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Lodges

ss20

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It is always amusing to me about people complaining about the state of their mountain's ski lodge. I'm primarily a Killington skier, so I hear a lot of comments about ski lodge inadequacies. But not too many mountains that I can name have great lodge setups with adequate capacity for weekends, even new ones like Lincoln Peak base lodges at Sugarbush, or the Roundhouse at Stowe's Spruce side.

The truth is most lodges were built in the 60s to handle 1,000 skiers a day and gradually pieced together through the following decades as skier visits increased. Prime examples being Mount Snow's main base, South Ridge at Sunday River, Okemo's base lodge, Stratton's base lodge, and Killington's Snowshed and K1 lodges.


So I guess my question is...who LIKES their lodge???
 

legalskier

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The only lodge I know that meets your standard of ''great lodge setups with adequate capacity for weekends'' would be Gore's base lodge which has large rooms in the back & the basement that absorb crowds really well, not to mention the huge patio in front with scores of picnic tables. But I don't go by that standard as I don't use the lodges during peak times, and on the worst weekends I'll look for a subsidiary lodge, like Gore's mid-mountain Saddle Lodge (which was just expanded with a full second floor) or Hunter's Summit Lodge or Belle's Sunset Lodge.
My favorite of all is Belle's Overlook Lodge which isn't very big but has an Adirondack ambience with the huge locally-sourced wooden beams, roaring fireplaces with leather cushion chairs and nice deck outside. The additions/changes they've made over the decades work well. I've been going there since I was little. The only other lodge I've been to that comes close to that ambiance is Sunspot at Winter Park. Blue Mountain in Pa. has 2 roomy lodges that can absorb a lot of visitors though I can't really judge as I rarely ski there on weekends.
 

Ol Dirty Noodle

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I was just gonna second Overlook, I don’t really use the lodge outside of the bar and patio most places, Smuggs Black Bear Tavern at the Maddonna lodge is great too.
 

BenedictGomez

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In terms of niceness?

I've skied about 35 different places in my life, and my rankings from those would be:

1) Snowbasin
2) Deer Valley
3) Stowe (Spruce only, Mansfield is an aged relic)
4) Everyone else
 

thetrailboss

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It is always amusing to me about people complaining about the state of their mountain's ski lodge. I'm primarily a Killington skier, so I hear a lot of comments about ski lodge inadequacies. But not too many mountains that I can name have great lodge setups with adequate capacity for weekends, even new ones like Lincoln Peak base lodges at Sugarbush, or the Roundhouse at Stowe's Spruce side.

The truth is most lodges were built in the 60s to handle 1,000 skiers a day and gradually pieced together through the following decades as skier visits increased. Prime examples being Mount Snow's main base, South Ridge at Sunday River, Okemo's base lodge, Stratton's base lodge, and Killington's Snowshed and K1 lodges.


So I guess my question is...who LIKES their lodge???

Very true. KBL is coming down soon. I never thought it was "that" bad.

Mid Burke is pretty retro. The Bear Den is awesome.

I always thought that the Sugarbush North Lodge was fine. A lot of stairs, but oh well.
 

heiusa

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Killington is my home mountain but I have skied at every mountain in VT, every area in NJ, the Catskills, and most areas out west. I personally don’t care about the lodges as long as they have food, a place to sit, and clean restrooms. I start my day at 8am, eat lunch at 11am and finish by 3pm, this way I avoid the crowds. I have no issues with the base lodges at Killington and do like the Peak lodge. I would rather they invest money on the mountain experience and not the lodges. Give me good snow and good lifts, I don’t spend much time in the lodges.
 

thetrailboss

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In terms of niceness?

I've skied about 35 different places in my life, and my rankings from those would be:

1) Snowbasin
2) Deer Valley
3) Stowe (Spruce only, Mansfield is an aged relic)
4) Everyone else

Got to agree with those. Snowbasin's lodges are identical to those at Sun Valley (same owner).

Sunapee's newer lodge is pretty nice.

And, as odd as it sounds, I recall Pats Peak having decent lodges as well. Very clean at least.
 

Newpylong

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All of the K lodges excluding Peak and Skyeship are long in the tooth, but there are so many (and other on-hill eateries) that when it is busy and you know how to move around, no big deal.

Ragged's lodge is rather nice and well sized as is the Skiway's.

Whaleback's lodge while rustic is undersized. Oftentimes the size of the events are limited due to inadequate space.
 

deadheadskier

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All of the K lodges excluding Peak and Skyeship are long in the tooth, but there are so many (and other on-hill eateries) that when it is busy and you know how to move around, no big deal.

Ragged's lodge is rather nice and well sized as is the Skiway's.

Whaleback's lodge while rustic is undersized. Oftentimes the size of the events are limited due to inadequate space.
Raggeds is WAY undersized and understaffed to handle the crowds they now get on weekends since they introduced cheap passes. It's the number one complaint about the place now.

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deadheadskier

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Aesthetically it's one of the absolute worst, but in terms of functionality, Crotched is about as good as it gets in terms of handling crowds. Even on the busiest days, I can find a table in the lodge, a cubby for my gear, reasonable wait at the bar etc.

In terms of lodges that both look very nice and function well, I'd put Bretton Woods base lodge near the top of the list.

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Edd

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BWs lodge is great. Looks nice and works very well.

Saddleback is up there too.


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Newpylong

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Raggeds is WAY undersized and understaffed to handle the crowds they now get on weekends since they introduced cheap passes. It's the number one complaint about the place now.

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This was my second pass there now as part of "Mission Affordable" and in my opinion, the lodge is no busier than anywhere else on the weekend. The Stone Hearth is the one area that can get backed up but they've largely figured out the growing pains since 2016.
 
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deadheadskier

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That is a large assertion. This was my second pass there now as part of "Mission Affordable" and in my opinion, the lodge is no busier than anywhere else on the weekend. The Stone Hearth is the one area that can get backed up but they've largely figured out the growing pains since 2016.
Been a couple forum members here stating they are not renewing their pass there with the lodge overcrowding and slow service at all food outlets including the cafeteria being the specific reason.

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Boxtop Willie

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State of the art... Snowbasin, Deer Valley
Throwback...Mt. Ellen, MRG
All work for me.
 

snoseek

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That lodge rebuild at saddleback....oh wait nevermind.
 

jimk

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Aesthetically and functionally I really liked the lodge at Lake Louise. It's big and rambling, but has several "great rooms" with huge, impressive beams, sort of like a Deer Valley lodge for the everyman. They made announcements in the dining area to not leave your stuff on the tables so that others could use them. A good percentage of the patrons brought their own elaborate lunch spreads and ate them in the dining room and nothing was said against it. It was commonly accepted practice. They offered an extensive section of cubbies/shelves for everyone to stash their stuff during the day and they were free. A picture is worth a thousands words about how beautiful this lodge and setting is. Not my photo:
ImageGen.ashx



Nearby Mt. Norquay lodge was a mini version of above in many ways.
 
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Vaughn

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Clearly it's Cannnon

Granted, I don't ski at that many areas but unlike Waterville, Magic and Bretton Woods, Cannon has the bathrooms on the main floor so I don't have to walk up and down stairs in ski boots so it's the winner.

Waterville is expanding their lodge which is great because it was always too crowded with all the racer families. Cannon could really use some more space because it gets packed but I can't imagine that happening given the ownership.
 

machski

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South Ridge Lodge at SR is not bad, would be nice if the overflow room was on the same level/grade with the main Lodge, but not too bad. Would also be nice if they could use the open space up stairs to expand the Goggle. Peak lodge is ok, but with Mountain room using space, can feel very small on weekends.

Now Barker, that needs to just be torn down and started over. A good vision for parking up there too, like at least a single or double level parking structure given the space constraints. Of course given Boyne's willingness to spend outside of Big Sky, this is a pipe dream.

I like Sugarbush's setup at South, it can be a bit small on peak weekends, but it is very nice and well done. Love the large, bag storage room with the changing rooms available. Wish every mountain had this.

At K, love the Peak Lodge. Don't ski many weekends there so midweek it is fine, but I'm sure the originally planned double level lodge would have been appreciated. The new KBL is long overdue and should be a nice addition. Wonder if FIS partially drove this? Bear could use some work, but it's not an awful lodge. Skyeship works pretty well, but would be nice if between the Skyeship and the Lodge entrance, the covered roof didn't rain down on you. Never use Ramshead or Snowshed so have no opinion on either.

Most times at Loon I go to South and again, rarely on a weekend. The "Tent" is getting old, would be nice to see Boyne finally finish the South Peak vision and build out the true Base by the bridge. They did some minor renovation work at Octagon this past summer, especially on the bar level. That could definitely be bigger as could Governor Adams. Always liked the feel of Camp 3, hit that up most often when at Loon and it is open (they alternate midweek days between it and the summit cafe).

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