24-25 TG Killington or Sunday River?

[FuSion.]

Need some help on history thanksgiving conditions on Sunday River.
Killington has been offering only peak area and maybe 1/2 rundowns for the last two years. Not really thinking going again.
Any suggestion on other mountains that might have better conditions in New England?
Stowe/Okemo/Sunday River/Sugarloaf?
Just looking for pre-season rundowns with less people possible.

 

[thebigo]

Spent the long thanksgiving weekend at SR last three seasons. Last year it was lollapalooza, Excalibur, rogue plus the loop over to aurora. They also offered upper locke to the general public after race training was done. Of course they were still finishing barker last year.

Not sure about K but remember comparing open acreage and SR being significantly ahead. Think K may still have been on the staircase but would have to search older posts. WC requires significant early season resources.

 

[deadheadskier]

Just book week of that time of year. There's no real price advantage booking now.

 

[chuckstah]

I usually like the product at Loon on TG weekend. If anyone has a decent amount of terrain open, Loon usually will. Having Epic now and not the NE pass I went to Okemo last season, Monday after TG I think. It was 3 top to bottom runs off the main 6 bubble lift, with another 2-3 routes to the bottom open for beginners off the base area quad. 6-7 inches of new snow didn't hurt the conditions.

 

[thetrailboss]

Seems a bit early to know which will be better. Just MHO.

 

[FuSion.]

Just book week of that time of year. There's no real price advantage booking now.

totally agree. Just need some name to tell my friends where we are going to start planning. Also K is 4hr driving SR is about 7hr from NYC.... Not sure if its gonna worth it.

 

[FuSion.]

I usually like the product at Loon on TG weekend. If anyone has a decent amount of terrain open, Loon usually will. Having Epic now and not the NE pass I went to Okemo last season, Monday after TG I think. It was 3 top to bottom runs off the main 6 bubble lift, with another 2-3 routes to the bottom open for beginners off View attachment 63317the base area quad. 6-7 inches of new snow didn't hurt the conditions.

Okemo is my first mountain in the US and also my fav. I think one year during covid Okemo had better conditions than Killington in TG break. Usually they work hard to get the top-bot rundown before or at least during one of the days in TG. However I switched from Epic to Ikon for trips to Utah last year.
One thing I like the most about Okemo, if you are travelling mid-season when the backside (jackson-gore village) of the mountain is open. The village lodging is really awesome. and there are far less people for the lift to the top than the sunburst six in main face.

 

[deadheadskier]

totally agree. Just need some name to tell my friends where we are going to start planning. Also K is 4hr driving SR is about 7hr from NYC.... Not sure if its gonna worth it.

Definitely won't be short of a natural snow event. Are you buying day tickets? I ask because you list some Epic places and some iKon

 

[Zand]

If anything in Vermont, Okemo would probably be your best bet. Killington will pull ahead in mid December but the World Cup holds back terrain expansion for Thanksgiving.

Ultimately SR is probably your best bet in an average winter. Sometimes if the early season weather is more fickle Maine might not be as dependable.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i booked a non-committal room near wrj and intend to ski some mix of sugarbush killington and stratton for 2 days

 

[Hawk]

Hard to say. Killington is usually pretty crowded that weekend with the race. If we have a cold run up to that stretch usually Sunday River is pretty good. Stowe also has upped thier production.

 

[ss20]

ss20's total left field suggestion- if all of the Northeast is lacking natural snow at that point (likely)... and you're coming from NYC... consider Jiminy Peak in Mass. They do a nice early season product as long as they can get a decent cold stretch. They can move a crapload of water. Slopeside lodging (used to be pretty reasonably priced early season) and a much shorter drive than ME/NH/or much of VT. Save the $$ and your drive time for when the snow actually flies.

 

[skiur]

Hard to say. Killington is usually pretty crowded that weekend with the race. If we have a cold run up to that stretch usually Sunday River is pretty good. Stowe also has upped thier production.

Killington parking lots are crowded during the world cup but the lifts and trails normally are not. Lifts and trails are empty while races are going on and not that bad in between races. But yes, the parking sucks big time and you will be taking a shuttle to k1. I personally stay home that weekend. No interest in going to any ski resort during Thanksgiving.

 

[deadheadskier]

I typically have stayed away from K until mid December for the reasons already outlined. The one exception is if I really want to ski some bumps. Killington typically can have some bumps to be found early season while the rest of the early season players rarely do unless it snows.

 

[Hawk]

I was there two years ago on Race weekend and waited in 1/2 hour long lines in the morning at the upper lift. It got better after lunch.

 

[machski]

Spent the long thanksgiving weekend at SR last three seasons. Last year it was lollapalooza, Excalibur, rogue plus the loop over to aurora. They also offered upper locke to the general public after race training was done. Of course they were still finishing barker last year.

Not sure about K but remember comparing open acreage and SR being significantly ahead. Think K may still have been on the staircase but would have to search older posts. WC requires significant early season resources.

Yes, and I expect we start in Jordan again this season at SR. One big difference shold be this is season 2 with the new western water feed. Last year when they started snowmaking in earnest, they had the new feed fail and had to go with the old feed as a backup for almost a week stretch out of the gate. That meant only Lolla and the upper half of Rogue could get snow at once. Had they not have had that failure, we likely would have been skiing/riding all 3 Jordan runs day 1 instead of just Lolla and a super thin runout on Rogue. Also, fall line construction just posted that they recently finished running new pipes up Cyclone to the Aludra extension in Aurora. Many were surprised they didn't get that route going very early and I had heard that line might have been a bit problematic. If so, that should be resolved now.

So if we have similar weather this year, I would bet SR will be skiing quite a bit more terrain by TGW. At least into Aurora and probably out to the peak lodge at a minimum. Then they can Chondi up/down too from the East and main base side at a minimum.

 

[letitsnow1]

However I switched from Epic to Ikon for trips to Utah last year.

Stratton is a good option if you have ikon

 

[AdironRider]

I’ll be straight lining the jet up at Jay. Might get lucky and some more open.

 

[deadheadskier]

Yes, and I expect we start in Jordan again this season at SR. One big difference shold be this is season 2 with the new western water feed. Last year when they started snowmaking in earnest, they had the new feed fail and had to go with the old feed as a backup for almost a week stretch out of the gate. That meant only Lolla and the upper half of Rogue could get snow at once. Had they not have had that failure, we likely would have been skiing/riding all 3 Jordan runs day 1 instead of just Lolla and a super thin runout on Rogue. Also, fall line construction just posted that they recently finished running new pipes up Cyclone to the Aludra extension in Aurora. Many were surprised they didn't get that route going very early and I had heard that line might have been a bit problematic. If so, that should be resolved now.

So if we have similar weather this year, I would bet SR will be skiing quite a bit more terrain by TGW. At least into Aurora and probably out to the peak lodge at a minimum. Then they can Chondi up/down too from the East and main base side at a minimum.

Is the plan going to always be to go from the West / Jordan moving forward? It's better terrain, but obviously takes more coverage than a quick early season hit on T2 and running Locked. I thought they were only doing it last year because of Barker replacement.

 

[bigbob]

Is the plan going to always be to go from the West / Jordan moving forward? It's better terrain, but obviously takes more coverage than a quick early season hit on T2 and running Locked. I thought they were only doing it last year because of Barker replacement.

I think it is a lock with the addition of the new bathrooms to start at Jordon moving forward.