-
Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!
You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!
Least icy ski resort in Vermont
- Thread starter vladimir
- Start date
riverc0il
New member
Do you have any additional preferences or requirements? My general recommendation would be to avoid mountains with big crowds and high lift capacities as those mountains will get the snow scraped off quicker than the lesser known low crowd areas. Obviously avoid Jay. Bromley may be a good option in SoVT as the south face may keep snow conditions a bit "softer" than average. Burke is rarely iced up due to skier traffic and is far enough north that it usually avoids a lot of rain/freeze cycles (though no New England ski area is completely immune). The Dippers aside, none of Burke's trails are wide so they do not usually get wind blown. You can sometimes still ski fresh untouched cord at Burke after lunch.
Best mountain for groomed surfaces in the state? IMO Okemo
Best for natural surface? debatable, but I'd probably go for Sugarbush. Burke might be right there too, but I've only been there once. While Sugarbush doesn't get as much natural as Stowe or Jay, it's still tops 250 sometimes 300 most years and I believe their trail skier density to be much lower than the other two; so it' doesn't get beat up quite as quickly
Best for natural surface? debatable, but I'd probably go for Sugarbush. Burke might be right there too, but I've only been there once. While Sugarbush doesn't get as much natural as Stowe or Jay, it's still tops 250 sometimes 300 most years and I believe their trail skier density to be much lower than the other two; so it' doesn't get beat up quite as quickly
roark
New member
People say this and I just don't get it. We're usually only there for the free hour, and even then it's usually rock hard. I think Riv has it right - the places that see a lot of traffic + daily grooming = icy.
bigbog
Active member
Vlad,
NewEngland skiing is all about fluidity. Nothing is permanent..powder, pp, crud...LOL. But for specifics, the others know VT wayyyy more than I.
NewEngland skiing is all about fluidity. Nothing is permanent..powder, pp, crud...LOL. But for specifics, the others know VT wayyyy more than I.
mountainman
Member
Okemo for sure.
Least icy ski resort? Okemo for sure. Award winning grooming. The only ski area that takes pride in keeping their slopes from getting to a icy hard pack. They may not have the terrain as most resorts, but the skiing and riding on a nice craveable surface is nice, The surface holds up to traffic all day long. You don;t hear skies and boards chatting down the slopes to catch a edge. Hats of to Okemo for taking pride in producing the best quality groomed slopes.
Least icy ski resort? Okemo for sure. Award winning grooming. The only ski area that takes pride in keeping their slopes from getting to a icy hard pack. They may not have the terrain as most resorts, but the skiing and riding on a nice craveable surface is nice, The surface holds up to traffic all day long. You don;t hear skies and boards chatting down the slopes to catch a edge. Hats of to Okemo for taking pride in producing the best quality groomed slopes.
rtibbs4
Member
Seems like someone with a lot of time on their hands could factor in the following and theoretically come up with a least or most icey resort:
average snowfall > skier visits > grooming > snowmaking > vertical
but that person is not me. I vote for for Okemo.
average snowfall > skier visits > grooming > snowmaking > vertical
but that person is not me. I vote for for Okemo.
jaywbigred
Active member
Disagree. Okemo does a lot of things right; this includes their seeded bumps as well as the rest of their grooming. They have a few high traffic areas that get icy, but for the most part the surface is great. Esp. if you are going to stick to higher rated trails, which are usually empty.
I agree. Though I also think if you stick to Mt. Snow's so called "premium" trails (Fan Gun trails), that is where you will actually find the least icy surface.
Talisman
New member
The VT ski area with the least ice has just recieved fresh and dry snow with no wind.
The fan gun trails at MT Snow can replicate fresh and dry snow better than some areas. As others have said though, high skier traffic can scrape the freshest snow to the grass and rocks.
The fan gun trails at MT Snow can replicate fresh and dry snow better than some areas. As others have said though, high skier traffic can scrape the freshest snow to the grass and rocks.
goldsbar
New member
One thing left out - steepness. I think that's part of the reason Okemo is so good (from what I've heard). Gentler slopes invite less skidding. Hunter comes to mind. The mountain is fairly steep on average so the middle of the popular trails become uncarvable after a couple of runs. Not so the beginner trails near the bottom that get just as much traffic. There grooming is also crap but that's another story.
Get there early and be ready to ski by 8:15am. Ski Resorts that say they open by 9:00am many times will open by 8:30am.
The groomer trails at most ski resorts will be awesome until after 10:30am. After that it all depends on traffic and how deep they set roto-tiller on the groomers. Some resorts will save diesel fuel in the groomers with a shallow setting on the roto-tiller groomer.
It doesn't have to be a Pisten Bully groomer. Its all about the roto-tiller and how deep they want to chew up the trail and turn ice into corduroy. Here is a John Deer tractor conversion video. If you have never seen a roto-tiller work this is a good video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ezOxgrl1s
In addition to roto-tiller you have snow making friendly resorts that will put a few inches of new man made snow on trails. Here again get there early because by 10:30am its back down to hard pack for you.
The groomer trails at most ski resorts will be awesome until after 10:30am. After that it all depends on traffic and how deep they set roto-tiller on the groomers. Some resorts will save diesel fuel in the groomers with a shallow setting on the roto-tiller groomer.
It doesn't have to be a Pisten Bully groomer. Its all about the roto-tiller and how deep they want to chew up the trail and turn ice into corduroy. Here is a John Deer tractor conversion video. If you have never seen a roto-tiller work this is a good video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ezOxgrl1s
In addition to roto-tiller you have snow making friendly resorts that will put a few inches of new man made snow on trails. Here again get there early because by 10:30am its back down to hard pack for you.
Last edited:
bosrocker51
New member
I would recommend Stratton. They groom like crazy there.
Similar threads
