Anybody else holding back this year?

[cdskier]

Living in NH makes day trips easier! There are about 30-40 ski areas that are just over 2 hours or less from where I live.

Nice! 2 hours or so gets me as far north as the Catskills. Southern VT is a minimum of about 3.5 hours. With situations like yours I can definitely see why you would go the voucher/discount ticket route and keep your options open for skiing many different areas.

 

[abc]

You get the "on-mountain" feel without the on mountain price.

On mountain lodging has one big advantage when carpooling multiple adults are involved. Sometimes, one adult simply wants to quit early and go do something else (like read for the rest of the day). What we've done that sort of works was for the early quitter to just drive back to the motel, shower and what not. But come pick us up at the end of the day. It beats him having to sit in the base lodge for a couple hours waiting for the rest of the car load of people to finish skiing.

I don't do too much of that kind of overnight trip, because the logistic gets a bit messy. That's when I typically go for on mountain lodging. With enough people to fill a condo, it actually work out just as well cost-wise too.

 

[dlague]

Early skiing is Party Mountain - it is a mind set!

 

[jimk]

I'm at about the number of days I should be at. Yesterday was my 14th day on snow. 13 at Stowe, one for my race league.

Precisely one of those days was abysmal; I was at Stowe the day after a rain event and it was like trying to ski on marble. Except marble would have been softer.

At any rate... Maybe I have a warped idea of "ok conditions", but I've had fun all 14 days. Yes, I'd like the woods to be open, and yes, I'd like there to be a bump run somewhere, and yes, this weather is frustrating... But my legs give out before I get bored.

I'm probably more of a technique junky than most are, but our limited terrain has been great for working on things. Nothing that's open is challenging, but I try to make it challenging by skiing it as well as I can. Will 250k (and counting) of "practice vertical" pay off at some point? I guess we'll find out.

I also would be bored out of my mind doing nothing on the weekends. I don't know how I'd pass the time if I wasn't skiing.

Kevin is CORE. See you in Aspen.

The first time I heard the saying of "a bad day out west still beats a good day in the east", I was a bit angry, because it was from my buddy who had moved west. I thought "you don't really need to rub it in!". But by the end of the week (free lodging courtesy of his & his wife's hospitality), I couldn't help but to realize he spoke the truth! Their home mountain wasn't even the best mountain of the west. But it was head and shoulder above the best of the east both in terms of skiable terrain and level of challenge. As for snow quality, well, let's just say there's no point in comparing)


In my case, it definitely NOT a drop in passion. I ski more days now than I did 10 years ago, if only because I have the time and spare coin.

But spoiled? You bet! Having skied the much better condition out west even in their "bad years", I'm really not too motivated to waste much of my time/money to ski WROD of the east.

I love all skiing including banana belt version down here in mid-Atlantic which makes New England the friggin' bomb. We ski what we can! Having said that, I spent 9 weeks out west last winter skiing and the coldest weather was a couple single digit mornings at Jackson Hole, but the sun came out and I still dressed lighter than an average day in the East. I guess that's the good, better and best of it.:flag:

 

[Warp Daddy]

Had hip replacement done Mid October , LOOKS like it was the RIGHT year to miss skiing .

 

[jimk]

Had hip replacement done Mid October , LOOKS like it was the RIGHT year to miss skiing .

You're a glass half full kind of guy!

 

[Mariewatson777]

This year I have raced two days at Attitash. I am going to Gunstock on MLK day. I have held back because of some of the conditions and the low snow amounts!

 

[Whitey]

Sitting out another round. Was going to day trip today (Sunday) but what I saw on Friday and the lack of delivery from the Saturday storm caused me to stay home. Crowds & money combined with uninteresting terrain = whitey is home making Sunday breakfast instead of skiing

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

Sitting out another round. Was going to day trip today (Sunday) but what I saw on Friday and the lack of delivery from the Saturday storm caused me to stay home. Crowds & money combined with uninteresting terrain = whitey is home making Sunday breakfast instead of skiing

Brownie points so you can escape on a Pow day.

 

[Whitey]

Brownie points so you can escape on a Pow day.

That and the spread I just threw at the family; eggs, bacon & sausage, home fries, & fresh squeezed OJ. Sadly, it would have made one hell of a "pre-skiing breakfast". . .

Now its a "stack firewood & clean the garage" kind of breakfast.

 

[abc]

I'm sitting at home second guessing myself.

I had an invitation to ski Sugarloaf, free lodging and possibly some sort of deal at lift ticket. But it's a freagging 8 hr drive, going THROUGH that snow/rain line in the process!

On the other hand, it's a 3 day weekend and, had I hustle, I could have driven up to Boston Friday night and crash at a friend's place for the night before finishing up the drive Saturday morning (rain/snow not withstanding). That would have given me a day and a half of skiing and still be at work Tuesday. But that's assuming there's no weather issue on Monday evening.

In the end, I didn't go. (that's why I'm at a computer posting in the middle of the day).

Those of you who took the gamble and got the goods, take a few extra turns on my behave!

 

[ScottySkis]

Go to snowy ridge tommorow suppose to get over foot of beautiful lake effect tonight.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Warp Daddy]

Had hip replacement done Mid October , LOOKS like it was the RIGHT year to miss skiing .

yeah trying to stay positive , i am bummed tho my son and grandson are skiing Whiteface this weekend and i was supposed to meet them
But then the hip issue came to a head ugh

Oh well next yrs huh !! Hope you have a great balance of the season.
I am now strictly a gym rehab rat this winter trying to get this ole bod back in shape for spring golf season then skiing next yr .

 

[4aprice]

Kevin is CORE. See you in Aspen.



I love all skiing including banana belt version down here in mid-Atlantic which makes New England the friggin' bomb. We ski what we can! Having said that, I spent 9 weeks out west last winter skiing and the coldest weather was a couple single digit mornings at Jackson Hole, but the sun came out and I still dressed lighter than an average day in the East. I guess that's the good, better and best of it.:flag:

Another reason the west is calling us. Last year we had some great weekends in New England and one of the best was our first visit to Burke but it came with a downside. It was "stupid cold" and even when wearing goggles my wife teared and that tear froze causing frost bite on her cheek, bothers her to this day. Saw cold like that on one of my trips to Europe but not in the Rockies. As I cross the double 5 line, comfort becomes more important.

BTW Jim I look forward to more reports this year as I drooled over all 6 episodes of last season.

The plan is to roll out the season next weekend and go strong till it runs out in April with a mix of the Camelback (the backyard), 3 or 4 Vermont weekends and a 10 day Utah-Colorado excursion at the end of March. Starting this late I'm going to be interested in how many days I get as I see more 2 hour after work (afternoon for me) sessions at the back yard this year then in past years.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[xlr8r]

I have been holding back big time considering I am only at 4 days so far when I bought new skis and the MAX pass to use this season. Good thing is that I just booked a 5 day trip to Steamboat in February and they have been getting good snow so far this year.

The Patriots also make it tough because I would go for a weekend trip next weekend to Killington, Pico and or Stratton. But with the game at 3:00 on Sunday it makes more economic sense to not pay for lodging for only 1.5 days of skiing. Therefor I will probably just do a day trip on Sat to Loon, unless the conditions really get good this week.

 

[steamboat1]

Planning another 4 days this week.

 

[CoolMike]

I held way back but I had two great days this weekend and I'm back to the races. Its really late but now I'm trying to get back into shape in time to have a strong second half (March, April, & May).

Caught some sloppy wet snow in the first part of the weekend storm (ducked a bunch of ropes for reasonable goods on Saturday afternoon) and also got my first weekday riding in (Friday) so now I'm fully engaged again.

 

[Bene288]

I've only been out 2 times, 3 if you count the WROD at Jiminy earlier this season. I typically shoot for 30 days. Just not happening this year. I moved back to the Boston area recently and realized that skiing from here is a much bigger hassle than skiing out of Albany. I don't mind driving 2.5 hours for awesome terrain in awesome conditions. But driving 2.5 hours for mediocre terrain in less than desirable conditions..just no motivation for it.

I was spoiled in Albany, lots of good options within 1.5 hours. Can't get anywhere worthwhile in 1.5 hours in Boston.

 

[cannonboarder]

I tried to go to Okemo the weekend before Christmas break. They were switching to a RFID system and made everyone wait for an hour and a half to purchase a lift ticket with cash because they only had a couple of computers that were barely working. They gave us complimentary hot chocolate gift cards for our troubles.

It shouldn't take 1.5 hours to purchase a ticket with cash and I have not been back since.

While I have only snowboarded twice this season, I have been riding my fatbike a lot (in the snow and dirt). I actually enjoy it more than riding crowded trails in poor conditions. Plus it doesn't really cost anything once you own the bike.

 

[Nick]

Yikes. Me for sure.

Not intentionally. Work has been nuts, my wife started a business that is exploding and has been sucking up a TON of time and the nights / weekends are mostly dedicated to our family & kiddos.

December is always tough anyway (holy crap .. listen to my list of excuses??) anyway. I'm excited to get out next weekend at Summit. I am desparate to get my head out of the laptop screen and into some fresh air.