3 most personally overrated ski areas you have skied.

[skiMEbike]

Very true. I went there this year with extremely low expectations, and I was still disappointed.

I think the most frustrating part is that it could be a real great area. Much like the discussion about Stowe having a thriving ski culture underneath the glitz and $$, with Loon could be the same with Lincoln. There are lots of small things they could do on the mountain that would improve the experience for advanced/expert skiers without ruining the cash cow that they have now.

Oh well, maybe it's just as well with Cannon right up the road.

Same here. Agree Lincoln has the potential for being a great ski town...the only problem it's lacking a real mountain (sans Cannon). I had an interesting run in/conversation with ski patrol (I'll save the details for my trip report)....It's one thing to not have the topography to offer up any interesting/challenging terrain, but to have an attitude or philosophy that supports that mantra is kind of ridiculous.

 

[Domeskier]

I'm not sure where you're trying to go with this. I do know some trust fund ski bums in town for sure. I also know plenty of cooks, nurses, school teachers, real estate sales people, tradesmen etc. that moved there after college and still live in town. I know waiters in their 40s and 50s with Masters degrees. Look up the college education rates in town if you're so inclined. Often they live in Morrisville or Waterbury as the real estate in town is out of reach, however the draw is Mount Mansfield.

I guess I don't consider contributing members of society to be ski bums. When I think of ski bums, I think of jobless ski-bros living off the largess of their indifferent Bogner-wearing parents. I'd rather not hang out with either group. But then again, I might belong at MRG based on VTK's assessment....

 

[abc]

Actually, Stowe is no doubt the Aspen of the east. Terrain, snow, infrastructure. What more does anyone want? To have that in the cheap and NOT seeing any rich folks that pay the bills, right? Yeah...

The college educated ski bums knows enough to pamper the rich which in turn support their own snow addiction. If you have trouble understand that, sorry, it just shows you're not too smart.

But you can always try a more blue collared place like...Waterville!

 

[deadheadskier]

I guess I don't consider contributing members of society to be ski bums. When I think of ski bums, I think of jobless ski-bros living off the largess of their indifferent Bogner-wearing parents. I'd rather not hang out with either group. But then again, I might belong at MRG based on VTK's assessment....

Most of the aforementioned started in town that way. Crappy seasonal job, a ski pass and a couch to crash on. The pros figured out how to stay and eek out a decent quality of life.

 

[Scruffy]

People are entitled to their opinion, it's just hard to overrate Mount Mansfield. Best combination of terrain and snow in New England. Off map opportunities are so vast and easy to get to. Really bummed I missed out on skiing there this season.

You hit at the heart of the matter with a thread like this; judging a mountain's rating is all about the perception of the the skier/rider.
If you're a groomer queen, you'll have a perception that a mountain is over/underrated that is vastly different than someone who can actually ski every line, in and out of bounds, on any given day, with aplomb.

 

[VTKilarney]

Blah blah blah

Identifying a ski area as compatible with a particular handicap is idiotic. By extrapolation you are an idiot.

Aren't you the person who said, "You'd be happy at a place that caters to retards."

I don't mind vigorous debate, but when you insist on keeping it in the gutter you aren't exactly dissuading me of my opinion of MRG.

 

[hammer]

Seems like Sunday River gets a lot of knocks on this thread, guess I'll have to tell you if I agree after going there later this week...

Not sure if I would call any area I've been to overrated. I've been to places where I don't care if I go back again, but in most cases each of those ski areas seemed to cater to their expected customers.

 

[boston_e]

Seems like Sunday River gets a lot of knocks on this thread, guess I'll have to tell you if I agree after going there later this week...

Not sure if I would call any area I've been to overrated. I've been to places where I don't care if I go back again, but in most cases each of those ski areas seemed to cater to their expected customers.

Sunday River, like Killington can be hard to navigate. I've had some great days there. I can see how people would think of each as overrated if they have only been there a couple or few times (especially without a good guide).

 

[VTKilarney]

I included Sunday River not because it is a bad ski area - but because it is way overhyped. I am sure that you will have a fine time there.

 

[MMP]

Aren't you the person who said, "You'd be happy at a place that caters to retards."

I don't mind vigorous debate, but when you insist on keeping it in the gutter you aren't exactly dissuading me of my opinion of MRG.

since you aren't too smart; I was using an absurdity to highlight your absurdity. And since reading comprehension isn't a core competency of yours, I never said anything about MRG. But that you don't like it does speak volumes.

 

[VTKilarney]

since you aren't too smart; I was using an absurdity to highlight your absurdity. And since reading comprehension isn't a core competency of yours, I never said anything about MRG. But that you don't like it does speak volumes.

With just a handful in f posts you sure know how to make an impression.

Peace.


.

 

[hammer]

I included Sunday River not because it is a bad ski area - but because it is way overhyped. I am sure that you will have a fine time there.

Understand. Guess I wonder what is overhyped about it...guess from what I've read/heard it's a more intermediate-friendly version of Killington (which I enjoyed on my one trip there despite crowds and less than ideal weather and conditions).

It is interesting to read others' opinions...for example, if I were to just base my opinions of Deer Valley on what I've read here I'd actually call it underrated, but I'm not an advanced skier so what I like about a ski area doesn't mesh with many others here.

 

[MMP]

With just a handful in f posts you sure know how to make an impression.

Peace.


.

you had me at "autism spectrum"

 

[St. Bear]

Well, this thread is going about as well as can be expected.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Sunday River - boasting about 7 peaks sounds awesome until you realize it takes a load of traverse runs and almost every lift to get from one side of the resort to the other. I never had extremely high expectations but always thought of SR as a more challenging place than what I actually discovered, yeah White Heat is steep but it lasts all of 10 seconds.. overall too crowded, too difficult to navigate and not enough vertical drop.

I'd also like to briefly defend Jay, I've been up there a bunch of times and never had a bad experience. There's pretty good trail selection, excellent glades and they normally get plentiful amounts of decent quality snow. I've only been on weekends but its never been overly crowded. I also think the headwall chutes and out-of-bounds/side-country areas Jay has are neat features because most places on the east coast don't offer these types of terrain.

 

[deadheadskier]

Well, this thread is going about as well as can be expected.

Overrated = your favorite resort.

Not overrated = my favorite resort

 

[Cannonball]

2. Killington VT
The place is huge for East coast standards. Whenever I ski there I feel I spend the entire day trying to get somewhere, not actually enjoying the place. I am sure with a local it could be great, but as a visitor I have never been able to figure out them place.

Sunday River: very fun mountain but the place sucks to navigate.

1. Another vote for Killington. Bigger does not mean better. Seems like you spend more time on runs that connect a bunch of mid sized ski areas.

Sunday River, like Killington can be hard to navigate.

Sunday River - boasting about 7 peaks sounds awesome until you realize it takes a load of traverse runs and almost every lift to get from one side of the resort to the other.

Pretty common theme running here: big (wide) resorts are hard to navigate and require a lot of traversing. That will certainly be your impression if you try to ski the whole mountain in a day. Tip: don't do that. Just because there are a lot of peaks doesn't mean to have to ski a lot of peaks. Look at the map, identify some terrain that looks interesting to you, and stick with it all day.

I can't think of a resort I've been to that felt overrated.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Bland is not a word used to describe Stowe. Save that for Okemo.

Yeah, I have zero problems with folks criticizing Stowe or having various XYZ opinions on mountains, but the logic was completely bizarre.

Saying Killington has great terrain but Stowe's is bland, and that he prefers Bolton to Stowe is not an "opinion", it's an uninformed state. There might be 100 reasons to perhaps hate the Lamborghini Gallardo, but saying it's "too slow" is certainly not one of them.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

I have my qualms with Stowe, but it is a true skier's mountain. If you think it's bland you either haven't really explored it, or don't have the skill and/or balls to hit the expert stuff which is, IMO, some of the best in New England.

^this.

 

[Abominable]

Pretty common theme running here: big (wide) resorts are hard to navigate and require a lot of traversing. That will certainly be your impression if you try to ski the whole mountain in a day. Tip: don't do that. Just because there are a lot of peaks doesn't mean to have to ski a lot of peaks. Look at the map, identify some terrain that looks interesting to you, and stick with it all day.

I went to SR once a couple years ago, for a couple days. First day we tried to 'explore' - ski the whole mountain. Tremendous waste of time and too much traversing. For the rest of the trip we skied pods. Morning at Jordan Bowl, skied our tails off that and Oz, back to truck and drive down to Whitecap lodge for beers in the sun and steep groomers. So I can see how it might be overrated if you think all that acreage translates into vertical. But still a fun place with lots of variety.