Tell the story of your home mountain

[Greg]

When did you first ski there? Why do you ski there now?

I first skied the mighty Sundown back around 1995. I don't remember much about it other than I went with a friend from college at night. For some reason, I remember Tom's Treat being a fun long trail. I then remember another time in the spring of '95 or '96 skiing with another friend on a 55 degree day. I clearly remember some serious moguls on Gunbarrel and gaping my way down them being passed by a lot of teenage ripper chicks.

I then hadn't been back in about 10 seasons, with my revisit on [thread="2275"]12/17/04[/thread] (pics). I remember thinking that day that it would be nice if it had another 200 feet of vertical. A few more visits here and there. First met Brian there on [thread="2664"]1/23/05[/thread] (pics) and BeanoNYC on opening day the next season, [thread="6072"]12/3/05[/thread] (pics). Six days later, had a great powder day with Brian.

So, up to that point, Sundown was a couple times a year place. That all changed in a heartbeat on [thread="7359"]2/15/06[/thread] which was the first time I met 2knees. He had heard that they seeded bumps on Lower Nor'easter so we met up to check them out. We were pleasantly surprised (pics). I logged several nights skiing those bumps the rest of that season.

Since then the mogul approach has expanded every year. The next season (2006-07) we got bumps from the sun deck all the way down Nor'easter and last year we got Temptor in late February. This year we got Temptor right off the bat and we'll get Gunbarrel after racing is over. A dedicated mogul trail is part of the future expansion plan.

Having good bumps right in my backyard has been awesome and has really led to me becoming a better skier. I still would like to have another 200 vertical feet on the hill, but nevertheless, the bumps now make it ski a lot bigger than it is. Sure it's a little CT hill, but it definitely keeps me entertained in between trips up north. I'm looking forward to now having both my kids learn to ski at the mighty Sundown. It feels like "home" to me now.

 

[downhill04]

As soon as they get this whole gay marriage thing straightened out I think Greg is going to fight to be allowed to marry Sundown. :wink:

 

[Greg]

As soon as they get this whole gay marriage thing straightened out I think Greg is going to fight to be allowed to marry Sundown. :wink:

You skiing this weekend, punk?

 

[downhill04]

You skiing this weekend, punk?

I am still up in the air. I would like to get out but not sure which day it is going to be yet. I'm still recovering for my 11 hours session :-D

 

[campgottagopee]

My home hill---Greek Peak, Virgil NY has been a staple in CNY since 1959 and is still owned and operated by the same family.

I first skied there in 1971 at the age of 5 with my father who has skied in this county ever since 1951 at Snocrest (i still have the patches to prove it). Greek is the largest hill in this area. Growing up we had our choice of Greek, Song, Lab, Intermont or Toggenburg. All are within a 25 mile radius of Cortland. Not only is Greek in my backyard but it does have the best terrain of the local hills.

I still ski Greek twice a week and prolly always will until I give up the sport. Skiing is something I thought everyone did until I realized not all people had ski areas near them. I consider my self lucky not only to ski at Greek, but also to be withing a 2.5 hr drive of the biggest, nastiest vert in the east known as Whiteface!!!!!

 

[2knees]

that place looks pretty damn cool for a local area.

how often are those glades skiable. the one front and center, based on the trail map, looks rather sizeable.

and do they really let that trail all the way on the right bump up like its depicted on the map??? that would be fkna. they should seed that beotch.

but seriously, cool looking mtn.

 

[Greg]

that place looks pretty damn cool for a local area.

how often are those glades skiable. the one front and center, based on the trail map, looks rather sizeable.

and do they really let that trail all the way on the right bump up like its depicted on the map??? that would be fkna. they should seed that beotch.

but seriously, cool looking mtn.

I had all the same questions and you beat me by a minute. Aesop's Glade looks huge and that Olympian trail looks great. Of course this is all based on the trail map...

 

[Greg]

Greek!

My home hill---Greek Peak, Virgil NY has been a staple in CNY since 1959 and is still owned and operated by the same family.

I first skied there in 1971 at the age of 5 with my father who has skied in this county ever since 1951 at Snocrest (i still have the patches to prove it). Greek is the largest hill in this area. Growing up we had our choice of Greek, Song, Lab, Intermont or Toggenburg. All are within a 25 mile radius of Cortland. Not only is Greek in my backyard but it does have the best terrain of the local hills.

I still ski Greek twice a week and prolly always will until I give up the sport. Skiing is something I thought everyone did until I realized not all people had ski areas near them. I consider my self lucky not only to ski at Greek, but also to be withing a 2.5 hr drive of the biggest, nastiest vert in the east known as Whiteface!!!!!

that place looks pretty damn cool for a local area.

how often are those glades skiable. the one front and center, based on the trail map, looks rather sizeable.

and do they really let that trail all the way on the right bump up like its depicted on the map??? that would be fkna. they should seed that beotch.

but seriously, cool looking mtn.

I had all the same questions and you beat me by a minute. Aesop's Glade looks huge and that Olympian trail looks great. Of course this is all based on the trail map...

Freakin' radical!

 

[4aprice]

I like this subject regardless of what other people think. My home mountain is Camelback, PA. I first skied it in 1967 my second season on skis. The ski area then consisted of what today is the known as the west side. A double chair with a midstation ran up the mountain on approximately the same line as the modern day Sullivan Quad. (the lift line of the double is still visable). The Cleopatra Triple also ran to the top in its present position and was the work horse of the mountain. There was a T-bar where the Meadows chair is now (except the T was a little longer), a T-bar on the sunbowl (which was much thinner) and a J-bar on Coolmore. There is a great ariel view of the ski area in a book by Morton Lund named "Skiers Paradise" of it's exact layout in 1967. The purpose of the book was to list the top 100 runs in North America according to Mr Lund and another skier. They had Cleopatra on their list.

The area has changed quite a bit over the years. They have expanded the terrain quite a bit with additional trails and finally in the late 80's/early 90's construction of the east side and the Stevenson Quad. In 2005 ownership changed. As with everything the new ownership has it's ups and downs. The one area I feel they have been terrific with is the on mountain operations. They were very aggressive with the early cold snap in November and have given us good skiing since Thanksgiving. Also in the 3 years they have operated the place (and Greg will like this) they have given us some very nice bump skiing which the former ownership shunned. The seeded moguls on Lower Cleopatra were ranked 9 on the "Ten Top Intermediate Bump Runs" listed by new magazine I received named Snow East.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[campgottagopee]

that place looks pretty damn cool for a local area.

how often are those glades skiable. the one front and center, based on the trail map, looks rather sizeable.

and do they really let that trail all the way on the right bump up like its depicted on the map??? that would be fkna. they should seed that beotch.

but seriously, cool looking mtn.

The tree run is known as Ronnies Run---they call it something stupid now--whatever. Anyway, it's open most of the year and ISN"T anywhere near as wide as they make it look on the map. It's actually pretty narrow, but very fun. At the begining your goin thru fir trees, cross a road, more fir trees, across another road (you can air them out once you ski it a few), then finish up thru some hard woods. It's short, stair stepped but a real hoot.

Skiers right of the "Fields"is always bumped up---they've never seeded it, but usually tight to the woods is a good line. Oh, those woods are nice too.

Unless you're used to small hills (1000 - vert) Greek really isn't worth a special trip. Not to say it isn't good skiing, it's just small--not a lot of vert--but truly is a blast to ski. We've got some good (short) steep headwalls and a couple good tree runs. The best tree run the sons of bitches clear cut into a new trail known as "Hercules"---they friggin ruined it!!! Of course it never was an "official" tree run to begin with.

 

[Greg]

Also in the 3 years they have operated the place (and Greg will like this) they have given us some very nice bump skiing which the former ownership shunned. The seeded moguls on Lower Cleopatra were ranked 9 on the "Ten Top Intermediate Bump Runs" listed by new magazine I received named Snow East.

Nice! Lower angle bumps are key, especially at feeder hills.

 

[campgottagopee]

Freakin' radical!

The chair on the left is 1A--used to be a Tbar, and when it was sking down that (when not running) was friggin awesome. It' used to be much narrower that it is now.

The big "O" is a steep'n, and when she bumps up skiers left is sa-weet. Not that I like bumps or anything.:smash:

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I wrote this for a thread titled A Simple Twist Of Fate. I just copied it for this thread cause it fits perfect.

When I start a thread I usually don’t like to write much about myself, but listening to an old Bob Dylan song the other day made me think about how a ski trip taken 7 years ago changed my life for the better and I decided to write it down and post it here.

Since I was 6 years old I’d always had a season pass at Hunter Mt. My Dad was a ski instructor there for a long time. After he and my mother moved to Florida Orville Slutsky still comped my son and me a season pass every year. An act of generosity I’ll always remember.

Where I live I didn’t have many friends/acquaintances that skied. Those that did always wanted to go to Vermont instead of going down to Hunter. I use to go to Hunter with my son a lot or by myself. Once he went away to college I either went to Hunter by myself or skied someplace with a couple of guys from work.. I also skied one nite a week with my school ski club.

My wife was never interested too much, but as my daughter and youngest son got old enough I took them with me and we had a great time. So anyways I was getting out probably 30+ times a year, either with my kids, myself, school trip and the occasional friend.

All was good, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing, I felt unfulfilled. When I was a kid we had a house at Hunter that we shared with my uncles family who was also a ski instructor. There was always friends and family, loads of people to ski with, après parities and we felt very much connected to the Hunter ski community especially with those involved in the ski school. It was more then just skiing it was a lifestyle. I missed that lifestyle and it didn’t look like I was going to be a part of it again anytime soon.

Seven years ago my oldest son, who was out of college and skiing a lot again, got a couple of comps from a friend of his that where good at either Whiteface or Gore. Neither of us had ever been to Whiteface so we decided to give it a try.

The 2 of us had been kickin around the idea of trying to hook up somewhere as a host/safety/ambassador or maybe snowsports, but we had no definite plans.

It was very late in the season, a sunny spring day. We both liked WF a lot, it seemed to have everything we where looking for in a mountain and it was a very doable 2 hour drive from home.

At the end of the day we went to customer service to see how one went about applying to be a volunteer employee. We where told to call the Operations Supervisor. I called that Monday and left a message. It was April, and I didn’t really expect a return call and figured I’d call back in October. Two days later I got a call as soon as I got home from work. The Operations Supervisor called me, asked some questions, told me he had 2 openings in the Mountain Host program and said my son and I could have the positions. Sight unseen, just like that.

We took it and it was the best ski related thing to ever happen to me. We made a bunch of friends to ski and party with, we love the mountain and the job, my affiliation with WF led to a part-time position with a ski company and this summer we bought a house 4 miles from WF. I guess I’m a simple guy with simple dreams cause now I have everything I ever wanted and couldn’t be happier, all because of a decision to ski a day at WF. It turned out to be a life altering choice.

Now if we had been in a car accident on the way to WF and I could never ski again as a result, that would have been a twist of fate the other way. It is just amazing to me how what at the time seems like a meaningless choice can have such a profound effect on our lives, the ramifications of which may last the rest of out lives.

Anyways these twists of fate happen in all aspects of life, like where you met your wife, the job you have, where you live, etc. Since this is a ski forum we won’t get into those, but has anyone else made a decision that affected your ski life in ways you never expected.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

My home mountain(s). Those little hills in the MRV: Lincoln Peak, Mt. Ellen, Mad River Glen.

I learned to ski at Ski Sawmill and Denton Hill in PA, and Killington and Magic in VT. None of which were even remotely close enough to consider my "home hill." In 2005, my dad accepted a job at the Bush, and that's how I ended up calling Sugarbush and MRG my home mountains.

It's a blessing and a curse to have such a big resort as my home mountain. It's great, because the terrain is incredible, the mountains are truly huge, the snowfall is respectable, the infrastructure is growing, etc. At the same time, there are drawbacks to living so near a big resort. The tourism, traffic, and general headache of the resort atmosphere can be, shall we say, annoying at times. Granted, it's what makes the Vermont economy tick. But still, there are days I wish I could call Sundown or Denton Hill my home mountain! However, I don't think there is a better place to live in terms of proximity to incredible skiing. 10 minutes to Lincoln Peak, 5 minutes to Mt Ellen, 4 minutes to MRG, and within an hour +/- to Killington, Pico, Stowe, Smuggs, Bolton, and within 2 hours to just about anywhere else you'd want to go in VT.

I guess I've always sort of been on the "inside" of things here, hanging around with the old man on the hill. Until I moved here, I had every intention of studying jazz at a music conservatory. Thank God I found the ski industry! Fell in love with everything about this sport and the business. It took me to Colorado to study Ski Area Operations, but something about this mountain and this Valley drew me back again to complete my internship. And, while I have the contacts, resume, and credentials to find decent work at any number of mountains in the Rockies, I'll probably end up back here again next season! Why? I don't know... it's better here! :wink:

 

[Greg]

At the same time, there are drawbacks to living so near a big resort. The tourism, traffic, and general headache of the resort atmosphere can be, shall we say, annoying at times. Granted, it's what makes the Vermont economy tick. But still, there are days I wish I could call Sundown or Denton Hill my home mountain!

Ha! Nice try. You got dealt the better hand, trust me....

 

[2knees]

HPD, that was an awesome story/post. great read.

 

[St. Bear]

You definitely got the better deal living in VT.

I grew up in southern NH, not the middle of prime ski country, but about 1-1.5 hours from Waterville, Loon, Cannon, etc. I skied as a kid, but not very enthusiastically. I went with the after school program to Pats Peak, and maybe a couple other trips each year, but that's about it. I stopped in high school, and didn't pick it back up until last year (12 years later). Now I live in NJ, and the old adage "You don't know what you have until it's gone" definitely applies. Luckily all my family is still in NH, so I try to make it up about once a month during the winter to visit and ski.

 

[campgottagopee]

I wrote this for a thread titled A Simple Twist Of Fate. I just copied it for this thread cause it fits perfect.

When I start a thread I usually don’t like to write much about myself, but listening to an old Bob Dylan song the other day made me think about how a ski trip taken 7 years ago changed my life for the better and I decided to write it down and post it here.

Since I was 6 years old I’d always had a season pass at Hunter Mt. My Dad was a ski instructor there for a long time. After he and my mother moved to Florida Orville Slutsky still comped my son and me a season pass every year. An act of generosity I’ll always remember.

Where I live I didn’t have many friends/acquaintances that skied. Those that did always wanted to go to Vermont instead of going down to Hunter. I use to go to Hunter with my son a lot or by myself. Once he went away to college I either went to Hunter by myself or skied someplace with a couple of guys from work.. I also skied one nite a week with my school ski club.

My wife was never interested too much, but as my daughter and youngest son got old enough I took them with me and we had a great time. So anyways I was getting out probably 30+ times a year, either with my kids, myself, school trip and the occasional friend.

All was good, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing, I felt unfulfilled. When I was a kid we had a house at Hunter that we shared with my uncles family who was also a ski instructor. There was always friends and family, loads of people to ski with, après parities and we felt very much connected to the Hunter ski community especially with those involved in the ski school. It was more then just skiing it was a lifestyle. I missed that lifestyle and it didn’t look like I was going to be a part of it again anytime soon.

Seven years ago my oldest son, who was out of college and skiing a lot again, got a couple of comps from a friend of his that where good at either Whiteface or Gore. Neither of us had ever been to Whiteface so we decided to give it a try.

The 2 of us had been kickin around the idea of trying to hook up somewhere as a host/safety/ambassador or maybe snowsports, but we had no definite plans.

It was very late in the season, a sunny spring day. We both liked WF a lot, it seemed to have everything we where looking for in a mountain and it was a very doable 2 hour drive from home.

At the end of the day we went to customer service to see how one went about applying to be a volunteer employee. We where told to call the Operations Supervisor. I called that Monday and left a message. It was April, and I didn’t really expect a return call and figured I’d call back in October. Two days later I got a call as soon as I got home from work. The Operations Supervisor called me, asked some questions, told me he had 2 openings in the Mountain Host program and said my son and I could have the positions. Sight unseen, just like that.

We took it and it was the best ski related thing to ever happen to me. We made a bunch of friends to ski and party with, we love the mountain and the job, my affiliation with WF led to a part-time position with a ski company and this summer we bought a house 4 miles from WF. I guess I’m a simple guy with simple dreams cause now I have everything I ever wanted and couldn’t be happier, all because of a decision to ski a day at WF. It turned out to be a life altering choice.

Now if we had been in a car accident on the way to WF and I could never ski again as a result, that would have been a twist of fate the other way. It is just amazing to me how what at the time seems like a meaningless choice can have such a profound effect on our lives, the ramifications of which may last the rest of out lives.

Anyways these twists of fate happen in all aspects of life, like where you met your wife, the job you have, where you live, etc. Since this is a ski forum we won’t get into those, but has anyone else made a decision that affected your ski life in ways you never expected.

I remeber thinking what a great story this is a year or so ago when you first posted it and it still is today---nice

 

[drjeff]

For me, my home mountain nowadays is Mount Snow. I first made turns there in February of 1983. Before Carinthia was part of Mount Snow. Before there was a Sunbrook. When Mount Snow still had multiple chain driven chairlifts and the skis on, 2 person bubble gondolas. I liked the area from the first time I went there, if for no other reason than I had a fun time there and it was the closest "big" area to where my family lived outside of Albany at that time. I also heard many, many stories about how my mother as a teenager living in South Hadley, MA had made many trips to Mount Snow in it's first 10 years of operation in the late 50's/early 60's.

Going to college in the Albany area and being involved with my college ski club, Mount Snow was an easy and close 75 minute ride away and back in the early 90's, they had some GREAT deals for college groups. It was during my college years when Mount Snow started to show some of the benefits of "mega" New England skiing with first it's ownership by SKI Ltd and the association with Killington that it brought and then when LBO bought out SKI Ltd and formed ASC. Suddenly I had a pass for Mount Snow that let me ski all around New England and as much as I enjoyed all the other areas that were at one time or another associated with the whole SKI Ltd/LBO/ASC regime (Mount Snow, Haystack, Killington, Pico, Sugarbush, Cranmore, Attitash, Waterville Valley, Sunday River, Sugarloaf, The Canyons, Heavenly and Steamboat), I kept coming back to Mount Snow and it wasn't just simply because it was the geographically closest to where I was living. I just plain and simple felt comfortable there.

As I went throught college and then through dental school, I kept going back to Mount Snow, once again geography was a factor, but also it was the perfect mountain to take the various girlfriends of that era of my life to that didn't have the ski ability that I do.

After I finished dental school and entered the "real world", I still kept going back to Mount Snow, ALOT as it was an easy day trip for me at the time since I was living with my wife in North/Central CT. So finally after a few seasons with LOTS of day trips up/down I-91, my wife and I decided to get our 1st season rental there in the winter of 2000-01. After a few seasons of being seasonal renters up there, we decided that we really liked the area and bought a place up there. Now after a couple of kids added to our family quiver and an upgrade in our housing arrangements there, I'm lucky enough to be able to spend 40 to 50 days a year skiing there with my family and another 20 to 30 days a year in the non snow months up there.

Nowadays, while I still enjoy each an every trail and woods area of Mount Snow that I know like the back of my own hand, I find even greater joy in watching my kids fall in love with the sport that I've been so passionate about for the last 30 years, and hope that they'll one day feel the same way about Mount Snow as I do.

 

[ERJ-145CA]

The seeded moguls on Lower Cleopatra were ranked 9 on the "Ten Top Intermediate Bump Runs" listed by new magazine I received named Snow East.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

And Greg - Nor Easter at Sundown also was in the "Ten Top Intermediate Bump Runs" in Snow East.