 Poster: A snowHead
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All of northeast US was under the solar eclipse yesterday (Monday, 4/8 ). In particular, most of the major ski resorts in New York (state), Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine were all in the totality path.
To make it even more enticing for us skiers, a big snow storm dumped 2 feet of snow 3 days prior!
And to round off the lucky coincidence, while the northeast in April is normally a rather cloudy and rainy time, yesterday’s sky was sunny and clear!
So what would skiers like to do in a day like this? Go ski of course! And, watch the eclipse from the peak of our favorite ski mountains!!!
Quite many mountains extended their ski season, which normally finishes at Easter which was last weekend, to this Monday instead.
It’s only fair we all go skiing. Then, when it came the moment of totality, watch it at the top of the mountain!
It was a super fun day.
(There’re a couple of really cool pictures from various ski resorts’ facebook site of skiers skiing under the “diamond ring” of total eclipse. But I don’t have privilege to post pictures, unless someone wants me to send over the pictures for you to post)
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 12-04-24 3:09; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@abc, I'd love to witness a total eclipse, but while skiing would be beyond special
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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That sounds like a great experience.
Pm sent re photos
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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abc's is pretty good.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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That was by someone from Sugarloaf, Maine.
I didn’t take it. I’m not half as good a photographer.
Thanks @adithorp, for posting the photos for me.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Wed 10-04-24 11:41; edited 2 times in total
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Crowd waiting for totality and the moment itself...
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| adithorp wrote: |
abc's is pretty good.
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Edit... though looking at it, it's from the same source so maybe just borrowed?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@adithorp, the skier and boarder under the sun picture both came from Sugarloaf. So wouldn’t surprise me from the same source
I don’t know enough of the authenticity either.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Wed 10-04-24 11:49; edited 2 times in total
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The second set of pictures are mine, taken at Mont Sutton in Easter Township, Quebec, Canada.
Note the full rack of skis in the background. That’s quite a lot of us lucky skiers.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| @abc, I'd love to witness a total eclipse, but while skiing would be beyond special |
We did skied under the partial phase of the eclipse. Pretty cool watching it unfold while riding up on the chair. (Makes for a short chair ride)
During totality, everyone was too busy staring at the sun! No one was skiing. (Pretty dark too)
The next total eclipse will be in Europe indeed! August 2026 I believe? Northern Spain.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Thu 11-04-24 17:27; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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August 2026
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@koru, thanks for pointing out my typo.  Now corrected.
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You know it makes sense.
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This has to be the single most difficult goggle lens choice question on history...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@abc, I was in Texas on the day of the eclipse, I just got back to the UK today. Obviously I wasn't at a ski resort (I was at a town called Hillsboro), but here's a photo I took of the eclipse:
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Poster: A snowHead
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The combination of a total solar eclipse, fresh powder, and clear skies must have been absolutely breathtaking. I can only imagine how incredible it would be to witness the eclipse from the top of a mountain.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@abc, yes, some great photos there. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Actually, some congresswoman, whom I forgot the name of, was talking something about the eclipse being “god’s message of displeasure” blah, blah, blah…
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Anyway, I just looked up the eclipse in Spain, in 2026 and 2027. Obviously no skiing in August. But I might go over with my bike and make a cycling holiday out of it.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We're just back from Texas. Stayed a few days in San Antonio. Travelled up to Waco for a couple of nights to view the Eclipse at an equestrian centre, which was chosen because it was bang on the centre line of totality. Cloudy weather lead to some nervous anticipation amongst the viewing group, but the skies cleared just in time to present us with a spectacular 4 minutes 22 seconds of totality.
We had heavy rain and flash flooding the day after the Eclipse on our return drive to San Antonio. Afternoon temperature hit 33c, and later that night we had an almighty lightning and hail storm that lasted about an hour. We spent the last couple of days/nights in Austin. A great place to chill out before heading home.
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@abc, the totality of the Eclipse in Spain will only last around 1 minute 40 seconds and will occur just before the Sun sets.
The '27 Eclipse viewed 60 kms southeast of Luxor will last 6 minutes 22 secs. The longest duration of an eclipse for the next 87 years.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@GeorgeVII, I’m not going to Egypt in August!
Standing under 40 degree temperature waiting for the eclipse? That maybe the longest 6 minutes for many, in both extremes.
I’m not an eclipse chaser. This last eclipse, lovely it maybe to have seen for the first time, hasn’t turn me into one just yet. It’s one thing to plan a holiday “around” an eclipse, which I quite fancy doing. Quite another to fly half way around the world just to see an eclipse
| GeorgeVII wrote: |
@abc, the totality of the Eclipse in Spain will only last around 1 minute 40 seconds and will occur just before the Sun sets.
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That’s the part that actually intrigues me. Different than the last one which happened high in the sky. The 2026 one in Spain will probably look different enough to worth seeing.
Cycling the Carmino de Santiago has always been something I’d been interested in doing. Combining it with the possibility to seeing another solar eclipse right there would definitely appeal.
I’ve done the skiing under total solar eclipse. Need to finish it with cycling under the same to make a nice “package”! 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@abc, Picos de Europa is a gorgeous mountainous national park. Just that August is peak holiday period so maybe millions of Spanish (plus tourists) might think the same thing 
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You know it makes sense.
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@abc, Agreed about the heat. Spain will be plenty hot enough in August as it is.
We're almost "accidental" eclipse chasers as a friend co-owns and runs a specialist travel company. My partner does some tour leading for them. We saw a sunset eclipse in Argentina (2019) and it felt quite different to the Texas event. The Sun dropping behind the Andes range not long afterwards.
For Egypt, one of the locations chosen for viewing is a hotel at an oasis. Very civilised, but also very expensive. Cruise ships in the Red Sea or off the North African coast, may also become another (expensive) option. But all these options could become irrelevant if things escalate further in the Middle East. UK Foreign Office has already issued guidelines re travel to Egypt.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| abc wrote: |
The second set of pictures are mine, taken at Mont Sutton in Easter Township, Quebec, Canada.
Note the full rack of skis in the background. That’s quite a lot of us lucky skiers. |
I was at Mont Sutton for the eclipse too!!
My original plan had been to see it in Texas (booked almost a year ago) but I made a last minute change of plan to go to Montreal instead due to the weather forecast. Just by chance, I was looking for viewing spots on Google maps and found Mont Sutton almost on the totality line - and also knew about the late season snowstorm a few days beforehand so reckoned the conditions would be reasonable. Just over an hours drive from Montreal, and about 1.5 hours on the way back.
I was in the general area of the top of the summit chairlift, but clambered through the woods a bit to get a private-ish viewpoint.
It was a great experience to see it from a ski resort. My previous total eclipse in 2017 was in a hot desert environment in Oregon, very different.
Also I enjoyed Mont Sutton, I imagine it must be a good resort when it's snowing lots due to all the trees and unpisted glades.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@musehead, fancy we were on the same mountain！I was on the deck. Apart from the media people, I was the only one sporting a tripod and a DSLR. Skiing bumps carrying all that was a bit…interesting! 
Historical weather record would have most people heading to Texas. Well, those not living under the totality path that is (or within a couple hours of it, which I was). Even with that, I had a ticket to Dallas on the Saturday prior!
(My cousin lives in Dallas. So I had no need to book hotel or cars. And the ticket was refundable till 10 minutes prior to take off)
Still, I would have preferred the less stressful option of driving to the totality path in New England. So I booked a few motel spots along the totality path that were within a few hours of my home.
Then, I sat back and waited for the forecast.
However, a week prior to the eclipse day, the weather forecast was strongly in favor of New England and Canada. Even more appealing, there were storm after storm the 2 weeks prior. So I knew more or less that I wasn’t flying to Texas. Further more, I was secretly wishing the weather window will be over Vermont and Canada (western New York, Buffalo and Niagara fall region, was also in the totality path. But there’s no skiing there any more. All the mountains closed due to lack of snow)
My wish was answered with yet another storm on Wednesday/Thursday. So I headed up to Montreal and skied Mont Sutton on Sunday. I looked through the summit area and made note of where the sun would be during the eclipse next day, to identify a decent location to watch it from. Also figured out the easiest way to carry lunch, water, tripod, camera with a telephoto lens up to the summit (which requires skiing down a mogul field to get to the summit lift, for those who’ve not skied at Sutton).
Given the temperature was warmer on Monday than on Sunday, I basically got to ski every trail of the mountain at its optimal time. Apart from being able to watch the partial eclipse progress while riding up on chairs during every run, the most surprising part was how nice the snow was after totality. I skied till the very bitter end, took one of the last few chairs up around 5pm.
Mont Sutton is a really fun mountain. The purposely thinned glades were an absolute joy to ski. Yes, my skis found a few odd rocks. But since the mountain were more grass than rock, the glades doesn’t take that much snow to be enjoyable.
Did you find all the sculptures shown on the trail map? I only managed to find 2.
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FAQ
I think I’d prefer a seaside location instead.