mgguy

BC 12/26 trail report. Rolled in at a bit after 8:30, 17 degrees and a blue bird day. Parked in 3rd row, fairly light crowd early. First few runs of the season on Kodiak and the snow was very nice, firm, and could set edges anywhere, not a trace of ice. Went to F chair side- Broadway had great snow top to bottom. Polar Bear also nice fluffyness. Timberline was a bit too firm for my taste. Grizzly was very nice side to side, in fact ROTD was skiers left of Griz and then cut over and down skiers right of Broadway. Extreme and Sasquatch not open yet. Lines started to build around 11 or so, decided to call it a day around 11:14. All in all a great "opening day".

Just an opening note, I didn't ski today, just worked. Rolled in at 10:30 and not much of a crowd. Fairly light attendance as you would expect on a day with basically negative wind chill to open. Surprised a lot of snowboarders (usually come in late!). All reports and from what I could see snow was really nice, no ice, no cookies, packed powder with rooster tails. Way to go BC snowmaking team! A great opening day! Planning to get in 5 to 6 days in the coming week, will report!

Opening day announced for season pass holders and hotel guests is 12/22. Selling tickets for general public starting 12/26. Planning to be first chair or close to it on the 22nd and will have report.

The quote I have now is $4,800. Not a firm quote as just called and asked for a general price. We have a rancher single floor with finished basement. The new AC was $5,000 so a hit.

The wife wanted to go solar to be more Green. My electric bills pre solar averaged around $130 per month. I pay the solar company $84 per month (and will own the panels in a lot of years}. I haven't paid an electric bill to Met Ed since March, carry a credit each month of roughly $80 to $100 per month from feeding electric generation back to Met Ed each month. My net savings per month is around $50. 3 year history with them and this is pretty consistent. Pretty happy with that. Figure the winter may result in a bit of an electric bill running space heaters. All in all a win. Looking to add one more small space heater for my daughter's room for at night. Hind sight being 20/20 should have put in the heat pump 2 years ago when we upgraded the AC unit. At current prices biting the bullet and upgrading to heat pump has a 3 year payback before any tax credits next year. A discussion to have with my accountant in January or February.

Have oil furnace hot water baseboard and furnace is my hot water. Just got tank filled at $5.69/ gallon 2 days ago. Have solar panels that feed back to Met-Ed when producing, haven't paid Met Ed since March (pay solar panel company though monthly). Refuse to turn heat on, have 2 space heaters that heat the house just fine. Figure the solar panel credits from Met Ed will cover the costs for space heaters. Will be looking at heat pump to replace A/C unit after January 1 when the Biden BS inflation reduction act puts in tax credits for heat pumps.

Yep, will be there. Plan on Monday through Friday first chair. Saturday morning first chair before I work. Will do trail reports again!

Expensive visit to Buckman's today, even with Pro discount; I got new Atomic Hawx 100 boots, Atomic AMID Visor helmet and wife got Salomon S/Pro 80 boots. Let the stoke begin. Learned something today, new boot soles out there, WalkGrip. Need to change out the removable plates at toe and heel to fit bindings unless you have latest bindings. Different shape to the soles and won't fit the toe of binding especially. Ask if you are getting boots!

It changes darkness/color based on light conditions. I wear glasses and sick of fogging issues, this solves that. She has had no problems with moisture or anything. LOL if the 35% surcharge will go away, they got it now and most likely will keep it unless lots of complaints. Saw 3.89 prices yesterday, here in Berks like 4.10 to 4.19. don't see any reason for that!

Planning to buy an Atomic helmet with the photocromatic visor on it for next season. Wife bought one at end of last season and loves it. Good for all light conditions. Pricy but don't need goggles too. O ne big question, drove up to Slatington yesterday to bike the D&L trail- why is gas so much cheaper in Lehigh County versus Berks? Had to be 20 cents cheaper!

Pretty good band, https://www.frogholler.com/ Somewhat like the Dead, Country, tough to pin down exact genre. Seen them a number of times and don't disappoint.

Just on website, pool nights just ended. Mountain Activity pass is $15.00. Frog Holler playing this Sunday outside for free.

Yes, but you need a Mountain Activity Pass, free to season pass holders, a charge otherwise for the pass. Allows hiking, disc golf. Not sure of cost, on the website. Can get it at the Mountain Activity Center (the ski shop). The pool is available to the public on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at Trails End for free. The concerts are open to the public (Music Under the Stars).

Rolled into the lot at 9:25 this morning for the 10th hike of the season. Blue sky, not humid yet, mild breeze. Hiked the #1 trail to the top, then 4, 5, 1, 6 and 1. No bugs, nice breeze through most of the hike. 3 1/2 miles, a little bit of mud from the rain. Trails all nicely open with no overgrowth or downed trees. Finished with lunch and beers at Trails End. All in all, JADIP.

Only 5 months to go (hopefully less!) Days are getting shorter...

Not missing cutting the grass, finally a reprieve and not twice a week.

LOL, dressed too fancy and wife in sandals to walk over there. Had only 1/2 hour before ceremony to toss down a double Jameson and ginger before the ceremony.

My donation to getting this to a 100 page conversation.

Had a nice time. Wedding took place down the hill from the lodge. Nice view and breeze on a very hot day. Haven't been to Blue in a few years and pleasantly surprised at the nice remodeling done upstairs in the main lodge. Food was very good too! Blue did a nice job!

Just curious.

My daughter's friend is getting married and reception at Blue on Saturday; looking forward to seeing what that is like! Hopefully cooler at the mountain top than every where else. Not looking forward to a suit in 95 degree weather....

I can safely report that the 2 small snow patches are gone! Hiked 4 miles around the resort today. Trails in great condition. Chairs being pulled off of the cable and prepped for next season. Did the edges on the skis and did summer wax on them. Ready to go for next season, just need to scrape them down and go! When do we begin the countdown to skison 2022-23?

I use Sportler to track my daily skiing stats; can that be uploaded to the Skiing Stats here or do we have to manually enter the stats on this site? Just curious.

LOL I have been on PASR for years, mostly posting from Bear Creek. I get to Blue occasionally, maybe every year or two. Like the terrain, the drive from here sucks as there is no easy way without traffic. Used to ski there weekly when it was "Little Gap". I have to get there as I have a pile of drink vouchers to use up.....

Bought the Epic NE Midweek (Sr) value pass, $291. Already booked 4 days at Okemo, doing Mt Snow on same trip. Throw in some Jack Frost and maybe Stowe and can't beat the deal.