The 2019-2020 Ski Season Thread

[alex]

11 hours ago, Angus said:

Wow, the new gondola and summit restaurant dominate BW. I drove by yesterday and took quick glance. 

 

Yeah the new restaurant looks awesome. Wont open till next summer though. The gondola is ready to go. Don't  particularly care for gondolas except for when it's really cold. 

[redbanknjandbigbasslakepa]

I’ll take the Mount Snow Bluebird chair or alike over a gondola. 

[Brewbeer]

I never liked taking my skis off to board a gondi.  Seems so much easier to keep them on your feet. 

[ORH_wxman]

On 9/22/2019 at 10:38 AM, Fozz said:

I'm thinking of getting both the Drifter pass and the seasonal pass for MRG, which is very cheap if you're under 30.

Are you a really good skier? MRG is pretty gnarly so if you like that stuff, prob worth the pass at the sub-30 price. It's a hike and a half from RI though. Prob 4 hours. 

Youll prob be going to Mt Snow a lot on the drifter pass. Not nearly as far. 

[Fozz]

4 hours ago, ORH_wxman said:

Are you a really good skier? MRG is pretty gnarly so if you like that stuff, prob worth the pass at the sub-30 price. It's a hike and a half from RI though. Prob 4 hours. 

Youll prob be going to Mt Snow a lot on the drifter pass. Not nearly as far. 

I'm an intermediate skier, but after some practice at Crotched and Wildcat, and maybe Mt Snow, I'd like to give MRG a try. From the pics and videos I've seen, it's an amazing place on a powder day. For a long time I've wanted to ski in northern VT, but the other mountains are way too expensive to justify traveling that far.

Maybe next year I'll get the Epic pass.

[Ginx snewx]

2 hours ago, Fozz said:

I'm an intermediate skier, but after some practice at Crotched and Wildcat, and maybe Mt Snow, I'd like to give MRG a try. From the pics and videos I've seen, it's an amazing place on a powder day. For a long time I've wanted to ski in northern VT, but the other mountains are way too expensive to justify traveling that far.

Maybe next year I'll get the Epic pass.

MRG is a ball , tough but makes you a better skier but it’s a long ass haul. 

[bwt3650]

4 hours ago, Fozz said:

I'm an intermediate skier, but after some practice at Crotched and Wildcat, and maybe Mt Snow, I'd like to give MRG a try. From the pics and videos I've seen, it's an amazing place on a powder day. For a long time I've wanted to ski in northern VT, but the other mountains are way too expensive to justify traveling that far.

Maybe next year I'll get the Epic pass.

Mt snow is great for intermediates and the north face can push you a little...not the toughest out there, but enough of a challenge for an intermediate skier.  If you want northern vt, have you considered jay?  It’s the furthest of them all, but def less expensive and shorter lines.  Tons of cool glades too.  My goal this year is to get to Stowe.  Probably the most expensive out there, but I hear the terrain is worth it.  I’m sure powder freak would agree.

[Fozz]

1 hour ago, bwt3650 said:

Mt snow is great for intermediates and the north face can push you a little...not the toughest out there, but enough of a challenge for an intermediate skier.  If you want northern vt, have you considered jay?  It’s the furthest of them all, but def less expensive and shorter lines.  Tons of cool glades too.  My goal this year is to get to Stowe.  Probably the most expensive out there, but I hear the terrain is worth it.  I’m sure powder freak would agree.

 

3 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

MRG is a ball , tough but makes you a better skier but it’s a long ass haul. 

I was at Mt Snow and Wildcat last March, and I drove all the way from MD to get all the way up there. I enjoyed both mountains, and I especially enjoyed being at Mt Snow on a powder day, but I've been told there is so much more to Vermont than Mt Snow, and I'm willing to drive to see the best of it. Wildcat is nearly as far from my location as MRG, but I still definitely want to make some trips up there. Crotched is the closest Peak resort and it seems to have the cheapest lessons, so that will probably be my "home mountain" so to speak (Wachusett is the closest, but I don't want to double the money I spend on passes just for that).

As far as the cost, MRG offers a much better deal for the under 30 crowd than any other good mountain in the area, and after this year I won't have another chance to get a pass that cheap.

[Ginx snewx]

6 minutes ago, Fozz said:

 

I was at Mt Snow and Wildcat last March, and I drove all the way from MD to get to those places. I enjoyed both mountains, and I especially enjoyed being at Mt Snow on a powder day, but I've been told there is so much more to Vermont than Mt Snow, and I'm willing to drive to see the best of it. Wildcat is nearly as far from my location as MRG, but I still definitely want to make some trips up there. Crotched is the closest Peak resort and it seems to have the cheapest lessons, so that will probably be my "home mountain" so to speak (Wachusett is the closest, but I don't want to double the money I spend on passes just for that).

As far as the cost, MRG offers a much better deal for the under 30 crowd than any other good mountain in the area, and after this year I won't have another chance to get a pass that cheap.

Go go go

[ORH_wxman]

Nice Fozz. You did March skiing last year.

Best open secret in New England is March skiing. You'll see crowds in mid December with people skiing down man made icy death ribbons...but then find no lines with 8-10 feet of base and all glades open in March. 

Sometimes people are funny like that. 

But taking advantage is great. It's prob why ginxy usually does his Sunday River trip 3rd week of March. Most years I try to get out in March too...though last year I was shut out. Wife was pregnant and with another 3 year old just didn't make it out. But he's gonna be 4 this March and he's going on skis this winter. 

[Fozz]

1 hour ago, ORH_wxman said:

Nice Fozz. You did March skiing last year.

Best open secret in New England is March skiing. You'll see crowds in mid December with people skiing down man made icy death ribbons...but then find no lines with 8-10 feet of base and all glades open in March. 

Sometimes people are funny like that. 

But taking advantage is great. It's prob why ginxy usually does his Sunday River trip 3rd week of March. Most years I try to get out in March too...though last year I was shut out. Wife was pregnant and with another 3 year old just didn't make it out. But he's gonna be 4 this March and he's going on skis this winter. 

I hardly found any lines at Wildcat. Mt Snow was pretty crowded though, probably because of its proximity to the big metro areas. But yeah, late season skiing is underrated, and while I was up there I literally forgot it was the first day of spring because it was still so wintry. The snow depth was pretty incredible around Pinkham notch, and I also took a little tour up to 4200' on Mt Washington. I look forward to getting back up there soon.

Hope your boy enjoys the mountains as much as we do. Childhood is such a good time to pick up skiing.

[mreaves]

This might appeal to some of you. 

https://vtdigger.org/2019/09/23/as-ski-giants-consolidate-small-independents-form-their-own-cooperative/?utm_source=VTDigger+Subscribers+and+Donors&utm_campaign=9875e19e33-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_24_09_38&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc3c5486db-9875e19e33-405566485

[powderfreak]

7 hours ago, mreaves said:

This might appeal to some of you. 

https://vtdigger.org/2019/09/23/as-ski-giants-consolidate-small-independents-form-their-own-cooperative/?utm_source=VTDigger+Subscribers+and+Donors&utm_campaign=9875e19e33-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_24_09_38&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc3c5486db-9875e19e33-405566485

Ha!  I was just coming here to post this link... mostly because I'm pretty sure that's @J.Spin's family in the lead cover photo.  Nice work J.

[mreaves]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

Ha!  I was just coming here to post this link... mostly because I'm pretty sure that's @J.Spin's family in the lead cover photo.  Nice work J.

I wonder why MRG didn't get in on that?

[J.Spin]

1 hour ago, mreaves said:

This might appeal to some of you. 

https://vtdigger.org/2019/09/23/as-ski-giants-consolidate-small-independents-form-their-own-cooperative/?utm_source=VTDigger+Subscribers+and+Donors&utm_campaign=9875e19e33-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_24_09_38&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc3c5486db-9875e19e33-405566485

I saw the link and immediately though of Bolton Valley, since our season passes there come with multiple free lift days at various other independent mountains around the country.  We tend to spend most of our ski days in NVT, but we used our passes to pop down to Magic a couple seasons back and it was great.  It’s interesting to note that the pass that comes built in with our BV season passes is called the Freedom Pass, and it’s different from the Indy Pass mentioned in the article, but naturally some of the resorts (like Magic Mountain) overlap.  I also found it hilarious that right at the top of the article mreaves posted is a picture of our family at Bolton Valley – it’s from a photo shoot we did with them a few years back so the boys are noticeably younger.

[J.Spin]

2 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Ha!  I was just coming here to post this link... mostly because I'm pretty sure that's @J.Spin's family in the lead cover photo.  Nice work J.

Yeah, it was a bit of a blast from the past as soon as I clicked on that link.  I actually saw it this morning but only had a chance to respond about the Freedom Pass and the Indy Pass this afternoon.

[Brewbeer]

@Fozz MRG is a blast.  If you ski there you will learn to ski bumps.

Also look at Magic near Mt. Snow. When the snow is deep in southern Vt., Magic has MRG-like goods (almost) and a similar throw-back vibe.

Here is some mid-winter MRG stoke, just below the summit:

 

[redbanknjandbigbasslakepa]

When there is good natural snow, Magic is the best terrain in VT. 

[powderfreak]

6 hours ago, J.Spin said:

I saw the link and immediately though of Bolton Valley, since our season passes there come with multiple free lift days at various other independent mountains around the country.  We tend to spend most of our ski days in NVT, but we used our passes to pop down to Magic a couple seasons back and it was great.  It’s interesting to note that the pass that comes built in with our BV season passes is called the Freedom Pass, and it’s different from the Indy Pass mentioned in the article, but naturally some of the resorts (like Magic Mountain) overlap.  I also found it hilarious that right at the top of the article mreaves posted is a picture of our family at Bolton Valley – it’s from a photo shoot we did with them a few years back so the boys are noticeably younger.

Bolton Valley is the snowiest small ski area in New England...or I should rephrase that, one of the snowiest ski areas in New England regardless of size.  Plenty of powder days, active winter weather, and N.Greens snowpack leads to some great skiing.

[Fozz]

1 hour ago, Brewbeer said:

@Fozz MRG is a blast.  If you ski there you will learn to ski bumps.

Also look at Magic near Mt. Snow. When the snow is deep in southern Vt., Magic has MRG-like goods (almost) and a similar throw-back vibe.

Here is some mid-winter MRG stoke, just below the summit:

 

Magic is another mountain I'd like to visit. I've heard good things about it.

[J.Spin]

14 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Bolton Valley is the snowiest small ski area in New England...or I should rephrase that, one of the snowiest ski areas in New England regardless of size.  Plenty of powder days, active winter weather, and N.Greens snowpack leads to some great skiing.

Yeah, either way you phrase it, you nailed it.  There’s really not another lift-served area anywhere in the Eastern U.S. with its combination of such high annual snowfall and low skier traffic.  Weekend powder mornings where you can spend the first couple of hours simply walking right onto the Timberline Quad are something you’re just not going to get at similarly snowy resorts along the spine.  In the big leagues of Northern Greens snowfall, Smugg’s is probably the next closest contender, and indeed Smugg’s has got the low-speed lifts to preserve the power like Bolton, but they’ve just got a lot more overall skier traffic.

Normally, when a ski area has a good thing going with respect to great powder and low skier traffic, it’s only a matter of time before it gets “discovered” and that changes, unless there are other factors in play.  When it comes to Bolton, I think there are a couple of key things helping to keep it so low key:

1) The neighborhood:  Bolton Valley is literally surrounded by the ski giants of the Central/Northern Greens.  We’re talking about being within about an hour of the likes of Stowe, Smugg’s, Jay Peak, Sugarbush, and Mad River Glen.  When you look at these neighbors, you’ve got five ski areas that in terms of snowfall, terrain, and various other factors are perennial contenders for top ten in the entire Eastern U.S. In general, people are going to have a hard time passing up all those places to hit Bolton Valley.

2) Terrain:  Bolton indeed has some classic steep terrain in line with those surrounding resorts, but it’s not going to be as long and continuous.  Most advanced and expert skiers really like those long, continuous fall lines that go on and on, and that’s just not Bolton’s terrain.  On every main lift at the resort you’re going to find that the terrain rolls and/or flattens out in one spot or another, and that just doesn’t appeal to a lot of skiers.  As a Tele skier I absolutely love that setup because just as my quads are cooked, I can rest them while making a traverse to the next line, and by the time I get there I’m ready to dive in.  If I was on my snowboard though, that would be hell.

A fantastic run I love at BV is the full descent of almost 1,700’ vertical from the Vista Summit down to the Timberline Base.  That’s hardly what folks would call a “fall line” run, but I love it.  When making that run I’m typically going to do 3 or 4 substantial traverses (or in some cases even short ascents) to piece together a combination of untracked trails and off piste areas with appropriate pitches and powder the whole way.  All told the run might take close to an hour after meandering among all the nooks and crannies of the resort, and one needs a very strong knowledge of the topography and off piste areas to do it, but that’s the kind of skiing I really enjoy.  Even more fun is mixing in combinations of hybrid runs that are both lift-served and backcountry with powder that seems to go on forever.

That sort of stuff is certainly not going to be everyone’s cup of tea though, and in my opinion that’s part of what really helps to keep the resort so low key despite the top tier snowfall and powder skiing.

[Brian5671]

On 9/23/2019 at 11:31 PM, ORH_wxman said:

Nice Fozz. You did March skiing last year.

Best open secret in New England is March skiing. You'll see crowds in mid December with people skiing down man made icy death ribbons...but then find no lines with 8-10 feet of base and all glades open in March. 

Sometimes people are funny like that. 

But taking advantage is great. It's prob why ginxy usually does his Sunday River trip 3rd week of March. Most years I try to get out in March too...though last year I was shut out. Wife was pregnant and with another 3 year old just didn't make it out. But he's gonna be 4 this March and he's going on skis this winter. 

My twin sons started skiing at 4.    They're 10 and much better than me now....LOL-they really learn fast at that age-the lifts can be a bit of a challenge-have to lift them up etc.

[Angus]

i love BV. it is a great mid-size mountain with a real mix of terrain, great snow and you get a lot of skiing in during the day due to lack of crowds. Although rare, if I spend a weekend up in that neck of the woods - I'll ski MRG, Stowe or Sugarbush really hard 1 day of weekend and spend the 2nd day at BV. Speaking of lift lines, when I ski at Sugarbush, I spend most of the peak ski day over at glen ellen - there are rarely lines and some great terrain.

[tamarack]

9 minutes ago, Angus said:

i love BV. it is a great mid-size mountain with a real mix of terrain, great snow and you get a lot of skiing in during the day due to lack of crowds. Although rare, if I spend a weekend up in that neck of the woods - I'll ski MRG, Stowe or Sugarbush really hard 1 day of weekend and spend the 2nd day at BV. Speaking of lift lines, when I ski at Sugarbush, I spend most of the peak ski day over at glen ellen - there are rarely lines and some great terrain.

Learned to ski parallel there during a ski-week almost 50 years ago.  (Incredibly inexpensive - entire ski-weeks were just $45 and they cut that in half for that January!)  Went back for a short weekend a year later and still regret not talking Upper FIS.  I was skiing as good as I ever achieved, perhaps low-end intermediate, conditions were good, the trail is wide and was deserted.  Did ski the much narrower black diamond (name forgotten) to the left of the main lift line - used to be The Cliff - and had a great run.

[Hitman]

39 minutes ago, tamarack said:

Learned to ski parallel there during a ski-week almost 50 years ago.  (Incredibly inexpensive - entire ski-weeks were just $45 and they cut that in half for that January!)  Went back for a short weekend a year later and still regret not talking Upper FIS.  I was skiing as good as I ever achieved, perhaps low-end intermediate, conditions were good, the trail is wide and was deserted.  Did ski the much narrower black diamond (name forgotten) to the left of the main lift line - used to be The Cliff - and had a great run.

Its still called Black Diamond.  Great narrow steep rocky trail.

[radarman]

To take nothing away from Castlerock but I also will usually keep to Mt. Ellen on a powder day.  I do feel that Sugarbush shortchanges operations there however, and I became quite frustrated at them last year.  Never runs the Inverness Chair...  Makes very little effort to get anything open if there is any kind of wind delay, even as it subsides... Seems to let the North Ridge chair go down and stay down for extended periods, even though mid mountain is virtually unskiable if you have to do the runout every time.  I hope things improve over there because the terrain is outstanding and there are pockets of untouched super deep snow to be found days after most other things are tracked out.  It's a gem.

[tamarack]

2 hours ago, Hitman said:

Its still called Black Diamond.  Great narrow steep rocky trail.

I think that's the trail under the summit lift - assuming they still have the same general configuration.  The then-named Mountain Chair climbed up to about 3,000' (in 15 minutes - excruciating on a bitter day) and then one poled across nearly level ground to climb aboard the summit chair.  Back in 71-72, that upper lift line trail was called Scotch Mist, keeping with the area's Highland theme, and it was not only narrow and bony, but had all those steel obstacles down the middle.  No thanks!  During the '71 ski week I went to the summit about 3 times after the 8" Tuesday snowfall, and it didn't look like more than a handful of tracks had been made by Saturday early (GE used to offer an hour of free skiing 7:30-8:30 for "conditions check.)  The trail under the Mountain Chair had poles down the middle too (duh!) but was about 3X as wide and the moguls were all snow, not thinly covered boulders.  The day after the snow it was near zero all day with winds gusting to 50 and the sun a dim spot through the cornmeal flurries.  I wouldn't even try the slo-mo Mountain Chair that day, especially after getting a touch of frostbite just walking from car to lodge.  Fortunately there was a 2,500' lift that gained about 500' elevation in 5 minutes, and I rode that one almost to closing time.  After about 2:30 I'd get to the top and say "Last run - can't stand the ride."  Then I'd make lots of turns and be warmed up and do it again.  I don't think there were ever a dozen skiers on that hill all day, and by late afternoon maybe just one.  

[Ginx snewx]

On 9/23/2019 at 11:31 PM, ORH_wxman said:

Nice Fozz. You did March skiing last year.

Best open secret in New England is March skiing. You'll see crowds in mid December with people skiing down man made icy death ribbons...but then find no lines with 8-10 feet of base and all glades open in March. 

Sometimes people are funny like that. 

But taking advantage is great. It's prob why ginxy usually does his Sunday River trip 3rd week of March. Most years I try to get out in March too...though last year I was shut out. Wife was pregnant and with another 3 year old just didn't make it out. But he's gonna be 4 this March and he's going on skis this winter. 

Nice ,man I miss it so so so much.  Just memories now, sucks but the alternative is so risky I just can't. 

[Hitman]

On 9/27/2019 at 3:25 PM, radarman said:

To take nothing away from Castlerock but I also will usually keep to Mt. Ellen on a powder day.  I do feel that Sugarbush shortchanges operations there however, and I became quite frustrated at them last year.  Never runs the Inverness Chair...  Makes very little effort to get anything open if there is any kind of wind delay, even as it subsides... Seems to let the North Ridge chair go down and stay down for extended periods, even though mid mountain is virtually unskiable if you have to do the runout every time.  I hope things improve over there because the terrain is outstanding and there are pockets of untouched super deep snow to be found days after most other things are tracked out.  It's a gem.

You can do Lincoln peak on a powde r day but you really have to know how to play it.  I start off the on the super bravo, then head over to heavens gate starting on the trails and then into paradise woods.  Do laps there for a couple hours, then head over to north lynx via the gate house.  Then go through the woods to castlerock where the lift line is generally manageable by that time.  If it’s not, head back up north lynx to slidebrook and take the bus on German flats either back to Lincoln peak or over to mt Ellen.

i think the issues with the northridge quad were resolved a few seasons ago after a particularly bad winter when they replaced the electronics on the lift.  Also, Vermont adaptive is planning a big addition to the base lodge at mount Ellen which will result in a significant expansion of the public areas too.  Not sure when that is due to happen.

[eyewall]

Nice start in MT: