New England 2017-2018 Northeast Thread

[KevinF]

Ahhhhh, the days of being single and apartment living

Tony, you are two days late already

Someday I might grow up to be a responsible adult... but not this winter.

 

[ScottB]

This winter, way too much good snow, don't bother

 

[Read Blinn]

Decent at Okemo today — all groomed down since Tuesday obviously, but a grippy base got built over the early season ice, of which not much was left. Surprisingly busy, considering the temperature.

 

[BC.]

Going tomorrow....Sunday dawn patrol session.....Black Ford F-150 parked in A lot...stop by for parking lot beers.

I stand corrected about my parking lot letters.......it is the E1 lot. (right next to stairs up to condos)

I guess I should provide a report....

Left house at 6...got to (E1 lot) by 8.....booted up at truck.

Was a very good day at Hunter (12/17) today. If you like to wake up early, as usual, the best conditions at Hunter are the first 3 hours. I was on a pair of RTM 81's from the shop, and the snow early in the am was in great shape, very carvable and smooth. They had a lot more runs open than I thought they would?

Runs of the day that were skiing well early am:

-Upper Crossover.....had a ton of "gun powder" on it... So fun!....will be all bumps soon.
-Racers Edge.....skiers left edge of trail was money.
-Clair's.....huuuge snow whales....good stuff...the light was right back there about 10:30/11:00.

Not open yet
-Lower K is close to open.
-Annapurna, I hope is close.....

Final words.....if you go early and leave around noon, it is good. Hunter has a lot more open than you would think....no lift lines for a Sunday is a good thing. It is skiing very well for before Xmas.

 

[KevinF]

Stowe Sunday report. Pretty flippin' cold in the morning (3 below at the top officially), but it warmed up throughout the day. Overheard some people in the lodge complaining that Saturday the trails were "kinda scratchy" and "I hope the groomers did a better job". SAY WHAT? Must be Utah transplants or something...

Groomers first thing were once again GS to the bottom. Trails were empty. Bump runs off the quad had setup a little bit overnight; not fluffy, but still plenty soft to be forgiving. Starr and Goat are full-on bumping now; National's bump lines are coming along nicely. It's a lot wider then the other two, so it takes a while for the lines to setup. Bump runs off the Gondi (Chin Clip and Waterfall) were actually softer snow then the various runs off the quad. Not complaining. Chin Clip was full of the usual people who have no business being on a bump run -- i.e., bumping while avoiding the fallen bodies.

Lapped Sunny in the afternoon. My edges were pretty beat down, so I went back to the car, grabbed the race skis, and arced some groomers into the late afternoon. There were so few people that the groomers held up pretty well even until 3:00PM.

Not as awesome a day as Saturday, but it still was pretty sweet.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Oh, sorry. Didn't know that.

I've only skied Sutton, which I absolutely loved. There's a range of terrain, more on the intermediate to expert side of the spectrum (there's less for beginners), running from steepish groomers to tight, narrow, double-black, bumped-up tree runs. It isn't a huge mountain, but it kept my group busy for the three days we were there.

I don't know Orford, but @surfsnowgirl, who knows both resorts and likes them, prefers Orford. Not sure her reasons.

I love both Sutton and Orford for different reasons. Orford is the closest to where we stay so a 10 minute commute certainly makes it a winner in my eyes. I also love the terrain. Nice greens to warm up and fun but challenging blues with nice pitches. Sutton is fabulous with steep fun blues and wide glades. Sutton's ski school is wonderful we've each taken a couple private lessons there. The only "problem" with Mont Sutton is it's not near anything so it's about 50 minutes from where we are staying and it's a windy road so in weather it can be a bit challenging. Our ski club is doing 2 days at Orford this year and an option to Sutton for an extra charge. Sutton has a nice on mountain demo tent right next to one of the main lifts making it very easy to try out some skis. They also have a nice ski shop and bar. We're just doing a couple days at Orford this year and have opted not to go to Sutton because we like Orford a lot and it's just closer so it would be nice to do a couple days there. Orford also has an excellent ski shop and a nice bar. I thought I saw something above about going during christmas week. We always go over our MLK weekend which isn't a holiday in Canada so it's not crazy crowded like that weekend is here. I've never been during christmas week so I can't speak to the crowds at that time. I'd definitely visit Sutton and Orford as we did this 2 years in a row. Owls Head is also worth a trip since it's right on the border and while there's no bar and it's "just a cafeteria" for eating. However on a clear day the ski down from the summit is breath taking. There's also a trail on the far side of owls head that's very steep but has views that go on forever into the lake and it's truly stunning. I haven't taken many photos from Suttom because every day we've been there it's been snowy/wet which makes for fun skiing but not great pictures. There's also a pub near Orford called the Burger Pub that's frequented by locals which has excellent burgers and good beer, brush up on your french . After leaving Owls Head the Abbey is also worth visiting. Here's a link to the album on my facebook page of pictures I've taken.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154104470518014.1073741972.535213013&type=1&l=67c4485fae

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153636504573014.1073741951.535213013&type=1&l=a2c86a3d6f

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Very decent weekend at Bromley. 2 hour clinic saturday afternoon and a 3.5 hour clinic on sunday. Did a lot of skate skiing and worked on drills. Found a new favorite trail. Skied down from the summit. Freaked for a minute because this was the first steep I'd encountered since the boarder mowed me down at Killington so I had some demons to conquer there but Mike coached me out of my nervous mental state so all was fine. Head Rally's killed it and the conditions soft packed powder hero snow all weekend so not a single complaint.

 

[LKLA]

Doubts Mount Over Saddleback 2017-18 Reopening

Though a foot of snow now coats Saddleback, optimism for a 2017-18 reopening is fading. As of mid-December, the ski area remains idle, with no lifts ready to carry eager skiers.

 

[LKLA]

Watch it if you have a chance -

"Stories from the Slopes: A Skiing History of Western New England" debuted Wednesday on WGBY. (Check WGBY's Facebook page for updates on additional air times and online availability.)

 

[LKLA]

Decent at Okemo today — all groomed down since Tuesday obviously, but a grippy base got built over the early season ice, of which not much was left. Surprisingly busy, considering the temperature.

I will never forget the day over 14,000 skiers descended on Okemo last year

 

[QueueCT]

Don't forget that Connecticut is part of New England Here's a quick clip of conditions at Mohawk Mountain and the team running some angulation drills.

 

[hespeler]

I stand corrected about my parking lot letters.......it is the E1 lot. (right next to stairs up to condos)

I guess I should provide a report....

Left house at 6...got to (E1 lot) by 8.....booted up at truck.

Was a very good day at Hunter (12/17) today. If you like to wake up early, as usual, the best conditions at Hunter are the first 3 hours. I was on a pair of RTM 81's from the shop, and the snow early in the am was in great shape, very carvable and smooth. They had a lot more runs open than I thought they would?

Runs of the day that were skiing well early am:

-Upper Crossover.....had a ton of "gun powder" on it... So fun!....will be all bumps soon.
-Racers Edge.....skiers left edge of trail was money.
-Clair's.....huuuge snow whales....good stuff...the light was right back there about 10:30/11:00.

Not open yet
-Lower K is close to open.
-Annapurna, I hope is close.....

Final words.....if you go early and leave around noon, it is good. Hunter has a lot more open than you would think....no lift lines for a Sunday is a good thing. It is skiing very well for before Xmas.

Good to know, I should be there tomorrow with my wife. Father-in-law is going to watch the kids. I owe him a bottle of wine. Wanna get some of these conditions before the warm-up...

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Don't forget that Connecticut is part of New England Here's a quick clip of conditions at Mohawk Mountain and the team running some angulation drills.

Coverage looks good. I've never been to Mohawk, Southington, Powder Ridge or Woodbury. I've been to sundown a couple times. I always go just a tad north to western Mass or Vermont but I'd love to check out those places one day. I have December 26-28 free so perhaps I'll check one of the local places out.

 

[QueueCT]

Coverage looks good. I've never been to Mohawk, Southington, Powder Ridge or Woodbury. I've been to sundown a couple times. I always go just a tad north to western Mass or Vermont but I'd love to check out those places one day. I have December 26-28 free so perhaps I'll check one of the local places out.

If you have the time to drive to Vermont then definitely do it. We haven't invested in a ski house so an hour each way for Mohawk works well. Just don't expect too much But they do a great job making and grooming snow so it's dependable.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

If you have the time to drive to Vermont then definitely do it. We haven't invested in a ski house so an hour each way for Mohawk works well. Just don't expect too much But they do a great job making and grooming snow so it's dependable.

I'm in either western Mass or Vermont every weekend so I rarely have time to get to our local places. We just haven't gone to them because for just 30 minutes more we could be in western Mass so that's how we wound up at Butternut on a regular basis. I'll be in western Mass 12/22-24 and then Vermont from 12-28 to 1/1. However, I'll have time on 12/26 and 12/27 so a local trip of about an hour to somewhere dependable sounds fabulous. How does Mohawk compare to Sundown?

 

[Crank]

Mohawk and Sundown are very similar in size, around 600-650 vertical drop. Sundown has the edge on steepness. Both, I think, are steeper than Butternut. Both, so far as I know, have old fixed grip double chairs.

I used to ski Mohawk sometimes when I was a teenager and then used to take my son there when he was around 5-7. It was about an hour straight up Rt. 7 from my house in Wilton.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Mohawk and Sundown are very similar in size, around 600-650 vertical drop. Sundown has the edge on steepness. Both, I think, are steeper than Butternut. Both, so far as I know, have old fixed grip double chairs.

I used to ski Mohawk sometimes when I was a teenager and then used to take my son there when he was around 5-7. It was about an hour straight up Rt. 7 from my house in Wilton.

Thanks. Just looked em up on mountain vertical. Looks like Mohawk has the edge over Sundown. Mohawk is 575 and Sundown is 420. Butternut has a vertical of 919 feet which is why I think we wound up going there and becoming regulars as they've a few more trails, 3 quads and some decent terrain. However, I do remember being very fond of Gunbarrel at Sundown. I think for me Sundown is an easier drive as it's straight up route 8 and then down the road into New Hartford.

http://mountainvertical.com/ski-mountain-vertical-drop.html

 

[Crank]

1. I haven't been to any of the ski area within a 2 hour drive of home for many years. Closest I ever ski is Hunter in the Catskills or Berkshire East a few times.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I think I'll solely be teaching at Bromley next season and spending a little more time in Vermont so that'll free up a little time to explore other places. I've always wanted to check out Berkshire East, Jiminy Peak, etc. It's all coming back to me now. I think we've always bypassed Mohawk because I refuse to pay their lift ticket prices. Sundown had seemed more appealing in the past because they at least have a 4 hour flex ticket. I think Jiminy does too.

 

[Crank]

We used to ski Jiminy Peak too. What I liked about it is it does have some steeps and it does have that flex ticket. We would leave home at a civilized 8AM and ski from about 10:30 until maybe 6PM. The high speed 6 pack chair is nice too. What I don't like is they groom everything. They do have 1 short trail that they let bump up but that is it.