Ski Area Haters....always amuse / amaze me

[WJenness]

This thread made me think...

Has anyone seen JD?

-w

 

[marcski]

It is allabout one's enjoyment. By itsvery nature...that is subjective. I ski a lot with my girls lately ...so I ski greens and blues anyway with them.... For me its about skiding downhill on snow. I will find enjoyment no matter where I am doing that. I agree love and be loved. What ever happened to the saying if you don't have anything nice to day, don't say it.

 

[skiberg]

I grew up on Killington. First ski house was 1/2 hour away. The biggest problem i see is the lack of vert. I don't like the short choppy aspect of the skiing. As expansive as the mountain is, it lacks vertical. The peak to the gondola is not real vert. I do not like the amount of people on the hill at one time. The lifts are very efficient and put a ton of people on the hill. The runs in the traditional filtration zones can get very crowded. Gets good snow however.

 

[SkiDork]

I grew up on Killington. First ski house was 1/2 hour away. The biggest problem i see is the lack of vert. I don't like the short choppy aspect of the skiing. As expansive as the mountain is, it lacks vertical. The peak to the gondola is not real vert. I do not like the amount of people on the hill at one time. The lifts are very efficient and put a ton of people on the hill. The runs in the traditional filtration zones can get very crowded. Gets good snow however.

you sound like you haven't sampled K in a few years. Its not like it was even 5 years ago in terms of crowds.

 

[frankm938]

Now there's a definition of success out here in the far reaches of skiable terrain in Western NY. The spectrum of how much you love skiing, boarding, or whatever, is too wide to ever make everybody happy all the time. It has to be remembered, skiing is NOT a team sport. We are all challenging ourselves. Out here in no man's land, the only way you can challenge yourself is to make your own challenges - the terrain is not gonna do it for you. Most here get bored quickly because they simply want speed, so their day is perpetually spent on the lift. Such people complain that I ski too slow, making "too many turns". I say I'm getting the value in my lift ticket. Then we go out west, and the complaints are that I ski too fast. WTF?

I'll admit to being a Killington hater, and its because of the crowds of poor skiers attracted to the "biggest" aspect of the mountain. But have I not found a little corner to play in, in such a large sandbox at K? No, never. (Just don't go with a group of people who find Great Northern or Eastern or any other deadly over crowded catwalk mech access road to be the trail they have to stay on.)

there are more "poor" skiers at killington. but there are also more average skiers and more great skiers at killington than other mtns.
on any given saturday at killington ill see 20 different guys throughout the day that make me say "wow, that guy rips!! i want to ski like that"

 

[SkiDork]

there are more "poor" skiers at killington. but there are also more average skiers and more great skiers at killington than other mtns.
on any given saturday at killington ill see 20 different guys throughout the day that make me say "wow, that guy rips!! i want to ski like that"

+1

although I prolly never will. I keep trying though.

 

[deadheadskier]

I grew up on Killington. First ski house was 1/2 hour away. The biggest problem i see is the lack of vert. I don't like the short choppy aspect of the skiing. As expansive as the mountain is, it lacks vertical. The peak to the gondola is not real vert. I do not like the amount of people on the hill at one time. The lifts are very efficient and put a ton of people on the hill. The runs in the traditional filtration zones can get very crowded. Gets good snow however.

Fair enough. We all have our opinions; our likes, dislikes etc. That's not really what I'm referring to.

Though I will say that even if I spend a day at someplace that's crowded as can be, groomed flat as a pancake and it the woods aren't skiable, I'm still glad I was skiing instead of home on the couch. Some people's expressed 'hatred' towards certain areas would make you think they're talking about cleaning the toilets with a tooth brush at Giants Stadium. I mean is it really that bad????

IceFace is the place I love to hate on. Partly becuase it is such crappy skiing and more so from the fact that the IceFace lovers blinldy love the place.

This is the bigger part of the 'hater' mentality that I find lame. Ragging on others for where and how they choose to have fun. In this example, I've seen some unbelievable trip reports from whiteface over the years. There's no doubt in my mind why some folks absolutely love the place.

 

[Smellytele]

There are a few kinds of hate.

Snobbery: ex. "Mount Snow is too short and flat, anybody who goes there is a pussy" Just shut the fuck up, nobody wants to hear it.

Reverse-Snobbery: ex. "Who wants to ski Stratton with all the snobs". Again, does it really offend you what the rest of the people are like at the hill? I get not liking crowded slopes and lift lines. I get not liking high ticket prices, or some of the yuppie things in the way they do the lodge, but I really could care less what the other people on the hill are like (except I guess if I'm talking to people on the lift, but usually I'm skiing with a group that fills the whole chair anyway). This is making the mountain you go to a fashion statement.

I think you miss the point of people being Jacka55es in line and on the slopes - some areas just seem to have more rude people than others. I couldn't care less what they wear, how they ski or what they do for a living.

 

[KingM]

I will probably never ski Mad River Glen, but I'm glad it exists. Heck, I'm glad Yawgoo Valley exists.

My kids learned to ski at Mad River. There's plenty for the novice or intermediate skier.

 

[AdironRider]

Ill hate on MRG, but Im a snowboarder. Does have decent terrain but 75% of the season the skiing is terrible there. Its the East coast, natural snow doesnt hold that long here in terms of quality.

Of course Whiteface gets hated on in this post. Sometimes I feel like its middle school all over again.

 

[skiberg]

I have heard that the crowds have decreased quite a bit. I do agree though, it still skiing no matter it cant be that bad. As much as I dislike Killington. I guarantee I could have a great day there with good snow and a local to take me to all the stashes I missed when I was a kid. Starting to get me thinking about heading over to sample it again. I have a house a Cannon now and my son races every weekend their so its kind of tough to get all the way over to Rutland area.Early season and late are best for convenience but you really cant get the feel of a place with 20% of terrain open.

 

[dmc]

I am guessing you have a hard time with the terrain. Thats OK

Exactly... People hate places they can't ski to "save face"

 

[dmc]

This is the bigger part of the 'hater' mentality that I find lame. Ragging on others for where and how they choose to have fun. In this example, I've seen some unbelievable trip reports from whiteface over the years. There's no doubt in my mind why some folks absolutely love the place.

Often times ski areas are judged by one day of crappy skiing weather/conditions...

 

[4aprice]

Often times ski areas are judged by one day of crappy skiing weather/conditions...

I will agree with this but 1st impressions are key. Using Whiteface as an example, we spent a weekend there several years ago. I was impressed by the mountain but gotta tell you the conditions were not good. It lived up to its nickname. I saw the potential of the mountain but my wife (and she's a pretty good skier) couldn't stand the place. We had a similar experience at Ascutney. While I would be willing to give it another try, she just has no interest. Being my ski partner (for life) I have my doubts I will go back.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[EPB]

I have to say, I have more respect and appreciation for folks who have a shit eating grin skiing Mt. Road at Okemo on a Martin Luther King weekend. They don't care what the mountain's stats are. They don't care that they're not skiing in a foot of blower. They're just out having fun. I've got my own mountain, terrain, condition preferences for sure........but I can also have fun lapping Polecat at Wildcat all day too.

Mountain stats still play a role in swaying the causal skier's decision to ski/ride a certain mountain. This is evidenced by a recent comment about how Stowe ballooned their trail totals from 48 to 112 to retain their skier base. Leisure time is too valuable to spend without doing some type of due diligence. Mountain statistics certainly play a role in that regard.

I always feel like I lose credibility talking about growing up skiing at Attitash. I still go there quite a bit, though it does not rank highly among my favorite places to ski glades/powder/etc. As a former racer, I like their cruisers and am unaffected by their sometimes icy terrain. If I want to hop in the woods, Wildcat is right down the street. I have a ton of fun at both places. The most obnoxious type of haters are ones that point to snowfall totals for reasons why they wont go near certain areas/resorts. It's just plain stupid. By that logic, they should stay home until a thick natural base has developed and pack it in early when they start to see rocks/grass.

The fact of the matter is, this thread helps demonstrate that haters' points aren't taken seriously. There's really no point to take hating on your mountain seriously. (As if anyone didn't know that much already) The internet is full of blow-hard, know it all characters that, as far as we know, can't even ski half of the terrain they brag about with good form. Surely some here are great skiers. They're likely the ones that don't care to get into senseless pissing matches and keep the goods to themselves.

 

[WJenness]

I will agree with this but 1st impressions are key. Using Whiteface as an example, we spent a weekend there several years ago. I was impressed by the mountain but gotta tell you the conditions were not good. It lived up to its nickname. I saw the potential of the mountain but my wife (and she's a pretty good skier) couldn't stand the place. We had a similar experience at Ascutney. While I would be willing to give it another try, she just has no interest. Being my ski partner (for life) I have my doubts I will go back.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Ascutney seems to be joining NELSAP, so unless you want to hike... you won't be going back... There's a thread on that here somewhere...

-w

 

[dmc]

When I hear people diss ski areas - it makes me want to go check it out...

I was a Gore once.. And the conditions sucked that day... But I'm going back because even though it was a rink the terrain still looked great.

 

[4aprice]

Ascutney seems to be joining NELSAP, so unless you want to hike... you won't be going back... There's a thread on that here somewhere...

-w

I have heard that and despite my experience there its a shame. I was just using it as an example and meant it no harm.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[WJenness]

I have heard that and despite my experience there its a shame. I was just using it as an example and meant it no harm.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

I understood you meant no harm... It's a shame whenever we lose a ski area, no matter how big or small... because I don't think many new ones are likely to pop up anytime soon...

-w

 

[jerryg]

Never understood the hate. I can have fun skiing anywhere. Heck, twice last season I took the half hour trip from my house to Lost Valley and ripped the 240 feet of vert. Had a blast!

It's great to go there after work for a couple hours and be taken back in time. Can't wait to do it again this year.