OceanStWx Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I saw that Sunapee is installing a high speed quad for their bowl now, in addition to the main peak. I'm not sure how that will play out. I thought the slower lift worked well for crowd control in the bowl. I like my ski slopes like my golf courses. Empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I saw that Sunapee is installing a high speed quad for their bowl now, in addition to the main peak. I'm not sure how that will play out. I thought the slower lift worked well for crowd control in the bowl. I like my ski slopes like my golf courses. Empty. Having no idea how busy they are or what skier visits look like weekend/weekday, I've always thought that high-speed lift benefits almost always out-weigh the negatives. I think it's often a misconception about trails suddenly becoming swamped. In the end most folks enjoy the high speed lift and less time waiting in the cold on a chair. The only times trails become much more congested is during holiday periods, and it's usually crowded anyway so the increase isn't that noticeable. On slow mid-week days there's no one there anyway, so all a high speed lift allows you to do is get more skiing in with less time for your butt on a chair. New chairs also break down less, so you have increased reliability that the day you visit, the chair won't be on maintenance hold all day.I have just seen way too many debates where new high-speed lifts go in, all the locals were against it, but now swear by it. Alta, Utah is a classic example of a hardcore ski area where people loved the double chairs and the thought of a high speed lift was blasphemy. Now Alta has multiple high speed quads and most locals say that was the best change in decades...it changed the way people ski the mountain for the better. Now I wouldn't put a high speed quad at CastleRock at Sugarbush where the demand would surely out-pace what the terrain allows, or a select other few terrain pods around the northeast, but most times the upgrade is favorable to the skiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanStWx Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Having no idea how busy they are or what skier visits look like weekend/weekday, I've always thought that high-speed lift benefits almost always out-weigh the negatives. I think it's often a misconception about trails suddenly becoming swamped. In the end most folks enjoy the high speed lift and less time waiting in the cold on a chair. The only times trails become much more congested is during holiday periods, and it's usually crowded anyway so the increase isn't that noticeable. On slow mid-week days there's no one there anyway, so all a high speed lift allows you to do is get more skiing in with less time for your butt on a chair. New chairs also break down less, so you have increased reliability that the day you visit, the chair won't be on maintenance hold all day. I have just seen way too many debates where new high-speed lifts go in, all the locals were against it, but now swear by it. Alta, Utah is a classic example of a hardcore ski area where people loved the double chairs and the thought of a high speed lift was blasphemy. Now Alta has multiple high speed quads and most locals say that was the best change in decades...it changed the way people ski the mountain for the better. Now I wouldn't put a high speed quad at CastleRock at Sugarbush where the demand would surely out-pace what the terrain allows, or a select other few terrain pods around the northeast, but most times the upgrade is favorable to the skiers. I would imagine a normal weekend at Sunapee looks a lot like holiday weekends are larger mountains. It's proximity to and ease of travel from BOS makes it a popular place for a day trip. There are really only two runs top to bottom in the bowl, with a few cross cuts thrown in there. We'll see though, I could be wrong. Now with my shifts being all over the place, I can get there midweek and a high speed quad is a nice thought as you say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I would imagine a normal weekend at Sunapee looks a lot like holiday weekends are larger mountains. It's proximity to and ease of travel from BOS makes it a popular place for a day trip. There are really only two runs top to bottom in the bowl, with a few cross cuts thrown in there. We'll see though, I could be wrong. Now with my shifts being all over the place, I can get there midweek and a high speed quad is a nice thought as you say. I know it's not feasible for a lot of folks, but midweek skiing at any mountain is a totally different experience than weekend skiing. We can easily go from like 500 total skier/riders on a Friday, to over 5,000-7,000 on a Saturday, and up to 10,000 on a holiday weekend (and those numbers pale in comparison to some southern VT mountains). The difference in experience is incredible...the mountain is pretty much empty for the taking M-F, then a zoo on Saturday, then tolerable less crowds on Sunday, back to empty on Monday. I tell everyone that if you can, do it midweek. You could fall in love with the mountain on a weekday, and hate it on a weekend. The entire pace and vibe changes so much at major ski resorts between "down days" and "peak days". Absolutely no liftlines, you can ski 2,000+ vertical feet and not see another human, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeepowderhunter Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 No doubt about that statement and being a teacher I pray for snow days which gives the option for powder turns all day long. Looking forward to that first white knuckle drive to vt soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 The quad at Sunapee is def needed. I doubt it adds to the number of skiers on that side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skivt2 Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 Sunday River and Sugarloaf made snow last night....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolMike Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Signed a lease on my first ever seasonal ski house rental! I'm at ~1150 feet elevation in Moretown, VT. My home mountain will be Sugarbush, where I got a great deal on a season pass. This year I need to buy new snowboard boots and some other gear. I'm hoping for an injury free season and great winter weather! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreaves Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Signed a lease on my first ever seasonal ski house rental! I'm at ~1150 feet elevation in Moretown, VT. My home mountain will be Sugarbush, where I got a great deal on a season pass. This year I need to buy new snowboard boots and some other gear. I'm hoping for an injury free season and great winter weather! Welcome to the hood! Well, at least in the general sense. An office mate is on the select board there and my brother in law and sister in law live there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Signed a lease on my first ever seasonal ski house rental! I'm at ~1150 feet elevation in Moretown, VT. My home mountain will be Sugarbush, where I got a great deal on a season pass. This year I need to buy new snowboard boots and some other gear. I'm hoping for an injury free season and great winter weather! Congrats! Did my first seasonal at the bush 7 years ago. You're going to love it. Welcome. I'll be in warren. Where you driving from? If you have any questions, don't hesitate to pm me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Signed a lease on my first ever seasonal ski house rental! I'm at ~1150 feet elevation in Moretown, VT. My home mountain will be Sugarbush, where I got a great deal on a season pass. This year I need to buy new snowboard boots and some other gear. I'm hoping for an injury free season and great winter weather! You will not be disappointed in that! Hopefully you can time some great storms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolMike Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Congrats! Did my first seasonal at the bush 7 years ago. You're going to love it. Welcome. I'll be in warren. Where you driving from? If you have any questions, don't hesitate to pm me. I'll be driving up from Pelham, NH. I won't mind the drive at night. Its the early AM wake up times required to get to the mountain on time that are frustrating for me. This is why a seasonal rental makes a lot of sense. I travel a lot for work but I'm hoping to get 30 days in this year, at least 7 or 8 of them on weekdays. I am going to be on the lookout for good local dinner places. Either near Sugarbush / Warren or near my home in Moretown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radarman Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I'll be driving up from Pelham, NH. I won't mind the drive at night. Its the early AM wake up times required to get to the mountain on time that are frustrating for me. This is why a seasonal rental makes a lot of sense. I travel a lot for work but I'm hoping to get 30 days in this year, at least 7 or 8 of them on weekdays. I am going to be on the lookout for good local dinner places. Either near Sugarbush / Warren or near my home in Moretown. The Hyde Away is pretty good, high end pub food, and has Heady Topper Congrats on the house, I'm very jealous and hope to do that some day. You might find yourself spending a lot of weekends at Mt. Ellen and weekdays at LP, at least that's what I do on day trips generally. Really you can't go wrong at either place. Also if we get into a northerly upslope pattern that favors Bolton, Stowe, Smuggs, and Jay you're only an hour or so away. Big departing storms that are blocked from a clean exit tend to dump for another 12-24 hours up there, or occasionally that mid level flow nne flow can retro its way in. Sugarbush and MRG can get in on that, but in general you're looking for the WNW lake streamers that can rip through at night with 3-6" in a narrow band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIPPYVALLEY Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 The boy is 3+ heading into winter so hopefully will get him up on skis this year. 25 minutes to Berkshire East so that will be our go to. Any tips/advice from ski parents or instructors will be welcome throughout the winter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 The boy is 3+ heading into winter so hopefully will get him up on skis this year. 25 minutes to Berkshire East so that will be our go to. Any tips/advice from ski parents or instructors will be welcome throughout the winter! keep him well sugared up. always have candy on hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I'll be driving up from Pelham, NH. I won't mind the drive at night. Its the early AM wake up times required to get to the mountain on time that are frustrating for me. This is why a seasonal rental makes a lot of sense. I travel a lot for work but I'm hoping to get 30 days in this year, at least 7 or 8 of them on weekdays. I am going to be on the lookout for good local dinner places. Either near Sugarbush / Warren or near my home in Moretown. i'll pm u dining comments when I have a chance. re: drive and early wake up. I can't get to sleep after the drive but wake up routinely at 5:30-6:30. By the time im done with the skiing on saturday, I'm exhausted. but good exhausted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Waterbury has some great dinning too...Hen of the Wood, Prohibition Pig, etc. Not too far from Moretown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny rider Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 The boy is 3+ heading into winter so hopefully will get him up on skis this year. 25 minutes to Berkshire East so that will be our go to. Any tips/advice from ski parents or instructors will be welcome throughout the winter! We took a first ski lesson at Cochran in Vermont (near Waterbury). Cochran is small, reasonably priced, and has wonderful instructors. Our well seasoned instructor took us along so we had 3 adults for the 3 kids. Our kids were 4 and 2 at the time I believe. Most of her time was spent teaching us how to teach little kids to ski. We all had fun and it was well worth it. For the rest of that season we knew what to work on, and how to make it fun for the kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 The boy is 3+ heading into winter so hopefully will get him up on skis this year. 25 minutes to Berkshire East so that will be our go to. Any tips/advice from ski parents or instructors will be welcome throughout the winter!No leashes. ... They're only for dogs!Bobcat is a great place to stay with somebody that young. Really it's not until they're 5-6 that they have the balance, strength, and stamina to handle an extended period on the snow. Personally i would stick to bobcat and top notch in short sessions. Shouldn't even need a ticket. Cool thing is that you're so close, you could go up for an hour or 3 several times and it wouldn't be a day waster. Buy skis, renting will be a killer. No poles obviously. Kids skis on ebay are cheap, and they hold their value well. Get a year or 2 out of each set, then sell them for what you paid. When they can turn/stop effectively and are comfortable with the top notch double, have them take a right at the top of it and try that last pitch of exhibition. Have him traverse, following your tracks, and turn when he's comfortable. I find that a good spot to aim for is the lift tower on the quad. You'll see it. After he's mastered that, he's ready for roundabout since it has that steeper pitch towards the end. Once he loves roundabout, the next step is war dance, not exhibition. ... But cut back onto exhibition. I say this because exhibition can be very intimidating since you can see all the way to the bottom. New skiers tend to start out there with great traverses but start to pick up speed with progressively wider turns which leads to catastrophe typically about halfway down. And of course, remember to have fun. Paying your dues with them now sucks, especially when conditions are great and you'd rather not have them around for a few runs, but it will definitely be worth it in a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hopefully plenty of Green Mountain upslope champagne to ski through this winter...this if from FamousInternetSkiers FB for daily stoke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 SR Elsewhere on the mountain we've been wrapping up 50 acres of new trails and glades. This winter look for Yetiville, a 30-acre glade on North Peak,Hollywood, a steep new glade on Barker Mountain, Gnarnia, a double-diamond run down the liftline of the Spruce Peak Triple, and two gentle gladed areas on lower White Cap. See the trail map for more. Don't forget we're also adding a new conveyer loading system to the Spruce Peak Triple that will let us run the lift 20% faster this winter, and in the terrain park world we'll be expanding the 3D progression park, adding a new ParkBully 400 to the grooming fleet, and replacing all the snowguns on 3D and T72 with new HKD Method Park guns to pump out more snow than ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Yetiville is an awesome name for a glade, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbutts Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 The boy is 3+ heading into winter so hopefully will get him up on skis this year. 25 minutes to Berkshire East so that will be our go to. Any tips/advice from ski parents or instructors will be welcome throughout the winter! I don't know what's available at the beast, but the weekly lessons at McIntyre were great for my daughter although she started those at a much older age. I think ideally you can get him with an instructor with experience teaching little kids and with other kids of similar age and ability in the lesson. After a few of those, it's easy as he'll be able just follow you around. It's getting over the hump where he's totally useless out there that's the difficult part. At 3 you will probably have really short ski sessions too as he'll tire out, get cold easily, etc.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Yetiville is an awesome name for a glade, lol.Gnarnia could be gnarly run if it's where I think it is, steep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Gnarnia could be gnarly run if it's where I think it is, steep There's an off-map area at Stowe that goes by the name gnarnia...always liked that name too. But Yetiville for some reason really sticks out to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 There's an off-map area at Stowe that goes by the name gnarnia...always liked that name too. But Yetiville for some reason really sticks out to me.lots of not happy people about Yetiville,was an in bounds non marked glade, now ropes will go up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 lots of not happy people about Yetiville,was an in bounds non marked glade, now ropes will go up Ahhh always a difficult choice...I like a policy of the glades being neither open or closed. It's your judgement if you want to go in. I really wish I could get up to Sugarloaf...want to try their Burnt Mountain glades. That whole concept is pretty awesome...no cut trails, just a traverse to hundreds of acres of glades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanStWx Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Ahhh always a difficult choice...I like a policy of the glades being neither open or closed. It's your judgement if you want to go in. I really wish I could get up to Sugarloaf...want to try their Burnt Mountain glades. That whole concept is pretty awesome...no cut trails, just a traverse to hundreds of acres of glades. I never made it over there last year, I didn't think it would be a good idea to drag my girlfriend's father on our first ski trip. You can see it in this picture though. Definitely looks like some fun terrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Yeah OceanSt...some of Sugarloaf's videos from out there are awesome. They did a great job marketing that and I think it was an awesome idea from a resort standpoint. You have plenty of trails, but people are looking for new adventures...gear has made exploration easier, etc. I really love the idea of one big face of a mountain with nothing but glades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanStWx Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Yeah OceanSt...some of Sugarloaf's videos from out there are awesome. They did a great job marketing that and I think it was an awesome idea from a resort standpoint. You have plenty of trails, but people are looking for new adventures...gear has made exploration easier, etc. I really love the idea of one big face of a mountain with nothing but glades. I really enjoyed that mountain. It might be perfect for me. Ha. All the terrain you could want (trail or glade) and far enough away that it never gets packed. Plus it has a great local vibe to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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