recommendations for skiing Jay/Cannon/Bretton this weekend

[ssudha17]

I found a sweet deal on one of the other AZ threads for Bretton Wood/Cannon/Jay for $99 including 2 lift tickets per day. So planning to head up north and stay 22nd, 23rd and 24th up there. Having a hard time deciding the best place to be, given the weather for Saturday isn't looking good at this point (wintry mix). Haven't been to any of the above before.
As some of the AZers know, I would categorize myself as an intermediate skier, looking to stay out of the trees (groomers/non-groomed) during this trip. I hear that Jay would be great for tree skiing, which I am not looking for. Any recommendations or details on what to expect at Bretton and Cannon?

 

[Brettski]

Yo, Jersey....look at the travel time

Jay should be a straight shot

Plus, there's no need to tree ski.....BUT...You can hook up with mountain personel to show you the woods

Tree skiing is prbably the most fun I ever had

My pix is at the top of Jay with the family...you don't have to hit the woods for good skiing...Jay gets a boatload of snow

Cannon, is also great...maybe a bit further, but Jay has slopeside

Bretton Woods is a hike, and I've never been, but I understand is a bit boring

Also, Jay has nothing but skiing...there is nothing else to do up there...IMO

BUT...ski hard, hit the condo or hotel, jacuzzi, go the the restraunt, or cook, watch a fire, bring some cd's and pass out

You don't say wife, gfriend or kids...kinda makes a difference

In any case, this is a great season

Get out there

 

[ccskier]

Although the Northern Vermont areas have been getting dumped on the groomed/on piste trails are absolutely wind scoured, especially at JAy. The woods can hold the snow. Jay is not a mountain for just groomers, you may be better pressed going to Bretton Woods.

 

[Brettski]

Although the Northern Vermont areas have been getting dumped on the groomed/on piste trails are absolutely wind scoured, especially at JAy. The woods can hold the snow. Jay is not a mountain for just groomers, you may be better pressed going to Bretton Woods.

OK, then if you want to say that, then I say go to Whiteface

Great Mountain, Great nightlife

BUT...you can lots of snow at Jay...I skied pow in April...wind hold is a prob

I'm thinking 6 /12 to Jay, 5 /12 to LP, 6 1/2 to Cannon, BW is gotta be at least 7+

Where in Jersey?

 

[thetrailboss]

If you don't like trees, and prefer trail skiing, my advice would be to start with Bretton Woods. That is an intermediate cruiser paradise. You will like it. They have easy glades as well. The next day I would try Cannon. Their terrain is similar to Jay's in that it is steeper, can be icier, and is old school. Like Jay, that fall line is steep. If you like Cannon and can handle it, you can either return here or try Jay. If it is not your cup of tea, go back to BW.

Jay's trees are amazing. Their trails suck. Now Stateside is awesome...great pitch, good rolls, and variety. But there are only a half a dozen runs or so over there. The rest of the mountain has trails that either (a) slab across the steep fall line, or (b) take on that steep fall line and are icy, bumpy, and can be nasty. Ullr's is cool...but it can be crowded. They get their fair share of wind and ice on the trails...and that is similar to Cannon.

So that's my advice. BW has the best intermediate trails, then Cannon, and Jay is last in my experience.

Have you considered Burke?

 

[deadheadskier]

Although the Northern Vermont areas have been getting dumped on the groomed/on piste trails are absolutely wind scoured, especially at JAy. The woods can hold the snow. Jay is not a mountain for just groomers, you may be better pressed going to Bretton Woods.

Hording the goods for yourself?


Kidding, you're probably right. Jay certainly isn't great for groomed terrain.

 

[deadheadskier]

OK, then if you want to say that, then I say go to Whiteface

Great Mountain, Great nightlife

BUT...you can lots of snow at Jay...I skied pow in April...wind hold is a prob

I'm thinking 6 /12 to Jay, 5 /12 to LP, 6 1/2 to Cannon, BW is gotta be at least 7+

Where in Jersey?

I think he is referring to the deal at the Hampton Inn in Littleton, NH. That will be his base and Jay, Cannon and Bretton are his options in which to use the tickets at.

 

[riverc0il]

Bretton

 

[eatskisleep]

Groomers and Intermediate, Bretton Woods no doubt.

 

[thetrailboss]

Oh and the weather at this point is looking like snow.....not NCP.

 

[OppositeGeorge]

ssudha17 - I did the Littleton Hampton Inn deal -- stayed there last night, skiing Bretton today and tomorrow (staying in a cheaper place in North Conway tonight.) It is an excellent, excellent deal and the hotel is very, very nice.

As for Bretton: I'd never skied there before, so this is all based on a first impression. As others have said, it's groomer city if that's what you're looking for. It's definitely not big-mountain skiing, and the main area getting most of the traffic reminded me of a small Okemo (only even more groomed-out and a bit less challenging,) but out on the edges of the area there was plenty to keep me busy today and tomorrow. So even though groomertown is not a burg I like to spend a lot of time in I was impressed by the amount of variety -- they balance things out well, IMO, for an area of their size.

More on the cruiseability. Bretton is a strange mountain in that the pitch is pretty consistent, and pretty-consistently green/blue. The few tougher runs tend to be either less groomed or narrower but not of significantly steeper pitch than the rest (the one exception is a run called "Short but Sweet" which I estimated at over 30 degrees.)

As for today: great coverage and no wind. You can cruise on groomers all day if that's what you're looking for but I need to add this: I know you said you're not interested in trees, but they had lots of easy tree skiing open too. Stuff where you could try out trees, and if you don't like it, bail. I'm still a rank beginner in trees and the thing that makes most tree skiing hard for me is the steepness of most tree runs. The overwhelming majority of Bretton's runs, trees, gladed and groomed, are not steep at all so that eased my anxiety level quite a bit. They had tougher trees too, but that's too much for me and I didn't go in those. I had a blast regardless.

The mountain outside the trees was mostly (~70 - 80%) groomed to corduroy. On the ungroomed stuff, powder depth varied from a few inches to well over a foot, but it was a bit heavy (this is not champagne.) Never caught a tip or hit a branch anywhere, even in the trees. They also have a true gladed run (not tree skiing but a trail with trees here and there) called, I think, Agassiz if you think that might interest you (not groomed today, but not especially tough once it got chopped up a bit.)

As the day went on, they groomed more cruising terrain on the west side, but left the east pretty much alone. Even where they did groom on the west, they left the side of the main cruiser alone, so there was plenty of opportunity to get dip into the untracked and chopped-up and pop back out if you got in too deep. Overall I'd say this is a very user-friendly mountain (for better or worse.)

Many of the trails had small branches (blowdown?) strewn about and sticking out, but I never felt anything under my boards and at the end of the day the bases were untouched. The big unknown is how much snowbase there is to back that surface layer up, so things might be different this weekend when things get crowded (there were maybe 200 people on the hill today.) There were a small number of firm/icy spots but nowhere near what you'd typically expect in the NE and at the end of the day my edges were perfectly sharp, as I'd barely used them.

There were a handful of semi-bumped-up runs. The rest of the runs were ungroomed fresh or totally groomed out corduroy. Two small dirt spots on groomers by the end of the day -- everywhere else was snow.

No wind all day today. Nada. Zilch. Very weird for the NE.

So, in short Bretton is cruiser city, with impeccable, gently-sloped groomers, a little bit of ungroomed and quite a bit of marked tree skiing for all abilities. It's not my usual kind of mountain and I don't know if I'll go back this year but it's got enough to keep me entertained for a couple days and I'm glad I went.

A couple of notes on the HI deal:

When I called the hotel yesterday afternoon to book my room, the Hampton Inn desk agent only mentioned Bretton and Cannon -- not a problem for me since I'd never skied Bretton before -- but be sure they actually have tickets for Jay if that's where you want to go.

They give you the tickets at the hotel (and they both have to be for the same mountain.) The desk agent said I had to use the tickets by Dec. 24, but the BW tickets she gave me say they're valid through April 20. Not sure if she's confused, or if the tickets for the other mountains carry more restrictions.

Staying at the North Conway Grand Hotel tonight for $69 through the magic of billski's Room$aver rag -- picked mine up at the Vermont Welcome center on I-91 before Exit 1 -- this is the only Vermont rest area I have seen it at. This is also a nice hotel, a notch below the Hampton Inn but well above the local motels. FYI -- current motel pricing in the North Conway area seems to be in the $49-59 range (that's mid-week; don't know what happens Friday,) and all are sporting mucho vacancy. The local business owners I've chatted with have all said the past couple weeks have been very, very slow, so maybe there still will be deals to be found or made over the weekend.

If you decide to do Jay (and if the HI still has tickets,) be aware that it's a good hour and a half from Littleton. Definitely plan on spending night two closer to the mountain. I've had good luck with the bare-bones but clean Super 8 in Newport, which is the nearest good-sized U.S. town (and is ~1/2 hour from Jay.) They're showing rates of $61.88 for this weekend (for some reason they don't offer AAA discounts) but there are plenty of budget motels in the area if you feel like deal hunting.

Post back or PM me if you have specific questions. I'll be on-line tomorrow morning and (probably) tomorrow night.

 

[askstowell]

I think he is referring to the deal at the Hampton Inn in Littleton, NH. That will be his base and Jay, Cannon and Bretton are his options in which to use the tickets at.

This is a great deal. A few weeks ago, we made reservations for last weekend and this weekend. My just-turned 11 year old daughter's two favorite places are Bretton Woods and Sunday River so we jumped at this and skied Bretton on Saturday. $99 to stay and they throw in 2 free lift tickets that would have cost me $110 on top of lodging. We're heading back up this weekend for Friday night and skiing Bretton Saturday and Sunday. So basically my daughter and I get to ski for free last weekend and this weekend. Hampton Inn wasn't bad either...comfortable room, indoor pool, game room, decent breakfast.

I think Burke is also an option for the package as well.

 

[ccskier]

Hording the goods for yourself?


Kidding, you're probably right. Jay certainly isn't great for groomed terrain.

Hopefully there will be some left by the time I finally get there, haven't even gotten my pass picture taken, will ski 26th-2nd next week though.

 

[ssudha17]

OppositeGeorge, Thanks for such a detailed review of the resort and conditions. Wonderful perspectives from so many others!! I think I am sold on Bretton at this point. With my skills, I should be able to handle the tree runs as long as they are not way too tight and will probably hang out among the trees for a little bit but primarily want to work on my carving skills and possibly spend some time on moguls while I am there. I have decided to make reservations tomorrow based on the forecast (hopefully the specials still last). I will be going with my wife who will probably not ski. So I will have an extra lift ticket for any AZer who is at the mountain on those days. I am currently thinking staying 22nd, 23rd, 24th if available, which means I will be on the mountain on 23th, 24th and 25th. I will let the forum know where I land up going, dates, etc. tomorrow. Maybe I can meet up with some AZers up there. I live in Central Jersey (Pennington). So I have a good 7 hour ride ahead.

 

[ssudha17]

Have you considered Burke?

Burke was not mentioned in the promotion I saw. I will ask about it when I call tomorrow for reservations.

 

[ssudha17]

I did the Littleton Hampton Inn deal -- stayed there last night, skiing Bretton today and tomorrow

How long is the ride from this HI to Bretton?

 

[OppositeGeorge]

About 1/2 hour door to door. Ride to/from BW to North Conway is about 45 minutes.

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Just read your first reply (duh.) Thanks for the props.

The conditions today on the groomers were PERFECT for working on carving (I was doing that at the start of the morning.)

The tree runs you probably want to check out are on the west side -- the Agassiz glade, Millenium Maze, Wild West Glade and Peppersass. The glades on the east (the Rosebrook Canyon Glades) looked tougher and I didn't try any of them, or any of the tougher ones on the west side either (though I might tomorrow.) Please report back if you do!

Have Fun!

 

[ssudha17]

Made my reservations and got tickets to Bretton Woods for 1 day and 2 at Cannon, starting 22nd. So if anyone from AZ is in that area and would like to join, PM me. Hopefully the weather gods will shower in our favor and send the white stuff instead of rain this weekend!!

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Dude, you are going to love this deal. It was snowing big flakes when I left N. Conway ~ 5pm tonight so as long as the temps hold out (was ~20-25 @ BW today) you should be set. Conditions were even easier today, as the trees were chopped up a bit. No wind on the west side, even though the flags were blowing straight out at the MW hotel across the street. Place must be blessed or something. Maybe 300 people today. Sorry I'm busy this weekend or I'd be all over your offer.

If the Mrs. isn't skiing, there are a bunch of towns in the Franconia Notch area she can drive to and check out, as well as some beautiful scenery. And if she's a shopper, there are outlets aplenty in North Conway -- probably better to go there on your BW day, as the Kanc Hgwy can get dicey when it snows.

Anyway, congrats and have a blast!