January 4 New snow and sunny outside.  They reported 7 inches of new snow here in Vail and 10 inches of new snow at Beaver Creek.  However, it seemed more like 3-4 inches of new snow.  It didn’t matter.  The fresh snow helped freshen the slopes up.  COLD, glad thing I waited until 1pm to start skiing.  After more than 10 years of this, I have wised up and wear mittens instead of gloves.  A puffy jacket doesn’t hurt either.  Chris R.

Blue skies over Vail January 4th

January 2 We have received 162 inches of snow so far this ski season.  Nothing the last 6 days, but don’t fret, the skiing is still great.  We have had sunny days and the snow has softened up adequately each day.  The lines have been a bit longer than I am used to.  We think it might be the Epic Pass which is unrestricted over the holiday.  This means there are plenty of locals up on the hill, where as in past years the locals had to stay home.  Utilize the single lines.  The bumps are forming nice and many of the guests here this week aren’t on the bump runs too much.  Best snow can be found on the fringes of these trails.  I haven’t been back to Blue Sky Basin for 2 weeks.  I wonder how the snow is over there.  Weather service is calling for 3-7 inches of snow tomorrow.  We saw big clouds forming to the west this afternoon and the radar shows some light snow.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Chris R.

December 29th/28th It has finally cleared and warmed up.  Yesterday it was nice packed powder on the slopes with sunny skies.  Great groomed cruisers. People were taking pictures everywhere of the snow covered mountains.  It wasn’t too crowded at all, but………. wow Dec 29th on Monday it was busy!  Lots of people and a fair amount of lift lines on the front side of the mountain.  If you were in the back, you avoided them.  There was a bit of ice here and there at the high traffic sections.  Get up early if you want to miss the lines.  If you arrive at the Gondola or Chairlift at 9:45am, bring a book (just kidding).

December 26th Another powder day. (imagine that)  6-8 inches of new snow in most places.  It was snowing pretty good until 11am.  Then the sun came out at 1pm and we had a couple of hours to go skiing.  It was wonderful with the sun blazing, powder on the slopes and warm temps.  Then we got on the ski lift…….  the clouds came in, the wind picked up, the snow came down in waves and the temps dropped 10 degrees.  Ouch.  At least the skiing was great!  You gotta love the Buffaloes warm up shack at the top.  The place was packed with people warming up their hands and feet before the last runs of the day.  Simba was where it was at for the end of the day.  We think they did a mid-day groom down the run.   Chris R.

December 24th and another 7 inches of snow today.  Most of this Vail snow arrived during the day and late afternoon yesterday.  Keep in mind, Vail Resorts measures the snow around 6am from day to day.  People sometimes are surprised after skiing in the morning and comment, “where are the 7 new inches”?  Well, we skied on it while it was coming down yesterday.  Sorry.

The sky cleared up a bit for today, so we have a 24 hour break until the next system comes in.  Beaver Creek now has a new record for snowfall in December and we aren’t even to the end of the month!

Mother Nature loves Eagle County!  We received 13 inches of new snow today bringing our year to date snowfall up to 141 inches.  All this snow has caused a lot of travel headaches…thankfully most of our Christmas guests have arrived in time to enjoy the conditions.  It’s snowing right now, I-70 is a complete mess, and snow is predicted through Saturday.  Christmas in Vail is looking pretty niiiiiiiiiice!

-Matt “Zuder” Zaremba

December 22 Light snow each and everyday this past week.  Today we had a dusting of snow before the opening of the chairlifts.  Everything is open and the slopes are nice and quiet (if you go out at 9am).  There is plenty of courderoy out there.  The groomers are working over time.  This morning I returned to Chair 10 near Highline and Blue Ox after an extended absence.  No need to do any bumps over there.  You can make an incredible long run out of it by coming all the way down FlapJack for a long cruiser.  +137 inches of snow so far this season.  Everything is covered.  Snowing outside as of 11:00am

Today was the craziest snow day of the 08-09 ski season.  A major storm found its way to Vail early afternoon and hasn’t let up(time is currently 3:34).  If we don’t get over a foot of snow tonight we will all be shocked.  Several of the back bowls were shut down around 2pm and for good reason….visibility was about 4 inches in front of your face and the wind was angry!  I may, or may not have, ducked into Mid-Vail like a scared child.  Get up early tomorrow morning and wax your whip…it’s going to be ALL TIME!.  Whoo-hooo!

-Matt “Zuder” Zaremba

Vail snow report

December 18 Snowing outside again this morning.  37 inches last 7 days.  112 inches so far this season.  This is a rest day for many of us as we are wiped out tired.

December 17 Powder day, no time to do ski report.  Out shoveling snow.

December 16 Powder day, no time to do ski report.  Gone skiing.

December 15 Powder day with Blue Sky back open.  Gone skiing.

December 14 A foot of snow reported in the a.m. and it snowed pretty good till Noon today.  People were going crazy.  Long lift lines in the morning but no one around in the afternoon.  An avalanche apparently slid in Blue Sky Basin on Lovers leap and buried two people.  They are alright.  Not many more details than that.  They closed Blue Sky Basin the rest of the day because of the slide.  Other than that, the skiing was GREAT!  We did a number of laps in China Bowl and Sun Up Bowl.  If you can’t ski powder, your legs would hurt today.  It was cold.  Lots of breaks inside for warming up.  I took a couple of pictures from my camera phone.  Too cold to use the regular camera.  Chris R.

Sun up bowl

SunDown bowl from the Chairlift (one cold ride today)

December 13 6 inches of new snow today.  We could not get up to ski ourselves but all the reports are positive!  Light snow every so often during the day.  It is warm out but they say the COLD weather is coming tonight with 12 inches of snow expected.  Blue Sky Basin opened.  No reports from anyone as of yet.

December 12 Dark and cloudy outside.  Snow on the radar to the west of Vail.  Keep your fingers crossed!  (later in day)  it started snowing heavy in the afternoon.  Bad skiing morning (icy), incredible skiing in the afternoon.

December 11 There was plenty of sunshine with the opening of China Bowl today.  I didn’t get back there as I only had an hour to ski.  It is getting icy out there folks.  Make sure you have your skis tuned up.  Tommy over at Vail Ski Tech is a good one to get the boards freshed up.  I did laps on Northwoods and Mountain Top express trying to practice some of the bumps as finally the moguls are forming up.   There were some rocks showing through where the groomers were a bit aggressive.  Snow on the way this coming weekend.  Forecast is for 5-9 inches of snow Saturday night - Sunday.  Then additional storms throughout next week.  Chris R.

December 10 Sort of weird day on the slopes.  It was cold outside (19-23 degrees) but there was light drizzle on the mountain.  It couldn’t turn to snow.  When the drizzle touched the snow, it would turn to ice.   This made for some slick trails.  Then the sun finally comes out at the very end of the day.  Chris R.

December 9 We received a little new snow today.  3 inches.  We were hoping for more but we will take it.  The new snow softened things up quite a bit.  I went up again with Tom from maintenance and met up with our friends Weber (31 year local) and Todd from Conifer CO.  We enjoyed the sun shine but it was a bit cold outside.  We saw them running the Tea Cup lift and China Bowl lift.  They aren’t open yet, but they must be preparing for this weekend.   More snow predicted at the end of the week! Chris R.

picture from Dec 9th

December 8 Yesterday was a wonderful Spring type of ski day with sun and warm temperatures.  This means that the snow was soft and everything was “right” in the world.  It also means that when I and Aaron (Antlers maintenance) went up at 9am this morning, we encountered hard and crusty snow.  We stuck to the groomers and made it all the way to Northwoods.  You had to stay on the groomed stuff for decent skiing.  Unfortunately, the groomers took a little too much liberty with their blades on a couple of runs and pulled up some rocks.  Yikes!  We saw a couple of guys heading to Chair 5 in Vail’s Back Bowls, but I think they were headed for trouble until it softens up back there.  The good news is that snow is coming this afternoon and they are calling for 4-8 more inches through Tuesday.  We hope to have some powder pictures for you in the coming days.  Vail has the most terrain open in the state of Colorado.  Chris R.

December 5 They opened Game Creek bowl today, but I skipped it.  No one was in North woods.  The 6 inches of snow we received the day before is filling in all the holes.  Good cruising everywhere but a little cold on the face.  They are calling for sunshine and warmer weather the next two days.  It should be crazy tomorrow with the opening of Chair 10 on the front and Chair 5 for the Back Bowls.  They have blown enough snow to start making the half pipe on Bwana, so hopefully they open that for the boarders in the coming week.  Chris R.

December 4 Still snowing outside. They reported 4 inches of new but it was snowing hard most of the day. I had 90 minutes to take some ski runs about 2:30pm. It was pretty quiet up on the mountain and a bit cloudy at the top with the snow coming down. Wide open cruising up in Northwoods although it was a bit bumped up due to the powder. Rumors say Game Creek opens tomorrow. You have to wonder if they are thinking of open up the back bowls, but they probably want the snow to settle first. Chris R.

December 3 See Matt’s post below on the “No Friends on powder days” for a Dec. 3rd update

December 2 Finally some sunshine today. We had a good group go up mid-day and conditions felt like February or March. Everyone was skiing well. Lots of smiles. Soft snow and warmer. We did laps on Mountain Top Express, Wildwood Express and Avanti Express. Most of the front is open but still no Northwoods or Game Creek. There is enough snow, so we don’t know what they are waiting for. Chris R.

Tom(from Antlers Engineering)
Kris (from Wisconsin)
Glen (from Wisconsin)
Sarah (Italy, Chris’s boss)
Simone (Head Chef at Campo De Fiori)

December 1 It is a another powder day. Vail ski conditions are great with 4 more inches today. This makes 22 inches in the last three days. We have wonderful skiing and there is hardly anyone on Vail mountain. Everyone left after the Thanksgiving holiday so it was pretty quiet on the mountain. This is pretty typical in early December, lighty dry snow and a whole ski run to yourself. No pictures today (sorry). I did a bunch of runs off of Chairs 3 and 4. There are even some small bumps forming here and there. We hope they open Northwoods and Game Creek bowls in the coming week. There is certainly plenty of snow. Chris R.

Coming down to Lionshead

O.k., here is the Press Report. Vail Back Bowls to open December 6th. Vail snow is piling up.

Additional snowfall on Wednesday evening and throughout the day on Thursday will allow Vail Mountain operations crews to expand terrain and lift offerings this weekend, boosting the total terrain to nearly 2,000 acres and 19 lifts. Vail has received an additional 11 inches of snow in the past 48 hours as of 1 p.m. today. In addition to currently open terrain, by Saturday, Dec. 6 the resort will offer terrain in the legendary Sun Down and Sun Up Bowls, accessible by the High Noon (Chair 5) and Sun Up (Chair 17) lifts, as well as terrain in the Highline Lift (Chair 10) area.

Wow, not too bad to have this much terrain open on December 6th. This is amazing!

Today I learned a vital lesson…“No friends on a powder day.”  Myself, Chris Apmann (Antler’s engineer extraordinaire), Aaron (Apmanns’ engineer tag-team partner), and JP (ex-Antler employee) met in the hotel lobby this morning.  It was Vail’s 4th early season powder day in a row and we were ready to rock. Antler’s rookie, Nick Kelley, couldn’t find his way out of the garage so we left him behind…not to be heard from for the rest of the day.  We also forgot to wake up Eric Rust (Director of First and Last Impressions)…he is still complaining.  Fresh tracks and two runs into our adventure Aaron broke his goggles and we were down to 3 from our original “too many.”  Chris, JP, and I were one of the first groups to ride Northwoods/North Rim.  It was by far the best day of snow in Vail this season, until I got ditched by Chris and JP.  Unlike Eric, I can’t complain….“No friends on a powder day.”

November 30 Another 9 inches of snow reported in the morning and light snow throughout the day.  Heavy winds but GREAT skiing.  Soft everywhere and few lift lines (afternoon).  The wind blew quite a bit of tree debris onto the ski slopes.  They were running Chair 11 Northwoods but it wasn’t open.  I hope they drop the ropes on that in the next few days.

Scene from the chairlift today, above mid-Vail

November 29 It is a Powder day in Vail today!  9 inches of new snow as of 6am and it has been snowing all day.  They opened Chairs 2, 3 and 4 and rumors they might be opening more this coming week.  We have received perhaps 5 inches since 6am, but who knows.  Everyone is coming back with smiles on their faces.  With the recent Vail snow there are now 500 acres open.  Many of us are stuck here in the office today.  Chris R.

Vail Ski Mountain provided the following photo from today

November 28 2-3 inches of new snow today.  They were blowing snow on lower Simba and then opened Lodgepole and Columbine from the top of the gondola.  Columbine looked a little thin on snow but people were reporting that Lodgepole was better.  However, I did not see Lodgepole with my own eyes.  This 2-3 inches will help, but we still need that 8 inches of snow or so before we can get that upper 1/2 of the mountain open.  The new snow will at least soften up the 4-5 runs that we have open.  Chris R.

Soft snow in the early morning.

November 27 A 1/2 inch of new snow in Vail today.  Enough to soften the runs up a bit, but still just three runs open.   I went up on the telemark skis for the first time this year.  I burned my quads big time.  I had to take a lot of breaks to get down the mountain.  I’m out of shape.  They opened the beginner chair 12 down at the base of Golden Peak.  Chair 15 the beginner chair at the top of the mountain is open.  But for us Intermediate/Advance skiers it is just the Born Free lift.  The runs that are open are Born Free, Columbine to Bear Tree and parts of Bwana.  They are blowing quite a bit of snow on Lodge Pole, so I’m hoping they open that on Friday perhaps.  It looks like it wants to snow, but nothing yet.  40% chance of snow each of the next 4 days.  Chris R.

November 25 Another day on the hill.  I spent the day skiing with my wife Sarah and Tom (Antlers Director of Preservation).  The hill is getting better all the time.  After 6 or 7 runs I called it quits but Sarah kept on going “one more run, one more run”.  And she did, one more run.  We did most of our laps over on Columbine and Bear Tree then looping back around to the Born Free Lift.  It required two traverses but the snow was worth it.  Not as many people over there.  It seems to us that they’ll open portions of Bwana in the next couple of days and perhaps Lodge Pole with the gondola running top to bottom runs.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Chris R.

Sarah and Tom (click for full size to see their smiles)

Picture from the chair

November 24 I went out for first chair and conditions were optimal.  Much better than waiting for later in the day.  Groomed runs and sunshine.  I met up with the General Manager of the Lodge at Lionshead for a few runs.  We did one run over on Columbine to check out the Vail snow-making operations.  It looks like they are trying to open up Lodge Pole from the top of the Gondola down.  They were also blowing snow below Chair 2.  I figure that by Wednesday they will have 2 more runs open.  Weather people are predicting snow for Thursday/Friday.    Chris R.

Heading down the mountain

Vail snowmaking

November 22 I waited until the end of the day to hit the hill.  Grabbed the Chairlift at 10 minutes to 3:00.  I did three quick runs before they shut the lift down.  It was a bit icy for sure.  After the people skied on Born Free all day, the snow was scraped off a bit.  Wish I had some new skis to carve on the ice.  Interesting scenery, as the Vail mountain crew this past summer cut down quite a few trees near the top of the gondola.  This new open area near the top should make for some nice skiing this year.    Chris R.