One More Request for Your Opinion

[Jill]

I posted an earlier request about pre Christmas vacation. I appreciate all your replies I have narrowed the field down to Lake Placid or Killington. This was based on number of beginner trails, other activities around the mountain and recent snow fall (I know that can change) . My biggest fear is NO SNOW! We don't get any of that down here in south Florida, so if I am going to get on a plane to see it........I would like for lots and lots of it to be there. The men in the family liked the idea of the bob sledding, tabagon etc. and us girls liked the ice skating, tubing, sleigh rides etc. Both of these resorts seem to have both. Another question I have is which of the two would you consider to be the easiest to get to and what is the closest major airport to it. We are not experienced snow drivers and that is a deciding factor. Thanks for all your replies I look forward to hearing them.

 

[pepperdawg]

Snow and lots it of to play on??? - Ski/ride as well as alll those other sledding/bobsledding, horse drawn sleighactivities...before X-mas?? Head west - CO, UT, Tahoe.....not being obnoxious, but before X-mas in New England WILL be a gamble if you have the expectaions as desire above.

Not to be too much a bummer, just being honest....

Or wait till January.....

IF you have your heart set on NE - then as mentioned in the other tread Stowe will probably work best both your expectations and ease of travel. IF you do end up at Killingotn, drop me a line.


(P-dawg smack dab in the middle of a server lift this weekend so has lots of time to sit and think about replies)

disclaimer: - telling Jill NOT to come will ensure a week of major dumpage begining the 3rd week in Dec

 

[First Tracks]

Pepperdawg is right about his western recommendation. However,

I have narrowed the field down to Lake Placid or Killington.

Killington is severely lacking in the charm department. It's like leaving one city to arrive at another in the middle of Vermont. It has the only ski area access road that I can think of with traffic lights and passing lanes. Just feel you ought to know that -- some people couldn't care less, but others do.

FYI, we were in Tampa for 8 years, up until last year. My job keeps me traveling from ski resort to ski resort all winter long. I occasionally bring my family with me, too, as part of my research. My wife, who's a sometimes-skier on the greens and easy blues, felt that Lake Placid was her favorite ski trip...ever. (She did not like the vibe at Killington.)

The men in the family liked the idea of the bob sledding, tabagon etc. and us girls liked the ice skating, tubing, sleigh rides etc. Both of these resorts seem to have both.

Placid is the winner over Killington in these departments, hands-down, no question. Anybody on these forums who has been to both will be hard pressed to disagree with that.

Another question I have is which of the two would you consider to be the easiest to get to and what is the closest major airport to it.

Both are approximately 2 hours from Albany (NY) International Airport (ALB), which is served by Southwest for cheap flights from Florida (you never said where in FL, but by S Florida I'm presuming you're in the southeast corner -- Southwest flies from both FLL and W Palm Beach). Killington is about 90 minutes to 2 hours from Manchester, NH (MHT) as well, and Southwest goes there, too. Killington and Lake Placid are also both about 2 hours from Burlington, VT (BVT) which has reasonable flights via JetBlue. One could easily drive to Placid from Montréal, too, but that requires a total of four customs and immigration checks round-trip -- one upon landing, another upon driving back into the US, and the same thing in reverse on your return.

It's tough to get to a major NE snow resort with less than a 2-hour drive from a major airport.

But if you want guaranteed snow, head west. Utah is having a bang-up early season (see my extensive feature piece on family-friendly vacations in Utah here -- it was just published this week), as is the Sierra Crest at Mammoth (hard to fly to) and southwestern CO (Crested Butte, Telluride, etc.). In Utah, you could get to no fewer than seven major resorts within 30 miles of the airport without even needing to get behind the wheel of a car by using an airport shuttle. Tahoe is doing OK, but nothing like Mammoth, and ditto for New Mexico (easy, cheap flights aboard Southwest into ABQ and and easy, usually dry-road driving to the resorts). Tahoe is close to the airport in Reno, but the driving between the two can at times be rather hairy for those inexperienced in dealing with snow. Taos (New Mexico) is offering half-price lodging at most hotels in town and half-price lift tickets before Christmas, but if you have a snowboarder in the family that's "out" as Taos bans snowboarding.

 

[LordHedgie]

disclaimer: - telling Jill NOT to come will ensure a week of major dumpage begining the 3rd week in Dec

Jill, STAY HOME! STAY HOME! STAY HOME!

Man, I can't wait for that dumpage!

 

[tirolerpeter]

Pre-Christmas Vacation

Jill, while there is a chance that there might be snow in NY or Vt the place to go is WEST! I am a season pass holder at Killington, and while I do go there to ski, I am leaving on Monday for Salt Lake City for a week. Look at a website called www.skiutah.com and/or log in to jetblue.com to look at their deals. My buddy and I are flying round-trip from JFK direct to Salt Lake for $309 for BOTH of us. There are great resorts all around Salt Lake. Any of the Little or Big Cottonwood Canyon areas are great right now. They have a miminum of 75 inches of snow and it is continuing to come down. The airport is right in the city, and you can get cheap transportation to the resorts, and even car rentals are cheap. Its a NO BRAINER to take a look at your options. This is their "early season" and they all do great deals. I do believe Jet Blue services FL. You will spend a ton of money getting to us here in the northeast with NO Guarantee that you will find good conditions; especially, if a number of your party are beginners. Beginner terrain is very limited here before the snows of January, and what there is, is often either very heavy and wet, or frozen solid. Again - GO WEST!

 

[beswift]

What else but SNOW.

I found skimming this thread amusing. The only place I have ever found that was a slam dunk for snow when you want to go was UTAH. You could also consider the French Alps, but stay away from Austria. The southwest can screw you in this dept., too. I lived in Telluride on two occasions and visited it another. In that part of Co. you can have great snow in November ( I have skied it at the tenth anniversary and twentieth anniversary opennings) and then see it all melt. I have been there in January as I have posted previous and saw ABSOLUTELY NO :evil: cover on the slopes. Now, to answer your question, I would go to Lake Placid if you are not ski specific. You may no find natural ice or snow, but there is one of the few ski jumps left in the states there. Let us know if that appeals to that macho guy of yours!!!! :roll:

 

[beswift]

Oh, and an addendum to this thread after going over it again would be a comparison of Killington and Utah. :argue: If you are trying to get away from the modern city atmosphere, don't go to Salt Lake. That goes for avoiding city traffic as well. It's a fairly ugly experience overall, not that the sparsely covered Mtn.'s of the Northeast are much more appealing.Killington is best visited from Woodstock which is a half hour away. If you want to avoid a lot of driving, you can stay in either Rutland or Salt Lake and take the bus to skiing. However, if you want to stay slope side, Killington has excellent lodging. Finally, if you do decide on Utah and want to avoid the city, find some accomodations in Park City. You will get the Colorado experience without the pretentions. If you want to do some drinking, stick to California Wine.

 

[RISkier]

Re: What else but SNOW.

I found skimming this thread amusing. The only place I have ever found that was a slam dunk for snow when you want to go was UTAH. You could also consider the French Alps, but stay away from Austria.

It's a bit of a generalization about Austria, though it certainly depends where you're going. The Arlberg (St. Anton, Lech, Zuers) has a very good snow record as does Obergurgl, Obertauren (SP). Ischgl is pretty good. But it's true that many Austrian resorts, even very famous ones like Kitsbuhel are fairly low. That said, it's tough to find a better snow record than Utah.

 

[freeheelwilly]

Jill said: "My biggest fear is NO SNOW! We don't get any of that down here in south Florida, so if I am going to get on a plane to see it........I would like for lots and lots of it to be there." I took from the quoted language that she was more worried about snow to look at than to ski on. If worried about snow quality for skiing, then those that say GO WEST! are right. Barring a big dump, neither Whiteface (Placid) or K-Mart are gonna be in top form at Christmas. But if I'm right and Jill is more worried about snow for aesthetic purposes, then Placid for sure. There will be snow on the ground there at Christmas (there's snow on the ground there now). Plus the whole "charm" factor. Anybody who follows my posts knows I'm partial to Placid/Whiteface anyway but even putting my partisanship aside for the moment, for a "traditional, mountain-town, family-oriented Christmas" Placid/Whiteface has it over K-mart/Rutland anyday. Plus, you can't bobsled at K or skate on the Olympic Oval, etc.

 

[beswift]

Austria

There's the rub. In fact Utah isn't a slam dunk for snow in late December, but the Wasatch is. The same goes for Austria. You have to practically have an advanced degree in Austrian to avoid a bad experience. Nevertheless, a tourist has to ask themselves the question "Do I want to spend Christmas with the Mormons?"

 

[First Tracks]

Re: Austria

There's the rub. In fact Utah isn't a slam dunk for snow in late December, but the Wasatch is.

Unless they opt to stay in the Salt Lake Valley instead of at the ski areas, what's the point of this statement?

Nevertheless, a tourist has to ask themselves the question "Do I want to spend Christmas with the Mormons?"

Even as a non-Mormon...heck, even as a non-practicing Catholic...I can't think of a more spiritual way to do so than to attend a holiday performance by the MTC, or simply to feel their joy of the season.

 

[beswift]

Huh?

Unless they opt to stay in the Salt Lake Valley instead of at the ski areas, what's the point of this statement?

SNOW

 

[skibum23]

Suggest you go west for snow....Doubt we'll have any in the east before x-mas....It's going to be 65 in NYC on Wed...

 

[jimme]

Advice to head to Utah is 100% on.

Since you asked between Placid/Whiteface and Rutland/Killington I have to go with Whiteface. Same reasons as FirstTracks.

Last winter on Dec 24th my basement sump pump was running, the year before on the same day was the beginning of a 20+" snowstorm. Weather in the Northeast is fickle at best. Both areas make snow provided they have cold temps.

Jimme

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Dear Jill,
I’m beggin ya, don’t go to Killington. It is always crowded, but especially X-mas week you will feel like a rat in a maze. You didn’t make clear if you’re bringing kids or not, but if you are and you bring them to Kmart instead of WF/LP that is tantamount to child abuse. You mentioned beginner terrain, WF has it’s own separate beginner area, Easy Acres-Kids Kampus where a beginner feels very safe. No young guns venture over there. Also, even Xmas week, WF isn’t crowded compared to other areas,

Lake Placid is a beautiful ski resort village with more activities then any other.You mentioned ice skating, for a couple of bucks you can skate on the ¼ mile Olympic oval.
Check this link:
http://www.whiteface.com/OffHill.htm

As far a airports go you fly direct from Flordia to Albany, rent a car,
get right on the Northway, drive north for 1 ½ hours to exit 30, get off and drive another ½ hour right to LP; simple.

I don’t normally like to take the time to post a message this long, but if I didn’t and you went to Kmart I would feel like I passed a person who got hit by a car and went by without trying to help. If you go to Kmart instead of WF/LP you WILL REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

This post took a lot out of me; I’m tired. I think I’ll ask the boss if I can take a break now. Have fun.

 

[beswift]

If she want to see snow.

Suggest you go west for snow

On my drive across N.H. and into Vt. Tuesday, everything was covered with snow.