why ski the east

[skiNEwhere]

I think it was Shane McConkey who said there is more to being a good skier than just hucking cliffs and skiing powder. Being a good skier means skiing the hard pack, the ice, and the death cookies.

Being in the west, I don't see much of that, and I really feel that that is what makes a skier better and more well rounded.

P.S. Thanks mods for unlocking this thread

 

[Powderhound]

Would I love to ski western pow all the time? Of course! But I wouldn't trade my New England education in sliding on snow (and ice) for anything. It's absolutely true that if you can ski the east you can ski anywhere.

We get the same kinds of pow days as they do out west. The difference is, our mountains are between 300 and 1400 skiable acres, while out west a lot of places have thousands of acres. So to catch a pow day here, you have to be there the day of or right after the storm or it'll be all tracked out. Out west, at places like Vail, you can find fresh tracks sometimes weeks after a snow. Also the altitude helps keep the snow dry so it actually gets a little fluffy again when it warms up instead of just getting slushy.

I love and ski the east but don't kid yourself. Most places out west (w/some exceptions) get substantially more snow than the east. Also please explain your snow getting fluffy again after a warm-up comment. :what:

 

[C-Rex]

I love and ski the east but don't kid yourself. Most places out west (w/some exceptions) get substantially more snow than the east. Also please explain your snow getting fluffy again after a warm-up comment. :what:

Ugh, there's always a guy who has to take everything too literally. I know what the snowfall is like in the west. I'm just saying that if you're in the right place at the right time, you can have some fantastic days in the East as well. I'm not saying that the East is better or even equal to the west when it comes to skiing/riding, so settle down.

Fluffy is the wrong word, but I can't think of a better one at the moment. Due to the altitude and subsequent dry air, as the snow out west warms up some of the water evaporates, allowing what's left behind to remain more like freshly fallen snow than what we get here in the east. I'm not saying it turns back to powder but it doesn't get as heavy as it does around here.

 

[lerops]

I love and ski the east but don't kid yourself. Most places out west (w/some exceptions) get substantially more snow than the east.

They do get substantially more snow, but most places in the East also gets "enough" snow. Say 160 inches (not to mention 200"+ mountains). Over 4 months, that is 40" per month. If it snowed twice a week, that is about 5" each time. Wouldn't we all love that? But it doesn't work like that. The biggest problem is not that there isn't enough snow, but that the weather is not stable. So, snow is very very perishable unlike the West where temperatures and precipitation (both in frequency and in liquid/solid form) are more stable.

In the West, in most places during the season you can make plans to go skiing and have skiing good conditions (not necessarily deep powder). In the East, it might warm up, rain, freeze, turn into ice, can't make snow because of a lot of reasons, etc. We all have to sit on the edge and try to figure out WHEN and WHERE to go. It is exhausting.

 

[skiNEwhere]

I love and ski the east but don't kid yourself. Most places out west (w/some exceptions) get substantially more snow than the east. Also please explain your snow getting fluffy again after a warm-up comment. :what:

Depends on where you are talking about. Most colorado ski areas average low 300 inches a year, comparable to some east coast ski areas.

The wasatch (Utah) gets double that routinely.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Because all the snow on the west coast is radioactive from Fukashima! Ski The East (or start sprouting additional limbs)!

 

[from_the_NEK]

I think it was Shane McConkey who said there is more to being a good skier than just hucking cliffs and skiing powder. Being a good skier means skiing the hard pack, the ice, and the death cookies.

Shane would know, he earned those chops learning to race on the icy luge runs of Burke, while attending Burke Mtn Academy.

 

[Bene288]

Cause Biggie was better than Tupac.

But in all seriousness, I ski the east because I live here. I can't imagine living anywhere else in this country. I'll continue to ski the "Easycoast" and the "Northleast", as my west coast relatives would say.

 

[tomcat]

I wouldn't mind the east if the weather was more reliable. The past couple ice/rain weekends with another tomorrow coming certainly isn't helping the east's skiing. How often do the Rockies get January rain? (Tahoe more likely) How often is there such low bases in the Rockies this time of year? I am glad I can handle a lot of different conditions the East throws at you. A lot of us can handle ice pretty well. But lets face it, if any of us was offered an all expense ski trip to any resort in the US, how many of us would pick New England. Having grown up in PA, I am glad I have the bigger mountains and more varied terrain of Northern New England compared to PA now though but would certainly jump at another chance to head west.

 

[skiNEwhere]

How often do northern ski resorts like jay, Stowe, and say even sugarLOAF get rain in january? I never saw rain that far north in January when I lived in Mass.

Colorado has droughts though. The winter of 80-81 had only 80 inches of snow total average in the mountains. Most ski resorts didn't even have snow making at that point yet either.


And it appears Tahoe is having a drought as well, so there are cons to being in the west

 

[deadheadskier]

Cause Biggie was better than Tupac.

But in all seriousness, I ski the east because I live here. I can't imagine living anywhere else in this country. I'll continue to ski the "Easycoast" and the "Northleast", as my west coast relatives would say.

This pretty much sums it up for me; though I don't have any relatives out West to rub it in. Certainly have some friends that do.

I have no desire to move out West even if the skiing is exponentially better much of the time. There's a certain bucolic quality in the rural areas of New England that I love. There's also a certain colonial feel to our cities and large towns that I love. Even though our water is damn cold, I also like the coast of New England better than the coasts of anywhere else.

It's home.

 

[bdfreetuna]

This pretty much sums it up for me; though I don't have any relatives out West to rub it in. Certainly have some friends that do.

I have no desire to move out West even if the skiing is exponentially better much of the time. There's a certain bucolic quality in the rural areas of New England that I love. There's also a certain colonial feel to our cities and large towns that I love. Even though our water is damn cold, I also like the coast of New England better than the coasts of anywhere else.

It's home.

 

[deadheadskier]

:lol:

 

[Bostonian]

I ski here because my beer mug is here... My beer mug tells me to ski here and it is awesome. Beer doesn't lie

 

[MadMadWorld]

This pretty much sums it up for me; though I don't have any relatives out West to rub it in. Certainly have some friends that do.

I have no desire to move out West even if the skiing is exponentially better much of the time. There's a certain bucolic quality in the rural areas of New England that I love. There's also a certain colonial feel to our cities and large towns that I love. Even though our water is damn cold, I also like the coast of New England better than the coasts of anywhere else.

It's home.

Sounds like Menino speech.....minus words like exponentially and bucolic.

 

[deadheadskier]

Sounds like Menino speech.....minus words like exponentially and bucolic.

Should I have thrown in, "Where else can you see Varitek split the uprights?"

 

[The Sneak]

The east rules. Honestly, I like tight trees and narrow, classic ungroomed double fall line new england stuff better than big open bowls.
And the northeast rules anyway. I'm wound tightly and don't have the patience for laid back foolishness. Classic dickhead yankee, thats me.

 

[skiNEwhere]

Should I have thrown in, "Where else can you see Varitek split the uprights?"

What's wrong with that?

 

[crank]

How often do northern ski resorts like jay, Stowe, and say even sugarLOAF get rain in january? I never saw rain that far north in January when I lived in Mass.

Colorado has droughts though. The winter of 80-81 had only 80 inches of snow total average in the mountains. Most ski resorts didn't even have snow making at that point yet either.


And it appears Tahoe is having a drought as well, so there are cons to being in the west

Since 1984 at least. I had just moved back east from Lake Tahoe spring of '83 and was skiing Jay Peak for my firs time ever in January of '84. Had a super cold week skiing at Sugarbush and MRG then met some friends at Jay where it warmed up and rained.

BY the way, that year I was in Lake Tahoe at one point is snowed 30 out of 31 days. I took fresh powder for granted.

 

[C-Rex]

Yet, just a couple years ago, I spent 2 weeks in Tahoe and only got one 10 inch storm out of it. However, that year in the east was one of the best in memory. I came home to several powder days in late Feb and March, including a 2+ footer at Jay that will rank in my top 3 best days ever for a long time.