Best bumps set

[Bumpsis]

One of the my biggest joys of spring skiing is bustin' (or at least trying to) through a serious set of of nicely laid bumps. Imagine if you will, Julia Child laid out snowy half peaches all the way down a decent pitched slope.

All this perfection warmed up by the sun and warm air to mushy consistency. Or better yet, still in dry corn form. No ice, no rocks, no dirt. Just good, softened up carpet of moguls. And there you are.

So the question is, where would you be? Which ski areas have this mogul set all waiting for this weekend's warm up?

We won't have enough warm-thaw cycles before this weekend to develop corn but with temps in the 40's all the ice that's gripping the ski terrain should soften up. Saturday looks like the best day to hit it, but where???

 

[riverc0il]

wildcat usually has great spring bumps, though given the lack of natural snow this year, i doubt it will be as good as usual. not that i would be caught dead paying their inflated saturday lift ticket price, but perhaps a good option for their sunday half day at $20. though, i really doubt bumps any where except the northern greens will be of much quality. the brief warm up isn't going to be enough to setup ideal spring corn bumps.

 

[ozzy]

i was at okemo on friday and they have three trails with catted bumps. two are next to each other and one, at jackson gore, has these small "knee banger" bumps that you can ski super fast. it was really fun

 

[skibum1321]

Okemo is the last mountain I would go to for bumps (Okay, maybe not last, but I wouldn't go there for bumps). Personally, I think the Bush always has some great bumps - The Mall, Steins (if it's soft), Exterminator, FIS, Morningstar, Twist, Spillsville. K-Mart will probably have some good ones on OL too.

 

[ozzy]

i ski K four or five times a week. BELIEVE me okemo has way better bumps then K.
they are somewhat smaller, seeded, uniform continuous moguls.
Killington has nasty rutty irregular moguls. there were halfway decent moguls yesterday on U. dream maker.
Wasn't long ago when K always had seeded moguls. this year they had it twice.

 

[WICKEDBUMPER]

Okemo has been blowing Kmart away for bumps for the past few seasons. last year at this time, Okemo had the most and IMO the best bump runs in Vermont. they had from little knee poppers to big pre ASC O.L bumps.
believe it or not.

One Saturday last march, Killington had 2 of what I would consider bump runs and Okemo had 8 beautiful runs. say what you will about Okemo being boring and a cruiser moutain. they had bumps when other places did not. The other trails at okemo may be everything everyone says they are...but a bump skier in march is not going to be on a flat cruiser trail for any other reason but to get to the bumps.

too bad this year's snow sucks. I think Okemo would have the same set up they had last year if they had the snow.

 

[Rushski]

Okemo also has tried to keep Double Diamond open, which can get some decent bumps going in addition to being in the trees...

Conditions will vary though...

 

[riverc0il]

having never skied okemo, i am somewhat not qualified to comment, but i am sceptical of folks claiming okemo has some of the best bumps in VT (!!??) let alone better than kmart. i have only skied kmart early and late season, but they had decent bumps, certainly better than i had expected.

 

[WICKEDBUMPER]

just my opinion.

the Kmart of the past is gone. the beast of the east is no more. Bear mountain with the exception of OL and DF is a terrain park. needles eye doesnt get the snowmaking it needs to get bumpped up like it used to. they plow the canyon daily so expert skiers have some runs without boxes and rails on them. its not the Killington of old. its a pussycat now. okemo's good management just noticed that and picked up the ball where Kmart dropped it.

I should have noted in my first post that:
MRG is not included as I haven't skied there in probibly 8 or 9 years. never liked the place that much.
nether is Jay because I was thinking bumps and when you think of Jay, you think trees - but Jay does have some sweet bumps.
as far as the other Vermont Mts go for bumps, who else has been consistant giving bump skiers the goods? I mean more then 2 or 3 quality bump runs.

dont get me wrong, Okemo is no Mary Jane or Telluride. but compared to rest of the lot...

 

[awf170]

wildcat usually has great spring bumps, though given the lack of natural snow this year, i doubt it will be as good as usual. not that i would be caught dead paying their inflated saturday lift ticket price, but perhaps a good option for their sunday half day at $20. though, i really doubt bumps any where except the northern greens will be of much quality. the brief warm up isn't going to be enough to setup ideal spring corn bumps.

Wildcats bumps suck right now. Natural snow trails are too solid for bumps to even form and snowmaking bump trails are really out of rythm(thats because of the giant snowmaking whales) and 2 out 3 of them are closed because they are so icy. If it warms up a lot top to bottom gondi line will rock, but it would have to get really really warm.

 

[ozzy]

just my opinion.

the Kmart of the past is gone. the beast of the east is no more. Bear mountain with the exception of OL and DF is a terrain park. needles eye doesnt get the snowmaking it needs to get bumpped up like it used to. they plow the canyon daily so expert skiers have some runs without boxes and rails on them. its not the Killington of old. its a pussycat now. okemo's good management just noticed that and picked up the ball where Kmart dropped it.

well put.
there was a course built on grizzly last night, besides that you hit it right on the head. bravo.

 

[riverc0il]

as far as the other Vermont Mts go for bumps, who else has been consistant giving bump skiers the goods? I mean more then 2 or 3 quality bump runs.

mrg, which you seemed to have dismissed because you haven't skied there in a while? not sure how that works. burke has lots of great bumps that setup on both diamond and square runs. i am SURE smuggs and mansfield have some bump runs. oh, and magic. wait, come to think of it, who in VT doesn't have good bumps? mrg arguably has the best bump runs in the entire north east.

 

[jack97]

Don’t want to get into a flame war about which places has the best moguls in the east….

I usually go to Ragged and Cannon however with the snow drought this year, didn’t want to make long trips to ski hardpack and get core shots. Although I have never been a big fan of Okemo; traditionally an intermediate mountain with long cruising runs. I’m willing to try Okemo based on the job they have done at Sunapee. The moguls fields they setup at Sunapee are fun, the bumps are in tight formation, the front side of the bumps have troughs that they dug in probably during seeding. After several visit, the bumps have develop such that most are knee level and some can easily hide a kid that has fallen. You really have to use absorption/extension and quick forced turns to go on the zipper line.

Went there during feb vacation week, they gave me $15 coupons for lift tickets (at Okemo or Sunapee) if I go on or after the 13 th, my only concern right know is whether the weather will hold.

 

[meat]

I haven't been to Okemo in about 10 years, but I used to go there a decent amount with my step dad cuz he loved the groomers. I remember getting board, but had fun on the low angle bump runs like sels choice and the Big Chief. you could really hammer the crap out of them, big time hero bumps, pretty flat hill. I remember lapping sel's on that short triple when the summit lifts had big lines. I don't remember any steep bump runs like OL or Steins though.

 

[Zand]

I went to Okemo in late March last year and they had great manmade bumps all over the place. Sel's Chioce, Tomahawk, Plunge, Blackout, War Dance, Ledges, among others. I'd never had much experience in bumps (because Wawa's suck), but I found myself doing pretty well in Okemo's. I also do OK in natural bumps. I was pretty good on Castlerock 2 years ago and at Cannon last year.

 

[2knees]

I went to okemo last year and the thing i did notice was the lack of pitch on any run, especially the bump runs. Sels, punchwhatever, ledges etc are all relatively mellow in pitch and can be a detriment at times. Other then that, i was thouroughly entertained by the choice of solid bump runs to choose from. Nowhere else south of sugarbush is it so easy to find a GOOD line. Kmart included, although vertigo can be very very nice.

 

[skibum1321]

just my opinion.

the Kmart of the past is gone. the beast of the east is no more. Bear mountain with the exception of OL and DF is a terrain park. needles eye doesnt get the snowmaking it needs to get bumpped up like it used to. they plow the canyon daily so expert skiers have some runs without boxes and rails on them. its not the Killington of old. its a pussycat now. okemo's good management just noticed that and picked up the ball where Kmart dropped it.

I should have noted in my first post that:
MRG is not included as I haven't skied there in probibly 8 or 9 years. never liked the place that much.
nether is Jay because I was thinking bumps and when you think of Jay, you think trees - but Jay does have some sweet bumps.
as far as the other Vermont Mts go for bumps, who else has been consistant giving bump skiers the goods? I mean more then 2 or 3 quality bump runs.

dont get me wrong, Okemo is no Mary Jane or Telluride. but compared to rest of the lot...

Where exactly are these sweet bumps at Jay? I've never found Jay to have good bumps - the side of the Jet will get bumped as will the trail under the powerlines (can't think of the name), CanAm will be ungroomed but rarely has good bumps. When I think bumps, I don't think of Jay.

 

[jack97]

I went to okemo last year and the thing i did notice was the lack of pitch on any run, especially the bump runs. Sels, punchwhatever, ledges etc are all relatively mellow in pitch and can be a detriment at times. Other then that, i was thouroughly entertained by the choice of solid bump runs to choose from. Nowhere else south of sugarbush is it so easy to find a GOOD line. Kmart included, although vertigo can be very very nice.

Wouldn’t surprise me about the good lines. My first time at Sunapee this season was after a rain/warm period, you could see smooth ice at the bottom of some troughs and a shiny coat on the bumps. Still manageable since it was hard granular, could still edge to check the speed, but constant scraping down the line. Later on in the day, they covered one of the fields with four or five snow guns to make it softer. My second visit, the trough lines were better, probably with more traffic going through.

Okemo and Sunapee may not have the steeps but you have to give them props for the effort they are making in maintaining the moguls, especially during this season.

 

[skibum1321]

mrg, which you seemed to have dismissed because you haven't skied there in a while? not sure how that works. burke has lots of great bumps that setup on both diamond and square runs. i am SURE smuggs and mansfield have some bump runs. oh, and magic. wait, come to think of it, who in VT doesn't have good bumps? mrg arguably has the best bump runs in the entire north east.

The lack of bumps at Smuggs is my biggest complaint. There are few runs that form good bumps. There is nothing really on Sterling, except Exhibition will occasionally have a few good lines. All of the double diamonds are closed too much and too steep to actually form bumps. Doc Dempsey's will usually have some bumps but there is never enough snow to really get a rhythm going before you have to dodge a rock or stump. FIS will get some good bumps in the spring but it is groomed too much all winter.

 

[WICKEDBUMPER]

skibum,
You are correct, no-one thinks bumps with they think of Jay. Jay is the trees. period. Jay only has a few but I have always found good lines in them when not in the trees. all the trails you mentioned plus under the chair by powerline (cant think of the name), and the 2 bumps wide line/trail that is unmarked but gets skied pretty often on the other side of ...I'm already catching flac for saying Okemo has good bumps.

this whole thread is all subjective. by saying good bumps, I mean lines with at least 10 quick turns without sliding or hitting a washout. fun bumps.
EVERY resort offers "bumps" but their bumps are not what I would consider bumps. Instead of saying bump runs, I should say Lines. most places didnt offer lines this season.

bump...slide 10 feet to the right...bump...huge mound...5 foot slide to the left...little mound... 2 foot slide...ice...bump...bump...ice...2 foot slide left...big mound...bump...ice...bump...bump...3 foot right slide is not a bump run in my book.
the above is what most places have been passing off as bumps this year and last.
okemo has lines. yes, they are pretty much hero lines but they are there.

Also, I am talking about the past few seasons. Not too long ago, Kmart was in fact, the meca for bump skiers. one did not have to go anywhere else to bump yer brains out.