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Short Version:
Thursday: Sugarbush
Pros: No crowds, plenty of snow, challenging terrain
Cons: Up/download slow lift to get to skiing, short runs, poor visibility, ski patrol with attitudes, no poaching, not much food at lodge
Friday: Jay Peak
Pros: No crowds, 2 for 1 lift ticket for $35, natural snow on Derek Hot Shot
Cons: Death cookies, manmade snow just isn’t like the real thing, long drive
Saturday: Gore Mtn
Pros: half price with Greek Peak pass, good snow, susprisingly good snowmaking, welcoming ski patrol buddies, old friends, ganjala, Topridge, improved food in cafeteria, après ski at Casey’s North
Cons: just 2 routes from Bear
Long Version:
With family abandoning us this Thanksgiving we decided to load the 4 dogs and 4 pairs of skis and assorted gear into our mini-motorhome for a holiday ski trip. Accumulating snow in the weather report revved up the anticipation of our first days of skiing of the season. The choices of where to ski were piling up and decisions had to be made. Crowd avoidance was important.
Weds we headed to Pittsfield, VT to see our friend Rick Redington perform with his band The Luv Machine at the Clear River Tavern. We ate our dinner there and I was treated to the best grilled half-pound burger I’ve ever had in my life (no exaggeration). The food at the Clear River Tavern is excellent and inexpensive. The music was high quality and rockin, but we didn’t make it through the 4th beer and the third set, as we needed our sleep for our first ski day.
At 7am the dogs woke me up for their morning walk. It was snowing steadily. I woke up Bubba to let him know we should probably hit the road, as the snow was to continue throughout the day. We still had 30 miles to get to Sugarbush.
The roads were pretty greasy and there was no sign of a roadcrew to make them safer. Without snow tires, the motorhome was burly on the meandering Vt Route 100 through the National Forest. We turned up the road that goes to Sugarbush via German Flats Road. There were a few hills that made this route more challenging. We zig-zagged our way up the slippery hills. It was uncertain that we would make it all the way up to the ski area, though we kept on chuggin, even if it was really slow and the wheels were spinning, as long as we kept moving forward. I got all the dogs over the front wheels (our RV has front wheel drive) while Bubba kept control and the movement forward. This was just enough to get us there. When we got to the Sugarbush North Parking lot we did not make it up to where the parking attendants were flagging us over to park, so we parked a few bays lower. About 3” of new snow was blanketing the ground.
Like most days at Sugarbush, we spent more time riding the lifts than we would at just about any other ski area. Even when there’s plenty of terrain open, it still takes 2 lift rides to get to the skiing, but this time we also had to ride the lift down, even though there seemed to be just enough snow to ski down…especially at the end of the day. That was fine for our first day out. There were no lift lines and just a few dozen other skiers. There was plenty of time to ski until it hurt and the slow lifts gave us time to rest. It snowed all day long and the runs were quite powdery. Rim Run held the powder the best with the wind blowing in refills. Elbow was a bit scratchy and wind scoured so we only skied one run there. FIS offered plenty of challenge. Aside from its steepness, the snow guns, natural snow, fog and wind made visibility an issue. The manmade snow made the snow conditions quite variable. With each turn you didn’t know if you were going to hit a pile of powder, slab of frozen wind sheered manmade, or sticky wet manmade, or a pile of death cookies. This kept it interesting. Both Bubba and I both had single ejections negotiating the tenuous conditions on FIS the first time. We would take a powder break on Rim Run between laps of FIS, which got easier once we knew what to expect in the vast whiteness. We did 5 runs, took a coffee break, then took another half-dozen before going down to check on the dogs and eat some lunch in the camper. On the way down, the ski patrol asked us to put our safety bar down from a passing upward chair. We were a short way from the bottom, so we didn’t bother, since that would mean we would have to scoot around to get the bar to close just moments before we would have to lift it up again to unload. When we got to the bottom, another ski patroller was waiting for us to lecture us about the possibility of falling off the chair and that insurance and lift ticket costs would go up if this were to happen. I wonder how often people fall out of the bar-less chairs out west.
Overall, ski patrol was out there flexing their muscles. They were looking for something to do and we didn’t want to give them something to do, so we were good little patrons and stayed on the open trails. That was ok because the snow was so good on the trails anyway, and the 18” of snow they reported was no longer there. I would say that we saw a total of 8-10” of snow and 4-5” of it fell while we were skiing. Sure it would have been nice to ski some fresh powder, and we drooled over “Lookin Good” beneath the lift every run. It was totally skiable and should have been open. I asked ski patrol if anything else was going to open up with the new snow. They were already a bit overboard on the safety issues and weren’t going to satisfy any customer’s wishes for fresh untouched snow. We opted not to test it out.
By lunchtime Bubba was done for the day, but I went back out for a few more just to make sure I would be good and sore the next day. One of the guns was blowing even wetter on FIS and this tripped me up pretty good. A couple of powder hero-runs on Rim Run for the phat skis and I was done. The snow was tapering off.
The roads had been sanded and we felt it was safe to continue on our journey. Next destination: Cold Brook Campground, Stowe, VT.
We got our camp site, plugged in and walked the dogs. Took showers and made a few phone calls to see what was open for Thanksgiving. Well, not much. Most establishments were closed for the holiday. I finally called a lodge where someone answered the phone. They said that the Backyard Pub is open and the bartender makes a free turkey dinner for all those who didn’t have one. This is a cool little place with 2 pool tables, a dart board and some video games. We drank Flying Dog ale with our turkey dinner. When I admitted that the free turkey dinner, with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce at a bar was better than what my mom usually makes, the 2 other people at the bar looked over as I enjoyed my meal. My mother was never a great cook and stopped making turkey dinner’s over a decade ago. This home-made turkey dinner was outstanding, though it would have been better if we were with friends and/or family. But we were in the mountains and it was snowing again. We were both quite happy with our meal. We played darts and a few rounds of pool before retiring with our pooches in our cozy home on wheels under fresh falling flakes.
It’s a good sign when you wake up to the sound of a snowplow.
I walked the dogs in an open snowy field wishing I had my xc skis. There was about 8” of light fluffy snow. I could have easily skied a lap around this large field giving the dogs a good tiring morning work-out, but I just tromped through it in my Sorrells. After downing a pot of coffee, we hit the road. We skipped Stowe and headed directly to Jay Peak for their opening day. We had a 2 for 1 coupon which entitled the 2 of us to ski for $35 total. Only Stateside was open. Manmade snow on Jet and Haynes was not the best I’ve seen. Very firm with lots of death cookies, large and small, yet carveable. The vibration from the cookies made my sore legs scream. Derek Hot Shot was open with natural snow. This trail accumulates snow pretty well and it was the best thing going. Most of my laps were on Derek Hot Shot. There were small bumps and soft snow and not many rocks, just a few small saplings poking through the soft snow. Some people even dipped into Timbuktu, the ski patrol turning their heads on any poachers. There didn’t seem to be enough base to ski in the woods safely if you liked your skis, and there wasn’t anything else worth poaching on that side anyway. UN had been skied to the ground, though there were some nice spots on it, overall it needed more snow. The Stateside parking lot was full, but there was a ton of construction materials and machines taking up a good part of that lot. There was not a lift line at the Jet triple, though there was a steady flow of people. It wasn’t real crowded and the sun was shining. While we were a bit sore from the day prior, we skied a respectable number of runs from 10-2 and called it a day. We stopped by to visit Steve Wright whom we haven’t seen since he worked at Killington. It was nice to see him and he and his family seem to be enjoying life in northern Vt.
Back on the road in the Bago we crossed into New York State at the tippy top over northern part of Lake Champlain just below the Canadian border. Next destination: Adirondacks, to ski Gore and see good friends.
With a 2 for 1 discount at Gore we were prepared to ski another day, sore or not, this time with dear friends. We had heard that Gore’s opening day (Friday) was a madhouse. They offered a $13 lift ticket if you brought non-perishables for a food drive. This brought in a lot of people, and the snowy weather the day prior got every Capital District skier amped up to get on the boards. By Saturday, those people were gone and the lift ticket price was up to $47. This was more than any other ski area we skied in the 2 days prior. Luckily that price covered 2 of us, it wasn’t crowded, no lift lines, and snow was falling lightly most of the day. There was one blue route from the Gondola (Fox Lair to Wild Air), and one black diamond run down Topridge. Novices were out of luck. We had 2 friends learning to ski and snowboard, but they did pretty well on the blue trails, though they had some difficulties on some of the steeper pitches. The snow guns roared with snow and air, and we roared in laughter from the good times we spent on the mountain with our good buddies at Gore. We ran into a lot of Gore regulars from the North Creek whitewater community. It was feeling a lot like winter.
Thursday: Sugarbush
Pros: No crowds, plenty of snow, challenging terrain
Cons: Up/download slow lift to get to skiing, short runs, poor visibility, ski patrol with attitudes, no poaching, not much food at lodge
Friday: Jay Peak
Pros: No crowds, 2 for 1 lift ticket for $35, natural snow on Derek Hot Shot
Cons: Death cookies, manmade snow just isn’t like the real thing, long drive
Saturday: Gore Mtn
Pros: half price with Greek Peak pass, good snow, susprisingly good snowmaking, welcoming ski patrol buddies, old friends, ganjala, Topridge, improved food in cafeteria, après ski at Casey’s North
Cons: just 2 routes from Bear
Long Version:
With family abandoning us this Thanksgiving we decided to load the 4 dogs and 4 pairs of skis and assorted gear into our mini-motorhome for a holiday ski trip. Accumulating snow in the weather report revved up the anticipation of our first days of skiing of the season. The choices of where to ski were piling up and decisions had to be made. Crowd avoidance was important.
Weds we headed to Pittsfield, VT to see our friend Rick Redington perform with his band The Luv Machine at the Clear River Tavern. We ate our dinner there and I was treated to the best grilled half-pound burger I’ve ever had in my life (no exaggeration). The food at the Clear River Tavern is excellent and inexpensive. The music was high quality and rockin, but we didn’t make it through the 4th beer and the third set, as we needed our sleep for our first ski day.
At 7am the dogs woke me up for their morning walk. It was snowing steadily. I woke up Bubba to let him know we should probably hit the road, as the snow was to continue throughout the day. We still had 30 miles to get to Sugarbush.
The roads were pretty greasy and there was no sign of a roadcrew to make them safer. Without snow tires, the motorhome was burly on the meandering Vt Route 100 through the National Forest. We turned up the road that goes to Sugarbush via German Flats Road. There were a few hills that made this route more challenging. We zig-zagged our way up the slippery hills. It was uncertain that we would make it all the way up to the ski area, though we kept on chuggin, even if it was really slow and the wheels were spinning, as long as we kept moving forward. I got all the dogs over the front wheels (our RV has front wheel drive) while Bubba kept control and the movement forward. This was just enough to get us there. When we got to the Sugarbush North Parking lot we did not make it up to where the parking attendants were flagging us over to park, so we parked a few bays lower. About 3” of new snow was blanketing the ground.
Like most days at Sugarbush, we spent more time riding the lifts than we would at just about any other ski area. Even when there’s plenty of terrain open, it still takes 2 lift rides to get to the skiing, but this time we also had to ride the lift down, even though there seemed to be just enough snow to ski down…especially at the end of the day. That was fine for our first day out. There were no lift lines and just a few dozen other skiers. There was plenty of time to ski until it hurt and the slow lifts gave us time to rest. It snowed all day long and the runs were quite powdery. Rim Run held the powder the best with the wind blowing in refills. Elbow was a bit scratchy and wind scoured so we only skied one run there. FIS offered plenty of challenge. Aside from its steepness, the snow guns, natural snow, fog and wind made visibility an issue. The manmade snow made the snow conditions quite variable. With each turn you didn’t know if you were going to hit a pile of powder, slab of frozen wind sheered manmade, or sticky wet manmade, or a pile of death cookies. This kept it interesting. Both Bubba and I both had single ejections negotiating the tenuous conditions on FIS the first time. We would take a powder break on Rim Run between laps of FIS, which got easier once we knew what to expect in the vast whiteness. We did 5 runs, took a coffee break, then took another half-dozen before going down to check on the dogs and eat some lunch in the camper. On the way down, the ski patrol asked us to put our safety bar down from a passing upward chair. We were a short way from the bottom, so we didn’t bother, since that would mean we would have to scoot around to get the bar to close just moments before we would have to lift it up again to unload. When we got to the bottom, another ski patroller was waiting for us to lecture us about the possibility of falling off the chair and that insurance and lift ticket costs would go up if this were to happen. I wonder how often people fall out of the bar-less chairs out west.
Overall, ski patrol was out there flexing their muscles. They were looking for something to do and we didn’t want to give them something to do, so we were good little patrons and stayed on the open trails. That was ok because the snow was so good on the trails anyway, and the 18” of snow they reported was no longer there. I would say that we saw a total of 8-10” of snow and 4-5” of it fell while we were skiing. Sure it would have been nice to ski some fresh powder, and we drooled over “Lookin Good” beneath the lift every run. It was totally skiable and should have been open. I asked ski patrol if anything else was going to open up with the new snow. They were already a bit overboard on the safety issues and weren’t going to satisfy any customer’s wishes for fresh untouched snow. We opted not to test it out.
By lunchtime Bubba was done for the day, but I went back out for a few more just to make sure I would be good and sore the next day. One of the guns was blowing even wetter on FIS and this tripped me up pretty good. A couple of powder hero-runs on Rim Run for the phat skis and I was done. The snow was tapering off.
The roads had been sanded and we felt it was safe to continue on our journey. Next destination: Cold Brook Campground, Stowe, VT.
We got our camp site, plugged in and walked the dogs. Took showers and made a few phone calls to see what was open for Thanksgiving. Well, not much. Most establishments were closed for the holiday. I finally called a lodge where someone answered the phone. They said that the Backyard Pub is open and the bartender makes a free turkey dinner for all those who didn’t have one. This is a cool little place with 2 pool tables, a dart board and some video games. We drank Flying Dog ale with our turkey dinner. When I admitted that the free turkey dinner, with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce at a bar was better than what my mom usually makes, the 2 other people at the bar looked over as I enjoyed my meal. My mother was never a great cook and stopped making turkey dinner’s over a decade ago. This home-made turkey dinner was outstanding, though it would have been better if we were with friends and/or family. But we were in the mountains and it was snowing again. We were both quite happy with our meal. We played darts and a few rounds of pool before retiring with our pooches in our cozy home on wheels under fresh falling flakes.
It’s a good sign when you wake up to the sound of a snowplow.
I walked the dogs in an open snowy field wishing I had my xc skis. There was about 8” of light fluffy snow. I could have easily skied a lap around this large field giving the dogs a good tiring morning work-out, but I just tromped through it in my Sorrells. After downing a pot of coffee, we hit the road. We skipped Stowe and headed directly to Jay Peak for their opening day. We had a 2 for 1 coupon which entitled the 2 of us to ski for $35 total. Only Stateside was open. Manmade snow on Jet and Haynes was not the best I’ve seen. Very firm with lots of death cookies, large and small, yet carveable. The vibration from the cookies made my sore legs scream. Derek Hot Shot was open with natural snow. This trail accumulates snow pretty well and it was the best thing going. Most of my laps were on Derek Hot Shot. There were small bumps and soft snow and not many rocks, just a few small saplings poking through the soft snow. Some people even dipped into Timbuktu, the ski patrol turning their heads on any poachers. There didn’t seem to be enough base to ski in the woods safely if you liked your skis, and there wasn’t anything else worth poaching on that side anyway. UN had been skied to the ground, though there were some nice spots on it, overall it needed more snow. The Stateside parking lot was full, but there was a ton of construction materials and machines taking up a good part of that lot. There was not a lift line at the Jet triple, though there was a steady flow of people. It wasn’t real crowded and the sun was shining. While we were a bit sore from the day prior, we skied a respectable number of runs from 10-2 and called it a day. We stopped by to visit Steve Wright whom we haven’t seen since he worked at Killington. It was nice to see him and he and his family seem to be enjoying life in northern Vt.
Back on the road in the Bago we crossed into New York State at the tippy top over northern part of Lake Champlain just below the Canadian border. Next destination: Adirondacks, to ski Gore and see good friends.
With a 2 for 1 discount at Gore we were prepared to ski another day, sore or not, this time with dear friends. We had heard that Gore’s opening day (Friday) was a madhouse. They offered a $13 lift ticket if you brought non-perishables for a food drive. This brought in a lot of people, and the snowy weather the day prior got every Capital District skier amped up to get on the boards. By Saturday, those people were gone and the lift ticket price was up to $47. This was more than any other ski area we skied in the 2 days prior. Luckily that price covered 2 of us, it wasn’t crowded, no lift lines, and snow was falling lightly most of the day. There was one blue route from the Gondola (Fox Lair to Wild Air), and one black diamond run down Topridge. Novices were out of luck. We had 2 friends learning to ski and snowboard, but they did pretty well on the blue trails, though they had some difficulties on some of the steeper pitches. The snow guns roared with snow and air, and we roared in laughter from the good times we spent on the mountain with our good buddies at Gore. We ran into a lot of Gore regulars from the North Creek whitewater community. It was feeling a lot like winter.
