WHY is your favorite mountain your favorite?

[thetrailboss]

OK, we've had a "what is your favorite trail, lift, mountain" threads and we've had a few "least favorite threads," so now let's probe deeper and turn to the positive again...WHY is your favorite mountain your favorite? What makes it special? Hopefully this is not too redundant...if it is, I will can it

OK, my favorite mountains include Burke,Sugarbush, and Pats Peak.

I grew up skiing at Burke. It is old school and genuine. Many people know me there (at least my face) and everyone is friendly on the lifts. I feel welcome. The terrain though is best. I have a hard time deciding which run to hit even though I've skied everything there many, many times. I always find some new bumps and features on favorites such as East Bowl which never get boring. I sometimes hit the same run twice...it's that much fun. Other favorites include Powderhorn, Willoughby, and the Lower Bear Den. OK, they all are my favorite. Lately, I've been trying out the many new glades that make every run even more interesting. In one run I can make giant GS turns, hit some bumps, and then duck into the trees. What a great place...hope it stays the same!

So now it's time to talk about Sugarbush. I grew up in a time when the Egan Brothers and Doug Lewis were used to promote the 'bush, which mesmerized me. I was 14 when I first saw their big trail map and got a free copy of their oversized promo magazine with some good pics. "Someday I'll ski there," and in 1999 I finally hit the slopes of Mt Ellen, which was the first to peek over the ridges near Route 100 to expose her imposing face. What a visit! In 2000-2001 I was there quite often hitting Ellen and then Lincoln Peak. I will confess that the view up Ellen never gets boring for me and in 2002-2003 when I was a passholder I spent most of my time hitting the slopes of Ellen doing runs on Super-fast Elbow or hitting the bumps of Upper FIS and Exterminator. I do miss my time there and look forward to more visits.

And now that leaves Pats Peak, which was my adopted home for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The people are so friendly and the terrain can be downright Hairy at times offering much fun for advanced skiers. I never would have expected it when pulling in that first day in January 2004 (we used a 'buy one get one free' promo and had a great time). This season, they opened the liftlines for skiing which was great! We also finally got enough snow to open the the glades which added a whole new dimension to our experience. They did a great job blowing snow into the new Superglade which offered some fun glade skiing (well, intermediate glade skiing that is ) for much of the season. And of course, they have great cruising on black, blue, and green runs. The value was there...$249 for a season pass with no blackouts!

So, these are probably my top three along with Sunday River, Pico, Cannon, and of course, Zermatt. What are your favorites and why?

[bvibert]

Good post TB, complete with links and everything!

I would like to answer but I don't really have a favorite mountain. I guess I haven't skied at enough of them yet...

[dmc]

Hunter - JUST BECAUSE!!! You got a problem wit dat? Seriosuly... I love the mountain.. Great terrain always changing always funky... Snowmaking extrodinare...

Jackson Hole - You want terrain... they got terrain.. And then some.. You can scare the crap out of yourself on EVERY run!

Kicking Horse - Great ridge>bowl>ride>bowl setup... Lots of steep chutes and deep windblown.. Incredible "slack country" access..

Fernie - See above.. Same reasons as KH..

Wildcat - Cool trails - great glades and trees... Funky feeling..

Sugarbush - I love those steep tight trees... mmmmmm....

Crested Butte - incredible - steep tree and bowl skiing.. Great snow - great town..

A-Basin - Funky, steep, crazy stuff...

[Bob R]

That read like a TB trail report. I really miss them.

Sunday River followed by Loon. I like big mountain skiing. I enjoy hanging in the louges and joining the resort community. Probably the exact reasons others sometimes differ with me.

I love Sunday Rivers multi peaks and lets you spread out. It you start early at Barker and head toward Jordan you can ski ahead of the group and get fresh turns every run. Vortex does it for me. Ya vortex does ir for me. :P The rush I get makes it all worth while.
I love the Aurora area with Airglow being one of my favorites. When I need some other challenges I hit White Heat and Obsession and Shockwave. I also feel it is far enough away from some of the major cities that you get a more dedicated skier base that some of the larger corporate areas. IMO.

Ow how about the snow making and grooming, late and early season skiing. I don't thing anyone does it better.

Loon.
Its so easy to get to. I can go every weekend from November to April. The ride home on Sunday is the same as my commute to work. The Ride Friday up is manageable. I can even leave Monday mornings sometimes and still get to work on time. Yes location.

I like the Vertical. 2100lf I believe. You have to get it early in the am or yes midweek. I love Walking Boss and Flume. Just great wide open runs. Angel street is a fair challenge to most folks.
I like the lower mountain trails like blue ox and Rum runner.

Kids activities, there is always something for them to do. Great Lesson and park programs. This is a nice place for families.

Community. I have really made alot of friends and every weekend has become a small vacation. The rude issue has not been there for me.

TB nice thread. SugarLoaf is a close third. Thats another story come join us for Reggae weekend.

[pizza]

Mammoth..
"I love you... for sentimental reasons.." (haha, now that song is going to be stuck in your head the rest of the day!)

The main thing about Mammoth is the size and how they use it. If you're a beginner, there is a ton of beginner terrain. Intermediates get a ton as well, and so do advanced skiers. For sure, much more than you can ski in a week. As far as expert terrain, I'm not sure because I'm not that good - but it has a good reputation for some sick stuff, if it lacks a little in quantity. I really don't know.

mmmm... cornice bowl..


I also like Hunter and K. I dislike Stowe, not because of the skiing but because of their shitty customer service.

[kickstand]

I'll just talk about the places I ski the most, since I have never really skied a bad ski area.

Attitash - pure convenience. Door to door from my place to Bear Peak in 10 minutes. I even think it is more convenient than slopeside. Here's why:

March 12, 2005. Insane powder day. We're at Bear Peak at 8:00. We ski until about 10:00 when there is a power outage. We hang around in the lodge for about 30-40 minutes, hoping it comes back on. No such luck. So, we pack up and head home. We have lunch and start a fire. About 12:15, we call Attitash. Power is back on. We're back on the slopes in 30 minutes. Slopeside, you would've had to hoof it back up the hill (and I'm fairly lazy sometimes), and if you had a places over on Ammonoosuc, you might as well call a cab.

most of their runs are wide open cruisers. Only 2 trails that I guess would qualify as "steeps", and 1 of them isn't really that steep, it's the double fall-line that gets you. There are a few bumb runs, but they are usually solid Volkwagons. Bear Peak is great for airing it out. Attitash is much more narrow and twisty, classic New England skiing.

Wildcat - love it, love it, love it. My wife hates it. I only get to go there if I'm solo or with her cousin's husband. THIS is classic New England skiing. Can't beat it on a powder day. If the Valley is getting questionable weather, head to Wildcat. It's probably snow. If I can time things right and can find a partner in crime, I want to start exploring. I know where it all is, I just don't want to go alone.

Sunday River - for reasons similar to BobR. It was my first "big mountain". I know the place very well, know how to shake the crowds. The trick is following the sunlight. Can't think of any trails over there I truly dislike.

out west, I could spend days upon days in Blue Sky Basin at Vail. If you get bored in there, you're doing something wrong.

[Sparky]

In the east Magic mountian: because it seems to be old style Eastern skiing,the terrain is interesting and I just like places not owned by hugh corporations.

In the West Panaroma: even though it is part of interwest. I don't have that much experiance in the west, just Whistler and Panaroma. Of the two panaroma was a lot more fun. It was not crowded and the 4000 foot vert. was very entertaining.

locally: Jiminy Peak just because it's less then 20 miles from my house.

[smootharc]

Snow Ridge, Turin, NY

Grew up skiing there (still do on occassion when the legendary Tug Hill / Lake Ontario "lake effect" dumps spread their magic) overnighting with my family at working farm B&B in Turin. Absolutely the best accomodations....

Then you throw in first exposure to powder skiing, their glades, and a mini-canyon/bowl area....and, well....guess it's kinda like one's first real girlfriend. We never quite get back to the sheer magic of our first love....

Throw in numerous mid-week "hooky" days where Snow Pocket t-bar is closed, there's been a huge dump, and a short hike gets you untracked 500 vert 'pocket runs...and, well, I've had some days where I may as well have been heli-skiing. Close to 10k vert of untracked...each track mine. Driving past at closing, pausing, looking up at a day well lived, well.....uh, that's about as good as it gets....

[Tin Woodsman]

Dont' have a favorite place in the West yet, but I'm sure one will stick out in the coming decades. They're all pretty good so far.

In the East, it's Sugarbush w/o a doubt. Let's start with terrain. Mt. Ellen and Lincoln Peak are high elevation and support huge vertical drops of 2400-2600'. The runs are long with consistent vertical all the way to the bottom. SB gets more snow than all but 2-3 other areas in the East and it is plenty deep to cover gremlins between and beneath their unrivalled naturally spaced hardwoods. If you know where you are going and put the time in to learn a few things, Sugarbush (including Slide Brook basin) from Snowball all the way north to Inverness is by FAR the largest ski area in the East. Not even Killington is larger, though a combination of Smuggs and Stowe probably would be. They have a fantastic mix of steeps, cruisers and beginner terrain and a their lift system is extremely efficient in spreading the crowds out even on the busiest holiday weekends. Just as important, the Mad River Valley vibe is relaxed and all about family and skiing. No poseurs. No loudmouths.

[snowsprite]

On the EC it's Killington. The reason it's my favorite is because of its natural beauty. Not what you see from the boulevard groomers. The other stuff that the crowds normally miss.

Everybody laughs at me when I tell them I ski Solitude and Juggernaut. But in the woods off those trails is where you will find traces of the true untouched beauty of Killington mtn. It's not only about skiing, especially in the woods off those aforementioned green trails...lol! Those are for peaceful, utterly solitary hiking off season, or sitting/quiet introspection and taking a quiet, lonely break from the crowds on-season. But there is some awesome skiing in other woods and that's part of K's appeal to me also.

I don't have enough experience out west, but of the scant number of places I've skiied, Kirkwood takes the honors because of its diverse terrain and again, an intangible quality that I guess I will have to call "soul."

Sprite