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New England 2022-2023 Northeast Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

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Mark1975

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I'm not sure sundown has more pitch than the bunny hill at Magic let alone butternut. Mohawk and Sundown have a vertical drop of 650 ft, Catamount and Butternut are at 1,000.

Mohawk and Butternut are the same distance from me so the nut is the clear winner there. Catamount is almost an hour away and with their known operational issues, sub par snowmaking and grooming I don't bother. Sundown can be fun but it's called Rundown for a reason so many people choose Butternut. The nut has decent vertical and great snowmaking and grooming. Plus so much more. We prefer the vertical snobs go elsewhere as Butternuts awesomeness is not appreciated by them.

Butternut is my during the week place. I plan to buy a season pass there for next winter so I can stay home a weekend a month and make some local turns.

I primarily ski southern VT on the weekends. Magic, Bromley and Pico are on tap this weekend but these are smaller places so I'm sure the fair weather vert snobs hate these places too :D

All good.

Ski on.
Mountain wise, Butternut is a clone of Wachusett. Same vertical over the same horizontal run. Nothing steep, but you can still have fun skiing there. Butternut has good facilities and good snowmaking, but Wachusett has better. The WaWa has unlimited water and snowmaking capacity, a better lodge, top notch bar and restaurant. It is also the most crowded ski area I have ever been to. I try and avoid either one as much as possible unless I have to be there. But hey, if either one are in your neck of the woods, there are far worse places to ski. Of all the ski areas in Massachusetts, I tend to like Berkshire East the best when the conditions are good, but I don't get out that way very often.
 

Mark1975

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Bolton Valley today.

Urgent Message From Patrol:
Avalanche hazard present at this time. If travelling on terrain (especially uphill routes and backcountry) follow appropriate avalanche precautions and gear up accordingly.
Haha, I thought you were joking, but that is in their ski report. The only time I have seen and been caught in an avalanche in the East was 20+ years ago at Sugarloaf. We just had a huge multiday dump, and my buddies and I started down the top of Gondi Line. The whole trail avalanched. We rode it out and bailed out on the first catwalk. The damn thing kept going and accelerating all the way down and slammed into the old gondola mid-station building. Crazy that no one was hurt.
 

surfsnowgirl

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Magic Mountain, Vermont
Mountain wise, Butternut is a clone of Wachusett. Same vertical over the same horizontal run. Nothing steep, but you can still have fun skiing there. Butternut has good facilities and good snowmaking, but Wachusett has better. The WaWa has unlimited water and snowmaking capacity, a better lodge, top notch bar and restaurant. It is also the most crowded ski area I have ever been to. I try and avoid either one as much as possible unless I have to be there. But hey, if either one are in your neck of the woods, there are far worse places to ski. Of all the ski areas in Massachusetts, I tend to like Berkshire East the best when the conditions are good, but I don't get out that way very often.
Yeah was looking at the stats for Wachusett and it seemed on par with butternut. I've heard how crowded WaWa is. Kinda reminds me of sundown a far as crowds go. Sundown does have a great bar. That's one thing butternut is missing is a bar. They sell beer thankfully and the upper lodge has some cocktails but that's it. Butternut during the week is fantastic. Haven't been on a weekend in a long time. I've heard good things about B.E. but it's an hour and a half away from me so I'm more tempted to go to Jiminy since it's 75 minutes away and on my way to VT. Grateful to have local choices.
 
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Mark1975

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Yeah was looking at the stats for Wachusett and it seemed on par with butternut. I've heard how crowded it is. Kinda reminds me of sundown a far as crowds go. Sundown does have a great bar. That's one thing butternut is missing is a bar. They sell beer thankfully and the upper lodge has some cocktails but that's it. Butternut during the week is fantastic. Haven't been on a weekend in a long time. I've heard good things about B.E. but it's an hour and a half away from me so I'm more tempted to go to Jiminy since it's 75 minutes away and on my way to VT. Grateful to have local choices.
I like Jiminy too. Been there for a number of races over the years, but for me it literally takes forever to get to. Just no easy way to drive there for me.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Wachusett sits in the middle of 4 million people, and it is the only place in that area that has legit vertical. You haven't seen a crowded ski area until you have seen WaWa on a busy day or night.
The place is a goldmine for the Crowley Family. I was told it operates on a 40% to 50% profit margin. Not like they are hurting for money since they own Polar Beverages. But hey, good for them since many ski areas seem to be in endless bankruptcy.
 
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James

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No one goes to those places for pitch.

Jimminy like 7 or 8 yrs ago was obnoxious to the College racers during the event.
My favorite for the vibe was Middlebury.
 

JCF

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Mixed feelings about todays round at SR.
More snow overnight. A shade lighter than yesterday. Refreshed in the bumps and woods and they were great fun in the morning. But still, a real workout. I hit the wall about noon - around the same time the wind cranked up and lifts started closing.
Never quit before noon before (without prior engagements or crowd factors) and it wasn’t a good feeling.
Not sure how much was because I charged it yesterday, or because I looked for every deep pile and mogul I could find this morning (and mostly it was a combo with some ice faces mixed in) . A lot is lack of subtlety as I haven’t skied in deeper snow or moguls much in a long time.
Won’t blame my gear - took out the Pocket Rockets and the too large and packed out Full Tilt boots sized to them - they are the widest skis I have. They actually performed ok. But definitely need to replace those with something else.
Felt a little better when even younger folk at the bar noted how worn out they were.
Tomorrow will be an easy day carving on the WRTP’s.

One more thing if anyone is still listening - I would vote for Catamount, the newer slopes are steep enough and the terrain is varied. The slopes, even if not long have interesting features and ski bigger than they are. BUT unfortunately they are never open due to lack of snow. And snow making is focused on the the two or three main slopes. Probably fun there today and tomorrow though.

Oh and Mom made it through Ok but LOTS of snow ! 79EAB4D8-B44E-405F-8803-2EF927777EDC.jpeg
 

surfsnowgirl

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I like Jiminy too. Been there for a number of races over the years, but for me it literally takes forever to get to. Just no easy way to drive there for me.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Wachusett sits in the middle of 4 million people, and it is the only place in that area that has legit vertical. You haven't seen a crowded ski area until you have seen WaWa on a busy day or night.
The place is a goldmine for the Crowley Family. I was told it operates on a 40% to 50% profit margin. Not like they are hurting for money since they own Polar Beverages. But hey, good for them since many ski areas seem to be in endless bankruptcy.

Used to be that way for me for Jiminy but since we moved and take back roads to VT from NW CT we literally pass the turnoff for Jiminy on our way. It's literally halfway between CT and our place in VT. A friend I ski with at Killington has a Jiminy pass so is usually there on Sundays so we'll meet him there. I work for Bromley so can ski Jiminy for free.

I went to Wachusett once years ago on their closing day and had fun. Didn't know the ownership. What a cash cow. Definitely good for them.

Sundown is tiny at 625 vert but it's stupid crowded during the week. It's the teenage drop off zone plus school programs during the week. It's crowded to the point of being dangerous. Last time I was there I was afraid for my life as people one turn away from a yard sale were bombing down on either side of me. The locals call it Ski Rundown. I am 15 min from here but drive the extra 20 minutes to Butternut which is perfect for some local turns. I think I'd even go to Otis over Sundown. Went to Otis a couple years ago and it was very fun, a nice hour of skiing. They have a great bar called the Grouse House.
 

no edge

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No one goes to those places for pitch.

Jimminy like 7 or 8 yrs ago was obnoxious to the College racers during the event.
My favorite for the vibe was Middlebury.

Williams College trains there and it seems to me like Jiminy treats them well. Attitudes change and people mellow. All of the racers are appreciated as far as I can tell. In comparison to other hosts, I don't know.

I hear good things about the course, trail - Whirlaway.
 

DebbieSue

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Anyone at Killington tomorrow (Thurs) interested in meeting up 11ish? Got up crack of dawn today to drive to MRG, fab conditions. Never quite stopped snowing there all day; snow was drier than expected, yay! Atmosphere was atmospheric. Will stop at Kton tomorrow to break up my return trip to Boston, since I have days left on Ikon. I would be happy for company. Skiing blues and blacks, and I like bumps. Tell me where and when and I’ll be there.
 

Marker

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Anyone at Killington tomorrow (Thurs) interested in meeting up 11ish? Got up crack of dawn today to drive to MRG, fab conditions. Never quite stopped snowing there all day; snow was drier than expected, yay! Atmosphere was atmospheric. Will stop at Kton tomorrow to break up my return trip to Boston, since I have days left on Ikon. I would be happy for company. Skiing blues and blacks, and I like bumps. Tell me where and when and I’ll be there.
We will be skiing with another visitor tomorrow starting at 9 am at K1. PM me close to 11 so we can meet up.
 

James

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Magic sold out yesterday. Did they actually open? I heard there might be power issues.
 

TheArchitect

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This morning at Stowe was FIRM (yes, I’m shouting). Sometime late morning it softened up just enough that I could unclench while turning. I only skied a handful of bumps but they were hard as rocks. Not the most fun day of skiing I’ve ever had but better than being home.

Tomorrow’s forecast is colder and much windier. Joy.

Remnant of yesterday’s St Patrick’s Day festivities 96A1E270-4ECC-49AC-B62B-6C1AADCB6C2A.jpeg
 

Erik Timmerman

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Yeah, it was FIRM. I felt like the only way it could have been worse was to be on skate skis. I had a lesson that wanted to ski bumps all day which is what we did. Centerline bumps were the least terrible. Whirlaway was also slightly less terrible. Tomorrow will have to be an improvement over today.
 

James

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Okemo went from firm to soft.
Bumps depended. Too many early were a death trap of refrozen crust with a soft devil’s food cake underneath. Just like the partially tracked “powder” places. Once in, you can’t really turn.
What’s needed is a swarm of people to side step over that stuff, then ski it.

Overall, lots of spring style skiing after 10.
 

ilovepugs

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Yeah, it was FIRM. I felt like the only way it could have been worse was to be on skate skis. I had a lesson that wanted to ski bumps all day which is what we did. Centerline bumps were the least terrible. Whirlaway was also slightly less terrible. Tomorrow will have to be an improvement over today.
Uh oh. I have a bump clinic at MRG tomorrow. Hope we get a slight refresher… it flurried a bit around here an hour ago but not really measurable accumulation.
 
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