speden
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- Nov 18, 2008
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Conditions: mid 20's, overcast, variable snow
Thought I'd try a day trip to Okemo today. Got up real early for what I figured would be about a three hour drive. But the roads were wet and visibility bad, so ended up taking 3 and a quarter hours, with the last hour spent winding through small towns and being stuck behind slow pokes.
It was my first time at Okemo, so I didn't know my way around. I went to the upper level of the lodge to boot up, but soon realized it's an inferno up there as I started sweating. Felt good to get outside to cool off. Temps were comfy at the base, but riding the lifts and at the top it was a little windy and colder. The snow was quite variable. Some places it was scratchy frozen granular, other trails it was more loose granular. Here and there was exposed hardpack, isolated ice patches, and some thin cover. Their snow report painted a much rosier picture, so I was disappointed with the conditions.
The place is sort of sprawling, with lots of lifts spread out over a wide area. Quite a few of the lifts are high speed, which was nice. A few lifts have strange loading features, like gates that open and close for each chair, and moving carpets under the chair loading area, like some kind of amusement park ride. Today the crowds were very sparse, but it's obvious the place is geared for high volumes of people.
Overall I'd have to say it's not worth the long drive for me. The trails are kind of bland somehow, and many of them feel the same. The trails lengths aren't any better than closer options for me, and their trail count is really inflated. Also the condo farms all over the place gives it a very commercial feel for me. Still it does have a lot to offer. If I didn't live so far, I'd probably go there from time to time.
Some pics:
Here's what you are greeted with upon exiting the lodge. You have to take these slow lifts over the beginner area and then ski down to the real lifts. Rather annoying and makes it hard to duck into the lodge for things.
"Upper Chief" on the left and "Fast Lane" under the lift
Here I was heading for the South Face area. The snow over there was mostly frozen granular and there were some frozen chunks sitting on some of the trails. It was okay, but nothing great.
Here's the bottom of the South Face lift. My own private HSQ, although I only stayed for a few runs over here. The young girl working here seemed lonely.
I didn't know the best way to get back to the main mountain from the south face, so I stumbled onto the "Upper Mountain Road". This is practically a cross country trail, and I had first tracks on it. It was actually quite peaceful and enjoyable to meander along this, just me and bugs bunny.
They had gotten about and inch of fresh last night, which you could see in the trees. It wasn't enough to do much for the groomed trails though, and I think all of their glades were still closed.
There were some nice views from "Upper Mountain Road", uncluttered by condos.
I headed down to the Jackson Gore area next. This trail is "Lower Limelight" I think. One thing I noticed about Okemo, is they have a lot of undulating trails that go up and down frequently.
This is the Jackson Gore lodge area. Kind of bland high density stuff. The cafeteria area was nice, but the prices seemed inflated.
Here's the top of the Jackson Gore HSQ. One trail I liked over here is called "Tuckered Out". It's pretty narrow by Okemo standards, and has sharper turns than most.
Not sure which lift this is. They all started to blur together. But these wide spaces are pretty typical of many of the trails there.
I noticed they have a pretty gigantic half pipe.
They have some moguls scattered around on some of the trails. I think this is looking down "Plunge". I didn't try them, but they didn't look very soft.
Thought I'd try a day trip to Okemo today. Got up real early for what I figured would be about a three hour drive. But the roads were wet and visibility bad, so ended up taking 3 and a quarter hours, with the last hour spent winding through small towns and being stuck behind slow pokes.
It was my first time at Okemo, so I didn't know my way around. I went to the upper level of the lodge to boot up, but soon realized it's an inferno up there as I started sweating. Felt good to get outside to cool off. Temps were comfy at the base, but riding the lifts and at the top it was a little windy and colder. The snow was quite variable. Some places it was scratchy frozen granular, other trails it was more loose granular. Here and there was exposed hardpack, isolated ice patches, and some thin cover. Their snow report painted a much rosier picture, so I was disappointed with the conditions.
The place is sort of sprawling, with lots of lifts spread out over a wide area. Quite a few of the lifts are high speed, which was nice. A few lifts have strange loading features, like gates that open and close for each chair, and moving carpets under the chair loading area, like some kind of amusement park ride. Today the crowds were very sparse, but it's obvious the place is geared for high volumes of people.
Overall I'd have to say it's not worth the long drive for me. The trails are kind of bland somehow, and many of them feel the same. The trails lengths aren't any better than closer options for me, and their trail count is really inflated. Also the condo farms all over the place gives it a very commercial feel for me. Still it does have a lot to offer. If I didn't live so far, I'd probably go there from time to time.
Some pics:
Here's what you are greeted with upon exiting the lodge. You have to take these slow lifts over the beginner area and then ski down to the real lifts. Rather annoying and makes it hard to duck into the lodge for things.
"Upper Chief" on the left and "Fast Lane" under the lift
Here I was heading for the South Face area. The snow over there was mostly frozen granular and there were some frozen chunks sitting on some of the trails. It was okay, but nothing great.
Here's the bottom of the South Face lift. My own private HSQ, although I only stayed for a few runs over here. The young girl working here seemed lonely.
I didn't know the best way to get back to the main mountain from the south face, so I stumbled onto the "Upper Mountain Road". This is practically a cross country trail, and I had first tracks on it. It was actually quite peaceful and enjoyable to meander along this, just me and bugs bunny.
They had gotten about and inch of fresh last night, which you could see in the trees. It wasn't enough to do much for the groomed trails though, and I think all of their glades were still closed.
There were some nice views from "Upper Mountain Road", uncluttered by condos.
I headed down to the Jackson Gore area next. This trail is "Lower Limelight" I think. One thing I noticed about Okemo, is they have a lot of undulating trails that go up and down frequently.
This is the Jackson Gore lodge area. Kind of bland high density stuff. The cafeteria area was nice, but the prices seemed inflated.
Here's the top of the Jackson Gore HSQ. One trail I liked over here is called "Tuckered Out". It's pretty narrow by Okemo standards, and has sharper turns than most.
Not sure which lift this is. They all started to blur together. But these wide spaces are pretty typical of many of the trails there.
I noticed they have a pretty gigantic half pipe.
They have some moguls scattered around on some of the trails. I think this is looking down "Plunge". I didn't try them, but they didn't look very soft.
