Angus

Tamarack makes good observation re: Glen Ellen. The area that could go longest - with all things equal - would be Sugarloaf. The Skyline lift services almost 1,500' of vertical with the loading base somewhere around 2,500'. Yesterday, I went to the base area only once during the day to try and find something for lunch...didn't...the top three lifts - King Pine, Sky Line and Timberline have a ski areas worth of vertical and equivalent terrain. Sugarloaf always closes with a ton of terrain open - just no one showing up to make it economical. I have taken a day in early May for the past 4 or 5 years to ski Killington's Superstar and it is alot of fun but multiple days of skiing a handful and finally one bumped up trail would get tedious after a couple of days IMO.

I echo PF's comments about Sugarloaf on Thursday. Just 'wow.' The base is amazingly deep. First time skiing Bracket Basin extensively which I was a skeptic of...fantastic. not a rock to be seen on natural trails like Winter's Way and Bubblecuffer. comfortable temps, fantastic snow, amazing blue skies. skied from opening bell until close with short 10 minute break, never waited to get on lift. smiles everywhere on mountain.

Sugarbush has announced they will close for week and then reopen for the 5/5 weekend. Wildcat is making lots of noise that they will stay open but they do that most years but then melt out at bottom. Sugarloaf ends up having the same problem with sustaining a snow path to the lower lifts. I was just impressed by that emphatic tweet.

wow, sugarloaf tweeted they will be open daily thru 5/5.

Left metrowest a little after 5am this AM. Encountered rain just south of Ossippee on drive up rt. 16 but it was done by Tamworth. Looking up the valley in N. Conway, things looked pretty socked in. Luckily, I had found a comp ticket to Black Mtn. last nite so it was put to use. Word was that it was rainy up at Wildcat -from their website as well as skiers who got up there, turned around and spent the day at Black. Anyway, a few moments of light drizzle, it never warmed up - mid to upper 30s all day, stuck to groomers for majority of day. Black is an old throwback place with some fun terrain with good snow...if it had warmed up there was enough snow to ski some of that terrain but I didn't bother due to firmness. Lot's of AT touring going up all day - broke the code at end of day why, there is a specialty shop in lodge focused on AT equipment. Encountered 5 or so miles of fairly dense fog over the snow pack just north of Wakefield NH. Arrived home to balmy temps with kids riding bikes in short sleeves!

I didn't drive to Sugarloaf early this morning due to weather forecast. Looks like they have avoided the rain. I'm going to wildcat tomorrow.

I noticed Wildcat closed some terrain after the rain. Assume it was due to ice. I love skiing Wildcat in the Spring - combination of the views, their liberal open terrain policy, and how they let stuff bump up all over the mountain, it's fun.

Probably my last day nordic skiing today. Between the Weston ski track and Great Brook Ski Center, I got in 50+ days. Majority on the snow making loops at Weston. Now we turn our attention to skiing corn bumps and hopefully an early trip to Tuckerman's.

skied at Cannon today. they must have experienced some melt this weekend because there was some ice on the ungroomed terrain. They had 4-6" of fluff fall yesterday which was nice but at times covered up said ice. The profile/cannonball lift did not start when power was restored yesterday so they ran the tram which isn't optimal for someone who spends most of their time on the top 1/2 of mountain. Went over to Mittersill and skied the trail under the chairlift - 'lift line', I think! - 3 or 4 times but it was icey. a good day. a ton of snow.

Good choice. I was looking at wildcat base webcam yesterday. Don't think I've ever seen longer lines.

noticed both wildcat and sugarloaf are closed for the day due to winds. i xc skied at weston ski track in slush yesterday afternoon in sunshine and temps in mid-50's then did a less-than-enjoyable two hour session at WaWa last evening on a surface that was freezing up, winds howling and kids bombing by me out of control...ah, the joys of NE weather.

I wouldn't rank in any particular order - Telluride - stay downtown, lots of night life options. good assortment of terrain for all levels and enough to keep things interesting for 5 days easy. Banff - haven't stayed there but my son has and says good things. Sunshine Village (I liked) and Lake Louise (my son said was better) have enough terrain to keep you interested and the Canadian Rockies are spectacular. Kicking Horse is awesome terrain wise but Golden has a handful of restaurants and the base area didn't seem like much. The bottom third of Revelstoke is prone to warmth but the top 2/3rds stays cold and there is some great terrain. I might throw in Fernie - the downtown is nice and the terrain there is fun and terrain has everything. I don't think you can beat SLC plus it is definitely the easiest to get to. On the park city side of things, my least favorite is the Canyons due to funky lift setup. Problem is with having snowboarders in your group, DV and Alta are eliminated. I think you can't beat staying downtown because your body recovers faster at lower elevation plus you wake up and choose from Powder Mountain/Snowbasin to north to the cottonwoods to Park City areas... but I can't really speak to the nightlife in SLC though. Big Sky is probably the last resort on my N.A. bucket list - but you need to stay in the village and it is $$$. Don't know anyone who hasn't gone there and hasn't comeback raving. As I write this up, you can't really go wrong at any of these places.

been to majority of places, how hardcore is the group. i.e. looking to ski hard, challenging terrain or mix it up with night life and that sort of stuff.

Skied at Cannon taking advantage of their 2 for 1 SB special. Wow, they have a lot of snow. Whole mountain is open. Spent a good amount of time at Mittersill and front four/five zoomed lift because of clouds and fog at top of mountain. Prior 3 days downhill this season have been with young kids on more gentle terrain, skied hard all day and could really feel it.

First day at Great Brook Ski Touring Center in Carlisle MA. It was cold with a stiff breeze. They had about 6" of snow with a couple of inches of ice on top...makes for a pretty durable surface. Stayed in woods to avoid wind.

Wildcat already announced they are closed tomorrow due to temps and winds.

That is un-impressive to say the least. I skied there on the 31st of December and was impressed. I skied at Ragged yesterday and was very impressed. What I found amusing was the amount of terrain in the woods they had open. I saw a lot of rocks sticking out of the snow from the lifts. I was with my 8 year nephew who is a lower intermediate skier so we did not venture in! I had not been there in 5 years. My son raced there in HS and the management and employees hard work has really paid off. The place was really busy but I don't think we waited more then 5-7 minutes in line.

They have been doing this since last season and ran the cat earlier this season. I've heard it is a fun thing to do once or twice. I think they spent so much time cutting and trimming over on Burnt Mountain and most folks don't have the equipment, time or gumption to climb and traverse very far from the King Pine entrance that they did this get more people in there. It's pretty good marketing - Sugarloaf can claim only lift served above treeline/snowfield and cat skiing in East. Of course, both claims require an asterisk! Here is a video that Sugarloaf produced introducing cat skiing - its mostly a 'how to plan' piece. https://vimeo.com/260046505

Wanting to get a day in of skiing before returning to Dallas and meh conditions, my son called an audible and suggested Jiminy Peak. Neither of us had ever skied there and I was intrigued. Driving out the masspike from 128, it took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes driving probably 5-10 mph above speed limit. Arriving we found no natural snow but a nice base village. They had a good amount of terrain open - tilled frozen granular over groomed ice showing in some high trafficked areas but I was impressed by how they had pulled things together. The terrain was surprisingly impressive - there is a lot of good pitch to slopes. Both my son and I said, it would be fun to ski during a storm. We got our 30K of turns and went home satisfied. As someone, who always looks north to VT, NH, or ME for there destination, this was a nice alternative. My son's next planned day on the slopes will be Alyeska...a big change!

I'd go Stowe. Better chance on finding good snow. Stay downtown or on access road. It's a nice town with lots of lodging and dining options. Best place for your skiing ability in NH would be Bretton Woods but beyond condos and the Mt. Washington Hotel I can't comment on lodging. I guess you could stay in N. Conway/Jackson area too. Ski at Cranmore which is a fun little mountain IMO.

Been waiting for someone to post this here. Snow making pipe failure with water hitting gondola on XMAS eve at Stratton...crazy. https://youtu.be/Q6PwZB_AK9c

Sunapee has large snowmaking capacity but I've notice from just looking at the occasional snow report they appear to have been very conservative this year. Ragged close by has more trails open and they are always behind in opening terrain...this could be deceptive given how trails are now split lower, middle and upper - but in years past Sunapee would really get after it. Probably something to do with them being acquired. If you can go when there arent crowds, Sunapee is lower intermediate-intermediate skier paradise...managable terrain, good grooming and snowmaking.

Yes, not sure of the count...maybe 4 fan guns. Pump water directly out of Charles. They have lights for nite skiing. It is located on a public golf course.

I have yet to ski downhill this season. I have a season's pass at Wachusett but haven't picked it up. I did ski today at the weston ski track...think an oval, slightly larger in area than the area of a track...around and around in circles! I hope the damage up north isn't too bad...would like to get a day in sometime between xmas and new year when my son is back home.

Funny, I disagree. I ski to be outdoors, looking out at the mountains through a blue tinge seems criminal especially at a place like Big Sky. I always say that the biggest equipment improvement over my skiing life which began in mid-70s is clothing. If you dress right these days, you can avoid getting cold even on the coldest and windiest days.