Indy Ski Pass

[abc]

Marmot is 7.5 hours from the next closest Indy Pass resort.

On the other hand, that's 7.5 hours of glorious scenery you'll be driving through!

 

[shpride]

 

[dblskifanatic]

On the other hand, that's 7.5 hours of glorious scenery you'll be driving through!

contrarian perspective! That is true though.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i think marmot is mostly a play to try and get some sales out of Edmonton. pretty dang remote to travel to.

 

[abc]

contrarian perspective! That is true though.

I would argue it's far from a "contrarian" view. The whole idea of the Indy pass is to get people out of their "usual" same old same old destinations. As such, spending time driving the most beautiful stretch of highway in North America is quite inline with that particular perspective.

I never said it's not a long drive. Just there's more to it than "getting there". Instead of trying to race to the next resort after the lift closes in the previous resort, this is one transfer that should be done during the day light, and taken slower.

I'm not arguing for argument sake. But there's more to road trip than just getting there. The Indy collection is especially so.

 

[dblskifanatic]

I would argue it's far from a "contrarian" view. The whole idea of the Indy pass is to get people out of their "usual" same old same old destinations. As such, spending time driving the most beautiful stretch of highway in North America is quite inline with that particular perspective.

I never said it's not a long drive. Just there's more to it than "getting there". Instead of trying to race to the next resort after the lift closes in the previous resort, this is one transfer that should be done during the day light, and taken slower.

I'm not arguing for argument sake. But there's more to road trip than just getting there. The Indy collection is especially so.

Hey my wife and I drove cross country to go skiing in Colorado so I know about road trips and I get that perspective.

 

[2planks2coasts]

Four more ski areas to be announced Tuesday Aug 10 per Storm Skiing Blog

 

[Mum skier]

Four more ski areas to be announced Tuesday Aug 10 per Storm Skiing Blog

Come on Tenney Mountain, you can do it.....

 

[2planks2coasts]

Come on Tenney Mountain, you can do it.....

I just want Tenney to be open this season.
Hoping Indy will give us some hints to get the guesses going.

 

[p_levert]

Hope we get some clues like last time. It was fun guessing.

Assuming we don't have any clues, a good place to start is the Cooper ski areas, minus the CO resorts.

 

[xlr8r]

Still hoping for one or two of the Eastern Townships areas

 

[raisingarizona]

I would argue it's far from a "contrarian" view. The whole idea of the Indy pass is to get people out of their "usual" same old same old destinations. As such, spending time driving the most beautiful stretch of highway in North America is quite inline with that particular perspective.

I never said it's not a long drive. Just there's more to it than "getting there". Instead of trying to race to the next resort after the lift closes in the previous resort, this is one transfer that should be done during the day light, and taken slower.

I'm not arguing for argument sake. But there's more to road trip than just getting there. The Indy collection is especially so.

It’s often about the journey, not the destination. That’s a style I definitely admire.

 

[Zand]

MRG, Smuggs, Plattekill, Targhee

Oh wait... I can't pick the four myself? Damn.

 

[Harvey]

I just want Tenney to be open this season.
Hoping Indy will give us some hints to get the guesses going.

Without some pretty big hints I don't think you'll be able to guess.

 

[Harvey]

MRG, Smuggs, Plattekill, Targhee

 

[p_levert]

Broadly speaking, there's two types of areas on the Indy pass (according to Doug Fish interview). First is the low budget operations that are happy to net $40 or $50 for a lift ticket. Then there are the ski areas that believe that they have a great product, but it's hard to get people to give it a try. So a deep reduction in price is worthwhile as a marketing investment.

So for a cheapo area that is happy with $40, I will go with Tussey by State College PA. For a "marketing" area, I will go with Laurel Mtn by Pittsburgh.

Both of these areas are on the Ski Cooper pass.

 

[PAabe]

Laurel Mountain is one of the better ski areas in PA imo. Pretty cool place. They just reopened recently back from the dead. They get more natural snow there than anywhere else in PA, it has great glades and natural snow trails, as well as one of the steepest trails in the east. Oldest ski area in PA I believe also. Very laid back vibes and recently had a lot of investment from Nutting the 7 Springs/Hidden Valley/Pittsburg Pirates/newspaper guy. Great XC skiing in the area.

If you take a look at the Indy map and try to pick a place in a new geographic area, Mt. Pleasant, Ski Sawmill, or Spring Mount could be possibilities.

 

[p_levert]

Laurel Mountain is one of the better ski areas in PA imo. Pretty cool place. They just reopened recently back from the dead. They get more natural snow there than anywhere else in PA, it has great glades and natural snow trails, as well as one of the steepest trails in the east. Oldest ski area in PA I believe also. Very laid back vibes and recently had a lot of investment from Nutting the 7 Springs/Hidden Valley/Pittsburg Pirates/newspaper guy. Great XC skiing in the area.

If you take a look at the Indy map and try to pick a place in a new geographic area, Mt. Pleasant, Ski Sawmill, or Spring Mount could be possibilities.

Mt. Pleasant, Ski Sawmill and Spring Mount definitely fall into the "happy to net $40 or $50 for a lift ticket" category

So you have actually been to Laurel? Nice. When you say great glades, I only see one glade on the trail map. Are there other unmarked glades? The place does seem kind of small. I know the vertical is good, but there only seem to be about 6 ways down and only one chairlift. Comments?

 

[p_levert]

Laurel Mtn aerial photo:

http://www.skilaurelmountain.com/photos/newaerial.jpg

 

[PAabe]

There is only one glade on the map but I was there last year and it was possible to ski just about anywhere that would get you back to the lift - lots of untracked powder to be had. Somebody did a pretty good job cleaning up the trees.

It definitely looks small on the map and I dont think I would drive out there if they didnt have good natural cover but I really had a good time the day I was there. I probably did 2/3 of the runs down either Wilcat or the trees. If you were doing overnight you could xc/backcountry one day or also stop by 7 springs or blue knob in the area. Very pretty area especially after a snowfall. There is lots of info on Laurel and nearby areas on the DCski.com forums

While I'm at it, Spring Mount is a pretty wacky place just outside Philadelphia. Ski patrol chilling in lawn chairs at the top of the bump, Halloween decorations everywhere, a very '60s German themed lodge, ancient Hall doubles running on gas drive just about held together by duct tape - skiing isn't great to say the least but an interesting place anyway...

Tussey is the Penn State party hill and Sawmill is really is the middle of nowhere