Advice needed for X-mas skiing in VT

Hi,

I'm planning a ski trip to VT over Christmas for my family. Looking for reliable snow but not fashionable or overpriced resorts. It stikes me that a place like Killington would be both of those. Am I wrong? My wife and I are intermediate skiers and son's okay pretty much anywhere, so we don't really need black diamond runs.

Any tips on planning a value-for-money trip?

Thanks,
JK

it's going to be hard finding reliable snow that is not at an over priced resort during xmas vacation week. the bigger and more expensive resorts definitely blow the competition away when it comes to snow making. i would suggest places that receive a decent amount of natural snow on a consistant basis. burke and bolton valley come to mind as inexpensive alternatives that over a strong intermediate lean that will generally have decent natural snow. coincidently, both of those ski areas will have new high speed quads this winter.

Well, at this point, Killington will be very full and probably quite expensive. When you say intermediate, have you skied in New England before? Where have you skied and what do you like?

I concur with Bolton and Burke as good options, however, in seasons past Christmas at all ski resorts have been hit or miss as of late. Burke in 2003 was rocking just before the holiday and then came a bad warm front. Last season it just did not snow until pretty late. As for this season, Burke is doing a lot of work on their snowmaking, so assuming cold weather is here, things will be good.

Depending on the early snow, you may want to explore the possibility of Okemo. We stayed at a Trailside condo there that was a much better deal than Killington. Okemo is an intermediate hill.

Xmas skiing

I assume you are flying in from the UK. At the risk of annoying my my fellow AZ'rs, I suggest you keep flying and go west to Utah. By mid December last season the mountains around Salt Lake City had a base of nearly 150" and, while I was there the week before Christmas they received an additional 49". Salt Lake is a major city that has many activity possibilities, great restaurants, an incredible number of hotels, and free shuttle busses to some of the ski areas. There are 7 major ski areas within 30 minutes drive of down-town Salt Lake, and the hotels have free shuttles from the airport. I have found that you can get a great air-fare/car rental package from virtually any of the many major airlines that serve the region. I ski VT often, and have found that the snow can be great at Christmas, or a total disappointment. Since it is just a matter of a 4 to 6 hour drive, I can simply leave if not satisfied. Flying in from abroad leaves you with no options...risky in my view!

Good point! They're going to fly that far, why not keep going to Utah. But if they're set on going to Vermont, it may not be all that bad.

According to the Old Famer's Almanac it's going to be a cold and snowy December in the Northeast.

Sep. 9-14 Seasonable Flurries
15-18 Snowstorm, very cold.
19-23 Cold, snow showers
24-31 Heavy Snow, then flurries, cold.

The OFA may be as much superstition as science, but I planned two vacations around it's predictions and it was right on the money both times. But like you said, the west is the sure bet.

Parts of the family are wanting to do Stratton for Christmas. My wife and I, though, figure we can get much better skiing in for about the same price flying west. I mean, if you're gonan spend the money anyway...

Hence, I'll through my vote in for Utah, too.

jkosters said:

Hi,

I'm planning a ski trip to VT over Christmas for my family. Looking for reliable snow but not fashionable or overpriced resorts. It stikes me that a place like Killington would be both of those. Am I wrong? My wife and I are intermediate skiers and son's okay pretty much anywhere, so we don't really need black diamond runs.

Any tips on planning a value-for-money trip?

Thanks,
JK

Click to expand...

Killington has been my home mountain for 25 years. Some comments about Christmas week:

* Christmas weekend (December 23/24) is usually pretty dead. The midweek part of the holiday week isn't all that busy. The crowds build through the week. Friday will be like a busy Saturday and New Years weekend will be extremely busy. Most of the season passes are blacked out for much or all of the holiday week.

* The family parts of the mountain are quite busy but the more advanced parts of the mountain are pretty quiet. Big lift lines at Snowshed and Rams Head. Lines at the two gondolas. Virtually no lines at Bear or the Canyon Quad.

* In a typical year, 80% of the resort is open. Some natural snow trails and double black trails will be closed but virtually all the novice and intermediate terrain is online. Killington has unlimited water and the biggest snowmaking system in the world. If December temperatures are cold, there will be a lot open. If December temperatures are very mild, Killington will have more open than everyone else.

* It's a tough week for restaurants. Everything is quite busy.

* Killington isn't cheap and Christmas week is their most expensive week. Lifts & lodging are as expensive at Killington as anywhere in the Northeast. If you're paying in Euros or Pounds, that helps but it's not going to be bargain-priced.

* You really can't survive at Killington without a car. There's no village and everything is spread out on a 3 1/2 mile access road. There's a shuttle bus service up and down the road but that doesn't help if you're staying at a less expensive hotel or condo. It's a 3 hour drive from Boston and there is no bus service.

--------------------------------------------------

I agree with the suggestions here to go elsewhere in North America. From the UK, Vancouver, British Columbia and Whistler is probably the easiest option. It's 10 hours westbound and 9 1/4 eastbound on BA or Air Canada. There's bus/van service from the airport to Whistler on Perimiter Lines and the bus ride is about 3 hours. Whistler is in a temperate rain forest so they usually have lots of snow. It's huge and they have terrain for everybody. There's a lot going on in the village for non-skiing.

You'll have to change planes to get to Utah. That probably adds an extra 4 hours of travel time. The advantage of Utah is that the airport in Salt Lake City is very close to the ski resorts... 45 minutes. You can stay cheaply in the city and drive to the ski areas. On snowy days, you can take a bus rather than drive. Utah has very reliable snow and it isn't as crowded as Colorado.

Any tips on planning a value-for-money trip?

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The short answer is....

No

Not that week.

Welcome to the boards!

Another suggestion would be Smuggler's Notch, which has done a lot to open up a market with the UK. In fact, I believe that they have a direct toll free number in the UK for reservations. They can arrange for transport from Burlington Airport. Worth a shot. Nice family place with some good intermediate and expert terrain. Slow lifts though. Not flashy.

Geoff said:

It's a 3 hour drive from Boston and there is no bus service.

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He still can fly into NYC and then take Amtrak to Rutland. The mountain did at one time run a bus from the train station to the mountain, so this is a possible route. Arrangements are best left to a travel agent though.

Will everyone stop it with the slow lifts comments. 15 minutes is not that slow.

And for a family Vay Kay for intermeditaes, smuggs is a great place. I imagine they do it up.

http://www.smuggs.com/pages/winter/packages.php

If they're not sold out...

A few more ?s

Thanks, everyone, for your advice so far. To clarify, we won't actually be in VT till about the 30th of Dec. Do you suppose that'll help, in terms of crowds and/or availability? Also, these lower key places, such as Smugglers, Burke, etc., is the snow problem with the altitude, geography or just limited snow making facilities? I'm just trying to get a feel for what we'd be 'risking' by going the more value-oriented route.

FYI, I love the idea of Utah, but family circumstances do not permit going out west.

Normally coming in for Xmas week or any other holiday week/weekend is the most expensive. I booked holiday reservations at the Bush for 5 years. Usually all the big name resorts are already getting fairly booked up by now with 5 night min required.

One year at the Bush we started out, got rates and started booking in mid August, with a 7 night min, needless to say that got changed pretty quick.

Even tho the lodging is busy as someone pointed out the slopes are not all that crowded especially on the day of the holiday, in the case of New Years the next day is not busy either....go figure lol

It looks like this winter regarding holiday
reservations is niether normal nor the usual.

I checked with Kmart and they still have plenty of availability and it's mostly a 2 night min except coming in right before New Years, it's a 5 night min, most unusual.

Normally the week after the holidays is painfully quiet for most of the resorts having a 5 night min right before New Years they might be trying to fill some of that dead week up.

Alot depends on what day Xmas and New Years are. This year it's a Sunday/Saturday which adds a few twists into the discussion each resort must go thru regarding the dates for holiday rates and the min nights required. Just changing your dates by one day can save you a bundle.

Again, as someone mentioned you can get the best deal if you wait till the last minute. That's very true but you might spend alot of sleepless nights in the meantime. Good luck

Re: A few more ?s

jkosters said:

Thanks, everyone, for your advice so far. To clarify, we won't actually be in VT till about the 30th of Dec. Do you suppose that'll help, in terms of crowds and/or availability? Also, these lower key places, such as Smugglers, Burke, etc., is the snow problem with the altitude, geography or just limited snow making facilities? I'm just trying to get a feel for what we'd be 'risking' by going the more value-oriented route.

FYI, I love the idea of Utah, but family circumstances do not permit going out west.

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Smuggs would be a great choice as most resorts in NE have lots of snowmaking. They are well known as being one of the top resorts for families. It's kind of out of the way, very little nightlife/shopping nearby and expensive. If you don't mind driving about 30 miles, Burlington has all that and then some.

To "get a feel" for other resorts check www.skimaps.com and
www.epinions.com

True, but smuggs has everything you need, and all the condos are slopeside and are very nice...especially the massive master bedrooms with the in room jacuzzi for 2

What is this Kmart all about?

I keep seeing references to Kmart in discussions about VT skiing. What does a retail chain have to doing with skiing?

KMart = Killington

Another vote for going to Utah or Tahoe for yultide skiing.

I wouldn't recommend Smuggs for X-mas week because their snow making capacity is limited and natural snow is required to open up much beyond the beginner hill.

If you must go to VT, Killington will probably have the most reliable conditions. I am not a huge Killington fan, but recognize the size of the resort and the snow making fire power makes them the best option for X-mas week for reliability, variety and size.

Good luck with your ski vacation and I hope you have a wonderful time.

I would also suggest Okemo...check it out.