Skiing In New England (Nov '08) - recommendations?

[hvaghela]

Greetings all from the UK.:-D

The wife and I have decided to visit Northeast USA (from the UK) for my birthday (27th Nov - I know Thanksgiving Day). We are hoping to get a few days of skiing in. We are intermediate level skiiers at best and have just graduated fron University thus are not financially lavish. We are asking what to guys would recommend with regards to what would be open, where it would be good to ski and be averagely priced. Thanks in advance.

HVaghela8)

 

[thetrailboss]

Hard to say at this point...November is usually hit or miss for New England. Last season, November was really good, but some seasons it has been too warm.

That said, you have to factor in location, ease of access, and best snowmaking systems (and track records).

I've got to get back to studying, but my short list would be:

* Sugarbush in Vermont
* Sunday River (Maine)
* Sugarloaf (maybe?)

Killington no longer has good early season skiing. Not worth the chance. Mount Snow is a serious possibility, but they are far south and if it is too warm, forget it.

Jay Peak is also OK, but their preseason skiing is over on Stateside, with mobs of people for the two or three runs and it is steep terrain. They are not a good pre-season destination...

 

[deadheadskier]

I wouldn't commit to anything, but flying into New England and then make your decision a few days prior to landing. You'll be able to get last minute deals on lodging just about anywhere for modest accommodations. Mt. Snow or Sunday River might be great bets if its an average November and snow making surfaces are primary. However, it's not at all uncommon for the Northern Greens to get a decent storm in which case Stowe or Sugarbush would be your best bet.

 

[RENO]

Hard to say at this point...November is usually hit or miss for New England. Last season, November was really good, but some seasons it has been too warm.

That said, you have to factor in location, ease of access, and best snowmaking systems (and track records).

I've got to get back to studying, but my short list would be:

* Sugarbush in Vermont
* Sunday River (Maine)
* Sugarloaf (maybe?)

Killington no longer has good early season skiing. Not worth the chance. Mount Snow is a serious possibility, but they are far south and if it is too warm, forget it.

Jay Peak is also OK, but their preseason skiing is over on Stateside, with mobs of people for the two or three runs and it is steep terrain. They are not a good pre-season destination...

I would not agree with that. :???: If Sugarbush and Sunday River has good conditions then Killington will also and probably better than some of the places you list especially Mount Snow...

hvaghela, you just do not know that time of the season. You just have to wait and try to book something last minute. Tough if you're coming from the UK compared to the NorthEast USA, but better then booking something early and the conditions are crappy and you wind up wasting money. If I were coming from the UK I would book midseason. I woouldn't even book something out West in November until the last minute...

 

[deadheadskier]

I would not agree with that. :???: If Sugarbush and Sunday River has good conditions then Killington will also and probably better than some of the places you list especially Mount Snow...

....I really don't think you can make a statement like that with Mt. Snow's commitment to snow making these days in the early season. The conditions may or may not be better a Kmart. Your statement would've been money in the bank a few years back, but the area commitment to early season snow making isn't what it once was. Last season it was clearly a bigger priority for Mt. Snow and Sunday River. Okemo lately has tended to open more terrain more quickly than K as well.

 

[bigbog]

Early Season in New England..."PLANS"

Early Season New England Rule #1:
You keep your options open, and make plans via cell/any phone..and maybe celebrate your birthday....while..kind of.."on the road"....to wherever the better snow is...!!;-) :lol:
Thanksgiving can be a good day to ski...try to find where the snow has fallen, cuz it most often isn't "all around".
Vermont has the altitude(Stowe, Smuggler's Notch?, Jay Peak, Sugarbush...Burke), but Sunday River(Bethel, Maine) has a LOT of beginner-to-Intermediate terrain that is often open and there are some years where Sugarloaf(up outside of Kingfield)'s temps approach that of mid-winter for a few days, then warm up a bit...you never know!

$.01

 

[thetrailboss]

I would not agree with that. :???: If Sugarbush and Sunday River has good conditions then Killington will also and probably better than some of the places you list especially Mount Snow...

Have you skied K-Mart since they were sold to POWDR and company???? No more early season skiing....Thanksgiving is their aim and if the weather is bad, they are not going to make the effort.

My comment about Mount Snow was that they are trying to extend the season, but yes, they are limited because of their location and weather.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Greetings all from the UK.:-D

The wife and I have decided to visit Northeast USA (from the UK) for my birthday (27th Nov - I know Thanksgiving Day). We are hoping to get a few days of skiing in. We are intermediate level skiiers at best and have just graduated fron University thus are not financially lavish. We are asking what to guys would recommend with regards to what would be open, where it would be good to ski and be averagely priced. Thanks in advance.

HVaghela8)

For the largest variety of terrain..I suggest Killington and Okemo..due to their powerful snowmaking systems..I'd recommend a motel in Rutland if you are skiing Killington or Bellows Falls/Springfield if you are skiing Okemo for inexpensive lodging options. Be sure to arrive early due to the Thanksgiving weekend clusterf$ck...

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Early Season New England Rule #1:
You keep your options open, and make plans via cell/any phone...while..kind of.."on the road"....to wherever the better snow is...

$.01

Times two..

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Oh yeah and where are you flying into???...some resorts are more convenient to NYC while others are more convenient to Boston..

 

[thetrailboss]

For the largest variety of terrain..I suggest Killington and Okemo..due to their powerful snowmaking systems..I'd recommend a motel in Rutland if you are skiing Killington or Bellows Falls/Springfield if you are skiing Okemo for inexpensive lodging options. Be sure to arrive early due to the Thanksgiving weekend clusterf$ck...

You're right GSS. Okemo is a viable option....forgot about them....they have been offering a better early season product as of late and have good intermediate terrain.

 

[Zand]

For Thanksgiving weekend, Killington is probably a good bet. Some people obviously weren't paying attention last year when they opened. Yes, they opened later than usual, however they got a lot open and it was probably just as good as past years. Not to mention less people. Mount Snow depends on the weather. I skied it on November 12th last year and it was super, but on November 24th it was horrible due to the crowds and lack of open terrain. At that point, Killington will likely have the most open but it really is best to just wait and see. There will be plenty of trip reports on this forum as soon as these places open so you can get a good idea of what's going on.

 

[hvaghela]

Oh yeah and where are you flying into???...some resorts are more convenient to NYC while others are more convenient to Boston..

Boston. Thanks for all the info everyone. Most of the resorts metioned seem to be closer to Boston then NYC. We're open to any more suggestions you guys/gals have.

 

[bigbog]

...good locale to take off from!

Boston's THE place to take off from!....equidistant from VT , NH, or ME...with the ADKs being just a couple more hours away..

 

[riverc0il]

For Thanksgiving weekend, Killington is probably a good bet.

+1

Especially now due to all the changes as the mountain will suffer less crowding and less of the rough crowd since season passes can no longer be bought for a song. Killington has a huge elevation advantage compared to many other early season players. They are only limited by needing to fully access the base area. Killington goes into Thanksgiving weekend with more terrain than most other mountains, even now that they are no longer trying to open early.

Sunday River was quite impressive last year's early season and should also be a strong contender. I appreciated Sunday River's offering on half as many trails compared to Killington's odd layout before they get Superstar up and running. Assuming Boyne does with Sunday River again versus Sugarloaf as their early season option, Sunday River is probably the best non-Vermont option.

As mentioned, Okemo and Mount Snow have also joined the ranks of early season players. I think Sunday River or Killington are the best bets for most reliable, interesting terrain, quick to spread out trail counts, and snow making.

Good luck doing it cheaply. Unless you have local lodging in the area during your stay, I would recommend a package deal of some sort. You don't need to stay on mountain to get a package deal either so shop around.

 

[RENO]

Have you skied K-Mart since they were sold to POWDR and company???? No more early season skiing....Thanksgiving is their aim and if the weather is bad, they are not going to make the effort.

My comment about Mount Snow was that they are trying to extend the season, but yes, they are limited because of their location and weather.

Have you? I hit it every early season and none of the other places you mentioned are any better. Mount snow opened 6 days earlier than Killington and the other resorts were around the same time and their conditions were no better then Killington's when K opened. You might not like POWDR and I'm not exactly thrilled by everything they've done so far, but there's no way that when Mount Snow has great conditions that K would suck. I also liked the terrain that K opened early this season compared to the past...

 

[MR. evil]

We skied Sunday River last year on Thanksgiving and it was pretty good. They didn't have a whole lot open , maybe 10 trails but the conditions were pretty good.

 

[deadheadskier]

+1



As mentioned, Okemo and Mount Snow have also joined the ranks of early season players.

Mt. Snow yes, Okemo no. They've been pretty committed early season for two decades. I can recall several years in middle school and in High School where they opened usually a week later than Killington, but surpassed them pretty quickly after in terms of acreage open. There were several seasons back then that Okemo had the most open terrain in New England from Thanksgiving until about the second week of December.

 

[skiadikt]

i think you wanna go to a place that's has great reliable intermediate skiing. so that means okemo, sunday river & mt snow, all of whom are likely to blow as much early snow as possible on some nice top-to-bottom trails. killington could have the most terrain open t-giving but as an intermediate mtn it sux. it's trail count as opposed to actual real skiable trails. the great northern mess counts as 5 trails and the last thing i'd recommend for someone flying over is to do laps on all 570 vert ft of rime or ski the patchwork of intersecting trail madness on snowden no matter how much powdr has detoxed the place.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I think the best airport in NE for skiing is Manchester, NH. Easy in, easy out when compared to Logan and closer to all the resorts.