Front Four vs. Castlerock: Which is Better?

[tjf67]

If you include Starr in that sentence I'll agree with you. The top of Starr is more difficult than anything on CR. The skiable width for the first 30 feet or so is as narrow as Rumble and MUCH steeper.


I would definitely agree on Liftline and National. They really should be left ungroomed. I don't think ANY double black run should be groomed outside of recovering from a freeze / thaw / rain event. Not even a bail out lane.

Stowe has so many great cruising runs as it is, I see no reason to groom Liftline and National. I suppose they do it just so people can say they've skied them.

It all depends ont he conditions. You can't go wrong with either palce if the snow is there. I dont remember CR being anything but a lot of fun. Stowe had a few stops where I had to slow down so I did not hurt myself.

I quoted this because. IMO you should not be able to groom a double diamond. Single diamond OK. Double you should not be able to get a groomer on, not because it could't use a grooming but beacuse the terrain is to steep and knarly.

 

[4aprice]

It all depends ont he conditions. You can't go wrong with either palce if the snow is there.

I agree. Throw Smugglers front 4 or 5 in with Castlerock and Mt Mansfield as well. If the condtions are good there all great.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[deadheadskier]

Never skied it, but you can tell by looking at it that Liftline at Smuggs is more difficult than anything CR or the Front 4 has to offer. Might be the most difficult marked run in the east....at least that I've seen.

 

[bvibert]

I mentioned above that I've never skied the front 4 so I can't say which I prefer. I can say that what I like about CR isn't just the trails. I like that it's an isolated pod with widely spaced double chairs, limiting uphill capacity, even the patrol hut where you can stop for a drink of water if you need to. I like the whole experience, the killer trails are just part of it. The runouts back to the lift can be a pain sometimes, but I generally don't mind. I'm not a big fan of the run-out back to the bottom of the mountain though, that always wears my legs out more than anything else for some reason.