Top three favorite mountains and why...

[ChileMass]

Josh -

Trust me - I love Stowe. When I was in my 20s, I went there every chance I could. Now in my 40s, the front 4 are way out of my league anymore, and as for Spruce Mt/Peak, it's just very mellow, not that there's anything wrong with that...... If I'm gonna drive that far, I'll go to Sugarloaf.....

 

[Joshua B]

ChileMass, again, have you taken the double chair to the top of Spruce? Have you skied the Whirlaway or Main Street trails? Interesting that the main mountain is too challenging and Spruce is not challenging enough for you. My parents who are 64 and 65 enjoy Stowe. Not sure if that means anything. But at least I guess I sort of got you to admit Stowe has more than 6 trails right?

 

[tree_skier]

Although I ski Mount Snow and Haystack alot my favorites are

1. MRG

2. Sugarbush

3. Cannon

 

[ChileMass]

Josh -

You missed my earlier point - I love Stowe. The people there are terrific, the level of skiing expertise is outstanding, the terrain is excellent (although limited - you said it yourself), and the overall experience is hard to beat anywhere in North America, and I've skied a bunch of them. Back in the day, I could even ski National and Liftline, although Starr once kicked my ass, and I will admit I never even attempted Goat because it just looked like freakin' suicide. STOWE IS A WONDERFUL HILL!! I will further admit I only ever skied Spruce once becasue it just never seemed that there was a reason to go over there. Your ardor and persistence have convinced me, though, and next time I will be sure not to miss it. Please forgive me for dissing your hill........

 

[Max]

Max, I bet you have a lot of stories about spending time at Sugarbush. Maybe you can start a new topic and post some of those. I'd probably have questions for you to keep it going.

Hey Josh, it's been so many years since I've skied there! Let's see, I was doing the "bumming' thing in 1968-1969 season, and I did go back to ski for another 10 years or so after that. But I'm sure they've modernized the place a bit more since then. It's be interesting to go back and see the new lifts and trails. I worked at a dormitory on Rt. 100, about 1 mile north of the access road. It's since been torn down and the property has been redeveloped. We served breakfast only, so after the cooking and dishes (for up to 100 guests) were done, we were free for the day. We usually made it to the mountain by 9:30 AM or so.

I was there when they had the old 3-passenger gondola to the summit. It was great because the majority of people ski in pairs, so we'd jump into the singles line and get used as "fillers" when the gondola car only had 2 passengers. It was a quick way to get on the lift on weekends. During the week the crowds were non-existant. Most of our time was spent skiing Stein's Run or over on the Castlerock lift.

Once a week, the area would hold a slalom race for all the Valley workers, so us bums would thrash it out amongst ourselves for weekly bragging rights. I made very little money, but I had a free season pass and room and board, and all my friends were bartenders, so I made it through the winter without paying for a single beer. 8)

I skied every day, but the worst day was one where the temperature was about 25 below zero, with a 30 mph wind. I remember wearing 2 hats, and freezing whilst riding the gondola to the summit. I took 1 one that day and called it quits. That was the closest I came to missing a day.

There were several other adventures, like getting a Volkswagen beetle stuck crossways inside a covered bridge, and getting drunk on New Years eve and attempting to break the ice and swim in the Mad River. :beer:

What was I thinking???

Max

 

[Joshua B]

Josh -

You missed my earlier point - I love Stowe. The people there are terrific, the level of skiing expertise is outstanding, the terrain is excellent (although limited - you said it yourself), and the overall experience is hard to beat anywhere in North America, and I've skied a bunch of them. Back in the day, I could even ski National and Liftline, although Starr once kicked my ass, and I will admit I never even attempted Goat because it just looked like freakin' suicide. STOWE IS A WONDERFUL HILL!! I will further admit I only ever skied Spruce once becasue it just never seemed that there was a reason to go over there. Your ardor and persistence have convinced me, though, and next time I will be sure not to miss it. Please forgive me for dissing your hill........

Just to be fair to me, I never said Stowe's terrain is limited as a whole area. I agreed with you that the gondola mountain has limited terrain, but it's still a novelty. The main mountain and Spruce peak are great, and so is the liftline under the gondola. You are not dissing my hill (it is not in my list of favorites), but I thought it was unfair to say they have only six trails. You don't need my forgiveness. But I think you're now aware I will speak up and give my opinion whenever I care to. :wink:

 

[Greg]

Max - you must be a great guy to sit and drink a bunch of beers with. Sounds like you have a lot of stories! :beer:

 

[jlangdale]

jlangdale, do you live in Waitsfield, VT, and if so, how do you get a chance to be in Westford, MA to ski little Nashoba?

I have a house in Litchfield, NH near the MA border. I moved to Vermont full-time last June.

 

[SAB]

1. Mad River
What can you say - it has personality. You either love it or not. If you are a throw-back traditionalist like me, you'll love it.

2. Jay
Incredible snow. Very good selection of terrain. Good value. No wonder it's one of the new havens for telemarkers in the east.

3. Le Massif
I know, most of you are saying - where? Cool area just northeast of Quebec City. Beautifull views. Beautifull snow. I haven't skiied there in a few years (since they moved the 'base' area to the top. Interesting concept - get out of your car and ski - then get on a lift to get back. On average the steepest mountain around, but only because there aren't any easy trails. But the incredible snow made skiing everything oh so easy.

3+. Cannon
I know, I'm only supposed to pick 3. But how can I leave Cannon off the list. Cold and windy, often icy, and one of the most fun places I ski. Bit of a drive for me, so I don't make it there very often, but I always have fun. But be warned - you can see from my picks above that I tend to favor older, less polished areas, and Cannon also fits this description.

I assume we were talking about eastern areas for this 'poll', but if you want to head out west, I loved Arapahoe Basin and Copper.

SAB

 

[Greg]

This is great information! Keep going and once a few more people respond, I'll summarize the responses and generate an official "AlpineZone Forum Top 3 Resorts" list. I'll assign a points system where each #1 resort gets three points, #2 gets two point, and #3 gets one point. I'll then total the points and list the top three. 8)

 

[ChileMass]

Just wanted to bump this back up to the top cuz at Greg's request, we could use a bunch more votes for personal favorite mountains. I'd be interested to see the results of Greg's poll suggestion. So far I only count 10 reviews in this thread, so let's have a bunch more!!!!

 

[teachski]

Burke- Nice place, quaint, not over commercialized, nice steep cruisers, good rates, Not pretentious, good packages at nearby motels.

Cranmore- not terribly challenging but friendly, historically important, I like the layout

Sunapee/Magic Tie but for different reasons
Sunapee- relaxing, friendly,close to home
Magic - Challenging (many trails), Old New England Skiing, good rates, not crowded, not overly commercialized, old lifts Classic Area

Balsams- inexpensive, classic centerpole double, close to free accomodations (brother's)despite being linked to a high class, top dollar hotel it is not overly commercialized and they have kept it simple with classic New England trails. Trails follow the contour of the terrain.

Oops, that's 4 (actually 5) sorry.

 

[jimme]

Mad River Glen- The twisting, tight trails, snow, the Single Chair. The laid back feeling. Ski anywhere policy. Big mountain, small parking lot.

Magic Mountain- The twisting, tight trails, ski anywhere policy.

Gore Mountain- A variety of terrain from easy greens to BC trails. Twister Glades is fun.

Alta/Snowbird- A Super-Sized MRG/Sugarbush. Awesome- trails, bowls, trees, snow and scenery. (I just had to bragg about these two. :roll: )

Jimme

 

[Greg]

Here's the tally so far:

1 - MRG: 12 points
2 - Killington: 9 points
3 - Sugarbush: 6 points

 

[threecy]

1) Berkshire East - I like the variety of terrain, classic New England feel, and lack of crowds.

2) Ragged - Certainly not the largest in NH, but other than the flat runout it has some nice trails

3) Wildcat - Fast lift, still some classic trails, nice mid-week place

 

[pepperdawg]

(East Coast)

1) The Bush - Castlerock. The Bush has the terrain, and a nice vibe.
2) Stowe - lots o Off Piste goodies
3) K-Mart - Length of season, sheer size, terrian variety

:-?

 

[Greg]

(East Coast)

1) The Bush - Castlerock. The Bush has the terrain, and a nice vibe.
2) Stowe - lots o Off Piste goodies
3) K-Mart - Length of season, sheer size, terrian variety

:-?

Welcome to the boards, pepperdawg!

 

[Greg]

Update:

1 - MRG: 12 points
2 - Killington: 10 points
3 - Sugarbush: 9 points

Top three remain the same.

 

[nrthest]

1. Whiteface
Not close, but if I'm going to drive 3+hrs to Kton, Whiteface is only 4.5hrs. Vertical drop. Nice collection of diamonds and LONG runs.

2. Jiminy Peak
[2]/5/7 passed here for 2 years. ~Close, with some good vertical drop over short distance. Night skiing. High speed six.

3. Killington
~Close. Big. Long season.

 

[IndyJones]

Only 1 place I've been to:

Perfect North- Good for what its got. Some steep runs. Nice lift service. Continue to expaned.