Saturday after Christmas

[Smellytele]

What are the trails like difficulty wise? I never skied magic until 2 years ago but I love that mountain when there's snow? Do they groom everything out or keep some stuff natural? It's near killington right?

I can't tell you what they normally do but over half the trails were not groomed yesterday

 

[steamboat1]

What are the trails like difficulty wise? I never skied magic until 2 years ago but I love that mountain when there's snow? Do they groom everything out or keep some stuff natural? It's near killington right?

The upper part of the mountain has some challenging terrain as does the Outpost chair & Little Pico chair. Usually they only groom 49'er off the summit leaving everything else natural although other trails are groomed on occasion. Summit Glades & Giant Killer trails never see a groomer, rarely see Sunset 71 groomed either. I understand they groomed Pike this weekend but that also rarely see's a groomer, at least the top third doesn't. It's a big mountain boasting 1,967 vertical with plenty of difficulty. The lower mountain is groomed almost everyday & offers gentler terrain.

Yes it's right next door to Killington. There's even talk of connecting the two areas but that's a topic for another day. Pico is owned by the same corp. that owns Killington. You can ski Pico with a Killington ticket or pass but can't ski Killington with a Pico ticket or pass.

Also the lifts at Pico are rarely crowded. Even when the parking lot is overflowing you'll rarely find the lifts or trails to be crowded except for maybe the Golden Express chair which services the lower mountain but even then it's never like what you often find at other more popular areas.

 

[rocks860]

The upper part of the mountain has some challenging terrain as does the Outpost chair & Little Pico chair. Usually they only groom 49'er off the summit leaving everything else natural although other trails are groomed on occasion. Summit Glades & Giant Killer trails never see a groomer, rarely see Sunset 71 groomed either. I understand they groomed Pike this weekend but that also rarely see's a groomer. It's a big mountain boasting 1,967 vertical with plenty of difficulty. The lower mountain is groomed almost everyday & offers gentler terrain.

Hmm sounds like my kinda place. Maybe I'll head up there as I'm going to sugarbush on 1/10 for a week (possibly gonna hit up mrg or smugglers notch when I'm there) and probably going to magic in february

 

[rocks860]

The upper part of the mountain has some challenging terrain as does the Outpost chair & Little Pico chair. Usually they only groom 49'er off the summit leaving everything else natural although other trails are groomed on occasion. Summit Glades & Giant Killer trails never see a groomer, rarely see Sunset 71 groomed either. I understand they groomed Pike this weekend but that also rarely see's a groomer, at least the top third doesn't. It's a big mountain boasting 1,967 vertical with plenty of difficulty. The lower mountain is groomed almost everyday & offers gentler terrain.

Yes it's right next door to Killington. There's even talk of connecting the two areas but that's a topic for another day. Pico is owned by the same corp. that owns Killington. You can ski Pico with a Killington ticket or pass but can't ski Killington with a Pico ticket or pass.

Also the lifts at Pico are rarely crowded. Even when the parking lot is overflowing you'll rarely find the lifts or trails to be crowded except for maybe the Golden Express chair which services the lower mountain but even then it's never like what you often find at other more popular areas.

As far as the crowds thing I've found the same with magic. Even if the parking lot is packed the lifts and trails are rarely crowded. I went to magic for the first time 2 years ago when we had a huge storm in February. I initially drove to Stratton but it was absurdly packed so I decided to check out magic. Parking lot was practically empty and it was some of the best skiing I've ever had, powder all day long.

 

[RustyGroomer]

Maybe I'll just stick with magic assuming there's snow

Check my Trip Report from yesterday.

 

[rocks860]

Check my Trip Report from yesterday.

Looks like it was great, looks like it's between there and pico. I haven't skiied pico so I'm leaning that way

 

[drjeff]

Bottom line, if the weather is good, and the snow potential around Christmas plays out, that Saturday if not the busiest day of the year will be in the top 3 more than likely regardless of where you go

 

[mtsixspeed]

Sounds like everyone has good advice here. Great source for anyone new to the scene like me.

 

[rocks860]

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[rocks860]

Sounds like everyone has good advice here. Great source for anyone new to the scene like me.

Where are ya at?

 

[ScottySkis]

Go to small hill without any high speed chair s. I can of think of several in north east.

 

[rocks860]

Go to small hill without any high speed chair s. I can of think of several in north east.

If I'm going to a "small hill" I'd rather not go

 

[ScottySkis]

I meant like Burke, or Bolton valley not really that small 1600 vertical good snow good tree s less crowded you will not get both Hugh resort and not busy that time if winter.

 

[rocks860]

Yeah that's why I'm thinking like magic or pico

 

[The Sneak]

If I'm going to a "small hill" I'd rather not go

Don't be silly. If we get a storm around xmas Berkshire East will be epic.
Nice short drive.

You cannot go wrong with Pico, though. I am really not sure why its not more crowded / popular. IMO It's terrain is superior to Stratton, Okemo, Mount Snow etc...

 

[Smellytele]

You cannot go wrong with Pico, though. I am really not sure why its not more crowded / popular. IMO It's terrain is superior to Stratton, Okemo, Mount Snow etc...

I agree and think it has to do with it being in the shadow of Killington.

 

[rocks860]

I've gotten extremely bored with the terrain at stratton and I haven't skiied mount snow in years as I always felt like it was too flat. Okemo is alright but I always feel confused as to where I'm going and it gets super packed. I'm a big fan of magic if the snow is good and not a solid sheet of ice but was hoping to broaden my horizons so pico sounds right up my alley

 

[VTKilarney]

My only complaint with Pico is the lack of a top to bottom lift.

 

[Tin]

My only complaint with Pico is the lack of a top to bottom lift.

I like the division and pods. Keeps people off the summit area who shouldn't be there. And it keeps the Outpost area isolated. If you lap the summit lift you're still picking up almost 1600' of vert with not a lot of runout. So the same as K1 at Killington lol

 

[VTKilarney]

I like the division and pods. Keeps people off the summit area who shouldn't be there. And it keeps the Outpost area isolated. If you lap the summit lift you're still picking up almost 1600' of vert with not a lot of runout. So the same as K1 at Killington lol

That's not bad. It's been so long since I have skied at Pico that I was thinking the vert was less.