Dec 23
1:30pm 12/23/09
In about 1/2 an hour I am told that Coal Chute and Twister will open and I just returned from a few rips down Twister where upon the top of the slope (Twist) I found some park features installed and some of the crew getting after it with rakes and shovels to smooth out [...] [...more]
1:30pm 12/23/09
In about 1/2 an hour I am told that Coal Chute and Twister will open and I just returned from a few rips down Twister where upon the top of the slope (Twist) I found some park features installed and some of the crew getting after it with rakes and shovels to smooth out the new man made snow. See the homepage (kbski.com) for pics of the features. Looks like a straight box and rail, two curved boxes and a big old metal tank to jump on! A few more features were off to the side awaiting placement in the early season park. Have fun… The snow on Twister was very kind by the way.
-acm
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Dec 22
That Twister, Coal Chute and the Coal Chute double will open Wednesday. Slalom Run and Exhibition on Saturday. Other slopes now seeeing snowmaking are Eagle, Hemlock, Mistletoe and other areas. I’ll let you know if any features are in place in the morning. So.. .I guess I’ll go take a few rips down “The Holly” [...] [...more]
That Twister, Coal Chute and the Coal Chute double will open Wednesday. Slalom Run and Exhibition on Saturday. Other slopes now seeeing snowmaking are Eagle, Hemlock, Mistletoe and other areas. I’ll let you know if any features are in place in the morning. So.. .I guess I’ll go take a few rips down “The Holly” eh.
-acm
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Dec 21
I see that the guns are off Twister and I think Coal Chute, meaning they will open very soon. Twister will be home to some terrain park features as soon as perhaps tomorrow (Tuesday, 12/22/09) ! Looking ahead I think that on the 26th we could see Coal Chute, Twister, Holly, Candy Cane, Snoopy Slope, [...] [...more]
I see that the guns are off Twister and I think Coal Chute, meaning they will open very soon. Twister will be home to some terrain park features as soon as perhaps tomorrow (Tuesday, 12/22/09) ! Looking ahead I think that on the 26th we could see Coal Chute, Twister, Holly, Candy Cane, Snoopy Slope, Slalom Run, Exhibition and perhaps Hemlock if all goes well. Then again, I though Twister would be open Saturday, so what do I know. I’ll be here in the morning and will take a gander at Twister to see if any features have been installed by the park crew. Things are coming together for a pretty nice Christmas break scene at KB with park riders getting after it on Twister and racers rippin’ around Slalom Run and lots of room leftover for the crowds! See you out there.
BTW… Nice to see most folks taking care this weekend, working well with each other to avoid the dangers of a crowded slope, good on ya! I think I only had to “get skinny” once to sneak through quickly closing space, but it was my fault entirely 
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Dec 18
Opening day is here, holly is buff, no official word on Twister but I think it may open Saturday, Coal Chute is getting much closer and not far off either. Out early this am walking the slopes and now booted up ready to go to “work” and get a few few pics for an afternoon [...] [...more]
Opening day is here, holly is buff, no official word on Twister but I think it may open Saturday, Coal Chute is getting much closer and not far off either. Out early this am walking the slopes and now booted up ready to go to “work” and get a few few pics for an afternoon report. Hope you can make it out Today or this weekend. Remember, it is very grim to end your season or someone elses on opening weekend, with oly a few slopes we all need to watch out for each other out there and not anything stupid. Keep your head on a swivel and make it your job not to endanger the other guy! Soone enough more terrain will pop open and we can put the hammmer down! See ya out there and have fun!
I love the smel of diesel in the mornin’ it smells like…. victory!
-acm
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Dec 17
Here are some more pics from a journeystarting at the base of Holly, up Coal Chute and Twister and back down Holly. Holly looks very kind, Twister is prettyclose with added snow being laid in to support some early season terrain park options asap (likely not this weekend, but who knows) and Coal Chute is getting hammered, [...] [...more]
Here are some more pics from a journeystarting at the base of Holly, up Coal Chute and Twister and back down Holly. Holly looks very kind, Twister is prettyclose with added snow being laid in to support some early season terrain park options asap (likely not this weekend, but who knows) and Coal Chute is getting hammered, but the chute itself is nearly a waterfall when the rains come and takes some time to fill in.
Get some rest boys, because tomorrow we ride!
- A snow Halo atop Twister
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Dec 17
12/17/09 report…
The Operations dept. reported to the Man this morning and this is the low down on what was said.
KB will open Friday Dec. 18th at 9am with Holly and the Beginner Slope, two lifts. Reg. in season hours. The cost of the ticket is reduced until open terrain expands.
Adult unlimited dailly skiing $25.00
Jr. $20.00
Adult [...] [...more]
12/17/09 report…
The Operations dept. reported to the Man this morning and this is the low down on what was said.
KB will open Friday Dec. 18th at 9am with Holly and the Beginner Slope, two lifts. Reg. in season hours. The cost of the ticket is reduced until open terrain expands.
Adult unlimited dailly skiing $25.00
Jr. $20.00
Adult Night pass $15.00
Jr. Night $10.00
Lesons are available.
The progress on Twister and CoalChute continues and it will be evaluated through the week, opening asap.
No rails etc. will in place Friday, no information on when a few rails etc. will be put in place.
So… A mixed bag, I had hoped for more terrain and perhaps a few boxes to keep the park crew happy, but taking the glass half full outlook I can say that Holly looks great, mid season conditions, perfectly groomed out this afternoon and setting up for opening day. A lt. snow should add just enough fluff to really reward the early birds tomorrow.
If any news breaks I will report to kbski.com first and update here when time allows. As is my tradition I hope to be here with the sun tomorrow and get a few early moorning pics of Holly and get ready to meet the first riders of the 2009-2010 season, carve a few arcs and then drop a first hand report on the conditions to the homepage.
See you out there, -acm
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Dec 16
OK, I know, where are the pics man! To get pics I use my camera and it will download to my computer here at workl for some reason. I will get the issue fixed by the end of the day and post tomorrow. I have some from my cell but they are not of high [...] [...more]
OK, I know, where are the pics man! To get pics I use my camera and it will download to my computer here at workl for some reason. I will get the issue fixed by the end of the day and post tomorrow. I have some from my cell but they are not of high enough quality so I deleeted them form the site. Snowmaking is firing on Holly, Twister, Coal Chute and other areas, it is snowing lightly and overall the Valley is in fine Holiday spirits! The base on Holly should be deep, some huge whales of snow fill the slope and are beginning to be groomed in today. The natural snow mixing in could make for a nice surface come Friday. No word on if more than Holly and the beginner slope will open on day one. An operational meeting is being held tomorrow and I should have a better idea after that if any additional terrain will be ready by the weekend. At this point I see nothing that could delay a Friday opening. Again, sorry about the pics, I blew through two Cannon digitals last season of my own and the camera I picked up to do the job today just won’t speak to my computer here at work without some hardware that is at my home PC, my bad. Trust me, no one wants a web cam more than myself, although I really do like hiking around the base under the snow plum from a Ratnik on a crisp winter morning snapping some shots. Hope to be here with the Sun as it rises over opening day to get some early posts to the website to fuel the stoke. More news tomorrow… good day.
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Dec 15
Despite a warm up Sunday-Tuesday and some heavy rain at times the man made snow remained safe in large piles on Holly and Twister. With cold temps predicted for the next 5-7 days it is looking good for an opening Friday. Snowmaking has been most intense on Twister and Holly. I suspect holly and the [...] [...more]
Despite a warm up Sunday-Tuesday and some heavy rain at times the man made snow remained safe in large piles on Holly and Twister. With cold temps predicted for the next 5-7 days it is looking good for an opening Friday. Snowmaking has been most intense on Twister and Holly. I suspect holly and the beginner slope will open Friday and Twister will come online quickly there after. Twister wil be home to an early season rail park when it has enough coverage to pop open. With some lake effect rolling in this week we can hope for some more help from Old Man Winter (most of the natural snow from last week is charging down the creek in the form of muddy fast water today) and will expand terrain as conditions permit. More updates through the week.
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Dec 11
The man just stopped by my desk and said,” we will open one week form today” so Friday Dec. 18th, 2009 KB plans to open for the season. A little blip in the temperatures Mon/Tues but by Friday I expect we will have a good surface and offer up some nice conditions on day one. [...] [...more]
The man just stopped by my desk and said,” we will open one week form today” so Friday Dec. 18th, 2009 KB plans to open for the season. A little blip in the temperatures Mon/Tues but by Friday I expect we will have a good surface and offer up some nice conditions on day one. I will have photos and detailed information with a dailly or hourly report string of reports starting Wednesday the 16th. As allways, any breaking news will go up here and at the kbski home page as soon as I get it.
-acm
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Dec 11
OK, I imagine you have allready read the home page so it should come as no surprise that we will not be opening Saturday, or likely this weekend. We did get roughly 18 inches of snow during the lake effect event and continue to blow snow on Holly and other areas. Early this morrning management [...] [...more]
OK, I imagine you have allready read the home page so it should come as no surprise that we will not be opening Saturday, or likely this weekend. We did get roughly 18 inches of snow during the lake effect event and continue to blow snow on Holly and other areas. Early this morrning management actually seemed fairly optimistic that we may be able to turn the lift. So, while I was calling home to tell my wife I would be grabbing the kids tomorrow and heading to work looking forward to skiing with my daughter, son and the KB Jr. Team the Ops crew was hard at work hiking the slopes and putting a cat on the hill for a test at finish grooming. Tillers are still sucking up mud and the tracks are sinking through the moisture laden snow where the warm ground is melting it from the bottom up, the results are not pretty and we are in a holding pattern for the time being. I certainly expect that by next weekend
I’ve been around the track a few times and remember the days at Red Jacket, a long gone private hill with one t-bar in Eden, NY(Google NELSAP , a great site of lost New England ski areas to see a piece on Red Jacket)where I learned to ski. We flipped the switch and skied on anything that was slippery. The groomer was an old Tucker with a powder wheel and it rarely ran so most times we just broke trail on the t-bar ride and pushed and poled our way through the snow until we had a enough momentum to go through the ungroomed drifts to the bottom. At times we all got together and ski packed the main slope. Sure, we may burn down grass and mud for a turn or two, that just taught us to be light on our feet! The excellent grooming and snowmaking here at KB are a result of some talented folks with many years of experience operating millions of dollars of machinery and thier efforts are appreciated to be sure, but from time to time I miss the “natural snow and terain conditions” that I learned upon. We spent a lot more time buring the p-tex and re setting edges but we also learned to take advantage of whatever Old Man Winter delivered and thier is value in that I think. Anyway, I still have some Asolo lace up leather tele boots and skiiny tele boards sporting 3 pin bindings and think I may hike the road this weekend and drop into Red Jacket, reliving the old days for a run or two ( I would be trespassing so of course I am just kidding, or not)!
Trust that I will report any news on opening day just as soon as I get.
May your days be merry and bright…
-acm
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