Jan VT Trip Advise

[NE Transplant]

I'm heading up to Boston the weekend after New Years for a 2 day (Fri 1/8 and Sat 1/9) VT ski trip. We're both Intermediate skiers. We were thinking Southern VT resorts, given proximity to Boston - maybe Mt Snow Fri & Stratton or Okemo Sat. Any opinions on best mountains in that area to hit?

I heard Mt Snow gets mobbed on weekends, since it is the closest "big" mountain to NYC, so we thought best to hit that Fri.

Also, any suggestions on a decent (read: clean & reasonably-priced) place to stay on Fri night in that general area?

 

[KingM]

First post-New Year's weekend is not a terrible time to ski, crowd-wise. But if you're worried, the farther north you get, the smaller the crowds. You could spend an extra hour in the car to make it to Sugarbush, for example, and save that time back in shorter lift lines.

 

[RootDKJ]

I'm planning a Jan 3-8 trip to VT. I was thinking about Southern VT, but due to the slow start of the season, I'm more leaning towards Stowe now.

 

[KingM]

I'm planning a Jan 3-8 trip to VT. I was thinking about Southern VT, but due to the slow start of the season, I'm more leaning towards Stowe now.

I don't think there's any way to tell what conditions will be like a month from now. The weather looks very favorable for the next couple of weeks and it could be that 10 days from now most everything everywhere will be 100% open or close to it. By early January you could see anything from epic conditions to a rainy mess where mountains are struggling to keep a half dozen trails open.

That first full week in January is slow enough that if it were me, I wouldn't make any reservations until about Christmas week, when you could make a better decision.

 

[RootDKJ]

I don't think there's any way to tell what conditions will be like a month from now. The weather looks very favorable for the next couple of weeks and it could be that 10 days from now most everything everywhere will be 100% open or close to it. By early January you could see anything from epic conditions to a rainy mess where mountains are struggling to keep a half dozen trails open.

That first full week in January is slow enough that if it were me, I wouldn't make any reservations until about Christmas week, when you could make a better decision.

But my OCD wants me to make reservations NOW!!! :???: :lol:

 

[tjf67]

I'm heading up to Boston the weekend after New Years for a 2 day (Fri 1/8 and Sat 1/9) VT ski trip. We're both Intermediate skiers. We were thinking Southern VT resorts, given proximity to Boston - maybe Mt Snow Fri & Stratton or Okemo Sat. Any opinions on best mountains in that area to hit?

 

[tarponhead]

I'm planning a Jan 3-8 trip to VT. I was thinking about Southern VT, but due to the slow start of the season, I'm more leaning towards Stowe now.

Root, with your complimentary Stowe card from blue, lift tickets are only $59 per...

The terrain and that price makes this such a no-brainer :beer:

 

[RootDKJ]

Root, with your complimentary Stowe card from blue, lift tickets are only $59 per...

The terrain and that price makes this such a no-brainer :beer:

Yeah I still want to hit Mount Snow...and I can get a package deal (lodging and lifts) for around $100 a day. Nice deal!

So many options....Can't wait to get out there!

 

[billski]

But my OCD wants me to make reservations NOW!!! :???: :lol:

As others have said, it could be a crap shoot if the base doesn't build so early by January. If you told me Feb or March, I'd be OK with SVT, but again, personal preference. Hedging your bet and go more north, but only if you can hack another 2 hours in the car, but to me, it's worth it. But that's a great week to go, crowd-wise. What is your objective - one resort for the whole week, or base camp it? If you're like me and want to base camp it, you could do mountain of the day club - Sugarbush, Bolton, MRG and Stowe. Yeah, you'd really do fine at MRG as intermediates and it would give you bragging rights. It would give you ha huge diversity and some very different resorts. You could camp at a motel in Waterbury or there's a really nice inn in Warren that has something to do with precious metals and big cats From Warren, Stowe is about a half hour drive, ditto for Bolton, and the others are 5-10mins.

 

[billski]

Yeah I still want to hit Mount Snow...and I can get a package deal (lodging and lifts) for around $100 a day. Nice deal!

So many options....Can't wait to get out there!

Mount snow will make a helluva a lot of snow, so you might be fine, assuming you're OK with skiing the same place for 4 days. if not you could wander around a bit and spend more - Magic, Stratton or Bromley. I'll bet you could get some good priced tix off liftopia for midweeks during that period.

 

[Greg]

I think as an intermediate for two days, you would be fine skiing at any of the places you mentioned and not get bored - Snow, Okemo or Stratton. For a short trip like that I prefer to pick a mountain and stay there.

 

[from_the_NEK]

I'm heading up to Boston the weekend after New Years for a 2 day (Fri 1/8 and Sat 1/9) VT ski trip. We're both Intermediate skiers. We were thinking Southern VT resorts, given proximity to Boston - maybe Mt Snow Fri & Stratton or Okemo Sat. Any opinions on best mountains in that area to hit?

Recommendations for Holiday weekend with the following criteria:
1. Away from crowds
2. Good intermediate terrain
3. Relatively easy to get to from Boston

For most people that frequent this board, you know where this is going...
That's right,
Burke

1. Crowds? Are you kidding me?
2. Excellent Intermidiate terrain and some good upper intermediate/advanced terrain if you want to try it.
3. 3 hours, all interstate except the last 5 miles

I heard Mt Snow gets mobbed on weekends, since it is the closest "big" mountain to NYC, so we thought best to hit that Fri.

Also, any suggestions on a decent (read: clean & reasonably-priced) place to stay on Fri night in that general area?

S VT will be mobbed so if you really want to go ski with half of NJ, NY, and CT stay south.
Otherwise check out the Burke area. Decent accomodations, Lyn-Burke Lodge, Comfort Inn (St Johnsbury 25 min from the mtn), Collonade Inn, Lots of B&Bs.


Riverc0il sums it up nicely in the "Future of Resorting" thread:

For I-91 drivers, Burke is no longer a drive than places like Stowe, Mad River Glen, and Sugarbush. And quicker than places like Smuggs and Jay.

From Boston, MA, it is just as fast to get to Burke as Killington, Magic, Bromley, and Stratton (only slightly further than Mount Snow but all highway instead of mostly Route 2). Burke is just a tad faster from Boston than anything else north of Killington and a lot faster of course than Smuggs and Jay. Also, faster to Burke than Sunday River and of course much faster to Burke from Boston than Saddleback and Sugarloaf.

With exception of Ascutney and Okemo, Burke is just as close to population centers using I-93/I-89 (all of Vermont) and I-91 (Northern Vermont) as any other Vermont and Maine major resort and closer than many with the added benefit of being almost all highway and no traffic concerns off the highway. Google Map the times from West Leb to Burke versus any other NoVT area. You might be surprised.....

 

[RISkier]

I like the Burke suggestion. I was actually going to suggest taking a look at Bretton Woods. BW offers lots of easy intermediate cruising, great views of Mt. Washington and the Presidentials, good infrastructure, etc. It doesn't offer much for expert skiers unless there is enough snow for the glades. The Hampton Inn in Littleton offers nice ski and stay packages to BW, Cannon, and Burke. So you could easily access all three or any combination. Cannon offers more challenging terrain. I've not been to Burke but always hear great things and it's certainly on my list of places I want to try. Mount Snow has a very good snowmaking system and will have decent to very good conditions unless the weather just sucks. It can be crowded. I find most of the terrain similar to BW, almost the entire front face is mellow cruising. The North Face at Mount Snow offers more challenging terrain but you'll find lots of good intermediate terrain. I enjoy Mount Snow but crowds can be an issue. Crowds at Okemo can also be horrible so I'm not sure I'd choose that over Mount Snow because you think you'll hit fewer crowds. If you go further North in VT Sugarbush would be a resort I'd look at closely.