East Snowfields

[Bill O]

Anybody ski or see the East Snowfields recently?

Just curious on the conditions. It looks like many rocks still exposed on the webcam view, but its hard to tell.

[KD Talbot]

Haven' been up so I don't REALLY know, but from the looks of Jim's photo today, it looks unskiable, for me, anyway. It may be filled in more out of sight over the edge.
KDT

[Bill O]

Haven' been up so I don't REALLY know, but from the looks of Jim's photo today, it looks unskiable, for me, anyway. It may be filled in more out of sight over the edge.
KDT

It looks grim from that photo, but I'm not sure it tells the entire story. If there is skiable snow it would be beyond the rollover, out of site.

[KD Talbot]

Warmer weather headed our way this week, so after shift change I'm guessing Neil will check it out for us.

I'm getting off subject, but I skied at Gunstock today, windchills were -22, balmy by MW standards! Now does that increase if I'm skiing at 30mph, or is it pretty constant? How fast can a 200lb guy ski if he's not holding back? Hard for me to judge how fast I'm going. It feels faster than 30, but I know it probably isn't.
KDT

[Bill O]

If there's a 15mph wind and you add another 30 on top of that it's going to have a huge effect on windchill.

I've never been good at guessing how fast I can ski, but 30mph is pretty easy to hit.

[KD Talbot]

I suppose speed brings a lot of things into factor. Steepness of the slope weight, etc. The temp was around +5 but a -22 windchill, wouldn't that be faster than 15mph? More like 40mph on the chart I got from MWO. So say I was skiing 45mph with a -22 windchill, how cold would it "Feel Like"? Would that be like an 85mph wind? It's off my little chart. I don't suppose it matters much whether it's -22 or -50. It's brutal in my book. I'm curious because I wasn't cold and I want to sort of rate my equipment.
KDT

[Brad]

When my son goes windsurfing he wears a wrist GPS. It tells him how far he sailed and the max speed he got to. That would do the trick for you too ...

[Patrad Fischroy]

It is my impression that the GPS will underestimate your speed on the slope. I am pretty sure that it will only give you your horizontal velocity, not the velocity along the slope. And if it is calculating the distance along the slope the vertical measurements on the GPS are considerably less accurate than the horizontal ones. I seem to recall they are on the order of 3-5 times less accurate.

[KD Talbot]

I appreciate the input, but for now I'll be content to estimate my speed. I don't carry GPS, a compass and a flashlight are my hi-tech gadgets for hiking. (I will never own a cell phone if I can avoid it.) I'm basically looking for a wind chill chart that goes over 50mph and an answer to the question, if I'm skiing 45mph and there is a 40mph wind, does this equal 85mph, and if it does, then what is the windchill besides damn cold?
KDT

[Bill O]

if I'm skiing 45mph and there is a 40mph wind, does this equal 85mph, and if it does, then what is the windchill besides damn cold?
KDT

Yes, with many caveats:

Assuming you are skiing directly into that wind.

Assuming its really blowing 45mph. Which it probably isn't from 0-6 feet from the ground. It might be blowing 45mph at the summit on top of a tower, but not on the ski slope.

Assuming you can get going 45mph in a 40mph wind. That would give you an airspeed of 85mph. That's faster than downhill racers go, and they have the best technology in the world, the best form, and skin tight suits.

There's a calculator towards the bottom of this page.

Above 60mph you only get small gains for large increases in wind speed.