OppositeGeorge
Member
Date(s) Skied: 12/31/2007
Resort or Ski Area: Bromley Mountain, Peru VT
Conditions: Mmm... Really deep fresh snow. And the newbs and groms lurved the groomers. Blacks generally ungroomed, blues and greens groomed nicely.
Trip Report: Okay, same drill as the 12/30 Stratton report. OG is staying w/friends in Jamaica, VT for New Years weekend.
When we last saw our heroes, they were facing a life-wrenching decision -- a repeat visit to the Hell they knew (Stratton) or try the possible Heaven they didn't (Bromley) at the risk of alienating J_F_?
Thankfully, we got tons of snow in Jamaica so I was feeling pretty good about the previous night's plan to try Bromley. That place always gets pounded with great stuff whenever it snows. Still, I was afraid it might not be enough mountain for J_F_, who had been drinking the Stratton Kool-Aid pretty hard. Today, we have one more skier: G_, who's another boyhood friend of J_'s, and K_, G_'s girlfriend who doesn't ski but will be hanging out at the lodge.
What follows is mostly cut-and-paste from my ski diary. Formatted a bit. Names snipped to protect the guilty. After-the-fact comments in square brackets.
---Diary entry starts here---
Good, damn good. As opposite from yesterday as anything could be and still be skiing.
Huge dump last night means fresh soft snow everywhere and the mostly-ungroomed Blue Ribbon area is a dream and a half. Didn't want to leave that but also wanted to ski with the kids so after 3-4 runs met up with the [I_ and J_ family] under the East Meadow chair and I did a few runs with C_ (lapping I_ on the lift [he got a huge kick out of this.]) He is turning into a monster skier and likes speed.
Kept snowing, sometimes pretty heavily, throughout the day. Broke for a sit-down lunch in the reasonably-priced Wild Boar Tavern. Three more runs after lunch (was getting late) -- one off the top with everybody down Run Around and another with all up Plaza Chair to Run Around again. Did one last run by myself down the Plaza boardercross course.
Despite full parking lot, never a wait for chair -- maybe only ~11am for HS Quad but doubt it was [more than] 5 mins (J_F_ and I took singles line and didn't have to wait.) Was apprehensive at first because J_F_ really, really didn't want to go to Bromley, thinking it would be a toy mountain, but he kept dragging me up the Blue Ribbon and from his first run kept going on about how it was the best ski day ever.
----end of diary---
The awesomeness noted on everybody else's 12/31 trip reports certainly didn't bypass Bromley. Just as you think the season couldn't get any better... Well, this was a really memorable day -- tons of soft, but not wet, skiable snow. Blue Ribbon area mostly ungroomed but that didn't affect skiability. More piles than bumps on what I skied (didn't ski any black or blue after the first 3-4 runs since I spent the rest of the day with the kids.) Twister was firm, as usual, but windblown more than scraped and not icy per se and had at least an inch or two on top. Coverage awesome on blues and greens. Just a little firm directly under double chair on upper, upper East Meadow. We all, kid and I_ and everybody ended up on a slightly-bumped-up short blue run off of Run Around and everybody did just fine, probably because the bumps were so soft they were more turn suggestions than imperatives. Maybe just a little firm and scrape at top of Run Around by end of day, but again, there was good snow on top.
Wind was what it always is at Bromley -- it hits you hard as you approach the summit -- but the excellent conditions made it easy to overlook.
For the record, M_ only lasted through lunch -- hey, cut her some slack -- she's four! -- and spent the rest of the day (really only 90 mins or so as we had a late lunch) hanging out with K_. There were toys for sale in the basement ski shop, so that was a win for her. We had to drag C_ off the mountain. Both the kids loved their day.
I_ is hitting the ski pipe hard again and I no longer fear for her marriage. J_F_ wants to have Blue Ribbon's babies. G_ already has a blacked-out Stratton pass but was seriously looking into taking lessons at Bromley. J_ had a blast and was enthused to see how well the kids are developing as skiers. Even K_ liked hanging out at the base area (and always knew she had the option of hitting the Manchester outlets only 10 mins down the hill, which probably helped get her out of the house in the first place.)
And we all welcomed 2008 fat, dumb and happy. That night I slept soundly knowing that Gotham City was safe, er, that my friends could look past the hype and enjoy a place offering simple skiing pleasures without any aggravation.
Resort or Ski Area: Bromley Mountain, Peru VT
Conditions: Mmm... Really deep fresh snow. And the newbs and groms lurved the groomers. Blacks generally ungroomed, blues and greens groomed nicely.
Trip Report: Okay, same drill as the 12/30 Stratton report. OG is staying w/friends in Jamaica, VT for New Years weekend.
When we last saw our heroes, they were facing a life-wrenching decision -- a repeat visit to the Hell they knew (Stratton) or try the possible Heaven they didn't (Bromley) at the risk of alienating J_F_?
Thankfully, we got tons of snow in Jamaica so I was feeling pretty good about the previous night's plan to try Bromley. That place always gets pounded with great stuff whenever it snows. Still, I was afraid it might not be enough mountain for J_F_, who had been drinking the Stratton Kool-Aid pretty hard. Today, we have one more skier: G_, who's another boyhood friend of J_'s, and K_, G_'s girlfriend who doesn't ski but will be hanging out at the lodge.
What follows is mostly cut-and-paste from my ski diary. Formatted a bit. Names snipped to protect the guilty. After-the-fact comments in square brackets.
---Diary entry starts here---
Good, damn good. As opposite from yesterday as anything could be and still be skiing.
Huge dump last night means fresh soft snow everywhere and the mostly-ungroomed Blue Ribbon area is a dream and a half. Didn't want to leave that but also wanted to ski with the kids so after 3-4 runs met up with the [I_ and J_ family] under the East Meadow chair and I did a few runs with C_ (lapping I_ on the lift [he got a huge kick out of this.]) He is turning into a monster skier and likes speed.
Kept snowing, sometimes pretty heavily, throughout the day. Broke for a sit-down lunch in the reasonably-priced Wild Boar Tavern. Three more runs after lunch (was getting late) -- one off the top with everybody down Run Around and another with all up Plaza Chair to Run Around again. Did one last run by myself down the Plaza boardercross course.
Despite full parking lot, never a wait for chair -- maybe only ~11am for HS Quad but doubt it was [more than] 5 mins (J_F_ and I took singles line and didn't have to wait.) Was apprehensive at first because J_F_ really, really didn't want to go to Bromley, thinking it would be a toy mountain, but he kept dragging me up the Blue Ribbon and from his first run kept going on about how it was the best ski day ever.
----end of diary---
The awesomeness noted on everybody else's 12/31 trip reports certainly didn't bypass Bromley. Just as you think the season couldn't get any better... Well, this was a really memorable day -- tons of soft, but not wet, skiable snow. Blue Ribbon area mostly ungroomed but that didn't affect skiability. More piles than bumps on what I skied (didn't ski any black or blue after the first 3-4 runs since I spent the rest of the day with the kids.) Twister was firm, as usual, but windblown more than scraped and not icy per se and had at least an inch or two on top. Coverage awesome on blues and greens. Just a little firm directly under double chair on upper, upper East Meadow. We all, kid and I_ and everybody ended up on a slightly-bumped-up short blue run off of Run Around and everybody did just fine, probably because the bumps were so soft they were more turn suggestions than imperatives. Maybe just a little firm and scrape at top of Run Around by end of day, but again, there was good snow on top.
Wind was what it always is at Bromley -- it hits you hard as you approach the summit -- but the excellent conditions made it easy to overlook.
For the record, M_ only lasted through lunch -- hey, cut her some slack -- she's four! -- and spent the rest of the day (really only 90 mins or so as we had a late lunch) hanging out with K_. There were toys for sale in the basement ski shop, so that was a win for her. We had to drag C_ off the mountain. Both the kids loved their day.
I_ is hitting the ski pipe hard again and I no longer fear for her marriage. J_F_ wants to have Blue Ribbon's babies. G_ already has a blacked-out Stratton pass but was seriously looking into taking lessons at Bromley. J_ had a blast and was enthused to see how well the kids are developing as skiers. Even K_ liked hanging out at the base area (and always knew she had the option of hitting the Manchester outlets only 10 mins down the hill, which probably helped get her out of the house in the first place.)
And we all welcomed 2008 fat, dumb and happy. That night I slept soundly knowing that Gotham City was safe, er, that my friends could look past the hype and enjoy a place offering simple skiing pleasures without any aggravation.
