Ski areas with the most "soul"

[highpeaksdrifter]

No way dude....I meant no offense towards you at all really...I just thought the analysis was funny.......I honestly thought it was all in good "fun".... ;-)

No offense meant AT ALL....no from me anyway...

M

I know and it was funny. MC2 nailed me good. I should have put a wink in front of the Sad face cause I was kidding about that. I'm no good with emotioncons.

 

[haines]

When I look for soul, I prefer the top of a Big Box retailer for an afternnoon of quiet skiing on unlimited terrain

If thats not availible I head right to Mt Ararat in York, Me or Rediscover King Ridge in New London, NH maybe Mt, Whiitier

 

[AdironRider]

THink what you want of the place, but the whole "iceface" thing is just plain wrong. Nice play on words I suppose.

 

[MRGisevil]

I can agree w/all but Berkshire East. I've never found the terrain there to be all that great. In fact, the running joke among my friends is calling it Berkshire Ice. For CT, Mt. Southington may not have the best trails, but it's got a cool place to hang and great attitude from people.

 

[Brettski]

Holiday Mountain

 

[Greg]

I can agree w/all but Berkshire East. I've never found the terrain there to be all that great. In fact, the running joke among my friends is calling it Berkshire Ice.

Me thinks you need to pick better days...

Pretty damn soulful, IMHO. Beast is best after a dump; I'll give you that...

 

[millerm277]

NY:
Hunter-Yes, it's full of obnoxious people on weekends, but the West Side has some great skiing. Along with K-27/ESD/Minya. It's soul may be the devil....trying to get you to go off the cliffs that are on the side of every trail on the main face of the mtn.

VT:

Killington: This is not a place that you expect to see here, but the soul of the mountain isn't in the way the place is run. It is in the number of dedicated people you can find skiing/snowboarding there, and some of the lesser-known and unmarked trails.

MRG: Obviously this should be in here, it's main goal is preserving the classic new england style of skiing, and isn't really too concerned with making profits.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

MRGisevil is obviously a troll, I wouldn't get too worked up. :lol:

 

[CapeSkier]

New England Soul

When I look for soul, I prefer the top of a Big Box retailer for an afternnoon of quiet skiing on unlimited terrain

If thats not availible I head right to Mt Ararat in York, Me or Rediscover King Ridge in New London, NH maybe Mt, Whiitier

THAT was soul. King Ridge had it. Lift tickets were cheap, brown-baggers were welcome, and it was a friendly place for a kid to hone skills.

So what is soul? To me, it's being in touch with the origins of the sport. In other words, it is a place that doesn't forget where we came from. In 40 years of skiing, I have seen a lot of changes. Some good, but some not. Soul reminds us of the past, but doesn't limit the future.

Examples: Mt. Cranmore in North Conway NH. Definite soul. One of the first, and not really that much change. Of course, the destruction of the Skimobile (regardless of its inefficiency) was a mistake. But for an example of where we have come from, you can't find much better. Cannon Mountain is another. I have had some of the best ski days of my life there. It was simple, unpretentious, and took some beans to ski on the cold days (this was the '70's). Wildcat always had soul, and so did Attitash. The deck on a sunny weekend was great. Ragged Mountain is still full of soul. Not a thing nearby, but always worth the drive from Boston. In Vt., Stowe had soul (Haven't been there since 1979) and Bromley did too. (The Pabst family owned it, and the beer flowed nicely). In Mass., Nashoba Valley had soul when all my college friends would meet for night skiing, inexpensively. We've all moved on, but it is still there. Even Blue Hills (We called it Blue Bump) in its own way had soul, because you could always get there. It was cheap, and accessible to anyone. When I was a kid, we didn't know the difference.

So I'm mostly living in the past here, but our sport has roots, and part of knowing who you are is knowing where you came from. And if a ski area can do that, it has soul.

 

[billski]

2fer

MRG, Berkshire East. Each for entirely different reasons.

 

[Marc]

or

??

 

[billski]

or

??

you have way too much time on your hands. Please go ski.....

 

[deadheadskier]

for the northeast, my vote goes to Sugarbush

best big mountain experience out there that remains tight to its roots. Sugarloaf gets my 2nd place vote - unfortunately due to lack of natural and thus diminishing the quality of experience on 'most' days. I might imagine if I experience the loaf on a pow day, it might garner my top vote for soul as there is a ton of it there.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

i never use capitol letters. guilty as charged on the lack of formating paragraphs... it was a stream of consciousness post and i didn't want to break up my train of thought to properly format.

don't like the way i write? don't read my posts. won't hurt my feelings. and for the record, i think "steeze" is one of the dumbest words going these days.

REminds me somewhat of Lowell George's liner notes on Little Feat Albums.

 

[SIKSKIER]

... the people! cannon is the same. look at the front five from I-93... that isn't soul. soul are the people bellying up to the bar three times a week in the peabody lodge sharing stories and planning sorties and explorations for the off season... the same folks that bring their family their because they want their family in on the special atmosphere cannon offers. that is part of the soul of cannon many might not think about. .

Wow!Your talking about me.Although I complain about Cannon,It's my first love for exactly what you just wrote.The people.I must have 200+ Soulfull skiers friends there.Spending 50 days a season on that mountain will do that to anyone!Yup,she has soul.

 

[marcski]

Again have to limit this to states that I have skied...

Ma: I have to agree with the Beast.

Vt. MRG

UT: Alta (which, to me, is different than Alta/snowbird)

Co: A-basin

NY: Plattekill

As a very soulful skier...(or a skier with soul..or both!) I find most ski areas have soul....As stated at length in this thread, if not for the ski area itself..for the diehard skiers that ski there. But, some honorable mentions...:

Catamount: (can go to both NY and MA);
Magic;
The Bush;
Stowe...

 

[ajl50]

East - Highmount ski area. Took a post belleayre trip there today- that place is so haunted it wins the soul award.