Heard there was a big storm coming to Vermont, so my dad and I headed up. I wanted to hit up Magic, but was turned off by the fact that only 4 trails (two greens, two blues) were open, so we decided to try Okemo for the big powder day. I was glad that we hadn't headed further up North, but man, family mountains are not the best places for powder days... Got my first trip to Mad River Glen yesterday, which was great, and then my sister and girlfriend came up and we skied Sugarbush today. We're heading over Stowe tomorrow and then giving Magic some much needed love on the way back to CT on friday.
Okemo 12/27
Conditions: Powder, windblown powder, packed powder
I hadn't been to Okemo in years, but they were in the sweet spot for this storm, and I've always preferred good snow over good terrain. I didn't quite know what to expect, and was pretty bummed when I saw that they were grooming 96% of the mountain the day after 16-18" of snow. The wind was howling so we didn't feel like taking enough lifts to get over to Jackson Gore, and ended up lapping Outrage and Double Diamond all day. There was just enough pitch in those woods to enjoy the snow, which came in knee-deep (and deeper) pockets but was incredibly heavy. Unfortunately the steep sections were short, and the run out back to the chairs was unexciting. Still, the snow made the day for me, and it was quite enjoyable overall. We didn't wait more than 2 minutes in a lift line the whole day, which was great. I'm not planning on going back to Okemo any time soon though - they just don't have enough interesting terrain. It's worth the extra minutes to drive further up north.
Mad River Glen 12/28
Conditions: Thin cover, windblown powder, packed powder
We've been planning on going to Mad River Glen for years, and finally made the trip yesterday. It was well worth the wait. The snow wasn't great, the wind was howling, and a late start meant we didn't get to the mountain until noon, but you could tell that the place would be great with a bit more cover and amazing on a powder day. It had a great vibe too. Too bad they only got a few inches from this storm. Since we had gotten there late and were tired from the day before, we spent the day feeling the place out - took every lift and never did the same run twice. The cover was very thin on most of the steeper runs, with grass and rocks poking up from most of the trails under the single. We did find some stashes of windblown powder in the trees, but also bottomed out on more than a few occasions. I loved the place though, and will definitely be heading back soon.
Sugarbush 12/29
Conditions: Boilerplate, hard pack, thin cover
It was my first time to Sugarbush as well, but there wasn't enough time (or snow cover!) to get a good feel for the mountain. My sister and girlfriend had arrived late the night before so we didn't get to the mountain until 12:30. We went to the Mount Ellen base and got half day all mountain passes, only to find out that the chair to Lincoln Peak was closed. We went back to the ticket office and they gave us each a voucher for a free ticket next time we came, now that's what I call customer service! So we were limited to Mount Ellen, but there was still some good terrain. Like MRG a lot of the steeper stuff had grass and rocks showing through, and the blues and greens were skating rinks. There were some great bumps (albeit with a bit of grass) on a few of the lift lines - speaking of which, there were once again no lift lines all day. I've never waited so little on a Christmas week ski trip in my life!
We're deciding between heading back to Sugarbush and using our vouchers straight away tomorrow (on the Lincoln Peak side) or going to Stowe or Smuggs. Ticket prices at Stowe are a bit of a turn off though... I'm looking forward to going back to Magic on the way home though! I'll post another report on those two around New Years.
Okemo 12/27
Conditions: Powder, windblown powder, packed powder
I hadn't been to Okemo in years, but they were in the sweet spot for this storm, and I've always preferred good snow over good terrain. I didn't quite know what to expect, and was pretty bummed when I saw that they were grooming 96% of the mountain the day after 16-18" of snow. The wind was howling so we didn't feel like taking enough lifts to get over to Jackson Gore, and ended up lapping Outrage and Double Diamond all day. There was just enough pitch in those woods to enjoy the snow, which came in knee-deep (and deeper) pockets but was incredibly heavy. Unfortunately the steep sections were short, and the run out back to the chairs was unexciting. Still, the snow made the day for me, and it was quite enjoyable overall. We didn't wait more than 2 minutes in a lift line the whole day, which was great. I'm not planning on going back to Okemo any time soon though - they just don't have enough interesting terrain. It's worth the extra minutes to drive further up north.
Mad River Glen 12/28
Conditions: Thin cover, windblown powder, packed powder
We've been planning on going to Mad River Glen for years, and finally made the trip yesterday. It was well worth the wait. The snow wasn't great, the wind was howling, and a late start meant we didn't get to the mountain until noon, but you could tell that the place would be great with a bit more cover and amazing on a powder day. It had a great vibe too. Too bad they only got a few inches from this storm. Since we had gotten there late and were tired from the day before, we spent the day feeling the place out - took every lift and never did the same run twice. The cover was very thin on most of the steeper runs, with grass and rocks poking up from most of the trails under the single. We did find some stashes of windblown powder in the trees, but also bottomed out on more than a few occasions. I loved the place though, and will definitely be heading back soon.
Sugarbush 12/29
Conditions: Boilerplate, hard pack, thin cover
It was my first time to Sugarbush as well, but there wasn't enough time (or snow cover!) to get a good feel for the mountain. My sister and girlfriend had arrived late the night before so we didn't get to the mountain until 12:30. We went to the Mount Ellen base and got half day all mountain passes, only to find out that the chair to Lincoln Peak was closed. We went back to the ticket office and they gave us each a voucher for a free ticket next time we came, now that's what I call customer service! So we were limited to Mount Ellen, but there was still some good terrain. Like MRG a lot of the steeper stuff had grass and rocks showing through, and the blues and greens were skating rinks. There were some great bumps (albeit with a bit of grass) on a few of the lift lines - speaking of which, there were once again no lift lines all day. I've never waited so little on a Christmas week ski trip in my life!
We're deciding between heading back to Sugarbush and using our vouchers straight away tomorrow (on the Lincoln Peak side) or going to Stowe or Smuggs. Ticket prices at Stowe are a bit of a turn off though... I'm looking forward to going back to Magic on the way home though! I'll post another report on those two around New Years.
