Mtn loyalist/passholder vs independent/chase the snow week to week.. debate on!!!!

Harvey said:

I have a list of mountains I like to ski spread across NY and VT. I'll pick which ever one of those has the best snow. The drive time is also a consideration.

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This is my yearly strategy now.

This season it's a K season pass and the NYS 3in1. But I'll also go elsewhere to chase good snow.

I don't agree with being a "ski homer" anywhere in the East, especially Mount Snow as "boring."

Everyone is different. End of the day, skiing is about fun and relaxation. Everyone has a different criteria for that. Some folks want great variety and adventure in life and their chosen skiing pursuits reflect that. Others want comfort and routine. There's also a large social component for many.

As primarily a weekend skier, I have my my own criteria of

1. Decent natural snowfall
2. Lots of ungroomed terrain with plenty of challenge
3. Big vertical
4. Decent lifts
5. Manageable crowds
6. Reasonable commute (2.5 hours or less)

Not a lot of places check those boxes in the East from where I live. Wildcat and Cannon are basically it.

I do miss my younger ski bum years at Stowe skiing 100 days a year almost all midweek. I think the midweek product at Stowe is far and away the best overall skiing experience in the East.

But, I'll take Wildcat on a Saturday over Stowe almost every time these days.

To be honest, folks who ski the same somewhat cookie cutter, crowded mega resorts of Southern New England every weekend because of convenience makes a lot more sense to me than those who live in New York metro and travel all over with 5 hour commutes. F that. If I lived down there , I'd probably have a Plattekill pass, ski there 75% of the time and be trying to figure out if better professional opportunities exist in metro Boston or Albany.


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deadheadskier said:

To be honest, folks who ski the same somewhat cookie cutter, crowded mega resorts of Southern New England every weekend because of convenience makes a lot more sense to me than those who live in New York metro and travel all over with 5 hour commutes. F that. If I lived down there , I'd probably have a Plattekill pass, ski there 75% of the time and be trying to figure out if better professional opportunities exist in metro Boston or Albany.

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Wish I could justify a Platty pass but I just can't.

Save for Powder Daize only open 3 days a week. And the season passes are not cheap bearing that in mind.

Especially an issue being a retiree. I need skiing available 7 days a week.

My perspective might be the same Jim as a retiree living in that area. I'd probably buy what you do for passes. I'm more thinking of the Manhattan and northern NJ weekend skiing folks.

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abc said:

Snow chaser here.

So much so I don't even own a place in snow country even though financially I could afford to.

Well, that's for northeast. I feel differently with mountains out west. I had the RMSP and have been going to Copper in Colorado for several years before joining the MAX and now IKON rank. I think the difference is... "a bad day out west still beats a good day in the east". Though not literally, no northeast mountain has even remotely consistent decent condition to be loyal to.

That said, I do venture out of my "home mountain" when condition is hugely different. Last season, for example, I didn't go to Colorado AT ALL. But that was the only season I didn't go to Colorado in the past 10 years.

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A lot of folks here in the mid-Atlantic think like above, because frankly our mtns are pretty puny with often sketchy conditions/weather. But I'm of the mindset that IT'S ALL GOOD and that's coming from someone who's gone through many phases of ski fanaticism over 50+ consecutive seasons.
'67-72 indie snow chaser riding in my parents car.
'72-87 loyalist to Blue Knob, PA and my parents nearby vacation home. I could enjoy skiing this gnarly little 1000' vertical hill for 20 straight days during my college Christmas breaks.
1987-2015 indie snow and terrain chaser skiing all over N. America and a little in the Alps, totaling about 90 different ski areas.
2015-present still skiing some mid-Atlantic areas, but increasingly becoming loyalist to the Rockies with passes to an individual mtn and also multi-resort passes like Epic and MCP.

Bottom line: after skiing all over, it looks I may spend some of my retirement years skiing where thetrailboss skis. He just figured things out about half a lifetime before I did. :smile:

deadheadskier said:

My perspective might be the same Jim as a retiree living in that area. I'd probably buy what you do for passes. I'm more thinking of the Manhattan and northern NJ weekend skiing folks.

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I agree with the your post. But if I were locked into weekend skiing I would still question whether to buy a Platty pass for $685 or a multi area pass like Peaks or the NYS 3in1.

I still get to Platty 3-4 times a season. Love the place, but not $685 worth.

JimG. said:

I agree with the your post. But if I were locked into weekend skiing I would still question whether to buy a Platty pass for $685 or a multi area pass like Peaks or the NYS 3in1.

I still get to Platty 3-4 times a season. Love the place, but not $685 worth.

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I could see that. Perhaps if Bell isn't too crowded. Never skied there. Weekends at Hunter don't really sound like my idea of fun and Mt Snow is just too far from Manhattan

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I chose to live in Hunter NY - for may reasons other than skiing and riding..
Because of this choice I get a Peaks pass.. It serves my lifestyle well.

I love it here. It was a good choice!!

deadheadskier said:

To be honest, folks who ski the same somewhat cookie cutter, crowded mega resorts of Southern New England every weekend because of convenience makes a lot more sense to me than those who live in New York metro and travel all over with 5 hour commutes. F that. If I lived down there , I'd probably have a Plattekill pass, ski there 75% of the time and be trying to figure out if better professional opportunities exist in metro Boston or Albany.

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Boston perhaps. Albany isn't even in the running when it comes to CAREER opportunities. Jobs maybe, not career.

But if one is considering skiing and career, and are free to move, there're a lot wider choices than just the northeast. I would go west and never look back!

"To be honest"

jimk said:

Bottom line: after skiing all over, it looks I may spend some of my retirement years skiing where thetrailboss skis. He just figured things out about half a lifetime before I did.

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Better late than never as they say.

abc said:

Boston perhaps. Albany isn't even in the running when it comes to CAREER opportunities. Jobs maybe, not career.

But if one is considering skiing and career, and are free to move, there're a lot wider choices than just the northeast. I would go west and never look back!

"To be honest"

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I'm sure there are plenty of people with satisfying careers in Albany. Can't be a highly paid, Physician, attorney, engineer etc in Albany? Might not be the quantity of positions as NYC, Boston etc, but those careers are still there.

While the skiing appeals to me more out west than it does in the East, the overall experience of life is better for me in my location than what anywhere out west provides. 100 miles to a top 5 (IMO) ski area in the East, 15 miles to the beach, 12 miles to a great small city in Portsmouth NH, 60 miles to a world class city in Boston, 60 miles to Portland, 40 miles or less to incredible lakes. The diversity and proximity of all that I enjoy in life is unmatched anywhere else in the country compared with my current location.

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deadheadskier said:

I'm sure there are plenty of people with satisfying careers in Albany. Can't be a highly paid, Physician, attorney, engineer etc in Albany? Might not be the quantity of positions as NYC, Boston etc, but those careers are still there.

While the skiing appeals to me more out west than it does in the East, the overall experience of life is better for me in my location than what anywhere out west provides. 100 miles to a top 5 (IMO) ski area in the East, 15 miles to the beach, 12 miles to a great small city in Portsmouth NH, 60 miles to a world class city in Boston, 60 miles to Portland, 40 miles or less to incredible lakes. The diversity and proximity of all that I enjoy in life is unmatched anywhere else in the country compared with my current location.

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Just have to post at it's the rare time I agree 100% with DHS!

Living in Denver you have prickly pear cactus growing in the dusty reddish soil unless you irrigate it. There are no lakes to recreate in except a few ice cold mountain lakes. There are no farm stands selling world class corn, beets, and tomatoes. No smell of freshly cut hay. There is no seashore, no sailing, no fresh seafood, no red maples, and nothing is older than 1880, if that. There are no islands. No regional diversity. Have you heard of Denver Pizza? Didn't think so.

Sure the skiing is great, they're starting to learn how to brew beer, and the Aspen turning gold is a beautiful thing. But by jeezzums, New England has more to offer year round.

Let me throw out a few teasers: Seattle (even better, Vancouver!), Portland, San Francisco...

”lakes to recreate in”? How about OCEANS?

In every aspect of outdoor pursuits, the west beat the east hands down!

What the east shines? INDOOR pursuits. Cultural pursuits. If you wants to sing in Broadway, or even watch, or opera etc. And god help you, if your chosen (or dream) “career” is fashion design!

Try that in Albany! (at least Boston has SOME diversity of career choices)

abc said:

In every aspect of outdoor pursuits, the west beat the east hands down!

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Couldn't disagree more.

But you keep believing that and yes please tell all of your friends.

As a pass holder for the first time ever, I am free to roam on holiday times due to my pass. So I have always chased conditions /storms. Even when conditions aren’t great at the home mountain or after an epic drive I always try to find the silver lining.... one day closer to season count in skis, or I could be working.... there are far worse places to be than skiing, even in bad conditions.

I'm mostly a chaser...but over the course of an 80+ day season, 30-40 is spent as a ski instructor at the world-famous Thunder Ridge, and a slight loyalty to Killington where I'll get 10-20 days a season. But whatever remains is mostly spent chasing.

abc said:

Let me throw out a few teasers: Seattle (even better, Vancouver!), Portland, San Francisco...

”lakes to recreate in”? How about OCEANS?

In every aspect of outdoor pursuits, the west beat the east hands down!

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That's west coast. The west is Rocky Mountains.


We have oceans too.

PS, SF sailing sucks.

abc said:

Let me throw out a few teasers: Seattle (even better, Vancouver!), Portland, San Francisco...

”lakes to recreate in”? How about OCEANS?

In every aspect of outdoor pursuits, the west beat the east hands down!

What the east shines? INDOOR pursuits. Cultural pursuits. If you wants to sing in Broadway, or even watch, or opera etc. And god help you, if your chosen (or dream) “career” is fashion design!

Try that in Albany! (at least Boston has SOME diversity of career choices)

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None of those four cities have better ocean or lake water to recreate in than the Northeast. More scenic? Sure. But the ocean water in San Diego in the summer is as cold as freaking New Hampshire, nevermind those cities you list. The lakes and rivers out west are almost all completely frigid. I'll take the high 70s lake water temp here thank you very much.

San Francisco is a horrible city to live in as a skier, Portland isn't much better. Seattle and more so Vancouver can be great.

But the biggest thing for me is quick access to my outdoor pursuits. I've got everything I want in that regard within two hours and a lot of it 30 minutes or less. I've got everything I want indoor entertainment wise within 90 minutes, often less.

I've lived out west in Colorado, traveled out west extensively for recreation and have worked for companies based in Seattle and San Diego with plenty of exploration in those cities and surrounding areas.

I'll take coastal NH, thanks.

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Since I started this fun thread.... Most of my typical 50-60 days a year are at Mount Snow. Condo is 2:40 from my house in CT, both kids in the race program, GREAT group of friends that I ski and socialize with after skiing who own up at Mount Snow as well. With kids in the race program though, nowadays I typically ski another 10 or so ski areas on race days as well.

As a middle aged guy, with a wife and 2 teenagers who love ski racing (I thank my lucky stars every day that BOTH of my kids LOVE this sport my wife and I love too everyday!) Being a mountain loyalist is perfect for us, and frankly something all 4 in my immediate family enjoy immensely

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New England has it all. Its not the best of anything(except food imo) but its really good for almost anything imaginable. I've got a lot of long term friends back there and of course my family so its pretty hard sometimes. I can see myself doing summers back there at some point vs going to tahoe in the summer. My biggest issues are the weather and bugs. Rockingham county is great for variety.


To the original question I tend to settle in to an area for a few years, learn it and ski the hell out of it and move on to something/somewhere new.

Edit-the lakes all in the sierra are amazing....like really fucking nice!