Ski the East...or not?

NY DirtBag said:

How do your buddies get their legs primed for out west trips if they aren't on the snow before your trips?

You can do all the squats/lunges/box jumps you want but to get good legs time on the hill is needed.

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A lot of them are just damned good...the others may get a few day on the snowchaser trip to Snowbird in December. Me, by the time I hit the west I have 12 day at least at Stowe and Hunter..just skied 6 days straight at JH and my legs were fine..others were totally burnt out. I work out off season and it helps a lot, deadlifts especially but nothing compares to just skiing. And I limit the alcohol consumption over there..altitude is a killer..as many find out

Skiing West is much better than skiing the east. But skiing the east is much better than not skiing. Tougher decision if its 4-5 hours drive though.

tnt1234 said:

That may be, but for me, it's really just the fact that I live in NJ. and every ski day takes a certain amount of commitment on my part. And often that commitment is scoffed at by the conditions.

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Living in NJ isn't a valid excuse. :razz: Even before I had a place in VT I still skied nearly every weekend. I usually had 2-4 weekend trips to VT or the Adirondacks planned each season (Sugarbush, K, Stowe, Gore, Whiteface, etc). I typically planned them in advance and didn't worry too much about the weather. I always found a way to have fun even if conditions weren't optimal. Any weekend I didn't have a trip planned would be a day trip to the Cats. Here you could make a last minute decision if weather didn't look good.

Honestly if I had worried about weather too much, I would have missed one of the best weekends I ever had a number of years ago. I planned a trip a month or so in advance to Sugarbush for St Patrick's weekend. Early in that week that I was going, the weather showed rain for the St Patrick's weekend. I had everything booked so just hoped for the best. Well by Thursday the forecast completely changed and we ended up with 3 feet of snow that weekend. If I had obsessed with the weather and let it dictate my plans I would have backed out and missed an epic weekend.

I also think sometimes people worry about what conditions might be like a little too much. Many times you will find that you can be pleasantly surprised if you just get out and go (this weekend would be a case in point of that...I expected everything to be frozen solid yet that was not the case at all). The first year I had a place in VT I put too much thought into when to go. I learned after that to just go and see what happens.

I could never limit myself when it comes to skiing. 3 hours, 15 minutes gets me to Sugarbush and far less to the I 93 places and/or North Conway. I really enjoy the place that I call home and would really not consider relocation away from friends and Family. I get to ski out west 1 or 2 times a year and that satisfy me enough. Maybe when I retire things will change. But it certainly would be hard to commute and get 50 days out west from my house in MA. To each their own.

In order to live in the east and say "I only ski out west," you've got to either:
a) be able to take the winter off and go wherever with no concern for money, or
b) be satisfied with a couple big trips and that's your ski season.

I'm not in either situation, so that's that.

I feel like there's a disconnect in mindset. I love deep powder, high alpine terrain, and big ticket trips as much as the next person...but we're talking about something you can do most weekends for half of the year. I love taking lots of little weekend road trips. "I bet Aspen is skiing way better today" is just not something that ever crosses my mind.

I have to think most of the people here are 30+ days a year skiers? We live on the East Coast? We do not have endless funds, or days off?

Thus we ski the east. Some of us even happily

And it makes us much better skiers, both because of the # of days out, and because of the conditions and terrain.

If you've got 3 ski trips a year, and the money. Go at it out West. But as mentioned, that's more tourist skiing vs. what we are into. TO each his/her own.....

Skiing the east 30+ days a year is a lifestyle. The rest is frosting on the cake.


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I ski more than 30 days a year for the past 5+ years (already 20+ this year).

I'm a ski tourist. Not the least bit ashamed of that label.

shwilly said:

In order to live in the east and say "I only ski out west," you've got to either:
a) be able to take the winter off and go wherever with no concern for money, or
b) be satisfied with a couple big trips and that's your ski season.

I'm not in either situation, so that's that.

I feel like there's a disconnect in mindset. I love deep powder, high alpine terrain, and big ticket trips as much as the next person...but we're talking about something you can do most weekends for half of the year. I love taking lots of little weekend road trips. "I bet Aspen is skiing way better today" is just not something that ever crosses my mind.

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Not entirely true. I have a friend that works in town here in Boston. He buys tons of round trip tickets from BOS to SLC when they come down in the summer. He does Thursday night flights and comes back on Monday night and skies 30 to 40 days a year at Snowbird. I am sure is costs substantially more than what you or I will spend but he is doing it. He is certainly my role model.

kingslug said:

All in late 40s to 60s. At best they go to killington a few times..they cant believe i drive 5 hours to Stowe every week when im not out west..
Skiing SB,Stowe,Jay..only makes you better

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Spoiled whimps !! We ski Wildcat, BW & The River most weekends....
Plus a Europe trip or maybe some BC Cat skiing (Chatter Creek)

Hawk said:

Not entirely true. I have a friend that works in town here in Boston. He buys tons of round trip tickets from BOS to SLC when they come down in the summer. He does Thursday night flights and comes back on Monday night and skies 30 to 40 days a year at Snowbird. I am sure is costs substantially more than what you or I will spend but he is doing it. He is certainly my role model.

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If I was stuck in a city this would be my play. Southwest flys to SLC from Boston. You can't get from Boston to VT for much less once you pay for gas and wear and tear on your car (Boston to Sugarbush round trip and the IRS rate would cover you for like 320 bucks). You fly enough and you get a buddy ticket for free.

Hotels are a wash.

Travel time is a wash basically.

I'd still hit a couple days back East if I was there, notably spring and fall, but otherwise a couple decent trips would be worth it to me over say an extra 5-10 days back East.

Hawk said:

Not entirely true. I have a friend that works in town here in Boston. He buys tons of round trip tickets from BOS to SLC when they come down in the summer. He does Thursday night flights and comes back on Monday night and skies 30 to 40 days a year at Snowbird. I am sure is costs substantially more than what you or I will spend but he is doing it. He is certainly my role model.

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While I'm initially jealous, the traveling sounds awful. Honestly who wants to deal with airport security every weekend and the hassle of getting to and from boston logan. Not to mention all the lost time waiting for your checked skis on the ski pickup carousel. And it's significantly worse for the environment than me driving NH or Vermont. No thank you, I'll stick to the east coast with a once a year trip out west (although I intend to live out West soon!)

Time in the air vs in a car is near the same. Actual travel time is anything but. Traffic in and out of Logan along with security lines can be insane.

There's a huge pain in the ass factor with flying. That's the number one reason I haven't bothered to head out west in years.



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deadheadskier said:

There's a huge pain in the ass factor with flying. That's the number one reason I haven't bothered to head out west in years.

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I mitigate this as much as possible by intentionally selecting small airports if possible. The difference is dramatic. Cant do that with some locations (SLC for instance), but if you can, it's worth an extra $40 etc.... per ticket.

deadheadskier said:

There's a huge pain in the ass factor with flying.

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Contrast that against driving, when all of those hours you have to keep your eyes on the road. While flying, you can actually just sleep while on the plane!

I often fly back on a red eye. Go straight to the office. Fresh as a daisy.

I've always found Boston to have the shortest security lines of any major airport other than maybe Charlotte. Can usually arrive 90 mins before flight and still have an hour to kill.

SLC was super easy...from the time the plane landed I got my bag from the claim, got my rental car, and drove to Solitude in just over 1 hour. Denver was a lot more time consuming and a pain in the ass not to mention an extra hour from any skiing. While I definitely would never want to fly every single weekend, people make it out to be way worse than it is.

deadheadskier said:

Time in the air vs in a car is near the same. Actual travel time is anything but. Traffic in and out of Logan along with security lines can be insane.

There's a huge pain in the ass factor with flying. That's the number one reason I haven't bothered to head out west in years.



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Yeah, but if you fall asleep flying home, you're not gonna crash your car. Plus, you can drink booze!

Honestly, so many people here live closer to the mountains, and have a flexible schedule. If I could ski frequently mid week and be to a good mountain under two hours....that would be perfect.

Because really, I love so much about the east coast ski scene. Just wish I could score a few more high quality days.

But having said that, I think I only skied 13 days last year, but all but 3 or 4 of them were pretty darn good. And I missed the big spring rally too.

Some of the efforts you guys go to to get in some skiing sounds so stressful to me. I gotta hand it to ya though, some of you sure are dedicated.

I do remember in the early 90’s driving 8 or 9 hours in blizzard snow conditions to get fresh snow at mad river or sugarbush. I’ve been there but I was young and way more fired up then I am now.

Hawk said:

Not entirely true. I have a friend that works in town here in Boston. He buys tons of round trip tickets from BOS to SLC when they come down in the summer. He does Thursday night flights and comes back on Monday night and skies 30 to 40 days a year at Snowbird. I am sure is costs substantially more than what you or I will spend but he is doing it. He is certainly my role model.

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I have to make the assumption this person is single? Which makes me think, how many of us here are single vs. have families in tow? Changes the equation.....

Also, someone mentioned equal time Boston to SLC vs driving North? Some bad math in those calculations when you look at the all in travel time.