Is the North East Screwed for Skiing, Boarding and Naked Sub-freezing Streaking?

[charles martel]

Parts of the USA are warming faster than others, with the North East well in the lead:

This type of question is answered in a very recent study published by scientists from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The team, which includes Dr. Raymond Bradley and researcher Dr. Ambarish Karmalkar looked specifically at the Northeastern United States. They found that this area will warm much more rapidly than the globe as a whole. In fact, it will warm faster than any other United States region. The authors expect the Northeast US will warm 50% faster than the planet as a whole. They also find that the United States will reach a 2 degree Celsius warming 10–20 years before the globe as a whole.

https://www.skepticalscience.com/par...ole-globe.html

One owner of a really nice ski shop told me he thought that skiing was a dying sport in the southern North East.

Thoughts?

[The SnowShow]

That would not surprise me. Also, non-skier winter haters across that part of the country will continue to be excited when it's 75° in January, and that doesn't help driving home the importance of dealing with climate weirding.

[Benny Profane]

Thanks for posting that. Looks like a possible dump next week.

[charles martel]

Thanks for posting that. Looks like a possible dump next week.

But this week has been pretty bad.

[Moeghoul]

[ncskier]

That would not surprise me. Also, non-skier winter haters across that part of the country will continue to be excited when it's 75° in January, and that doesn't help driving home the importance of dealing with climate weirding.

That's an important distinction. It irritates me when those folks have come to see those days as good things. If it was fucking 50 on 4th of July they would be rioting in the streets for something to be done.

[ma4149]

Seems to be another ski season not much better than last year in the northeast, and last year was terrible. Hopefully this won't be a trend. Idiots around here lecture me on my need to ski anything and very often to improve as a skier, but once the finances of skiing semi locally 4 times in shit conditions matches a 4 day trip out to Utah, timed around when they get snow, it's hard to not do the switch to a trip to Utah every 4 to 6 weeks instead of skiing mediocrity in the northeast 3 or 4 weekends out of 6.

[Lostmyboards]

Yep. NJ used to have ski areas around the whole state, even in south Jersey. I taught at Bell Mountain until nobody could run it because you could not keep snow on it. When the industry started it was possible to run an area with natural, now that's not even a dream on the best years.

[danmelon]

Seems to be another ski season not much better than last year in the northeast, and last year was terrible. Hopefully this won't be a trend. Idiots around here lecture me on my need to ski anything and very often to improve as a skier, but once the finances of skiing semi locally 4 times in shit conditions matches a 4 day trip out to Utah, timed around when they get snow, it's hard to not do the switch to a trip to Utah every 4 to 6 weeks instead of skiing mediocrity in the northeast 3 or 4 weekends out of 6.

So more people should fly out west, releasing more ghgs, adding another positive feedback loop to the climate change process (yes I realize the actual emissions would be negligible). Haha. Someone should build a high speed ski train from Boston to the Rockies.

[Benny Profane]

Yep. NJ used to have ski areas around the whole state, even in south Jersey. I taught at Bell Mountain until nobody could run it because you could not keep snow on it. When the industry started it was possible to run an area with natural, now that's not even a dream on the best years.

Wait, what? All over the state? SOUTH JERSEY? Do you realize that south Jersey is basically, flat? Methinks you are exaggerating a tad.

Californians were talking about the end of the world recently. Now look what happened. Droughts come, droughts go. Although this is not going to help the economic situation up in Vermont. Some businesses that survived last year may not survive two or three in a row, especially in a world of cheap air fares. I think the average skier day count is about 12, but correct me if I'm wrong, if you have access to the latest marketing numbers. That's two quick trips to Denver or SLC from most airports in the northeast.

[The SnowShow]

Wait, what? All over the state? SOUTH JERSEY? Do you realize that south Jersey is basically, flat? Methinks you are exaggerating a tad.

Californians were talking about the end of the world recently. Now look what happened. Droughts come, droughts go. Although this is not going to help the economic situation up in Vermont. Some businesses that survived last year may not survive two or three in a row, especially in a world of cheap air fares. I think the average skier day count is about 12, but correct me if I'm wrong, if you have access to the latest marketing numbers. That's two quick trips to Denver or SLC from most airports in the northeast.

Easterners should fly to Seattle or Montana...much better.

[Benny Profane]

Direct, dude, non stop. SLC trips can accommodate skiing on both travel days.

[Lostmyboards]

Nope, back before the internet I had a paper map that showed ski areas on it. There were near a dozen in NJ. After I got stranded here, I tried to find many of them. There was still a sign along the road for Ski Mtn, near Berlin NJ. Look I found a map that shows it. I even found a FB page dedicated to it.

[baron]

Nope, back before the internet I had a paper map that showed ski areas on it. There were near a dozen in NJ. After I got stranded here, I tried to find many of them. There was still a sign along the road for Ski Mtn, near Berlin NJ. Look I found a map that shows it. I even found a FB page dedicated to it.

Arrowhead still there??? Itis more a sledding ,lift service thing>WoW did I flip some saucers there! backwards cartflips 20x on my head ! ...oh to be 15 again/ yea no helmet back then really for kids, unless you got a motorcycle one or a football helmet

[Lostmyboards]

I think this is as economic as it is about climate. Back in the day a strong middle class had leisure money and time to enjoy things like boating and skiing. Now, most have to make a deliberate effort to sacrifice economic security to enjoy the things that make life worth living.

[concretejungle]

Wait, what? All over the state? SOUTH JERSEY? Do you realize that south Jersey is basically, flat? Methinks you are exaggerating a tad.

Californians were talking about the end of the world recently. Now look what happened. Droughts come, droughts go. Although this is not going to help the economic situation up in Vermont. Some businesses that survived last year may not survive two or three in a row, especially in a world of cheap air fares. I think the average skier day count is about 12, but correct me if I'm wrong, if you have access to the latest marketing numbers. That's two quick trips to Denver or SLC from most airports in the northeast.

What happened in California Benny?

[Benny Profane]

What happened in California Benny?

A drought. You know, global warming, in today's terms.

[old goat]

A drought. You know, global warming, in today's terms.

Drought and global warming are two separate things, maybe there's a relationship, maybe not. Droughts come and go. Warming comes and stays.
On the bright side, Mar y Lago is at sea level.

[charles martel]

I think this is as economic as it is about climate. Back in the day a strong middle class had leisure money and time to enjoy things like boating and skiing. Now, most have to make a deliberate effort to sacrifice economic security to enjoy the things that make life worth living.

About sums it up.

[Benny Profane]

Then explain weekend crowds in Colorado and California.

[Lostmyboards]

Since "back in the day" the population has doubled. But, you knew that, of course. I'm sure you can infer the rest cuz ur so smrt.

[Sirshredalot]

I think this is as economic as it is about climate. Back in the day a strong middle class had leisure money and time to enjoy things like boating and skiing. Now, most have to make a deliberate effort to sacrifice economic security to enjoy the things that make life worth living.

The two are related. You can run a local ski hill for cheap with natural snow. You can't when you need snowmaking. This is basic Econ 301. Higher fixed costs = fewer firms each producing more units per firm (skier days). And the total industry produces fewer units (skier days) than it would absent the higher fixed costs.

If there were still 30 ski areas offering $30 lift tickets in NJ and PA, there would be much less of a flood of gapers to the Rockies. But you can't run a mom and pop hill in the mid Atlantic any more and the last ones standing in southern NE are hurting.

Check out the New England Lost Ski Area Project web site for a trip down memory lane and/or a vision of what is already gone.

[Benny Profane]

To be fair, a lot of those areas had pretty cheap lifts, too. Like, a rope tow or crude poma. Now, of course, everyone wants a chair, and a fast chair, at that.

[Sirshredalot]

To be fair, a lot of those areas had pretty cheap lifts, too. Like, a rope tow or crude poma. Now, of course, everyone wants a chair, and a fast chair, at that.

You need that to attempt to handle larger crowds at the remaining hills. It's all part of the same phenomenon. If all those places still existed with natural snow, they could all get away with less (and cheaper) uphill capacity and charge less.

[Microcosm]

Nope, back before the internet I had a paper map that showed ski areas on it. There were near a dozen in NJ. After I got stranded here, I tried to find many of them. There was still a sign along the road for Ski Mtn, near Berlin NJ. Look I found a map that shows it. I even found a FB page dedicated to it.

LOL Thompson Park. As of a couple years ago they did have signs for xc ski rentals. But it's not exactly a vertical park