Catamount - 3/5/05

[skijay]

Resort: Catamount Ski Area

Date Skied: 03/05/05

Conditions: Upper 30’s , lots of sun, powder, packed powder

Trip Report:
We arrived around 10:00am. The first trip up was on the green chair (the one closest to the lodge). We had thought this went to the summit. I got a nice view of Catapult, all bumped up and waiting for me! We skied down a nice short run with nice soft bumps. I think it was "Off Stage" and then on to the Blue chair to the summit.

This will be my first time that I had skied Catamount that was not either pre-season or end of season. My first run down was down Catapult, and what a blast it was! Very little scratchy areas. We skied various trails off of this lift and I also liked the Glade trail. There were bumps on the right side.

The best part of the trip today was the half pipe. I had gone back to using my Salomon mimimax 99 snowblades and had a blast. I had never been in a half pipe and was able to ski up the sides. I had a blast there.

Overall Catamount rocked! I was impressed with the degree of difficulty & length of the trails. I had originally thought this place to be ancient because of all of the double chairs, but things were efficient. The only lift we had problems with was the turquoise one (the one with mid station) it kept stopping. We decided to take the blue lift to the summit and take the ridge trail each time we wanted to go to the terrain park area. Having snowblades makes it easy to get around and get a workout at the same time! Here are some pictures:
Lower section of Off Stage trail:

Catapult trail from lift (only one pic that showed bumps):

Where else can you ski in two states?:

The view from the summit:

 

[sal37]

Catamount

Hi SkiJay,
I was there saturday too, with my wie and son. I had never been there before, but it was great! Excellent conditions, and the varied terrain really made for an enjoyable ay. And the weather was just georgous. All in all we hd a great time.

Sal

 

[Greg]

Catamount is a great hill. Nice to see the bumps on Catapult. Off-stage was a great bump run last time I was there too. Yeah, I've found that turquoise chair not worth it. It seems to stop a lot and it doesn't really get that high on the mountain or service the best terrain. I do remember a gladed area off the right side of that chair last time I was there though. Did you notice if that was skiable?

 

[shoeup11]

i was also there on saturday for the first time. thought there was a good selection of trails based on ability and lift lines were short even though parking lot was filled. even got in a couple of runs on the race course.

 

[thetrailboss]

i was also there on saturday for the first time. thought there was a good selection of trails based on ability and lift lines were short even though parking lot was filled. even got in a couple of runs on the race course.

Welcome to the forum, Shoeup11! Hope to see you around in our forums! :wink:

 

[shoeup11]

i will. this is frank from the berkshire east ski day. the great and mighty sliding down trails god. :lol:

 

[Greg]

i will. this is frank from the berkshire east ski day. the great and mighty sliding down trails god. :lol:

HE'S ALIVE! Welcome, Frank!

 

[bvibert]

Welcome Frank! Glad you were able to make it over here.

 

[bvibert]

The conditions at Catamount looked good! I hope they're still good on this Sunday because I'll be there!

 

[billski]

parking

Yikes, that parking lot looks full from the pics. How were the lines?

Excuse me for asking, but I can't help myself... Why do so many people arrive late morning for skiing?

 

[Greg]

The conditions at Catamount looked good! I hope they're still good on this Sunday because I'll be there!

Looks like they're picking up snow as we speak:

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/US...=RadarImagery&product=MetroRadar&prodnav=none

More Fri/Sat as I understand it. I think you'll like the bumps on Off-Stage if they still have them, bvibert. Really mellow pitch and a good run to practice on:

 

[bvibert]

Looks like they're picking up snow as we speak:

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/US...=RadarImagery&product=MetroRadar&prodnav=none

More Fri/Sat as I understand it. I think you'll like the bumps on Off-Stage if they still have them, bvibert. Really mellow pitch and a good run to practice on...

Awesome, things are looking like it'll be a good weekend! I'll have to give Off-Stage a shot, looks like fun.

 

[skijay]

I am usually an 8:00 am on the slopes kind of guy but she needed to sleep in, hence the late arrival!

The lines were not bad at any of the lifts. I at first was griping about that from the car to the base, but it was not an issue. The only problem we encountered was at the turqoise lift, a line formed becuase the lift kept stopping. I think it was because of people having issues at the mid station and not mechanical.

 

[skijay]

I just read the article posted under the AlpinzeZone news dated 3/15 about the increase visits to Catamount.

As a Butternut passholder and discovering that 10 minutes further down the road and the same $199 deal, I may break my 6yr season pass purchase and do a Catamount one for 05-06.

Article:

http://alpinezone.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3755

 

[tjd]

season passes

I purchased season passes for me, my wife, and 3 kids to catamount without breaking the bank! 199 for adults is an awesome deal.

I will still take a couple of trips up to VT to ski the Bush, but having a local place just 70 miles from home with a low price pass is great. Easy to drive up in the AM, ski all day, and drive home in time to make dinner....or to drive up after work for some night skiing.

I tried butternut, but the lines were way too long, the slopes too crowded, and the ski school reg. for the kids was just mass confusion. It's catamount for us.

 

[Greg]

Ya know, compared to Butternut, what Catamount lacks in amount of terrain, it makes up in challenging terrain. I went to Catamount once so far this season (hope to visit again) and I enjoyed it a lot.