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Year Round Indoor Ski Park Coming to Jersey Next Year?

Funky_Catskills

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They should put a big Bass Pro Shop in that place... When the ski area goes broke put a kayak/trout stream in there... :)
 

cdskier

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Pretty sure Cabelas bought out Bass Pro Shops in the past 2 years or so.

Other way around. Although apparently it seems they still plan to keep both brands operating.
 

ss20

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A minute from the Alta exit off the I-15!
I have a 1000' vertical, 46 trail ski area 10 minutes from my house in Jersey.

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I went to Mountain Creek for the first time last season...I'm not gonna say it was "surprisingly good" but as far as 1,000 vertical feet goes it skied much much much larger than I'd ever expected. Is it always all groomed?
 

cdskier

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I went to Mountain Creek for the first time last season...I'm not gonna say it was "surprisingly good" but as far as 1,000 vertical feet goes it skied much much much larger than I'd ever expected. Is it always all groomed?

Interesting...I had the exact opposite experience last time I was there. I skied there quite a bit when I was in HS. Then a few years after college I went back and thought the vertical felt more like 500ft and vowed to not waste my time again. I was also turned off by the fact that south had become one giant terrain park as that was always one of my favorite areas of the mountain.
 

Killingtime

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Interesting...I had the exact opposite experience last time I was there. I skied there quite a bit when I was in HS. Then a few years after college I went back and thought the vertical felt more like 500ft and vowed to not waste my time again. I was also turned off by the fact that south had become one giant terrain park as that was always one of my favorite areas of the mountain.

I went for the first time last year too. I thought it was better than its reputation and I actually kind of enjoyed the south side but I can see your point. The only annoyances were the large groups of people sitting in the middle of the trails. It seemed to be everywhere. Usually not a problem, I just go around them, but the trails there are narrow. And what's up with that bucket Cabriolet gondola thing? I felt like I was back on the NYC subway at rush hour. I'll Probably spend the extra time and go to the Catskills unless I can get free tickets again.
 

ERJ-145CA

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I went to Mountain Creek for the first time last season...I'm not gonna say it was "surprisingly good" but as far as 1,000 vertical feet goes it skied much much much larger than I'd ever expected. Is it always all groomed?
It's usually all groomed, I think that's just because of the Jersey weather. I've seen them let a few trails bump up when we get some good natural snowfall and it stays cold.

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nycskier

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If you live in NYC area New Jersey is a great place to teach your kids to ski. Campgaw in Mahwah, NJ is 45 minute drive from Manhattan. If you have little kids its the perfect place to take them for a day trip to teach them how to ski. Same goes for Mountain Creek. It's a 1 hour drive. We can leave NYC as late as 9am and be on the slopes skiing by 11am. Kids under 7 can ski for free and you can buy their triple play cards for under $80. Even their season passes run about $200. I skied there a lot last season with my 6 year old son and we had a blast bopping around the mountain. Going from Vernon Peak to the base of Bear is a big adventure for a little kid. We even saw a black bear when we were going up the Sojorn Double. My favorite Mountain Creek story is that I went there with my 6 year old and 72 year old father-in-law. Both the 6 year old and the 72 year old skied for free and I used one of my triple play tickets. So all 3 of us skied for a grand total of $26. Gas and tolls on the GWB probably cost us more.

As for the ski dome this will be a great place to take kids to learn to ski and to practice before the season starts. Being able to take them there in the summer and fall to get them ready for ski season will only insure a better time when we finally get to the mountain. I fully expect to be there a lot with the kids when the place finally opens.
 

jg17

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I went for the first time last year too. I thought it was better than its reputation and I actually kind of enjoyed the south side but I can see your point. The only annoyances were the large groups of people sitting in the middle of the trails. It seemed to be everywhere. Usually not a problem, I just go around them, but the trails there are narrow. And what's up with that bucket Cabriolet gondola thing? I felt like I was back on the NYC subway at rush hour. I'll Probably spend the extra time and go to the Catskills unless I can get free tickets again.

Ha, it's always great hearing people's (mixed) reactions to the Cab. As a former MC lifty, I can definitely say that it's incredibly efficient moving lots of people up the mountain quickly. It just about never stops, doesn't need to slow down for misloads/patrol with sleds/etc. The biggest issue is that the cabs catch the wind pretty well, so it's not uncommon to need to slow it down in higher winds or put it on hold and switch to the triple... That said, in a normal day of operation, the ability to pretty much continuously move 8 people up the mountain every 10 seconds really helps keep the lines moving quickly. A lot of people like to complain about it (I've heard the name "Crappy Ole" thrown around quite a bit) and being packed in with 7 strangers and needing to take your skis off, but it's definitely a much more efficient day to day workhorse than the triple. Considering that the cab runs essentially year-round, I think it's definitely proven its worth in the past 20 years.


I'm wondering what the crowds at Big SNOW will be like during the winter. It will be interesting to truly see what the market is for people that want to try skiing, but don't like the outdoor weather and would be more willing to try in the indoor environment. I think Big SNOW will be a great beginner area, and I wonder how that will affect MC's market for beginners and families (I guess we'll really see in the 2019-20 season). MC has been doing a lot over the past few years to market themselves more as a family friendly mountain, and I imagine that a lot of those ideas will carry over to Big SNOW with having the same operators. While I can't see myself going there in the winter, I'm sure I'll check it out sometime in the off-season (both for novelty and to satisfy those mid-summer cravings...)
 

slatham

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jg17, thanks for the insight. I never thought about the practical efficiencies of the cab. And as I think about the number of novices and partiers that frequent MC I think the familiarity of walking onto and off the lift must help. I always hated the thing, but I can appreciate it's efficiency.
 
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