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Mlk

Hillwalker95

Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2020
Messages
50
Points
8
Anyone that skis somewhat regularly should have been able to identify ahead of time that today was going to be super crowded everywhere. Holiday weekend, 6"+ fresh snowfall everywhere, a lot of bad prior weekends causing pent up demand, of course it was going to be a sh!t show at some places.

Sunapee was the most crowded I have ever seen it today. Got on road at 5:30 for what is normally a 1:40 minute drive to try to get there in time for first chair, but highways were not plowed well and got stuck behind plows going 25mph on rte 3 leading to me not arriving to the Sunapee access road (which was already backed up with cars) until 7:40. The main Sunapee lot was already 2/3 full and I could already see about 30 people waiting in line for North Peak before I could get out of my car, so much for first chair.

Place was super crowded as expected but using singles line (which really was never longer than about 10 minutes) got 20 runs in by 2:30 when I quit. In contrast to reports of the Mount Snow employees, the Sunapee employees all seemed to be working hard and helping control the crowds as much as possible. Lift line management was good with every chair going up full. Talking with people on the lifts it sounds as if Sunapee like Stowe and Mount Snow also had a parking traffic jam mid morning when all 3 main lots were full and they started sending people to the lake beach parking lot. I knew it was going to be crazy crowded but also knew to get there early and ended up having a really nice day, no complaints on my end (except for the poor highway plowing).

Agree with this - we also used Singles line and it was manageable and the employees had a good, helpful attitude which makes a big difference. The Sunapee Express was chock-a-block all day, but Sunbowl Express and the Triple were a bit better - I did some runs on the former after 2pm where I was straight on the lift. Conditions were fairly good - nice cover of snow, but decidedly icy underneath.

Okemo on Sat was similar - Sunburst Six was beyond a shit show (and was out of commission for nearly 20 mins in the morn) but the others were better - Solitude as ever lived up to its name and was never more than a 5 min wait in Singles; and a bit more in main line.
 

snoseek

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 7, 2006
Messages
6,289
Points
113
Location
NH
Are you back in nh? Last I remember you were in Tahoe?

I was in Tahoe then switched up to alta last winter then fucked up and got a girlfriend back here over summer. I'll see what happens next winter....
 

cdskier

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
6,483
Points
113
Location
NJ
Don’t underestimate the effect the recent poor skiing has had on us diehards. I am sure some of us went out this weekend because of finally having good snow whereas we would usually sit out MLK.

Yup...I sometimes sit out MLK, but wasn't about to this year. Also the first year I've actually had MLK day off, so made sense to go skiing. Crowded? Sure. But I still skied as much as my legs could handle. Only thing less crowds would have done is maybe made some trails stay a little powdery longer.
 

slatham

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2012
Messages
2,434
Points
83
Location
LI/Bromley
Skied Bromley and Magic today and thank god the lemmings are lemmings and followed each other home. Blue bird day. The snow set nicely and was groomed to perfection. Ski on. No trail traffic. Just a great day. Can't believe people dealt with the crowd situation on Saturday and Sunday and then bailed, missing the possibly the best day of the weekend (minus the 1 hour of powder shots on Sunday that probably hold the winning hour of the weekend).
 

Smellytele

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Messages
9,937
Points
113
Location
Right where I want to be
If the ski areas were half as packed as I saw route 91 this late afternoon I am glad I didn't ski this weekend. The southbound traffic was bumper to bumper barely moving (if at all) from Hartford up to Amherst.
 

abc

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
5,852
Points
113
Location
Lower Hudson Valley
If the ski areas were half as packed as I saw route 91 this late afternoon I am glad I didn't ski this weekend. The southbound traffic was bumper to bumper barely moving (if at all) from Hartford up to Amherst.
I’m glad I’m taking Tuesday off so didn’t have to head home today. Would had been stuck in the traffic at 91.

Here at North Conway this morning, there’s still more traffic heading north than heading south. So a lot of people are still skiing today. (Bitterly cold and windy as hell up here)
 

jaytrem

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
1,990
Points
83
I can vouch for that...took me 45 minutes longer than usual to get home from VT.

What time did you get on? Was fine when I got on a bit after 6 in Albany. Smooth sailing until just before the tool booths, then it was just slow for a few miles. Total drive time was 12 minute less than the initial Waze prediction, about 22 in reality since we stopped for about 10 minutes at dunkin donuts.
 

cdskier

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
6,483
Points
113
Location
NJ
What time did you get on? Was fine when I got on a bit after 6 in Albany. Smooth sailing until just before the tool booths, then it was just slow for a few miles. Total drive time was 12 minute less than the initial Waze prediction, about 22 in reality since we stopped for about 10 minutes at dunkin donuts.

I think I hit the Catskill area around 4 or 4:30 (which is pretty typical for me as I usually ski the morning and leave VT around noon). There was stop and go traffic from north of Kingston all the way until a little before the tolls in Harriman. I lost about 10 minutes or so per exit from 19 on...
 

KustyTheKlown

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
5,405
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn
i flew home from burke on sunday. stopped skiing at 1:45. changed clothes and pulled out of lot at 2:00. stopped at the coffee place at the access road. truly on the road at 2:10, parked in the next neighborhood over from me in a parking spot that is good til next monday at 7:20, cab dropped me at my apartment 7:30. love skiing 20k and being home for dinner.
 

BenedictGomez

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 26, 2011
Messages
12,174
Points
113
Location
Wasatch Back
I can vouch for that...took me 45 minutes longer than usual to get home from VT.

That's not horrendous for a holiday weekend. Thanksgiving sometimes takes an hour or 1.5 hours longer than usual to get home from VT. I've just accepted it at this point.
 

machski

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
3,721
Points
113
Location
Northwood, NH (Sunday River, ME)
So, Sunday River was not mad house this weekend. Sure, some lifts had lines (Jordan on Saturday which I would have avoided if Oz Quad didn't act up on its day 1 then Oz on Sunday with an electric power issue affecting Jordan in the morning) but all in all as usual, easy to find a lift or area with minimal to no wait. Coming home on 93 through Concord and the NH tolls took a bit. Really hope if the state widens 93 through Concord, they widen the electronic toll lanes to three a side first.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using AlpineZone mobile app
 

cdskier

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
6,483
Points
113
Location
NJ
When is NY going to expand 87 to 3 lanes? Seems crazy to me that's it's still two lanes up to Albany

I ask this same question all the time...Very bizarre to have such a major north/south route out of the NY metro area still only be 2 lanes for that distance for all these years.
 
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