skiing through the summer???

with all the talk about this year's low snowpack, do you guys think that it will be difficult to ski through the upcoming summer months? i'm not asking for people to reveal their stashes, but i'm curious how difficult it will be, especially come August and September...<br><br>-kam

no problem --<br><br>Anywhere in South America is 40k FF miles roundtrip late August and September.  There are better known spots but I like Pucon in Chile -- awesome small resort town full of friendly backcountry sports drop-outs and their dogs (and their dogs' dogs). On Vulcan Villarrica in late August you'll think you are in the central Oregon Cascades in late February!<br><br>here is a photo from their summer:<br><br> earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewIm...rica_13feb03_15m.jpg

Not for skiers who will hike, say Winchester, to find an 8-turn snowpatch! Anyone who does that can find something somewhere, but it might pay to bring well-sharpened edges...<br>

I will just follow you to the sand dunes. They are good all year right?

hankj: that image is awesome. it's so green and pretty. what's that big patch of white...?.. oh wait, that's snow. i almost forgot what it looks like. <br><br>jim_oker: Winchester is a possibility, but i doubt we'll find anything come September.<br><br>the low snowpack might not be a bad thing. it just means that we'll have to be more creative. i can't wait to see what creative idears people will have...

I wasn't suggesting Winchester for late this summer, but rather recalling a TR (forget who posted) with an awesome photo (one of my all time faves) of a skier turning on a small summer snowpatch on Winchester. With that level of effort, there will always be possibilities. Edited to add a link to that TR, though unfortunately the photo link no longer works: www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB...m=1064953735;start=0 .

Sorry - no great ideas from me, I tend towards hiking once the approach:ski ratio is much greater than 1, so I haven't gathered much useful data.

Edited further to add that with sharp edges, the blue ice at Killington (Sunday River, Stowe, Sugarloaf, Loon, etc.) is eminently skiable, so there must be some reasonably smooth ice somewhere that will serve the purpose this summer.