Got the keys to the blog so we can start to run with it and kill some time waiting for the snow to fall. I am off to the Toronto Ski Show later today and will be out of the office for the remainder of the week. Here are a few things of note that have come across my desk recently.
- A-Basin to open Wednesday. I’ll take fresh tracks over falling leaves any day.
- Fall Fest… great weather a good crowd, near perfect. The huge traffic issues were a problem for those not back road savvy and I hear rumour of multiple enforcement zones Saturday night on all roads leading out of town, hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend. What did y’all think of the Red Bull Cola being handed out at the fest. As I was working at the KB tent all day I hit up the Red Bull girls for more than one can and it grew on me, good stuff, plus you know… Red Bull girls!
- Newtrails… A few “historic trails” are in the process of being thinned out along the outer Northern edge of Kissing Bridge. I took a ride up the hill the other day and the new slopes appear to be a throw back to the classic New England, East Coast narrow tree lined meandering runs. I really look forward to winding my way along these reborn routes with my kids this winter! In addition the narrow run (unnamed) that ran down just to the North of the park has been bulldozed and widened and I would guess that it will add a third more terrain to available park space without taking away from all purpose areas, although the new section would make a sweet GS trail, leading down into the pitch of World. Perhaps it can be set up as a boarder/skier cross slope, that would be sweet indeed! I have pics of booth of these area and will post them next week here and or on the news section of kbski.com
- KB ticket/product sale… EMS Grand Opening, Tonawanda, October 25th. Details coming soon.
Keep On Keepin On,
-ACM
sweet.sounds like the new trails up at north should be a good time..cant wait..only a few months left till the seasons starts..counting down the days
Comment by snowbrdr1 — October 14, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
hey i was just looking at the map..at north theres the run “taco trail”? is that the new one?
Comment by snowbrdr1 — October 14, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
Something to do with Mighty Taco sposoring the maps I think??!! Nothing new, the new trails are not on the map as the crew is lumbering through them with bulldozers and chainsaws as I type.
Comment by admin — October 14, 2008 @ 6:26 pm
sweet… think you will have pics up soon?
Comment by snowbrdr1 — October 15, 2008 @ 2:48 pm
Wondering if there will be a half pipe this year as it shows one on the trail map??
Comment by Erin — October 15, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
How about KB opening up some of those “historic” south trails too!?!
Comment by ken punnett — October 16, 2008 @ 5:16 am
dude Erin i was wondering the same thing..didnt say that last year
Comment by snowbrdr1 — October 16, 2008 @ 11:14 am
that trail leading into world is sick i hope they utilize it for another park no offense to the ski/boarder cross folk but having more parks would make it easier to be more creative with the setups for example maybe some log jibs?
Comment by ron — October 16, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
What about clearing out some trees at the top of holly and hemlock or at the top of the north (skier’s left) or south chair (skier’s right)?
Comment by freerider — October 17, 2008 @ 3:34 am
a half pipe would be nice but wouldnt it be a waste of snowmaking since theres no pipe cut out of the ground? and if the pipe is going to be were its mentioned on the map wouldnt that eliminate the big air line? shhhhh dont mention those historic south trails keep those local son
Comment by shred — October 17, 2008 @ 8:04 am
The map file posted is a few years old, I am still out of town and will correct it when I return to the office. I do not believe a halfpipe is planned for this season. I do believe the intention of the new cut leading to World is for more park features, I just personally think it would make a great cross course slope, looking at things through the eyes of an old meathead ski racer! I am all in favor of increased park features and love the fact that this new cut allows for that with out taking away traditionaly “open” terrain.
Comment by admin — October 18, 2008 @ 9:11 am
NICE!! i was just looking at the weather and a rain/snow mix for tuesday! cant wait
Comment by snowbrdr1 — October 19, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
I’d love to see KB finally embrace glade skiing in a sustainable manner by thinning out the trees in a responsible manner. It is not only good for the health of the forests, but also adds a great deal of interesting terrain for more advanced skiers and boarders when the powder dumps.
Comment by SkierX — October 21, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
snow today..stuck for a little while in the morning..cant wait for the season
Comment by snowbrdr1 — October 22, 2008 @ 9:49 am
can’t wait for the season to start!
Comment by Jim — October 23, 2008 @ 5:06 am
AWESOME!
But how about some expanding on the south?? The South hills are quite a bit longer then the central and north. And how about a faster lift for central? The Holly Quad (or triple, not sure) is WAYYY to slow. The north chair is alright, but still could be faster, south is also okay, but theres room for improvement. AND, RUN ALL OF THE LIFTS ON CROWDED DAYS, no, take it back, everyday! I’m hoping you got your crap together and the coal chute lift will be operating along with the Holly lift thats on the left, I think it’s called the Hemlock triple. PLEASE, have you read reviews on KB? Everyone HATES the lifts. Take my advice for your own good, KB has some nice little slopes that have great potential. But for now, if you need me, I’ll be skiing at Holiday Valley along with other skiing junkies unless you fix all of the bull.
HV still has the edge on you, not because there’s more challenging and long slopes, but because the lifts run quick, they can handle crowds, and the lifts don’t stop every 30 seconds.
BTW, I am starting to except the new site, and the blog. I love the fact that I can have my voice heard.
Comment by Matt — October 27, 2008 @ 12:26 pm
hahahahahha! I meant A-C-C-E-P-T the new site.
I can spell I just can’t spell and type at the same time
I’m sure theres about 50 other mistakes I haven’t caught yet.
Comment by Matt — October 27, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
Dude…..so holiday valley made more money which translated into the installation of 2 express quads. Yes you get uphill faster on these lifts but what would that set a small ski area like KB back? The answer is likely millions$$. It could be worse, you could travel all the way to Vermont to Smuggler’s Notch one of the top rated ski resorts in the East and take 17 minutes to ride the antique double chair lifts to the summit! Give KB a chance, I skied there half a dozen times last season and had plenty of fun and wouldn’t have considered the lifts to be too much of an issue. The price for a lift ticket is right, they obviously don’t have any cash cow amenities like a hotel or golf course so I would say KB does the important things right!!
Comment by TheRicker — October 28, 2008 @ 3:02 am
dude matt man…… kb is just a small town friendly ski resort..the have an amazing park…alot better than holidays setup! and the lifts dont take that long..on the coalchute lift its mabye a 4 minute ride up to the top….and then you get to hit the two jumps and the small rails on the side and ride down….and south has pretty long runs…the outer ones which are woodstrail and outer edge give for a few minute run…and double that if you hit up the really long woods trails there! so stop bashing kb..they didnt have the blog last year cause inappropriate comments!
Comment by snowbrdr1 — October 28, 2008 @ 9:48 am
Well now, the blog went dark for a few reasons, one being that I need to moderate this blog as it is affiliated with Kissing Bridge and as such needs to be appropriate for various age groups etc. and it just became much to time consuming filtering out the comments that were troublesome. As many can attest I do not moderate comments that may be negative toward the area. I do ask that complaints be well stated and constructive in nature. No personal attacks or foul language. I am available at andym@kbemail.com if you feel your coment was unjustly kicked to the curb. Wait a few days before knocking on my door as I can not check this each and every day. Here is to a great season with a ton of early snow and some good vibes all winter long.
ACM
Comment by admin — October 28, 2008 @ 11:28 am
Sorry if you thought my comments were at all over-critical
I heard there was a good bit of accumlation down at KB and HV
My fingers are crossed that them dang meteorologists are wrong about the temperatures rising to the 50’s! That would be tragic
Comment by Matt — October 28, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
Whats up with the duplicate comment thing??
I just typed a really long comment.
But to sum it all up, sorry if my comment sounded over-critical or negative, or offensive to anyone.
Comment by Matt — October 28, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
Hey Andy, Thanks for giving us an inside look at KB ops! Are these trails at North the ones next to Dream that naturally filled in after the Glenwood merger? Thanks for the new trail map, I’ve been looking for it for years.
Comment by SoCal — October 30, 2008 @ 3:22 pm
I beleive they are. While not a white knuckle cliff dropping back country epic, these little trails should provide a peaceful rolling tree lined experience with enough pitch to have a good time. I really look forward to skiing with my kids in the new terrain and hope it remains fairly wooded and narrow reflected a bygone era of eastern skiing, perhaps best exeplified by Mad River Glen. I do believe these areas are going to wide enough for a groomer as the snow will need to be packe out to have a chance at holding up for any amount of time. I would love to see ops let it go natural once a solid base is established. If you have an opinion on choosing some terrain to be left ungroomed to bump and rut accordingly let me know and I will present your thoughts to the Mountain Manager. Perhaps I will make that a blog topic. To me it seems we have a ton perfectly groomed cruisers and a growing number of slopes dedicated to the Park skiers/riders, I would love to see some throwback unkept natural bumps berms ruts etc on a few trails, perhaps BlackJack or 1/2 of Mistletoe?
Comment by admin — October 31, 2008 @ 9:32 am
“I really look forward to skiing with my kids in the new terrain and hope it remains fairly wooded and narrow reflected a bygone era of eastern skiing, perhaps best exeplified by Mad River Glen.”
I haven’t seen a new trail map/ heard of the new trails. Where are they? How many new ones are there? Can you compare them to other trails at KB? Thanks.
Comment by Skiier — October 31, 2008 @ 11:06 am
I’d love to see some Blackjack not groomed, and what about a long run with moguls all the way down, like, maybe, Misletoe. But you should probably stop the moguls or put it on only one side after the area where Hemlock dumps into it. KB really doesn’t have a hill with a lot of moguls, twister good but short, and World is fantastic, but way to short. Sorry for bashing, if that was bashing, Snowbrdr.
-Matt, who will be the happiest skiier in the world if KB puts moguls on a long run
Oh, and I’d also like to see Woodstrail not groomed, or maybe outside edge, because woodstrail doesn’t have any lighting.
And also, if you are updating the maps, you may want to consider upgrading the Gradient map also…nothing at KB is 80 degrees, at the most in any area, 20 degrees, maybe up to 25 on blackjack. lol, where did anybody get those numbers from??
Comment by Matt — October 31, 2008 @ 12:05 pm
^^I’d love to see moguls on missletoe!
However, not grooming slopes makes the mountain unstable doesn’t it?
I mean, granted, KB might not be all enough for an avalance, but it did happen at Holiday Valley a few years back on The Wall.
But if it’s safe, that would be pretty sick.
Comment by Skiing_is_life — November 1, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
hey Andy, i would have to say leave “woodstrail” at south natural, it would be sick riding throught it like an old glade,woodsline trail
Comment by snowbrdr1 — November 2, 2008 @ 11:25 am
nah, Matt thats not bashing lol, i would also like to see some of blackjack or mistletoe un-groomed….
Comment by snowbrdr1 — November 2, 2008 @ 11:26 am
Blackjack should DEFINITELY not be groomed, except for maybe BEFORE a big snowfall as it is one of the better headwalls for getting some powder turns in. My best powder turns were earned on Blackjack last year before it was opened (whoops, I ducked a sign on a trail that should’ve been opened!!) and there was over a foot of deep on it. As far as terrain for advanced skiers and riders too, consider doing some sustainable trimming and thinning and opening some glades runs.
KB is severely lacking in runs that entertain advanced skiers and riders aside from the terrain parks and some glades in the right areas would be wonderful to ski in some of those prime lake effect powder storms.
Comment by SkierX — November 4, 2008 @ 6:12 pm
ahhaaha SkierX i snuck on blackjack to last year, it was amazing ungroomed! i didnt see the sign though and i thought it was open
Comment by snowbrdr1 — November 5, 2008 @ 4:04 pm
I’m an ancient dude who first grabbed the rope tow in 1960……if you ride the chair with a pretty girl, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to get to the top.
And if you got bored with skiing terrain that you had already mastered, you simply took one of your skis off.
Comment by Bill Wall — November 7, 2008 @ 9:19 am
^^^LMAO!!!!!!
Comment by Matt — November 10, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
o boy its the home run stretch till the beginning of the season the anticipation is killing me
Comment by romes — November 14, 2008 @ 9:53 pm
Bring on the snow!
Comment by snowbrdr1 — November 15, 2008 @ 2:59 pm
Look at the forecast on the home page!!!!!!
Sunday, Snow showers
Monday, Snowshowers
Tuesday, Snowshowers
Wednesday, Snowshowers
Thursay, Snow showers
OMG!!!!!! Admin I am depending on you to let us all know in the blog how it is down there………let us know when you’ve got base starting to pile up!!! The Anticipation is killing me.
Although I won’t be skiing for a while, (52 days to be exact), I love hitting up every ski site in the area just to look at the snow report and have a little adrenaline rush. lol
Comment by Matt — November 15, 2008 @ 5:34 pm
Matt, why not for 52 days…you go with a program or something? I plan hitting up KB on opening night
Comment by snowbrdr1 — November 16, 2008 @ 6:34 am
Nah, don’t have the time.
Usually about 10 trips to KB, a few to Holiday, and one to Bristol is all I get in. Thinking about Whiteface next year though.
Comment by Matt — November 16, 2008 @ 8:43 am
how much snow if up at KB? can we look for an opening soon
Comment by snowbrdr1 — November 17, 2008 @ 3:48 am
ya how about a woods trail with a jib line with all natural jibs. lets get a “stash” park at KB this yr. im down to throw in some ideas!!
Comment by DJAnthony — November 17, 2008 @ 2:34 pm
Anyone here about Holiday??
They got POUNDED! 28 inches of pure lake effect snow. Not sure if this storm is still lurking, maybe it’s next stop is KB!
Comment by Matt — November 17, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
Спасибо:) Классная тема, пишите чаше – у вас отлично получается
Comment by Эрик — May 30, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
Актуально. Некоторые моменты не знал.
Comment by Вадим — July 3, 2009 @ 1:03 am