AlpineZone Challenge 2011 Results: Okemo

[Nick]

Okemo Results are in!

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/articles/challenge/2011/response.htm?resort=okemo

Thanks again to Bruce Schmidt and the rest of the team at Okemo for participating.

 

[Philpug]

Wow, The free skiing for the first hour is beg discontinued. I know a lot of people who took advantage of that program, especially mid week pass holders that used it on holidays and weekends.

 

[Nick]

Wow, The free skiing for the first hour is beg discontinued. I know a lot of people who took advantage of that program, especially mid week pass holders that used it on holidays and weekends.

Yeah, that one caught me by surprise.

 

[deadheadskier]

Wow, The free skiing for the first hour is beg discontinued. I know a lot of people who took advantage of that program, especially mid week pass holders that used it on holidays and weekends.

Yeah, that one caught me by surprise.

It's going to catch Ski Magazine readers by surprise to. The free first hour is discussed in Okemo's profile in the resort rankings of the current Resort Review rag.

 

[Newpylong]

Pretty vague answers on a lot of those...

 

[mediamogul]

They gave my question a straight answer.

And that answer was "no". Haha.

The only way I would ski okemo again is they added some more challenge. Heard the bumps were good last year though. My experience has been that they groom to death.

 

[deadheadskier]

Not much Okemo can do to add more challenge. They simply don't have the topography for it. I definitely think it's one of the better mountains in the east for decent bumps. It's not Killington or Sugarbush, but they do tend to have at least a half dozen trails bumped up. Not my favorite, but I have fun when I go.

About the only major improvement I could see Okemo doing is replacing the Northstar with a high speed 6 pack.

 

[Nick]

When I was growing up, Okemo was one of the regular spots we hit. I think a part of it also was the drive was a bit shorter than going all the way to Rutland which helped save on gas / whiney kids in the car.

 

[RENO]

Never been to Okemo. Plan to hit there this season especially since I've been offered a free ticket.

 

[mediamogul]

Not much Okemo can do to add more challenge. They simply don't have the topography for it. I definitely think it's one of the better mountains in the east for decent bumps. It's not Killington or Sugarbush, but they do tend to have at least a half dozen trails bumped up. Not my favorite, but I have fun when I go.

About the only major improvement I could see Okemo doing is replacing the Northstar with a high speed 6 pack.

True story. Not much to work with when it comes to steeps. I recall a couple of decent glades last time I was there. The mountain layout is nice and they sure do move people up it quickly.

 

[2knees]

last spring i was planning on meeting madriverjack at killington for a day of bumps. weather was really iffy that day and jack called from the killington lot and said it was sneeting and overcast and cold and LOUD. As i was going up 103 past okemo, the sun was out there. Convinced jack to bag k and drive south. As it turns out, k never softened and okemo had some really soft mush bumps on sel's.

Steep? god no but waaaay better then skiing frozen death cookies on steep terrain.

 

[bzrperfspec77]

I am relatively a newbie here on AZ, but I have been to Okemo numerous times and enjoyed it. The Jackson Gore side is a lot of fun, as well as a set of glades on the southern side of the mountain (Don't remember the name though). They also always have good deals on Tickets through their Facebook page ($10 in December was sweet last year). I am planning on a couple day trips/sick days outta work to Okemo this year to get some mileage in.

The main reason I joined AZ was to get a bit more of an inside scoop on mountains I have not been to as coming from Western Mass is a long haul when you don't know what you are getting yourself into making the drive North, so the AZ challenge and trip reports are awesome here. Keep up the good work guys.