OT - Skiing/Snowboarding

[jleves]

Never skied out west. How much different is the experience besides longer runs?

I grew up skiing at Killington primarily but some at Okemo. The first time I skied out here was at Mammoth with a bunch of people who grew up out here. There was this tiny 1/4 inch of crust from overnight cold on top of this luscious powder. Just a little bit of edge and you were carving in butter. Everybody who grew up out here was complaining that it was icy. Got to the Cornice at the top of the mountain a little while later and there were about 50 people all kind of waiting to go over the edge into the bowl. Watched for about 30 seconds and one after another would drop in, hit this amazing wind packed snow (my favorite stuff to ski on, I've found), have no idea how to use their edge, fall and slide for 500 yards on their ass. I dropped in and couldn't believe how amazing it was to carve through that gorgeous wind packed snow. It's like skiing on Styrofoam. Really easy to set and edge and it just holds the ski for amazing turns with absolutely no edge slip.

I guess learning at Killington where you could hit 200 foot patches of frozen rippled ice, you learn to use an edge. Once you get out here it's totally different.

Another huge difference is getting 5 feet of snow in a couple of days isn't unusual so you can find waste deep powder all day long. Bowl and glade skiing on 10,000+ foot high mountains is something you can't understand if you've only skied in New England. The amount of area to ski in is just massive. Mammoth has 3,500 skiable acres, Vail has 5,289 while Killington has 752. The weather is usually better. The coldest I've ever been in my life has been about 5 different times on Killington. I've been cold at Mammoth, but nothing like back East.

If there has been fresh snow, I've never found anything as good as the back bowls of Vail. There's nothing like floating down through 18 inches of champagne powder and stopping to see yours and only your turns going back up the mountain. If the snow is old, Vail isn't so good. Mammoth does an amazing job of taking care of their snow so even a week with no snow and the skiing is still light years better than New England. Because it's usually warmer, Mammoths powder can be pretty heavy but it's also why their snow keeps - it just makes an amazing base. I've never skied in Utah, but I understand it's the best snow in the country and only Whistler may be better in the world.

 

[Danzz]

Anyone ski or snowboard, being majority of us are from Northeast area? Where are your favorites places to go and any good stories?

My favorite in the east is Stowe (Mt Mansfield) although I had a house at Mt. Snow for 12 years. Mt. Snow is only about 2 hours or less from Hartford.
The runs really aren't much longer out west although I've only skied Park City, Steamboat and Aspen mountain. It is much easier skiing out west. The sun is out a lot and the snow conditions are pretty much the same from peak to base. If they get a patch of ice they close the trail. In the East we learn to ski ice and a lot of other crap and that is why eastern skiers are better (except for maybe mogul skiing and powder).

 

[rman726]

In the northeast, I would have to say Jay Peak or Stowe.

Jay Peak is nice because the mountain is great, great glades, and being so far north there is typically a lot of natural snow. Plus it's not nearly as popular due to it being so far north. On a side note, Montgomery Pizza a couple miles from Jay has the most amazing pizza ever. The Vermonter: White sauce, local maple syrup, mozzarella, apples, sweet italian sausage, Cabot sharp cheddar and another droozle of maple syrup…

Stowe is the best mountain IMO for winters like this year where there just isn't that much snow. New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine got hammered by rain in January which really ruined most of their snow. Stowe is definitely has the best snowmaking abilities. The majority of their trails are open, which is pretty rare for mountains this year. Goat woods are awesome... well as of last weekend they were.

Oh, and the town of Stowe gets deliveries of Heady Topper on Friday morning/early afternoon. Which is perfect for going up north for the weekend.

 

[Danzz]

I grew up skiing at Killington primarily but some at Okemo. The first time I skied out here was at Mammoth with a bunch of people who grew up out here. There was this tiny 1/4 inch of crust from overnight cold on top of this luscious powder. Just a little bit of edge and you were carving in butter. Everybody who grew up out here was complaining that it was icy. Got to the Cornice at the top of the mountain a little while later and there were about 50 people all kind of waiting to go over the edge into the bowl. Watched for about 30 seconds and one after another would drop in, hit this amazing wind packed snow (my favorite stuff to ski on, I've found), have no idea how to use their edge, fall and slide for 500 yards on their ass. I dropped in and couldn't believe how amazing it was to carve through that gorgeous wind packed snow. It's like skiing on Styrofoam. Really easy to set and edge and it just holds the ski for amazing turns with absolutely no edge slip.

I guess learning at Killington where you could hit 200 foot patches of frozen rippled ice, you learn to use an edge. Once you get out here it's totally different.

Another huge difference is getting 5 feet of snow in a couple of days isn't unusual so you can find waste deep powder all day long. Bowl and glade skiing on 10,000+ foot high mountains is something you can't understand if you've only skied in New England. The amount of area to ski in is just massive. Mammoth has 3,500 skiable acres, Vail has 5,289 while Killington has 752. The weather is usually better. The coldest I've ever been in my life has been about 5 different times on Killington. I've been cold at Mammoth, but nothing like back East.

If there has been fresh snow, I've never found anything as good as the back bowls of Vail. There's nothing like floating down through 18 inches of champagne powder and stopping to see yours and only your turns going back up the mountain. If the snow is old, Vail isn't so good. Mammoth does an amazing job of taking care of their snow so even a week with no snow and the skiing is still light years better than New England. Because it's usually warmer, Mammoths powder can be pretty heavy but it's also why their snow keeps - it just makes an amazing base. I've never skied in Utah, but I understand it's the best snow in the country and only Whistler may be better in the world.

The coldest I've ever been in my life was Killington Peak. They closed that mountain when I made it to the bottom but it must have been -20 at the peak with ridiculous wind. The Killington nightlife is the best but I hate that place to ski. Killington is skied off by 11 AM most weekends and I know someone will say: "because you don't know where to ski, you have to ski Bear in the morning and the glades in the afternoon" To that I say bullshit. There are too many people there no matter where you ski.
Western skiers get intimidated by the least little bit of ice. It really is funny to watch a western skier try to ski in New England. They generally think we are nuts skiing on ice, cold damp winds and no sun.

 

[Danzz]

I live in Vermont. I ski Mad River Glen. But have skied all over. My daughter goes to school in Salt Lake now. Little cottonwood Canyon has the best snow you will ever ski. Skied snowbird maybe 15 days, 12 of them I would call powder days. Just picked up a new pair of surface one life skis for my bday, 112 underfoot with full rocker....

Mad River Glen is probably the toughest mountain to ski IMO. Now I skied it years ago when they never groomed. You got what you got but it is a real skiers mountain.

 

[jleves]

The coldest I've ever been in my life was Killington Peak. They closed that mountain when I made it to the bottom but it must have been -20 at the peak with ridiculous wind. The Killington nightlife is the best but I hate that place to ski. Killington is skied off by 11 AM most weekends and I know someone will say: "because you don't know where to ski, you have to ski Bear in the morning and the glades in the afternoon" To that I say bull . There are too many people there no matter where you ski.
Western skiers get intimidated by the least little bit of ice. It really is funny to watch a western skier try to ski in New England. They generally think we are nuts skiing on ice, cold damp winds and no sun.

Some good points about getting skied off. Killington's lift capacity is 37,535/hour. Mammoths is 50,000/hour. Based on the size of the mountains, that puts 49 people per acre on the mountain every hour at Killington while Mammoth puts 14 people per acre on the mountain every hour. More snow and less people in your space makes for a lot better skiing day. I remember waiting for up to an hour in line at Killington. 15 minutes is a really long time at Mammoth and if you go to certain spots, you can ski on the lift just about all day long.

 

[coloradohusky]

I lived in Vail/beaver Creek for 4 years. That area is heaven on earth, to me. There is no comparison to the east coast. My dad had a place at Sugarbush for a decade, western skiing kicks it's butt. I saw a pic yesterday that you could see the lift lines at Vail/BC from space, that's really too bad. BC used to be the place the locals skied and Vail was for the tourists...
The biggest difference is the amount of terrain, amount of snow, lack of ice, difficulty of terrain, amenities on mountain, night life, temperature, lack of rain, all that good stuff.

 

[8893]

I've skied in the east, west and mid-west. Western Colorado through Utah has the best of all worlds imo. Telluride is tremendous, as is Steamboat. Those would be my top two. Love Squaw, but the Sierra cement can make it tough to turn. Love the east, but ice, sketchy conditions and crowds are far more prevalent.

I think Mount Snow lives up to its reputation as the closest good, all-mountain skiing. I also love that the North Face has only black diamonds, so you really reduce a l0t of the crowds and the risks of less-experienced skiers. Because of its proximity, Mount Snow tends to be more of a New York crowd, fwiw. It seems Okemo is the mountain preferred by many Connecticut residents, and I think it's a great family mountain, although it can take a long time to get from one area to another if, e.g., you have kids in lessons in one spot and you want to ski in another.

Driving a little further begins to pay off imo, as Mt. Ellen (the old Sugarbush North) is still a pretty old school, less-crowded and very challenging and fun mountain that generally draws much smaller crowds. A little further still brings you to Mad River, which I love, but is probably too rustic and difficult for beginners to jump in, as they don't have much in the way of amenities.

Jay Peak is awesome--especially the glades. But it's wayyyyy too far most times.

 

[CTBasketball]

Some good points about getting skied off. Killington's lift capacity is 37,535/hour. Mammoths is 50,000/hour. Based on the size of the mountains, that puts 49 people per acre on the mountain every hour at Killington while Mammoth puts 14 people per acre on the mountain every hour. More snow and less people in your space makes for a lot better skiing day. I remember waiting for up to an hour in line at Killington. 15 minutes is a really long time at Mammoth and if you go to certain spots, you can ski on the lift just about all day long.

Was at Killington last Saturday and you're definitely right about skiing off. I got to Bear around 10 and Outer Limits was a zoo. Not many people ski the Canyon though. Sometimes I was the only person on the trail. And of course some runs on Skye are always open later in the day when people are funneling down the greens.

 

[uconnell]

M y sons have skied Tuckermans Ravine. That was a definite adventure.

 

[husky99]

My goal is heavenly in 5 years

 

[NJHusky]

Generally...longer runs, more skiable acres, more vertical, more snow, warmer temps, better amenities.

Not this season....I think Vt has more snow..I have plans for a Tahoe trip in late Feb that might turn into a Jackson Hole trip

 

[TheRealKBuks]

Obviously Tahoe. But I'm a little biased.

Grew up skiing the east but my uncle lives in Tahoe, it's a totally different ball game, last time I was out there we went all over, started at Squaw and Alpine then headed south down to mammoth. Absolutely love the sierras. I haven't been to CO or Jackson hole Wyoming but I have a feeling CA has the best skiing and riding in the country

 

[NJHusky]

Grew up skiing the east but my uncle lives in Tahoe, it's a totally different ball game, last time I was out there we went all over, started at Squaw and Alpine then headed south down to mammoth. Absolutely love the sierras. I haven't been to CO or Jackson hole Wyoming but I have a feeling CA has the best skiing and riding in the country

Haven't been to Mammoth, but there is a reason they call the snow Sierra Cement...you need to experience Utah powder..or CO pow for that matter...BC also has great snow

 

[mauconnfan]

Last time I went to Killington, Stratton and Mt Snow the greens were in great condition and the fairways were tight and green! Love those places, real nice tracks!

 

[SubbaBub]

Damn I'm missing out by only skiing the east. Have you ever skied Sugarloaf in March?

No, but Sugarloaf is all about the wind/fog. Either can stop summit lift from.running. Great mountain though. I prefer single large peak mtns vs. the multi-peak resorts. Ie. Sugarloaf over Sunday River.

 

[CTBasketball]

No, but Sugarloaf is all about the wind/fog. Either can stop summit lift from.running. Great mountain though. I prefer single large peak mtns vs. the multi-peak resorts. Ie. Sugarloaf over Sunday River.

Same. Was thinking about taking a 2-day trip to Sugarloaf in late March.

 

[Nickle Night]

Grew up skiing the east but my uncle lives in Tahoe, it's a totally different ball game, last time I was out there we went all over, started at Squaw and Alpine then headed south down to mammoth. Absolutely love the sierras. I haven't been to CO or Jackson hole Wyoming but I have a feeling CA has the best skiing and riding in the country

I'm not going to agree that the best riding in the country is in CA, but the terrain at Kirkwood is definitely some of my favorite.

I learned to ride at Killington / Okemo / Snow / Stratton, but have been out west to Heavenly and Kirkwood in Tahoe, Aspen and Snowmass (and Aspen Highlands) in CO, Big Sky and Moonlight Basin in MT, and Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee in WY. Riding in the Northeast doesn't compare to the places I've been out west in size, space, and snow quality, but I think learning on the ice of VT made me better when I finally got on some good snow. I think it's easier to adapt from ice to pow than the other way around.

 

[coloradohusky]

Not this season....I think Vt has more snow..I have plans for a Tahoe trip in late Feb that might turn into a Jackson Hole trip

Colorado just got 40+ inches in the last few days, my brother told me its been epic.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Not this season....I think Vt has more snow..I have plans for a Tahoe trip in late Feb that might turn into a Jackson Hole trip

True this year. Its been our worst year in decades and we still have had around 80 inches which isn't too far behind Vermont. I just looked and Killington has had 88 inches. For comparison, here is the last 5 years in Tahoe: 326, 355, 810, 561 & 480. We usually get a ton of snow. It looks like the storm door is finally open and were hoping to see the total snowfall climb quickly!

 

[Hoophound]

It's supposed to snow repeatedly in Stowe over the next two weeks. Hoping that the base gets built up good for spring. It's been a cold but not very snowy winter up there. Looks like that is about to change.

As an aside, for those that venture to Stowe or Sugarbush often. If you like a decent old school mountain for families and intermediate skiers, Bolton Valley is cheap and never crowded. They also have a ratty old bar with good beer, a big fireplace and all kinds of good bar food. It looks like nothing has changed since 1980 but the workers are friendly, the mountain is pretty decent, the price is fair and the beer is cold.

 

[jibsey]

Lunch at deer Valley.

 

[CAHUSKY]

I'm actually flying out to Tahoe next weekend to ride Squaw and Alpine Meadows, unfortunately they have no snow...

I thought you might enjoy this.......Learn to apre's like a North Tahoe local.
https://d2xcq4qphg1ge9.cloudfront.n...original_north_lake_tahoe_apres_ski_ebook.pdf

 

[CAHUSKY]

Not this season....I think Vt has more snow..I have plans for a Tahoe trip in late Feb that might turn into a Jackson Hole trip

Were supposed to get 3 feet this weekend. Don't change your plans yet!!!

 

[NJHusky]

Were supposed to get 3 feet this weekend. Don't change your plans yet!!!

CA--are you in Lk Tahoe? The reports I'm reading are talking about rain below 8k on Sun...Any local knowledge would be greatly appreciated...I need to decide by next Thur

Thx for the heads up...