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Mad River Glenn over new years?
- Thread starter tnt1234
- Start date
catsup948
New member
Mad River Glen is heavily dependent on natural snow. There may not be much open at that time.
Not sure if I consider MRG a "beat the crowds" place when they have good snow; especially on weekends/holidays. The trails are always uncrowded, but the lift and lodges lack capacity and are always pretty jammed in such conditions.
I'd look at Pico, Burke and Bolton as beat the crowds options in the scenario you hope for.
I'd look at Pico, Burke and Bolton as beat the crowds options in the scenario you hope for.
Good thoughts....thanks guys.
Was eyeing up a place for a couple of nights that could give us access to sugarbush and mrg. My thought was, if there was no snow, could head to SB and deal with crowds to have something to ski. If there is snow, mrg on the weekend days, SB on new years day....
Could use the same strategy with Pico and K-ton I suppose. Gosh, haven't been to Pico since I was in high school in the 80's. That would be fun.
Was eyeing up a place for a couple of nights that could give us access to sugarbush and mrg. My thought was, if there was no snow, could head to SB and deal with crowds to have something to ski. If there is snow, mrg on the weekend days, SB on new years day....
Could use the same strategy with Pico and K-ton I suppose. Gosh, haven't been to Pico since I was in high school in the 80's. That would be fun.
bdfreetuna
New member
Bolton is just about as dependent on snow as MRG and kind of slow to open terrain IMO too.
How far in advance do you have to pull the trigger?
How far in advance do you have to pull the trigger?
Jully
Active member
Bolton traditionally is that way, but they've actually rented a bunch more capacity this year and plan on pushing terrain.
When you plan on pulling the trigger is very important though. Pretty early on in season you'll be able to see if Bolton is opening any quicker. However I'm not certain Pico will open went faster than BV.
When you plan on pulling the trigger is very important though. Pretty early on in season you'll be able to see if Bolton is opening any quicker. However I'm not certain Pico will open went faster than BV.
Looks like I will need to commit within 30 days. So the Pico/K-ton or MRG/SB has some appeal as we would have a larger, snow making mountain nearby to use as a back up if we have a repeat of last year. Bolton is a little farther for us.
Jully
Active member
Bolton is not much farther than SB, only around 45 minutes. If you want to avoid crowds but still want to be in the MRV / near Sugarbush then BV could be a great option. Can't go wrong with Pico and K though.
steamboat1
New member
You would actually have three options if you decide on the Mad River Valley.
* Sugarbush Lincoln Peak area will likely be the most crowded but will also have the most terrain open if there is a lack of natural snow.
* Sugarbush Mt. Ellen area is kind of like what Pico is to Killington. Less crowded, more laid back but still offers big mountain skiing.
* Mad River Glen, sounds like the OP already knows the deal here.
Yes I consider Lincoln Peak & Mt. Ellen to be separate ski areas not just one named Sugarbush.
* Sugarbush Lincoln Peak area will likely be the most crowded but will also have the most terrain open if there is a lack of natural snow.
* Sugarbush Mt. Ellen area is kind of like what Pico is to Killington. Less crowded, more laid back but still offers big mountain skiing.
* Mad River Glen, sounds like the OP already knows the deal here.
Yes I consider Lincoln Peak & Mt. Ellen to be separate ski areas not just one named Sugarbush.
yeah, this makes a lot of sense.
Smellytele
Well-known member
Waterbury
steamboat1
New member
The only place that could possibly have better conditions out of that bunch if natural snow is lacking is Stowe.
dlague
Active member
As I read all the posts I have to agree with a centralized lodging approach. MRG's snowmaking is limited and does rely on a fair amount of snowfall. Putting all the eggs in one basket is risky around that time of year.
I think I'm still leaning toward the mad river valley and depending on SB if snow is lacking. Trying to keep drive time to around 5 hrs. so stowe is out for us. Could also throw in the last day at K-ton on our way home if SB is lame.
Dying to get the girls to MRG, and this year, this would be our only chance I think. Long shot that the goods will be open for sure, but it is what it is.
Dying to get the girls to MRG, and this year, this would be our only chance I think. Long shot that the goods will be open for sure, but it is what it is.
Jully
Active member
If you really want to go to mrg then I might recommend going there on New Years Day and to SB starting or almost exclusively at Mt Ellen the other times. Mrg crowds will be substantially worse than those you'll encounter at ME
steamboat1
New member
Where are you coming from? If you are driving up I-89 Sugarbush & Stowe are about the same drive time. If you are coming up rte. 100 then Stowe is about 40 min. from the base of the Sugarbush access road.
Jersey. Up 87, cross at whitehall probably, up 22....something like that.
5 might be a pipe dream. Probably ends up being 5.5, But Stowe is always 6-6.5 no matter which route I try. I know it doesn't sound like a big difference, but traveling with the family, and in particular, skiing the last day then driving home, there is a difference between 6.5 and 5.5 in my mind.
Now, that said, we did Stowe last year for an even shorter (2 day) holiday trip after bailing on southern VT, so anything might happen here.
Really sucks living so far from the mountains...
I can make it from NJ (near the Meadowlands) to my condo at Sugarbush in just under 5 hours if there's no traffic and good weather. I agree the extra 45 minutes or so to Stowe makes a big difference though. And coming from NJ it always took me a good 40-45 minutes longer to Stowe as well no matter what I tried.
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