A bad day skiing is better than ... well, maybe not

[Big E]

I don't think I've ever refuted the notion that a bad day skiing is better than a good day working. Even when I tore my ACL, I still was happy to be out there, just wished I hadn't made that one certain turn in that one particular way.

Yesterday, though? Well, I think I would have rather been at work.

Now, we're talking Wisp in MD, so I'm not expecting UT-like conditions. But overall, I've found them to have better conditions than most of my other options on average. But yesterday, the "snow" conditions were miserable - there had apparently been a rain event earlier in the week that was much bigger than I realized. So the surface consisted of a combination of graupel, sugar, and absolutely impenetrable blue ice. The 2" or so that fell overnight really didn't do much to improve anything. The temps were reasonable - about 20 or so - and it was pretty cloudy and grey.

Add to all of that sustained winds of 25-30 mph and gusts to about 60. I skied every bloody aspect yesterday, and there were like 2 square feet where the wind wasn't blowing. Of course, they could only run the chairs at half speed because of the wind, which meant you got double the amount of time pelted w/ snowy ball bearings. Oh, and for some unknown reason, they were running several of the snowmaking guns.

After about 3.5 hours of that, I threw in the towel and headed back to the condo w/ thoughts of a warm bowl of soup dancing in my head. I returned to find the power out. 3 hours later, the power was still out, the temp in the condo was around 58, you couldn't get a fire going because of the wind, and the forecast was for sustained 25mph winds for the next 16 hours and a low of about 0 F.

I packed up and went home.

[YourSupremeExcellency]

I've been out when I went home after one run. Some days just suck. I mean when everything is bulletproof blue ice that is just no fun. Likewise I am not a fan of very hard crust where on every turn your ski may or may not fall through the crust. There's a bunch of conditions that will make me say "fuck this shit" and go home. Guess I'm not hardcore.

[Bart T]

you should have gone to whitegrass and toured. paying for liftserve in the DC area is a recipe for pain

[lionelhutz]

why don't you cry about it.

[Big E]

you should have gone to whitegrass and toured. paying for liftserve in the DC area is a recipe for pain

Toured on what, the 2" that fell?

[bagtagley]

State law mandates icy conditions at Wisp...and wind...and bitter cold...and slow moving lifts.

Go to Seven Springs next time.

[daPig]

Some data, Ill let you draw your own conclusion...

Time:
Driving: College Park to Wisp = 3.5 hrs
Flying: BWI to SLC Direct = 4.75 hrs

Tickets:
Wisp = $39
Alta = $59

Lodging:
Wisp = Free
Sandy = Free

Snow:
Wisp Base: 30 - 60, man made "packed powder"
Alta: 140, mother natures own

Do you see where I'm going with this?

[YourSupremeExcellency]

Some data, Ill let you draw your own conclusion...

Time:
Driving: College Park to Wisp = 3.5 hrs
Flying: BWI to SLC Direct = 4.75 hrs

Tickets:
Wisp = $39
Alta = $59

Lodging:
Wisp = Free
Sandy = Free

Snow:
Wisp Base: 30 - 60, man made "packed powder"
Alta: 140, mother natures own

Do you see where I'm going with this?

You saying that Alta is better then Wisp?