Smellytele
Well-known member
Like waterskiing at dawn, sking down a 5 acre powder filled bowl has to be experienced to be appreciated. If you have never felt the zero G entry off the cornice, the fluid immersion of skis planing as they accelerate, the limitless expanse beneath you, the speed tugging at every part of you that is within the snow, and the feeling of skiing the pressure balance instead of the surface, then you will continue to think that open areas are over rated.
I have trouble believing that any ski area in the east could ever offer that type experience giving the wet snow and rain we have to deal with here, let alone the higher skier density and environmental issues.
On the subject of why some older trails are so wide -
Back when skiing was dominated by the Austrians there were two kinds of areas to ski at a resort. Trails were long narrow paths from the top that were meandering adventures down the mountain. Slopes were wide blue and green pitch fields where Austrian Instructors would drill you on traversing and step turning. Come ski our wide slopes was the clarion call to skiers who wanted to emulate the Austrian above treeline style of skiing. Many of those slopes still exist today. This is not the same thing as the wide machine groomed boulevardes like Superstar, Outer Limits, and Double Dipper at Killington that were made for the masses, not the Austrians.
I have skied bad days in the west as well as the east. I have had sierra cement in Tahoe. I have had sleet freezing to my goggles in Utah. I have skied on ice in Colorado.
I have also had great days in the East as well as the west. I have had 36 inches of soft powder at Cannon. I've had blue bird spring days in VT. It may be more hit or miss but law of averages have given me more great days in the East.