Least crowded resort in NH or VT

[hrstrat57]

Hi, I live in central ma. I am a decent skiier but I prefer groomers and cruisers. I am limited due to the fact that my gf is a newer snowboarder (gasp). I was wondering if anyone could recommend a mountain with varied terrain with reasonable lines. I don't need bells and whistles as I pack my own lunch and don't drink often. I prefer day trips (dogs at home) so southern vt or Nh would be great. I have been researching resorts such as ragged, bromley,sunapee, gunstock, okemo, magic,stratton and snow. I was wondering which of these, if any, is reasonably uncrowded. Any info or opinions will be helpful. Thanks all. Tim

Back to reading your original post for easy cruising midweek don't sell Wachusett short. Emphasis on easy cruising of course - there is only one moderately steep pitch on the whole hill. But Hitchock is a blast and there are other fun places to cruise leisurely as well. For newbie's Ralph's Run is a blast too. Often the place is abandoned midweek. Again, flat warnings issued of course. I get up there often midweek and have a pretty nice group I often hook up with. Maybe we will c u there.....

Weekends, bring your wallet and be in line at 7:45....and out by 11:00 cause it can get beyond crowded......

If you are a AAA member you can get a discount coupon on the AAA website to cash in at WA for some pretty decent discounts off tickets.

You can be home so quick the pups won't even miss you.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I always go route 4 to 93 to 89 actually, mainly because 101 bores the heck out of me.

It's boring cause it a not very busy, most of the time, but it's much faster than Rt 4. When I lived outside of Portland but still had my place in the MRV and I tried them all. I even tried Rt 302 which started in Portland and ends at Montpelier. Really beautiful drive only took 6 hours :lol: The fasted route is 101>93>89. You probably took Rt 4 to avoid the tolls when you get on 101 from I95 and in Hooksett on I93. :wink:

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?

Good point. I think the MRV is at least an extra 30/45 min further than kmart from Portsmouth. You probably remember 101 before it was a divided highway. The construction was a mess for a year but when they finished it that highway was smooth driving, boring but fast. It didn't too many years to already need a pave over tho.

 

[bobbutts]

+1 Ascutney, never been on a weekend though.. nice varied terrain and skis big and it's not very popular + it has a HSQ.
Whaleback may be another choice, it's no frills and dead cheap, and terrain is great for such a small place.
Both these places struggle to make snow, so wait until there's natural coverage.

 

[billski]

+1 Ascutney, never been on a weekend though.. nice varied terrain and skis big and it's not very popular + it has a HSQ.
Whaleback may be another choice, it's no frills and dead cheap, and terrain is great for such a small place.
Both these places struggle to make snow, so wait until there's natural coverage.

we went to 'scutney for years when the kids were little. Snow conditions are variable, they're not in a any snow pocket (the way Ragged is), so check ahead.

 

[tmcc71]

whale back and ascutney

I'll have to keep those in mind. Wachussett mid week is a given. After school and weekends its a zoo. 10 times worse than K mart on their busiest day. Just check out their web cam any night after 4 (school groups) or any weeknd after 9. You won't believe your eyes. Why anybody would pay to wait in hour lines to ski 3 minutes is beyond me. I dont need frills or services, just a lift and a place to warm my feet. I hope to meet some of you at the hidden gems this season.

 

[hammer]

I'll have to keep those in mind. Wachusett mid week is a given. After school and weekends its a zoo. 10 times worse than K mart on their busiest day. Just check out their web cam any night after 4 (school groups) or any weeknd after 9. You won't believe your eyes. Why anybody would pay to wait in hour lines to ski 3 minutes is beyond me. I dont need frills or services, just a lift and a place to warm my feet. I hope to meet some of you at the hidden gems this season.

I used to go to Wachusett on Monday evenings last season and meet up with my son, who was in a school group...many weeks the Polar Express HSQ was ski-on, especially after 6 PM. May have been just lucky...

 

[A Tilton]

Cranmore Mountain in North Conway and King Pine in Madison NH

 

[psyflyer]

I would reccomend Burke Mountain if your willing to drive to northern VT. Its right off of I91 and fits what your looking for. Im unemployed and live slope-side so the past two seasons have been day-in day-out riding and I have never seen a lift line. The most I have seen would be during the holiday week but no more than 3-5 chairs infront of you, pretty much inexistent lift line. Check it out!

 

[hrstrat57]

Cranmore Mountain in North Conway and King Pine in Madison NH

Love King Pine!

 

[tmcc71]

lots of great ideas

After seeing stratton is charging $84 for weekend rates i think I will boycot that place. I guess they only care about well to do yuppies. I'll take my business to those who accept my kind (teacher).

 

[billski]

strat is $82 weekend. $84 is for uber-Holiday period. ya just saved yerself two bucks!

 

[billski]

I have been researching resorts such as ragged, bromley,sunapee, gunstock, okemo, magic,stratton and snow. I was wondering which of these, if any, is reasonably uncrowded.

and the answer is, on weekend days:

Magic
Ragged
Bromley

in that order. It is highly doubtful you'll be remembering lift lines at any of these.

 

[tmcc71]

okay, I have the places I am trying this year

Ragged, bromley, magic, berkshire east, black, and tenney. I don't need huge vert or bumps. I like cruisers and a few of these places has passable glades. I'm scoting out my season pass for next year. It won't be to one of the big guys (snow, stratton, okemo et all)

 

[deadheadskier]

I had a season pass to Tenney last season. I got it mainly so I'd have a place to go on Saturdays with minimal crowds. For $99 it was a steal and well worth it even though I only used it 6 times. My only complaint was the long slow double.

This year I grabbed Ragged instead, mainly due to the High Speed Six. Ragged pass was $329, Tenney was $199. The extra 130 is worth it to me for the better summit lift, even though the better skiing is off of the long slow Spear triple.

While again I got the Ragged pass in hopes of avoiding crowds on Saturdays, I do hope they see a decent crowd this winter. At least enough to bring in enough revenue to warrant replacing the Spear.

 

[bigbog]

Simple answer in one word: Weekdays...but the everything previous = good info... Seems as though I've seen plenty of pseudo vests for dogs...either online or in catalogs = worth a try imho.

 

[tmcc71]

Weekdays

Weekdays are better for sure. I will use my three personal days. Already planned them for random Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I am going to take advantage of some of the midweek deals such as two for ones etc. Also, tuedays and wednesdays avoid people taking long weekends. Unfortunately (well i'm fortunate to have a job) I work M-f. I'm a teacher so whenever i'm off, so are all the kiddies. Now you see my dilemma. Many people face the same problem so I'm not complaining. I think I have my lesser known mountains picked out. It's worth a try. I think cold weather is heading are way from out west this weekend. I bet Wachusett can blast enough snow to open By the 5th. They are not all that busy until after Christmas. Come December 25th watch out! They will be sellig out by early January and turning people away. Ever see 8 thousand people on less than 15 trails (they claim 21 but we all know the truth) and two lifts? It's fun to watch the webcam from my phone from a remote location. I vow not to be the one on the webcam in the 45 minute line every 3 minute run.