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Crowd levels at New Years

GardenGnome414

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Hey folks,

I'll be heading to VT (Okemo) a few days before New Years with a large group. How crowded will the slopes be the weekend before? NYE day and NY day? Will NY day be pretty empty as folks recover from the night before?

Also, will anything be open New Years day besides the mountain? Stores, restaurants?



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bdfreetuna

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Considering Okemo I would expect "crowded" to be the best description for any mid season weekend or holiday.

I think almost everything will be open. New Years Eve/Day isn't really a big deal in places where people rather be skiing anyway.
 

GardenGnome414

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Great thanks. Good to know. I'll be skiing but some in my group may not be.

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cdskier

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I think almost everything will be open. New Years Eve/Day isn't really a big deal in places where people rather be skiing anyway.

Yea, I'd expect most places to be open considering it is ski country during a holiday period...

As for crowds...weather can be a major factor as well. Too cold and the slopes could easily be empty. "Normal" weather though and it can be crowded for sure. Although NY falling on a Tuesday complicates things a bit too. Some people may be leaving early on Tuesday and not even skiing if they have work or school on Wednesday and just spent a long weekend or a week up there. I would actually expect the weekend before to be more crowded than either NYE or NY itself.
 

FBGM

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It will be Epic. Rob kitty Cats will have $25 burgers and $10 beers to ease the pain of 12 icy runs open
 

Handlebars

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The week between Xmas and New Years is usually extremely busy. However, skiing on Xmas day or New Year’s Day is much less crowded than the other days.


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Smellytele

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It amazes me how many people ski that week. I can't remember a Christmas /New Year's week that ever had great conditions. I usually stick to the local hill and then only take a few runs 1st thing in the AM or around closing time.
 

slatham

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It amazes me how many people ski that week. I can't remember a Christmas /New Year's week that ever had great conditions. I usually stick to the local hill and then only take a few runs 1st thing in the AM or around closing time.

SoVT - Last year Christmas day 10" pow with good if cold skiing the rest of the week. Christmas 2016 had 8-9" on the Thursday into Friday.

New Years day, especially when its the last day of the holiday (thus a go home day) is always very quiet. With NYD being a Tuesday this year, I would expect the Monday/NYE to be lighter than a "normal" holiday ski day, as some will not take it off, but still likely to be pretty busy.

All things equal.....
 

Smellytele

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SoVT - Last year Christmas day 10" pow with good if cold skiing the rest of the week. Christmas 2016 had 8-9" on the Thursday into Friday.

New Years day, especially when its the last day of the holiday (thus a go home day) is always very quiet. With NYD being a Tuesday this year, I would expect the Monday/NYE to be lighter than a "normal" holiday ski day, as some will not take it off, but still likely to be pretty busy.

All things equal.....

Didn't 2016 have a good Dec up to christmas then it rained most of Christmas week until Friday Then it snowed over the frozen mess?
 

So Inclined

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It amazes me how many people ski that week. I can't remember a Christmas /New Year's week that ever had great conditions.

I thought conditions on 1/1/2018 in the Catskills were fairly excellent, in the absence of any major storms beforehand; bright blue skies, plenty of open terrain thanks to holiday week snowmaking, barely anyone on the slopes - as long as you didn't mind it being -15*

*This probably contributed greatly to "barely anyone on the slopes."
 

slatham

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Didn't 2016 have a good Dec up to christmas then it rained most of Christmas week until Friday Then it snowed over the frozen mess?

It rained leading into Christmas so it was not great but the cold and snow earlier in December meant a good base on a decent amount of terrain. Conditions improved post Christmas day (we started skiing on 27th) with snowmaking and grooming, and then we had 10" (checked my notes and it was 10" @ Bromley) Thursday afternoon into Thursday night, so Thursday afternoon had powder shots and Friday was a full on great day.

On New Years Day I skied Magic with enough natural for east siders like Up Your Sleeve, Kinderspiel etc. to be open.

As far as Christmas goes this was well above normal conditions.
 

KustyTheKlown

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SoVT - Last year Christmas day 10" pow with good if cold skiing the rest of the week. Christmas 2016 had 8-9" on the Thursday into Friday.

New Years day, especially when its the last day of the holiday (thus a go home day) is always very quiet. With NYD being a Tuesday this year, I would expect the Monday/NYE to be lighter than a "normal" holiday ski day, as some will not take it off, but still likely to be pretty busy.

All things equal.....

yea, i skied a 6" powder day at windham on xmas day, went and picked up my friend from his wife's family x-mas near albany, and went up to killington for two very solid days 12/26-27. it was just insanely cold.

i always ski x-mas week. usually out west. this past season i actually got home from big sky, chilled for one day, and then did that windham>killington trip. my days off are limited and i use them to ski no matter what.

my new company is straight up closed from the end of friday dec 22, thru the morning of weds jan 2. that is tight. i have a tentative airbnb on hold from 12/23-29 near winter park. my girlfriend's bday is 12/21, so i can't vanish as soon as work is over.
 

Killingtime

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Minus 26 Fahrenheit at Mont Sainte-Anne in Quebec last year between Xmas and New Years. Had to get the wife a pair of Hotronics heated socks. When I booked the trip in the fall I was worried it would be too warm and not have enough snow.
 
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