New England Gathering Discussion Thread

[KevinF]

It's time to resurrect the dormant New England Gathering. We didn't have an official one last year and two years ago was the "winter that wasn't" (and I was on, uhhh, medical leave anyway). Historically the Gathering has been in Northern Vermont sometime in mid March to take advantage of a (hopefully) deep snowpack and milder temperatures. I pushed the potential dates out a bit further to give everyone time to recuperate after the Utah Gathering.

I was thinking we could do two days at Sugarbush to take advantage of Mountain Collective passes and an additional two days at Stowe to take potential advantage of the wealth of local guiding knowledge of Stowe regulars.

Nominate your preference for the time frame in the poll, or nominate something else below. Or chime in with different destinations other then Bush / Stowe. Hope you can make it!

@Crank @SKI-3PO @Tony S @Needham @Mike Thomas @epic @LiquidFeet @Jim Kenney @Pumba @Steve @MattSmith

And everybody I'm forgetting...

 

[Read Blinn]

I want to be part of this — my first Gathering was the last one, and though it was fun, it was kind of small. Terrible snow year, too.

I voted for the earlier date because my faith in the length of the season isn't great these days. I'll hit weekend days only, probably.

@mdf?

 

[mdf]

I definitely interested, but don't care much about the date. I have a teeth cleaning on one and a different minor appointment on the other, so I have to move something either way. The second one is Easter weekend, which may or may not matter.

 

[Crank]

I voted for the later date because we were invited to a friend's condo in Telluride March 17-24!

Read, the last official Gathering we had the season before the winter that wasn't we had temps in the single digits and powder skiing right at the end of March start of April.
I am thinking positively for this coming winter.

 

[KevinF]

I definitely interested, but don't care much about the date. I have a teeth cleaning on one and a different minor appointment on the other, so I have to move something either way. The second one is Easter weekend, which may or may not matter.

Skipping a dentist appointment for a gathering seems like a no-brainer to me!

@Read Blinn , hope you can make it!

Paging a few others... @Josh Matta @SkiEssentials @JohnL

 

[Read Blinn]

@Read Blinn , hope you can make it![/USER]

It's a plan. Either date might work. I do have Good Friday off that week (I work at a Catholic school. But I remain puzzled as to why it's called Good Friday. Guess you have to be Catholic, or anyway, Christian.)

I voted for the later date because we were invited to a friend's condo in Telluride March 17-24!

Read, the last official Gathering we had the season before the winter that wasn't we had temps in the single digits and powder skiing right at the end of March start of April.
I am thinking positively for this coming winter.

Telluride's a good excuse. Ok. I'll change my vote and cross my fingers — but 2014-15 was a GREAT season. (And this one's getting off to a slo-o-ow start. The last time Killington started this late was 2006-7 season.)

 

[mdf]

Lets not forget @Scruffy

I guess we can clip off part of that banner....

Here's last year's thread

 

[TheArchitect]

This would be my first NE gathering and I love the idea of finding some off-piste terrain with some locals, especially at Bush and Stowe. I voted for the second weekend but I could possibly make the earlier one work.

 

[Tony S]

MRG or bust! Love Stowe but not affordable, I'm guessing, now that the MCP is out of the picture. The Bush works nicely with the pass. Never skied there with better than marginal snow. Let's hope this is the year that breaks the curse. Translation: I may do two days at Sugarbush, one at Mad River, and one at Stowe.

 

[BS Slarver]

As I'm stuck between the mid Atlantic gathering and the northeast group so .... count me in.

It's our last year on the east coast ( house in contract ) and heading west so it would be nice to attend a gathering before packing up.

Dates with sunshine and snow and a location with reasonable ski and stay would be great

 

[KevinF]

MRG or bust! Love Stowe but not affordable, I'm guessing, now that the MCP is out of the picture. The Bush works nicely with the pass. Never skied there with better than marginal snow. Let's hope this is the year that breaks the curse. Translation: I may do two days at Sugarbush, one at Mad River, and one at Stowe.

Regarding Stowe affordability... Now that Stowe is on the Epic pass, I should be able to get buddy passes. I'm not sure how many I'm able to get on a per-day basis or what limitations they impose on that system ("Hi, I brought along 15 buddies! Can I get them all in for a discount today?"), but I'm hoping something can be arranged. It's something I can discuss with the pass office people once I get back up to Stowe.

That said, I understand that MRG is "right there" and has historically been one of the more popular New England Gathering days.. I didn't mention MRG in my original post simply because this event is trending "later" in the season. i.e, Bush and Stowe will have guaranteed skiing at that time frame... MRG? Who knows what you'll find. I'm certainly open to doing an MRG / Bush / Bush / Stowe trip if the snowpack looks favorable.

 

[KevinF]

As I'm stuck between the mid Atlantic gathering and the northeast group so .... count me in.

It's our last year on the east coast ( house in contract ) and heading west so it would be nice to attend a gathering before packing up.

Dates with sunshine and snow and a location with reasonable ski and stay would be great

I've tried with past New England Gatherings to get group discounts, but it's been difficult to get enough people to firmly commit early enough.

If we can get a group of firm participants, we should be able to find an AirBnB (or something similar) in the Waterbury area which would put us within easy commuting distance to both Sugarbush and Stowe.

 

[Tony S]

I didn't mention MRG in my original post simply because this event is trending "later" in the season.

That does make total sense.

 

[Read Blinn]

I've tried with past New England Gatherings to get group discounts, but it's been difficult to get enough people to firmly commit early enough.

If we can get a group of firm participants, we should be able to find an AirBnB (or something similar) in the Waterbury area which would put us within easy commuting distance to both Sugarbush and Stowe.

I'm in. I'll make it work. The later date is now preferred, if there's snow.

I'm firm.

1.

 

[DonC]

I'm spending this year in the Boston area and might be able to make it for all or part of the earlier dates.

I'm also interested in anyone local who might be able to do midweek day or overnight trips to VT or NH on occasion when the snow is good since I often work Sundays and build some midweek flexibility into my schedule.

 

[MattSmith]

I'll follow the thread, but have a trip to Grand Cayman 3/24-3/31. Would love to join you guys.

 

[Phelmut]

I'll follow the thread, but have a trip to Grand Cayman 3/24-3/31. Would love to join you guys.

I was there 2 years ago. Pretty awesome. Do you dive Matt? Snorkel?

 

[MattSmith]

Do you dive Matt? Snorkel?

No diving. Yes snorkeling. I hear it is fantastic. I've not visited Gran Cayman and am very much looking forward to it.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Not the greatest dates for me as there's happenings at my local Vermont mountains that I attend every year so these are on both of these weekends. I'll keep my out for the final date and see what happens.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

No preference on date, I would like to join though.