Least crowded resort in NH or VT

[tmcc71]

liftopia

I'll make sure I check out liftopia. I see ragged is on there. I hope Bromley is eventually. I like to sniff out the deals.

 

[Talisman]

Bromley for sure, never had a crowd there...all comes back to 1 base area...has all you are looking for

If you avoid Boy Scout Weekend at Bromley, the statement above is very true.

 

[Rushski]

If yoi could do a weekday, anywhere is a safe bet. Though my cheap pass to Tenney didn't do well on my every other Friday oof with many of those days having the double being closed for wind-hold.

Sunapee is excellent during the week for cruisers as they are tough to beat for grooming...

Rarely ski weekends, so go with what everyone else says.

 

[billski]

This is a good point. If you're looking for a non-holiday mid-week, just take your pick of any resort on the East coast. Even if there are a lot of people at a larger resort like Okemo, Loon, or Sunapee, they'll have the uphill capacity to more than deal with it, so you won't be waiting.

Now if you're considering going on a weekend, that's when things get tricky. My vote in NH is for Ragged or Gunstock. You'll get a much better value than Pat's Peak.

I always took the kids to Ragged when they were young - they already knew how to ski, could do the whole mountain, but still too young to deal with the crowds. It was a reasonable drive, good snow (at least in the 90s), reasonably priced, no lines.

 

[jaywbigred]

Stratton is great too, fast 6-pak lifts, plenty of wide open groomers, and good tree skiing when you get some time to yourself.

I cannot agree with this statement. Stratton does have a good lift system, but it does NOT result in short lines. It is among the most crowded mountains I have been to (close with Okemo and Killington). Your average, non-holiday, non-powder day weekend day at Stratton will have lift lines that are longer than what I've experienced at Bromley, Sugarbush, Bolton Valley, maybe even Stowe, on HOLIDAY weekends.

 

[billski]

I cannot agree with this statement. Stratton does have a good lift system, but it does NOT result in short lines. It is among the most crowded mountains I have been to (close with Okemo and Killington). Your average, non-holiday, non-powder day weekend day at Stratton will have lift lines that are longer than what I've experienced at Bromley, Sugarbush, Bolton Valley, maybe even Stowe, on HOLIDAY weekends.

While there is some interesting terrain at Stratton, I'd have to guess that the majority of their clientele don't mind the wait and don't need to ski much.

 

[jaywbigred]

Stratton is great too, fast 6-pak lifts, plenty of wide open groomers, and good tree skiing when you get some time to yourself.

I would suggest getting a CT ski club membership for $25, www.aeskiclub.com. Its too late to buy vouchers this year but you can take advantage of the ski council awareness days. They will get you on the hill for $30-$40, on a weekend, at many of the of the resorts already discussed, including the ones that would normally have a $70+ ticket. Check it out:

http://www.skiclub.com/documents/CSC-Awdays0910.pdf

While there is some interesting terrain at Stratton, I'd have to guess that the majority of their clientele don't mind the wait and don't need to ski much.

Well, I've had the good fortune of being a guest, on many occasions, of a well-to-do friend of the family who own a nice house at Stratton and are members of the Stratton Mountain club. SMC members get a pass (I think its called the Bear Pass or something?) as part of their membership, which allows them and their guests to cut the entire lift line. So at least some portion of their target clientèle don't have a wait and they ski plenty and do so in less amount of time (i.e. they can get 3x as many runs in per hour). All of this is great when you are a guest, until your host decides they are done for the day.

I'm not a big fan of Stratton terrain overall, so waiting in long lines to ski it gets tiresome.

 

[tmcc71]

Goog to know

Good to know. I'll stay away from Stratton....

 

[Highway Star]

That's interesting. Back when I skied stratton a bunch almost 10 years ago, there were very few lift lines even on weekends. Maybe a bit on the gondi, but never on the 6-packs. Perhaps they picked up a good bit of business Killington lost in the past decade.

Oh, and if you don't like skiing at Stratton, you don't know what you are doing. They have the best tree skiing south of Killington.

 

[Talisman]

That's interesting. Back when I skied stratton a bunch almost 10 years ago, there were very few lift lines even on weekends. Maybe a bit on the gondi, but never on the 6-packs. Perhaps they picked up a good bit of business Killington lost in the past decade.

Oh, and if you don't like skiing at Stratton, you don't know what you are doing. They have the best tree skiing south of Killington.

I ski Stratton annually on the free ticket deal and a few CSC days and agree with HS on the tree skiing. With good snow, there are a lot of trees on the map, with the Test Pilot Glade being one of the longer glade runs south of Jay at close to a mile long. Good bump runs are not easy to find at Stratton though.

As to the lift lines, the six pack out of the Sunbowl and the Shooting Star six pack rarely have lines and the Snow Bowl fixed grip quad is typically ski on. The gondola and the other two six packs do get long lines on the weekend.

 

[jaywbigred]

...Good bump runs are not easy to find at Stratton though.

As to the lift lines, the six pack out of the Sunbowl and the Shooting Star six pack rarely have lines and the Snow Bowl fixed grip quad is typically ski on. The gondola and the other two six packs do get long lines on the weekend.

Agree re: bumps, do not agree re: Sunbowl. Probably skied Stratton 5 weekends or more each of the last 3 years, many of them holidays, early season and late season...and when there are long lines at Amex and Ursa, there are lines (albeit slightly shorter) at Sunbowl. And the Snow Bowl lift only spins maybe 50% of the time, it seems...but when it does, you are right, ski right up.

HS, the trees are great when they are open, but in my experience Stratton ski patrol keeps the ropes up a lot.

Closed trees + no bumps + long lift lines = not my favorite place to ski.

Oh and you have to watch a video and get a special pass to enter terrain parks.

It was a lot different 10-15 years ago. As a teenager, I remember Stratton being emptier and definitely more bumped up/more fun.

If it wasn't for the free lodging/other perks, I'd never go there.

/Sorry to turn this into an anti-Stratton threadjack...

 

[billski]

Maple Valley VT is the least crowded

 

[billski]

If yoi could do a weekday, anywhere is a safe bet. Though my cheap pass to Tenney didn't do well on my every other Friday oof with many of those days having the double being closed for wind-hold.

Rushski,
Please check in on thread http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=66961
I posited your statement of a lot of windholds. Interesting debate; you may have better info.

 

[hrstrat57]

I like Bromley and strong 2nd for Berkshire East especially if there is good cover including natural snow on the slopes.

The beast is just outstanding IMHO.

 

[tmcc71]

Beast?

What is the beast?

 

[billski]

What is the beast?

more recently it's been about Killington's new marketing campaign. On a lesser, more local level Berkshire EAST.

 

[deadheadskier]

I like Bromley and strong 2nd for Berkshire East especially if there is good cover including natural snow on the slopes.

The beast is just outstanding IMHO.

I have to hit BEast one of these years. Maybe this year is it. Hear great things. Kind of counter intuitive for me to go there when I can get the Mad River Glen in about the same drive time, but would be nice to see what the high praise it always seems to get is about.

 

[AdironRider]

How do you get to the Mad River Valley in the same time as Killington from the Portsmouth area. I was born and raised in Exeter and didnt seem to have that luck. What route do you take?

 

[riverc0il]

Berkshire East is actually another great recommendation for the original poster's needs.

Though, in reference to DHS's post, I would not drive three hours to BEast and would not choose it over a mountain like MRG. It is a good mountain for its geographical location but I would rank it lower than Ragged Mountain but better than Tenney for a general comparison.

 

[riverc0il]

How do you get to the Mad River Valley in the same time as Killington from the Portsmouth area. I was born and raised in Exeter and didnt seem to have that luck. What route do you take?

I imagine he would take I95 to I495 to Route 2. Or perhaps Route 101 to I-91.

:lol:

BEast not Beast.