New England Michigan to Whiteface/MRG/Stowe.

[chilehed]

Finally! I've been planning this trip for a couple of years. Today I drove from near Ann Arbor, took the southern route around the Great Lakes, and made it to Watertown, NY - a bit over 600 miles in twelve hours. Perfect driving weather, I lucked out. Tomorrow morning I plan to spend the day at Whiteface, then two nights in Waitsfield to ski MRG on Thursday. Friday I meet my nephew and a friend to spend the rest of the weekend in Stowe.

I'm stoked.

 

[PinnacleJim]

Two at MRG, not one at MRG and one at Sugarbush? That would be my choice.

 

[Philpug]

Finally! I've been planning this trip for a couple of years. Today I drove from near Ann Arbor, took the southern route around the Great Lakes, and made it to Watertown, NY - a bit over 600 miles in twelve hours. Perfect driving weather, I lucked out. Tomorrow morning I plan to spend the day at Whiteface, then two nights in Waitsfield to ski MRG on Thursday. Friday I meet my nephew and a friend to spend the rest of the weekend in Stowe.

I'm stoked.

Scout out Matt Lillard (G.M.) at MRG, tell him I said hi.

Suggested run combo: Catamount Bowl >> Lynx >> Beaver.

 

[dbostedo]

Two at MRG, not one at MRG and one at Sugarbush? That would be my choice.

I read it as two nights in Waitsfield, but just one MRG ski day before heading up to Stowe.

 

[newboots]

Welcome to NY!

(and Vermont!)

 

[Erik Timmerman]

MRG might be closed tomorrow. You might want to reconsider where you ski the next few days. Killington, Bush and Stowe have the good snowmaking...

 

[Long Hair Hippy]

Today I drove from near Ann Arbor, took the southern route around the Great Lakes

Hopefully you at least honked on your way though the Glass City aka Toledo
Enjoy, you'll have fun laying them over in Whiteface and Stowe!
I'll be making the trek end of March into April.

 

[Tony S]

Finally! I've been planning this trip for a couple of years. Today I drove from near Ann Arbor, took the southern route around the Great Lakes, and made it to Watertown, NY - a bit over 600 miles in twelve hours. Perfect driving weather, I lucked out. Tomorrow morning I plan to spend the day at Whiteface, then two nights in Waitsfield to ski MRG on Thursday. Friday I meet my nephew and a friend to spend the rest of the weekend in Stowe.

I'm stoked.

Did you look at the forecast?

 

[chilehed]

I’m glad I decided to stop in Watertown last night, because when I started driving this morning it was a couple of hours farther before I found a town with a motel. The drive along NY3 is very pretty, winding around through a bunch of small towns and villages. I caught my fist view of Whiteface about 35 miles out, just before Tupper Lake, and it looked so big I started laughing – it really stands out among the other peaks.

Iceface. Yep, it’s a bit like skiing in SE Michigan (except with 3,200 feet more vert, more interesting trails and a much better view). The snow was quite hard, mostly friable frozen granular with a bit of sugar on top, so it’s a good thing I sharpened my edges before I headed out. And those were the soft spots. The Wilmington Trail (far skier’s left, top of Lookout Mountain lift) is a nice blue… well, it would have been except that it was mostly wind-blown glare ice, and they closed the lift at some point due to the conditions.

I’ve always wanted to ski on terrain that’s hosted the Olympics or a World Cup, so I made sure to hit Skyward, Cloudspin, Niagara, Mackenzie, Mountain Run, and Parkway. It’s given me a much greater appreciation for the skill, athleticism and nerve it takes to compete at those levels. I’m sore as hell from maintaining control at a third of the speed the pros go, and letting my skis run even a little bit made me wish I hadn’t waxed up this morning. I just watched some of the men’s downhill footage from 1980, and it blows my mind how narrow Cloudspin and Niagara are and the speeds they carried through there. Unbelievable stones.

I’m guessing I got well over 20,000 feet in about five hours. I had a blast. I’m exhausted. I won’t be back this trip, but I absolutely want to return, and I told my wife that we need to come camping here in the summer.

Now I’m in Waitsfield, listening to the wind howling outside. Got a pretty good burger at Worthy Burger. The forecast for tomorrow is 50F, winds 10-20, about ¼” of rain. That’s not too bad by my standards, I’ve had great days skiing soft corn in those conditions. If I feel rested enough I might still hit MRG (if they're open) or Sugar, if not maybe I'll just see if I can find a masseuse.

 

[chilehed]

Perfect day for a leisurely breakfast and a maseusse. The price I pay for not being a dumb 20 year old. I think I'll start at Vermont Atisan Coffee and Tea in Waterbury.

My room at the Mad River Lodge is fine. About 8x15, clean and odor free, small fridge in the corner, good size TV if you're into that. I'd come back.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Windholds at Stowe.

 

[Mrph45]

Perfect day for a leisurely breakfast and a maseusse. The price I pay for not being a dumb 20 year old. I think I'll start at Vermont Atisan Coffee and Tea in Waterbury.

My room at the Mad River Lodge is fine. About 8x15, clean and odor free, small fridge in the corner, good size TV if you're into that. I'd come back.

I would recommend stopping at the Prohibition Pig in Waterbury for lunch or dinner as well!

 

[chilehed]

Thanks to @cantunamunch for suggesting Vermont Artisan Coffee, it was absolutely worth the drive. Got an amazing cup of Yemen Shu'uba Taiz, it was one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had (it was the most expensive, but you only go around once). Picked up a pound of ground house blend to use over the weekend; I'll stop in again on the way home to pick up some of the single estate offerings and will probably be mail ordering from them when I run out.

Got a very good breakfast sandwich at the Apple Core Luncheonette. While I ate it the rain eased up, the skies cleared, and I thought "damn, I'd be crazy to not go out today". So yeah, it's apparent that I'm not a stupid twenty year old only because I'm pushing sixty-one, but I'm rationalizing my poor judgement by reminding myself that I did drive a long way to get here.

MRG is exactly what I expected. Totally old school, great vibe, reminds me of Alta or Abasin. It's a wonderful network of wandering trails and glades that could keep my interest for many years, and if I lived nearby I'd absolutely join the co-op. I love the single chair. Yes, it was pretty thin in a lot of places from the rain, and where it was soft it was heavy, but I had a good time working in the bumps for a few hours. @Philpug, the top of Catamount Bowl was in really bad shape so I skipped that part, but the rest of the way down through Lynx and Beaver was a blast - thanks for the suggestion. Didn't manage to speak with Matt, but left word at the ticket window to give him your regards.

Knocked off about 2:00 because it was gonna start raining again, which I figure was God protecting me from myself (again). Time for a nap.

I would recommend stopping at the Prohibition Pig in Waterbury for lunch or dinner as well!

Just looked at the menu. Oh, HELL yeah!

 

[Smokee]

Thanks to @cantunamunch for suggesting Vermont Artisan Coffee, it was absolutely worth the drive. Got an amazing cup of Yemen Shu'uba Taiz, it was one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had (it was the most expensive, but you only go around once). Picked up a pound of ground house blend to use over the weekend; I'll stop in again on the way home to pick up some of the single estate offerings and will probably be mail ordering from them when I run out.

Got a very good breakfast sandwich at the Apple Core Luncheonette. While I ate it the rain eased up, the skies cleared, and I thought "damn, I'd be crazy to not go out today". So yeah, it's apparent that I'm not a stupid twenty year old only because I'm pushing sixty-one, but I'm rationalizing my poor judgement by reminding myself that I did drive a long way to get here.

MRG is exactly what I expected. Totally old school, great vibe, reminds me of Alta or Abasin. It's a wonderful network of wandering trails and glades that could keep my interest for many years, and if I lived nearby I'd absolutely join the co-op. I love the single chair. Yes, it was pretty thin in a lot of places from the rain, and where it was soft it was heavy, but I had a good time working in the bumps for a few hours. @Philpug, the top of Catamount Bowl was in really bad shape so I skipped that part, but the rest of the way down through Lynx and Beaver was a blast - thanks for the suggestion. Didn't manage to speak with Matt, but left word at the ticket window to give him your regards.

Knocked off about 2:00 because it was gonna start raining again, which I figure was God protecting me from myself (again).


Just looked at the menu. Oh, HELL yeah!

If you have time, the BlackBack (sort of across the street from Pro. Pig)is worth a look as well.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

When in Stowe hit PK for your coffee.

 

[chilehed]

Okay, I probably should put up some photos. Whiteface:


At the summit, looking down Cloudspin. The speck in the middle halfway down is a person:


The summit as seen from the top of the gondola:

 

[chilehed]

MRG:

 

[newboots]

Great photos! I wish you could have had better weather for your dream trip!

 

[chilehed]

Yesterday the rain turned to snow at around 6 AM; we got a couple of inches, but not nearly enough to cover up the hard chopped up ice so it wasn't the most pleasant skiing I've ever done. Winds were pretty high and gusty, so lift opening at Stowe was delayed until 10:00 and they only ran Mountain Triple so the line was up to 45 minutes. A pretty sucky day, but the company was good. Breakfast at Butler's Pantry was excellent.

Hopefully more lifts will be open, but given the conditions there's likely no way I'll try the Front 4.

 

[newboots]

Yesterday the rain turned to snow at around 6 AM; we got a couple of inches, but not nearly enough to cover up the hard chopped up ice so it wasn't the most pleasant skiing I've ever done. Winds were pretty high and gusty, so lift opening at Stowe was delayed until 10:00 and they only ran Mountain Triple so the line was up to 45 minutes. A pretty sucky day, but the company was good. Breakfast at Butler's Pantry was excellent.

Hopefully more lifts will be open, but given the conditions there's likely no way I'll try the Front 4.

Drive up to Jay? (I don't know if it's better up there or not.)