Tips for Stowe and Pico?

[Buckeye Skier 1330]

We're headed to Vermont in 2 weeks (March5-9), with a couple of places we've never been to on the list, Stowe and Pico. We ski mostly groomers, but we do like runs like Moonshine at the Bush. I'll take a mogul run or 2 per day and maybe a dash into some fairly open not too steep woods if I can find them. Any tips for best runs, easiest ways to get around, areas to avoid? What's the most convenient parking area at Stowe? I know this may be blasphemy but any chance one of the Front Four might be groomed?
Any tips are greatly appreciated. I've always gotten good info for other trips from AZ.
We're also hitting Stratton, Bush and Burke. I'm calling it " The All Vermont Tour."
Thanks a lot! :smile:

 

[JD]

Stowe is not a great Mtn. for groomers. That being said, park at Midway.

 

[RISkier]

At Stowe I'd suggest getting there early. Park at either Midway lodge or Spruce. Start on the main quad. If you park at Midway you can get a little downhill going and then you'll have to skate to the quad. If you park at the main lodge you have to deal with heart attack hill. The new transfer lift from Spruc works well. Do Sunrise, Ridgeview, Lord, Standard, and North Slope. Move to the Gondola. Perry Merril and Gondolier are probably the best cruisers at Stowe. The sun shines on Spruce in the afternoon and it's less hectic. Main street is a very nice blue with a couple of pretty steep (for blues) headwalls. If you on the main part of Mansfield and the quad gets busy, use either the double or the triple, they access almost all the same terrain. If you want a steep groomer check the grooming report and try Centerline, Hayride, or Nose Dive. Part of lift line is sometimes groomed.

 

[thetrailboss]

Just was at Burke this weekend. You won't be disappointed. I am also skiing at Pico regularly. PM me for more info.

 

[billski]

At Stowe I'd suggest getting there early. Park at either Midway lodge or Spruce. Start on the main quad. If you park at Midway you can get a little downhill going and then you'll have to skate to the quad. If you park at the main lodge you have to deal with heart attack hill. The new transfer lift from Spruc works well. Do Sunrise, Ridgeview, Lord, Standard, and North Slope. Move to the Gondola. Perry Merril and Gondolier are probably the best cruisers at Stowe. The sun shines on Spruce in the afternoon and it's less hectic. Main street is a very nice blue with a couple of pretty steep (for blues) headwalls. If you on the main part of Mansfield and the quad gets busy, use either the double or the triple, they access almost all the same terrain. If you want a steep groomer check the grooming report and try Centerline, Hayride, or Nose Dive. Part of lift line is sometimes groomed.

RI skier has it dead-on. Just to augment: Quad starts turning at 7:30am hit it first, then move to the Gondi when everyone wakes up. Agreed, afternoon at Spruce can be a lot of fun, especially when you get back in away from the never-evers.
The transfer lift works out pretty good too at shuttling quickly between the Mts.
You really can't park at Spruce due to the construction. I too like Midway (get there early).

 

[RISkier]

Actually, there is still parking at Spruce and if you get there early you can get a spot pretty close to the temporary lodge and transfer lift. Since none of the lifts at Spruce open till 9:00, it's very calm and peaceful early in the morning. Our strategy was to park at Spruce, use the transfer lift, then finish the day at Spruce. But parking at Midway is a good option as well. The only issue is that you need to plan to finnish you day on Mansfield or ride the little surface lift up from the transfer lift to the Midway Lodge.

 

[Buckeye Skier 1330]

The quad is open at 7:30 on a weekday? If you park at Spruce can you take the transfer lift that early? I always hated waiting til 9:00 to start the ski day. Since our skiing days are limited I get antsy on the days we do get to go.

 

[RISkier]

The quad is open at 7:30 on a weekday? If you park at Spruce can you take the transfer lift that early? I always hated waiting til 9:00 to start the ski day. Since our skiing days are limited I get antsy on the days we do get to go.

You might take a look at their website for the "official" times. I know they are often different on weekends/holidays than normal weekdays. I was thinking that the Quad normally opened at 8:00 on normal weekdays, but won't swear to it. I think many locals go out early and do a few runs before work. So normally the main quad opens first, then the gondi, then most other lifts open at about 9:00. With one exception, the transfer lift has always been running by the time we arrived at Spruce. The exception was that they actually had it on a wind hold so we had to take a bus to the Mansfield side of the mountain. A lot of staff ride the transfer lift back and forth and I believe it opens before any other lift on the mountain. If the transfer lift is on wind hold, there's a good chance other lifts will be as well. Lookout double and the Mountain Triple are pretty well protected and often run if the quad is on wind hold. The lifts on the Spruce side seem to seldom shut down because of wind. As noted before, Midway is a good base choice. From Midway you can ski down and carry a bit of speed toward the main quad (you still might need to skate a bit), or ski down to the gondola boarding station, or ski down to the transfer lift over to Spruce. The trail named Crossover will take you to the Midway Lodge from the main part of Mansfield. The Midway cafeteria is also nicer than either the other cafeterias and Jose's Cantina, which I think is the best "value" (if eatery at Stowe can be described as a value) at Stowe, IMO. But Midway is uphill from the Transfer lift and the gondi loading station. There is a surface lift just uphill from the transfer lift that you can ride to get up to Midway, if you don't want to go to the top of Mansfield to ski back down to get there. On weekends or holidays I think the main runs and lifts on Mansfield can get pretty hectic. So we've just kind of gotten into the habit of starting early on the main part of Mansfield, then moving to the gondola area, then finishing the day in the Sun at Spruce. I've never seen much in terms of lift lines on Spruce and except for the greens at the bottom that are used heavily for teaching it just feels much less cramped on busy days. And if you want to get away from it all on really mellow terrain that nobody skis, head over to the Toll House area. Easy mile is a VERY GENTLE green and there are a couple of other greens off Toll Road with a bit more pitch. Almost nobody skis over there. Keep in mind the Toll House double is painfully slow. We start our days at Spruce more out of habit than for any other reason. We've skied Stowe 9 days this year and haven't entered the main Mansfield Lodge. It sits down a substantial hill from the main quad and mountain triple. Lots of folks call the hill heart attack hill. We avoid if at all possible.

 

[billski]

lifts open

The quad is open at 7:30 on a weekday? If you park at Spruce can you take the transfer lift that early? I always hated waiting til 9:00 to start the ski day. Since our skiing days are limited I get antsy on the days we do get to go.

Earliest lift, weekday, non-holiday would be the quad at 8:00am, gondola 9:00, spruce 10:00. Overeasy opens at 7:00 on weekends and holidays, the quad at 7:30

 

[Buckeye Skier 1330]

Thanks for all the good info! It should make our day there a lilttle smoother.

 

[KevinF]

Any tips for best runs, easiest ways to get around, areas to avoid? ... I know this may be blasphemy but any chance one of the Front Four might be groomed?

The best chance to find a groomer on the Front Four is Liftline. You'll see the whole thing from the main Mansfield quad (you're right over it the whole time). It probably won't be cordouroy, but it'll be smoother then the others (most likely). National they sometimes will groom half of it. Starr and Goat -- no way. I don't think a groomer would even fit on Starr or Goat.

Nosedive is another might-be-groomed, might-not-be run. From the high-speed quad you have to hike a little hill and then ski down a bit. Toll Road is to your left and Nosedive is to your right. Nosedive is an awesome way to lose vertical in a big hurry.

If Hayride is groomed (which it probably won't be) -- :beer: