I Lift
Tower guns running on Lower Chilcoot

McPherson’s and Dan’s Ford are closed today due to the snowmaking on Lower Chilcoot. Both trails end up on Lower Chilcoot and Lower Chilcoot is closed for snowmaking. Today we have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 51 trails open today with terrain for all ability levels. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 13 degrees.

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Snowmaking cloud on Madonna

View from the Madonna I Lift

I want to thank our snowmaking staff for all their hard work. They have been busy on McPherson’s, Playground, Practice Slope, Upper FIS from Goat Path down to Times Square, and even Lower Drifter. To make snow on Lower Drifter takes extra work, the snowmakers have to run hoses from another trail because Lower Drifter does not have snowmaking pipes. We are presently shutting down snowmaking. We plan to resume snowmaking tomorrow on Lower Chilcoot. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We now have 46 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 12 to 50 inches. 25 trails will be groomed for tomorrow for a grand total of 110 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently, it is cloudy and 7 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tonight’s forecast is calling for snow with 6 to 10 inches of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is also snow with another 3 to 5 inches of accumulation possible and a high of 21 degrees.