What New Places Did You Ski This Year?

[Cornhead]

For me, just two, Cannon, and Titus. It's too bad The Balsams is out of business, I tried to ski Saddleback after the AZ Summit, they didn't open due to wind. I asked several people there if they knew of any little resorts nearby I could try. A couple people said, "Sugarloaf". It's far from little, and I just spent three days there. I punched Franconia into my GPS, and headed for my lodging to ski Cannon the next day. Suddenly the route was looking familiar. Next thing I know, I'm passing through the Dixville Notch, it is puking. I find the phone number for The Balsams ski hill, but get no answer. I drive around the lake till I see some construction workers, and ask them about the ski hill. They informed me the resort was being demolished, and consequently the ski hill was closed, bummer, it would have been fun. I've driven through before, but never skied there.

Cannon was awesome, I struck up a conversation with a couple in the lodge before opening. I skied with them for a few runs in the morning. As we passed "The Hideout", the wife of the couple points it out and says, "That's where the kids smoke pot." I said, "Thanks, I'll be stopping there then." She just gave me a dirty look.:wink: I was a little disappointed the mountain was shrouded in fog all day, so the spectacular views were muted. It reminded me of the Deleware Water Gap, with I93 running through the valley. I'll have to return sometime when the weather is better. I didn't get to ski Mittersill either. I stayed at the Kinsman B&B, right at the base of Mittersill, but because of the fog, couldn't see any of the mountain.

Titus is a funky little place. It is North of Whiteface, in the foothills of the Daks. It may not be high, but it sure is wide. It was included in the Fox44 ski card, and I had just skied Gore and WF, so Jaytrem and I checked it out. It was fun, cool bridges and tunnels to ski over and through, great family vibe.

I ment to scratch Magic off my list, but it wasn't in the cards, maybe next year.

 

[ss20]

I got to do Smuggler's Notch for the first time. Nice mountain...err...resort...well, depends on where you are! Morse-families, screaming kids, decent condos, more kids. On the traverse to Madonna I'm thinking, "OK, where's the real mountain?" I was looking straight, that was my mistake. I look up, and this giant, steep, mound of earth with narrow, twisty white lines coming down it appears. Long ride up the double, quick ride down a groomed FIS. Good glades, good snow, good trails. Too bad I couldn't try it all, the mountain was a third open due to rain the week before. I'll go back sometime. I would definitely reccomend the mountain to famillies, experts, and everyone in between...as long as you're not expecting a:

 

[crank]

I too skied Smugglers for the first time this season. Was there between Christmas and New Years for a couple of days and we got snow and more snow! Nice mountain. Also new to me: Sunape in NH, Burke in VT, Big Sky in MT, Snow Basin in UT.

 

[ScottySkis]

Elk several times this year. Great snowmaking and grooming nice 1000 vertical. Probably best of PA, really glad I got to this place.

 

[hammer]

No new places but we never got to much of Bretton Woods so it was like our first time. Groomers weren't much of a challenge but I enjoyed the woods and the views were outstanding.

 

[Anklebiter]

I skied Jay Peak, Kirkwood, Squaw Valley, Heavenly and Northstar for the first time this season. I look forward to skiing them all again except Northstar. I skied Killington for the first time, since the mid 80's.

 

[Smellytele]

Whaleback - too bad it is now closed. Fun Mtn with short steep trails,
Dartmouth - only the East side was open just groomers kind of boring after about 2 hours,
Titus - had fun exploring good for a day but would get bored if anymore than that,
Whiteface - great long runs would like to see more tree skiing there. The trees runs they did have were fun. The kids loved the tree run with the little underground shelter (luckily no saftey meetings were being held ),
Gore - loved the terrain but the lift lay out was a little crazy also waitress service in the bar sucked - got up and left wasn't even busy,
Saddleback - loved it - the tree skiing was incredible - they do need to replace the main double chair,
Bretton Woods - it skis very short. conditions were not good when we were there. Hard to rate when all the tree runs were frozen solid. It had been very warm the day or 2 before we went then the temps dropped when we were there.

 

[dlague]

We skied four new!

We won a gift card to Waterville and skied that about 4 times. That was a hit of miss ski area since early season it rained the day before then refroze. During Xmas break we skied there and though they had some new snow not many trails were opened so we poached a few runs to improve the experience. the two other times were really busy and we were content with skipping the White Peaks HSQ and skied trails skiers left of White Peaks chair (actually some of the best runs there - at least steeper). Our forth trip also busy and skipped White Peaks but for the 3/28 we had a near blizzard event and the snow piled up - though it was windy it was fun. After four trips though - I was bored with it.

Saddleback was another new experience but due to a thaw and refreeze, the runs were really hard and fast. The best part of Saddle back was closed but we had fun with it! My only beef was the long and slow double. When it is near zero out - the slow ride was killer.

Attitash was a bust as far as I was concerned. Though we had some nice runs, the chairs on the Attitash side are weird - slow chair to the summit the faster chair two thirds the way up (stick to that one). Maybe if I go there again we will have a different experience but not this time.

Mount Snow - we decided to give it a try using comps and ended up actually having a really laid back and fun time just cruising and hitting some soft spring bumps. The two bowls on either side were closed but Carinthia was open. That park is crazy good!

 

[xwhaler]

New for me this yr:
MRG: Finally made it on a late March trip....great bluebird day with 100% terrain open, made some turns with Cornhead and really got a great feel for the place. Loved the terrain---will definitely be back.

Crotched: Took advantage of the $17 St Patty's day deal they had. Fun little hill...can really get a ton of runs in off the HSQ...great spot to rip groomers. Woods were not ski-able when I was there but they looked decent. Wish it were just a bit closer (1 hr drive) but I can see reasons why I would choose CM over Gunstock for a 1/2 day or night skiing option for me. Definitely a place I can see taking my son to in a few yrs when we get him on skis.

Hunter: Early season 2.5 hr session. Was out there visiting a friend and there for the zip lines but we got a cheap ticket and figured why not check out another mtn. Only a couple routes open at the time off the 6 pack and pretty crowded/marginal conditions so tough to get a read on the place. My friend no longer lives out there so very unlikely I'll ever ski it again but I enjoyed it.

 

[polski]

• Wachusett - a couple hours one Friday evening for free as I shuttled some kids from my son's race team out there. It was OK for the price. Trails skied longer than I'd expected but man what a zoo. At one point I got off a chair and literally could not start downhill because there were too many people in the way. I mean, it's great to have a mountain that size so close to Boston, but crowded slopes are not my thing.
• Mt Agamenticus (Maine), a NELSAP, skinned. Top was refrozen snowboard trenches, not fun, although the views of the ocean were very cool. Lower part was low angle and it didn't look like anyone else had skied there; fun. One thing on my to-buy list is a pair of fat xc skis to tour places like this.
• Powderhouse Hill (Maine), the same day as Mt A. They do have an operating rope tow but were closed when I was there so I skinned it.
• Gunstock on a spring weekday afternoon with maybe 20 other people on the mountain. This was just before their closing weekend so terrain was somewhat limited but it was a good time nonetheless.
• I'd skied on Mt Washington once before but hit parts of it this year that were new to me - Gulf of Slides Trail, Hillman's Highway and the Tuckerman bowl proper (Left Gully on one trip, lower Chute yesterday)

Sorry Balsams closed before I could get to it. Glad I hit Whaleback once the year before last.

The big one on the to-do list remains Smuggs. Also, in Maine, am eager to hit the newly revived Big Squaw and ski Camden Snow Bowl when conditions are right. And skin Acadia ...

 

[o3jeff]

Just one, Berkshire East.

 

[snowmonster]

West: Canyons

East: Blue Hills

This was the year I finally skied Quebec. What an amazing place!

Bromont
Sutton
Orford
Owl's Head
Le Massif
Mont Sainte Anne

Backcountry: Big Jay

 

[Smellytele]

Just thinking reading these that I have limited "new ones" that are still available to me in northern NE.
In NH I only have Granite gorge and McIntyre.
In VT - Middlebury, Suicide Six, Cochran's Ski Area, and Lyndon Outing Club.
In ME - I do have a lot of the little ones to still do but it is hard to justify the travel. I would like to get to Mt Abram (maybe throw in Black)

 

[kickstand]

Solitude

The place was amazing. I was afraid there was going to be lots of hiking involved for the good stuff, but not so. A good amount of traversing, but so worth it. I'd go back in a heart beat.

 

[drjeff]

Vail - knee deep in the back bowls with my family on our last day was almost a religous experience!

Beavercreek - Very plush ski resort, with some seriously good, steep, falline high speed cruisers and some other stuff that was far from plush, but oh so fun! Reminded me in many ways of Deer Valley in that it's far more than what it's reputation makes many think it is

 

[jaytrem]

I had one of my better years for new stuff. I always try to get 10 new, it gets harder every year but managed 14.

Whiteface, NY
Titus, NY
Snow King, WY
White Pine, WY
Jackson Hole, WY
Grand Targhee, WY
Kelly Canyon (night), ID
Pebble Creek, ID
Sun Valley, ID
Rotarun (night), ID
Magic Mountain, ID
Pomerelle (night), ID
Pine Creek, WY
Blue Mt, PA

The lesser known places out west never seem to dissappoint. Some might be small, but if there is any powder you probably won't have to share, and they often have a lot of character.

Also, got a great day in at Smuggs, loved it. The only other time I was there they didn't have much snow, basically skied the same couple trails on Sterling for 5 days straight.

 

[deadheadskier]

Bretton Woods - last day of their season, but still a decent amount of terrain to explore off the main 2 lifts. Though it lacks pitch, I enjoyed my day there and hope to catch it on a powder day someday.

Not new, but I hadn't skied Loon or Attitash since the mid-80s, so they essentially felt like new areas to me.

 

[polski]

^^^ BW is good on like a 6-8" powder day. If it's too deep there's very little terrain with enough pitch to enjoy ungroomed/glades i.e. keep moving downhill (although I admit I have not skied the Stickney area).

I will say though that despite a reputation for being tame, BW was surprisingly aggressive at opening trails when they got 18" (and nowhere else got anything close) toward the end of Thanksgiving weekend two or maybe three seasons back. Their trail count went from 1 to something like 24 overnight even though much of what was open had water bars and other such significant early-season hazards. (That was a fairly dense snow, which didn't ski very deep, and thus the lack of pitch wasn't a problem.)

 

[abc]

Sugarbush -- Why had I waited so long? Will definitely go back next season.

Gore -- Another why had I waited so long and will go back next season!

Big Sky, Bridger Bowl, Moonlight Basin -- All very good. But very expensive to get to. So I don't kknow when I'll ever go back.

 

[octopus]

i got 3 new this year.

sugarloaf, sugarbush and mt. abram.