Best cruisers...

[thetrailboss]

Someone suggested Jay for cruisers. I'd have to disagree.

 

[Frank101]

What about Bromont and Owl's Head? Never been myself but would be closer I would imagine and both are rumored to be good cruising mountains.

Both Bromont and Owls' Head are supposed to be great, but they are actually farther from me than Tremblant and those who I know in Montreal say go to Tremblant over Bromont and Owl's Head if you are coming out this way.

 

[gladerider]

Thanks everyone for the responses....

I don't really have too much of a budget...from what I gather I can work out about the same price with various accommodation options at all locations in the east.

Although the travel time is a bit of a concern, it isn't the be all end all. My main concern is i'd rather not travel 4 extra hours if I can get a similar or better experience closer (i.e. no need to go to Sugarloaf if I can get just as much from Stowe/Sugarbush combo and about 4 hour less drive).

The three areas I think it has come down to is Whiteface/Gore, Stowe/Sugarbush and Tremblant. The drive from Toronto is about the same for all (6 1/2 hours) and I was curious as to which would probably have the best cruisers. Tremblant is nice because it has the village and casino on property. Whiteface/Gore and Stowe/Sugarbush I think would provide more options ski wise.

Right now the Stowe/Sugarbush option is really appealing to us. Tremblant is what's essentially holding us back. Is Stowe/Sugarbush much better than Tremblant? Is it worth coming into the ole U.S. of A instead of staying in Canada?

out of all you listed, i'd say tremblant is the best place for cruizers IMHO. the entire mt. is a cruizer, pretty much. i just wouldn't go there in january or early february. i think the best time to go there is late february or early march. if january is your target, i'd go to stowe/sugarbush and mix the two up. i wouldn't call either a cruizer mountain, but they both have some really nice cruizer trails. by cruizer i suppose you mean blue trails. whiteface has some nice trails but many trails are black diamonds and their diamonds are true diamonds. some of their single blacks are tough enough to be double blacks in many other mountains in the east coast. good luck and have fun.

 

[crank]

I've skied all the areas mentioned in this thread except for the Eastern Township resorts. I like the Tremblant option for you for a couple of reasons. Closest drive time and once there you won't need to do any driving until you leave.

Second best option I think is Stowe/Sugarbush. Great mountains with plenty of cruisers and much more challenge than Tremblant if you want to push yourselves, That part of Vermont is very scenic and charming and gets more snow more often than either Tremblant or Whiteface.

Whieface would be third on my list. The mountain is about 10 miles from the town of Lake Placid. It is tall but sort of narrow so feels like it is lacking in variety. Many trails are fairly steep, not extremely so, but kind of wearing if you want to relax and cruise.

 

[Kerovick]

I'd recommend the Whiteface/Gore combo also.

 

[tjf67]

Whiteface is the only plave in the east where you can cruise three thousand vert of cruisers. It is inside a park the size of New Hampsire. Check out lakeplacid.com for off the hill act. If you are heading into the States we most certainly are going to have the most to offer. I send people to the places that fit the decription. Based on your objective Whiteface/GORE is that place.

 

[hrstrat57]

Sugarbush is worth a visit....heck Snowball is cruiser heaven - IMHO as good as it gets!

The MRV overall is a good take as well.....love that "flatbread" pizza...yum! You can easily do Stowe, Sugarbush North and South, MRG and Smuggs from a stay in the MRV.

Lotsa cruisers I know love Okemo....me not so much, but the Solitude area has some pretty good cruising.

I like the easy blacks to the left of the mountain on the Northface at Mt. Snow for cruising too.

I haven't ski'd Stowe in years....gone way out of my price range, but I recall a lot of fantastic cruising trails with great views and the town is awesome.

Have fun!

 

[jaywbigred]

I guess it depends on what you qualify as a "cruiser". To some people that means greens of a mile or longer, while to others, it means tame blues w a few pitches and rolls that go top to bottom.

With the caveat that I have never been to Tremblant, which may very well be your best bet, I would posit that if your skiing midweek and you desire some mixture of trails like these, I think Okemo is probably your best bet. Unlike Stowe or Whiteface, it is a mountain that lacks the intimidation factor, which you (and your kids, esp.) may appreciate. Ludlow may not be as cute as Stowe, nor as comprehensive as Lake Placid, but it's not a bad little town. And in my experience they do a great job with snowmaking, so if your fam are cruising intermediates, you may appreciate the nice, usually ice-less (on the weekdays) surface they lay down.

Stratton would also be an option, it is in many ways just a slightly altered version of Okemo, and they have a great lift system and a lot of similar terrain. There isn't much of a town, and I find the base village off-putting, though some people seem to like it. Stratton also feels fancier, though I think the price ranges are probably pretty similar for the two mountains.

If you wind up doing Okemo/Stratton, you can throw Bromley in the mix as well. It has a nice southern exposure so it gets a lot of sun, which kids usually like. It has some great cruisers and a less hurried feel to it.

Stowe and Sugarbush are very pretty, and while both certainly have cruisers, that is not necessarily the calling card of either. They are mountains I love, but I think they can be intimidating to beginners and intermediates. As people have said, Stowe is also expensive as hell.

I'd put Whiteface in basically the same category. Imo, it is the most consistently-steep mountain on the east coast. Combine that with the continuous vert you rack up from long runs, and it doesn't seem like a true "cruising mountain." However, if you are into somewhat more high-octane cruising (i.e. a little pitch and some leg burn doesn't scare you) than it may be perfect. Lake Placid is a terrific town, with a lot to do at night/on a day off. I haven't been to Gore in years, but obvi. it would be an option for a couple days of your trip too.

I can't comment on Smuggs, never been.

Good luck! Have fun!

 

[Frank101]

I guess it depends on what you qualify as a "cruiser". To some people that means greens of a mile or longer, while to others, it means tame blues w a few pitches and rolls that go top to bottom.

With the caveat that I have never been to Tremblant, which may very well be your best bet, I would posit that if your skiing midweek and you desire some mixture of trails like these, I think Okemo is probably your best bet. Unlike Stowe or Whiteface, it is a mountain that lacks the intimidation factor, which you (and your kids, esp.) may appreciate. Ludlow may not be as cute as Stowe, nor as comprehensive as Lake Placid, but it's not a bad little town. And in my experience they do a great job with snowmaking, so if your fam are cruising intermediates, you may appreciate the nice, usually ice-less (on the weekdays) surface they lay down.

Stratton would also be an option, it is in many ways just a slightly altered version of Okemo, and they have a great lift system and a lot of similar terrain. There isn't much of a town, and I find the base village off-putting, though some people seem to like it. Stratton also feels fancier, though I think the price ranges are probably pretty similar for the two mountains.

If you wind up doing Okemo/Stratton, you can throw Bromley in the mix as well. It has a nice southern exposure so it gets a lot of sun, which kids usually like. It has some great cruisers and a less hurried feel to it.

Stowe and Sugarbush are very pretty, and while both certainly have cruisers, that is not necessarily the calling card of either. They are mountains I love, but I think they can be intimidating to beginners and intermediates. As people have said, Stowe is also expensive as hell.

I'd put Whiteface in basically the same category. Imo, it is the most consistently-steep mountain on the east coast. Combine that with the continuous vert you rack up from long runs, and it doesn't seem like a true "cruising mountain." However, if you are into somewhat more high-octane cruising (i.e. a little pitch and some leg burn doesn't scare you) than it may be perfect. Lake Placid is a terrific town, with a lot to do at night/on a day off. I haven't been to Gore in years, but obvi. it would be an option for a couple days of your trip too.

I can't comment on Smuggs, never been.

Good luck! Have fun!

Thanks for the answers everyone.

My family and I don't really have problems in terms of ability. Although we spend most of our time on Blues, we can ski anything up to Black without problems, we could go past that but mostly enjoy blues from lower to upper difficulty.

When I say crusiers I generally mean long winding type trails. It doesn't necessarily mean green blue or black, all three are fine but a mountain with varied but interesting terrain is always great.

 

[WWF-VT]

When I say crusiers I generally mean long winding type trails. It doesn't necessarily mean green blue or black, all three are fine but a mountain with varied but interesting terrain is always great.

Another vote for Stowe / Sugarbush combination for you and your family.

 

[Frank101]

Another vote for Stowe / Sugarbush combination for you and your family.

It's a close call right now. We are debating to possibly just wait it out (I think we can do this considering we are going during the week) and see who has the better snow or who has some snow storms coming their way that week. What do you think?

 

[gladerider]

follow the pow. always works

 

[skiadikt]

haven't been to tremblant, but always felt that stowe had the best long cruisers in the east either off the forerunner or gondi. after 2 days for some variety maybe take a trip down to the bush. also perhaps a day at smuggs is worth investigating.