New England Looking for New England ski resort recommendations

[BC.]

No one has said the skiing here is bad.

Brian did upthread.......lol.

"Stratton is very bad, stay away."

 

[TheArchitect]

Brian did upthread.......lol.

"Stratton is very bad, stay away."

Well, yeah but that's Stratton. Everyone knows that.

 

[Itinerant skier]

I hardly think the 4 separate people you mentioned were being jerks for offering opinions differing from the first post. In fact, seeing as the OP decided to go west it seems that he was pretty open to an alternative to NE.


Really? 'Snow conditions' does not equate to just "pow". Bumps, steeps, groomers, glades can all be awesome or terrible...depending on snow conditions. What exactly is the "far more than" in your mind?


You're making a lot of assumptions, aren't you? The people who live in the NE are giving advice about whether the OP should fly to NE for a ski vacation. They are correctly letting the OP know the risk of variable conditions in NE. No one has said the skiing here is bad.

Just not good enough to suggest people fly up and experience it for themselves, even when specifically asked?

I'm clearly not going to convince you that NE skiing is vacation worthy and that's fine. I will continue to encourage folks to come ski New England.

 

[LiquidFeet]

I mean tons of Brits come to Killington every spring. I also once met someone from Ireland on the lift at Cranmore.
Note that no one who skis at these places thinks it makes any sense. ....

I have taught many British groups of teens at the mountains where I've taught. There was a group from Ireland once as well. I always asked them about their accents, and they enjoyed explaining how the different classes spoke differently.

I've asked chaperones why they come here instead of somewhere in Europe. I've been given several reasons.

First, the kids (and chaperones) get to see New York or Boston, which almost none of them have visited before, so this is a special treat. And they get to shop for things they can't find easily back home. Sometimes they see a Broadway play.

And... the drinking age here is higher than in Europe. This is an important factor for the chaperones. Teens (I taught high school) can get into all kinds of trouble on a trip if there is no control over their drinking.

Almost all of the Brits I've taught have been never-evers. They have been taken to a dry slope back home to put boots on and click into skis and maybe slide a bit with the gear on. But the kids have always told me that they learned nothing about how to turn or stop on those dry slopes.

The fact that these kids are newbies makes New England a sensible choice. If they went out west it would cost much more. If they went to the Alps, they would be drinking, and the experience of the US would not be there. They would not be ready for black terrain, and maybe not blue, after three to five days of skiing, so they could not really take advantage of more challenging terrain. So the terrain choices available in New England don't really inhibit what they come for. They can still have fun with their peers, experience a winter romance, go out to the small New England towns at night to eat American food, and maybe go skating outdoors at night. Or they can go shopping. Some come with lists of things to buy and bring back home for relatives and friends.

I've only encountered kids on these trips once who had been taken to the Alps by their families and who proclaimed they already knew how to ski. I was given a group of four who already "knew how to ski," plus I was given two never-evers so my group would not be too small. One of the seasoned skiers wanted to become a ski instructor when her schooling was over. It was an interesting group to teach. We had lots of fun, and the ones who knew how to ski learned new ways of making turns.

In my real life I was a high school teacher so I was used to this age group. I always loved teaching Brits.

 

[James]

Hehe, pretty sure that's not how New England works.

Some of us are connected to the secret broadcast network of when conditions are going to be perfect…
However, by the time you get there, it’s either raining, -15F, brutally windy, or something else has happened. Like mountains further south are closed due to ice, so everyone is coming where you are.
So in the end, spinning a wheel works about as well.

The fact that these kids are newbies is important for terrain choice. IF they went out west, they would not be ready for challenging terrain after three or five days of skiing.

The last NEG at Killington, on the Monday post, we skied Skyelark in the afternoon. It was moguled in sections, with rocks and dirt in other spots. Conditions were good actually, for us. We passed a large group on the side, about halfway down.
I think we did another run, but after a Superstar run. There was another group there. On yet the third run down, there was a group there also. This is now nearly an hour from the first run, and we realized it was the same group still there! They’d moved maybe 30yards.

We talked to some of the kids who made it to the bottom. They were English, from some -shire we were expected to know, but had no clue. They said the chaperone should never have taken them down that trail. I felt bad I didn’t recognize what was going on earlier to help get them down. Things like that on the home mt it would be obvious very quickly what’s going on.

 

[TheArchitect]

Just not good enough to suggest people fly up and experience it for themselves, even when specifically asked?

I'm clearly not going to convince you that tNE skiing is vacation worthy and that's fine. I will continue to encourage folks to come ski New England.

You know, even though you've criticized others in this thread for giving the same advice I'm the only one who feels the need to respond to you. That ends after this post.

I've stated my reasoning and said that skiing in the east is great provided there are good conditions. That's not good enough for you so how about this:

"OP, I think you're missing a fantastic opportunity to ski some great mountains in the NE so please, book a trip and fly here to ski! FYI, ignore the last 5 years of weather data that says it's better than a 50/50 chance that you'll be skiing frozen granular or skiing in the rain while you're here. The skiing is worth that high risk".

 

[KingGrump]

"OP, I think you're missing a fantastic opportunity to ski some great mountains in the NE so please, book a trip and fly here to ski! FYI, ignore the last 5 years of weather data that says it's better than a 50/50 chance that you'll be skiing frozen granular or skiing in the rain while you're here. The skiing is worth that high risk".

OK, you convinced me. I'll fly back east mid-winter this coming season and ski Stratton. It can't possibly be as bad as @Brian Finch said.

 

[BLiP]

Say what you will about the snow, but I think we can all agree that the worst part of skiing in the northeast is that it is full of people from the northeast.

 

[cantunamunch]

Say what you will about the snow, but I think we can all agree that the worst part of skiing in the northeast is that it is full of people from the northeast.

I know, right? I mean this thread is not exactly selling the NEG...

 

[Itinerant skier]

Say what you will about the snow, but I think we can all agree that the worst part of skiing in the northeast is that it is full of people from the northeast.

Finally a legitimate rason to avoid the place!

 

[mdf]

The last NEG at Killington, on the Monday post, we skied Skyelark in the afternoon. It was moguled in sections, with rocks and dirt in other spots. Conditions were good actually, for us. We passed a large group on the side, about halfway down.
I think we did another run, but after a Superstar run. There was another group there. On yet the third run down, there was a group there also. This is now nearly an hour from the first run, and we realized it was the same group still there! They’d moved maybe 30yards.

We talked to some of the kids who made it to the bottom. They were English, from some -shire we were expected to know, but had no clue. They said the chaperone should never have taken them down that trail. I felt bad I didn’t recognize what was going on earlier to help get them down. Things like that on the home mt it would be obvious very quickly what’s going on.

I was the other part of that "we". By the time we realized, they are almost to the runout. About half the kids made it down farily quickly, and had a long wait for the rest of the group.

It's been a few years, but I seem to remember the chaperone was having some trouble himself.

Was it just moguls and dirt, or was it icy too?

 

[TheArchitect]

OK, you convinced me. I'll fly back east mid-winter this coming season and ski Stratton. It can't possibly be as bad as @Brian Finch said.

No, it's worse!

 

[mdf]

No, it's worse!

You say that like it's a bad thing....

 

[TheArchitect]

You say that like it's a bad thing....

I'm channeling Tony and trying to be confusing. I don't know I should be recommending or not recommending anymore.

 

[KingGrump]

I'm channeling Tony and trying to be confusing. I don't know I should be recommending or not recommending anymore.

Just to put your mind at peace. I'll go and ski Stratton this coming season and report back.
If you guys don't hear from me, send in the cavalry.

 

[TheArchitect]

Just to put your mind at peace. I'll go and ski Stratton this coming season and report back.
If you guys don't hear from me, send in the cavalry.

Thanks for your sacrifice!

 

[Wilhelmson]

As an outsider here has anyone ever posted a cool picture of Stratton? Can uou prove that the woods really exist?

 

[James]

Was it just moguls and dirt, or was it icy too?

Well it was soft wet ice.
(Probably less disconcerting than the large gravel ice in parts of Superstar, there from tilling up the injected wcup ice.)

I think it was the spring combo of corn moguls, wet ice, big rocks, dirt. On the NE Spring Scale, it was still a 3.5-3.8 out of 5, as I recall. They got themselves stuck in the part of the trail which dragged down the rating.
If you can’t ski the corn piles, things can get not so good.

As an outsider here has anyone ever posted a cool picture of Stratton? Can uou prove that the woods really exist?

The Stokemobile Report: 24 Hours at Stratton

The Stokemobile recently rolled through Stratton in Southern Vermont. Here's what we learned after a weekend at the resort.

www.tetongravity.com

 

[Wilhelmson]

Well it was soft wet ice.
(Probably less disconcerting than the large gravel ice in parts of Superstar, there from tilling up the injected wcup ice.)

I think it was the spring combo of corn moguls, wet ice, big rocks, dirt. On the NE Spring Scale, it was still a 3.5-3.8 out of 5, as I recall. They got themselves stuck in the part of the trail which dragged down the rating.
If you can’t ski the corn piles, things can get not so good.

View attachment 211195

The Stokemobile Report: 24 Hours at Stratton

The Stokemobile recently rolled through Stratton in Southern Vermont. Here's what we learned after a weekend at the resort.

www.tetongravity.com

Wow can’t wait. Seems like it might be a very variable winter for the weather. Gota keep all weekends open and a few mid week days off for the really good days. I deserve it. The other storm pulled in some cold ocean water so thats a good start.

 

[PinnacleJim]

Back to the OPs original question, the biggest problem is that there is no major airport near the VT ski areas. Albany was mentioned. My brother would fly into Boston or Harford when visiting me at Killington coming from Atlanta. Leaves you with several hour drive in a rental car.

As others have said, if you are going to fly, head west.