What Mountain hypothetically could be the Spring Skiing Capital of the East?

[deadheadskier]

Lots of talk about mountain closings and how we all wish certain areas would stay open longer for us fanatics.

Out West, A-Basin is wildly succesful in the spring. I believe that April has the most skier days of any month for that mountain and that they do very well in May too.

What area in the east do you think could have similar results?

Killington had a good run as king of spring, but appears to no longer be interested.

I think accessibility perhaps plays an even larger factor in success for this than the physical advantages. Being close to a major population center would be key.

 

[andyzee]

My vote would still go for Killington overall. They may not do too good now and perhaps for the next couple of years. But as Powdr was about to take over I predicted that Powdr would not last longer than 5 years, I stick by that prediction. Right now, it's looking like they won't make 5. New owners should bring K back to it's glory after seeing how Powdr failed and realizing what made Killington, Spring/Summer skiing. This is the word of AZ, may we ski in peace.

 

[deadheadskier]

Killington does probably make the most sense, being accesible from both Boston metro and New York.

I think Loon could be another option if they blew a boat load of snow on Flume and also link to get over from the Three Brothers lift. Only challenge would be downloading people to the base.

I think the overall key factors are accesiblity, party atmosphere and a lodge with a sundeck with view of the action. Bear Mountain / Outer Limits actually has the better set up for this than Superstar, though Superstar holds snow better and it makes sense to utilize a slope/area near the access road. Ovation would actually make more sense for views from the lodge, but because it's so effin steep, it limits the kind of a skier that can utilize it.

 

[snoseek]

I think sugarloaf has the very best spring skiing as they hold snow longer than most. Loon seems to sit kind of low and south=sloppier corn earlier in the year.

 

[Terry]

I think sugarloaf has the very best spring skiing as they hold snow longer than most. Loon seems to sit kind of low and south=sloppier corn earlier in the year.

I second Sugarloaf. They are the furthest north, and have the highest elevation so they can hold snow well. As far as location, if they are the last to stay open, people will come. Especially if they do more parties like Raggae weekend.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Stowe..if they stockpiled snow on Northslope and Lower Nosedive..they'd be golden. If they installed an upper mountain lift and offered downloading on the Forerunner quad it would even be better.

 

[riverc0il]

A few factors would make for an ideal spring skiing capital (if management were so inclined, and of course they are not, so this is extremely hypothetical based on ideal setup). Location and ease of access, high elevation, aspect for snow retention, lodge nearby/in sight of open runs, preferably a summit pod so downloading is available to really make it last long into spring.

Some mountains have been mentioned, and here are my thoughts. Sugarloaf is too remote and not easily accessible so they would not pull in enough people, Stowe is top to bottom and the run out would melt too quickly even with stock piled snow, Loon has low elevation but theoretically could be doable with a gondola up/download and skiing in North Basin with Camp III as a base, Killington had fantastic overall accessibility and location while still being far enough north for snow retention and good base area layout with no real run out either.

Cannon, of course, would be one of the best locations on paper if they could blow enough snow on profile. Upload on the Tram which functions as the lodge, great pod of upper elevation skiing with lots of variety, high elevation, north facing, easily accessible off the highway, etc. We all know that isn't going to happen.

Excluding areas that could potentially make a hypothetical run late into May if they wanted with an ideal setup, Sugarbush and Wildcat currently offer the best spring skiing I have had the pleasure to enjoy and have both gone late into April with top to bottom offerings. Bush has the advantage of being able to do an up/down load. Loaf is ideal for the current push on paper but location is going to make Loaf a tough decision after Reggae Fest with other closer options.

 

[deadheadskier]

In terms of pure snow retention, Sugarloaf is the obvious answer, but I also think its WAY too far away for most.

I hadn't thought of Cannon and your suggestions there make a lot of sense rivercoil. Too bad it's state run.

You know, I read somewhere that Wildcat reserves the right to put in another summit lift as they used to have a double chair that paralleled the Gondola on the Upper Mountain.

http://www.nelsap.org/skihistory/wildcattrailmap1960s.jpg

I look forward to skiing there this spring, but even with the strong elevation benefits they have, I'd imagine the run out at the bottom could get pretty harry. Adding a surface lift that hugs the right hand side of liftlion down to the cat track cut across would be a great addition there. It would be great for spring skiing as you could download from the Quad/Gondola and it would be great for mid-winter on high wind days as you could run Tomcat and this surface lift and still offer top to bottom skiing.

http://www.skiwildcat.com/06images/trailmap.jpg

Only challenge with Wildcat is it's even more difficult to get to from NYC, than say Cannon or Loon, but it's an easy shot from Boston. Another benefit is that with Tucks right across the street, you've got diehards in the area anyways and if conditions on Tucks don't look good, people would have a second skiing option.

The addition of such a lift and a strong commitment to building a deep base on Liftlion seems to me like a solid investment. You'd probably have to refurbish the old gondi station / lodge up top to.

 

[riverc0il]

I hadn't thought of Cannon and your suggestions there make a lot of sense rivercoil. Too bad it's state run.

Being state run is irrelevant. Maybe they would stay open for one more week if they were not state run but I have been to Cannon on their closing day on many occasions and they hardly fill the lot. Historically, I remember reading someone saying that Cannon actually made a go for late season on the Cannonball one year. Obviously, it wasn't financially worth while or it would have continued.

I considered mentioning Wildcat but not feasible with its current infrastructure to go really long. Top to bottom or bust at Wildcat late season so they will never get into May. They already removed the upper mountain double which was in the location where the quad now resides, doubtful they would ever consider putting another double back in on the gondi line and that summit shack remains the worst blight of any ski area around. Can't imagine why they do not fix it up as a summit shack with a small snack bar.

 

[FridayHiker]

Killington makes the most sense logistically; Jay Peak holds its snow pretty well.

 

[deadheadskier]

Agreed on the Summit Shack, which is such a shame as man, what a great place that would be to have a beer....killer 360 views.

It's doubtful, but you never know if they got new owners regarding adding a second lift. I suggested a surface lift, but that presents a challenge with the Catapult cut across. However, it's more likeley to run during wind. I can't recall the last time I rode a poma during spring conditions and how challenging it would be for most.

 

[riverc0il]

Jay Peak holds its snow pretty well.

Jay's flat base melts ridiculously quickly once it starts getting warmer. The more protected steeper runs higher up hold snow okay but Jay would have a really hard time making it all the way into May, mostly due to not being able to connect the flatter sections to the lodges at the bottom..

 

[bobbutts]

White Heat

 

[mountainman]

Pico and K.

A-slope faces away from the sun and holds snow. Run the Alpine slide and skiing and riding at the same time. Rte 4 access. Even upper Giant Killer would hold snow till August. The K also remember upper Down Draft with snow above the trees. Load on Canyon Quad would be awesome. Get truck out Spillway.

 

[loafer89]

Sugarloaf is the king of spring in my book, the mountain really comes into it's own around April 1st and continues with packed powder conditions on the upper 2/3 of the mountain usually until closing day. The mountain can hold onto skiable cover on a top to bottom basis until around May 10th without huge amounts of manmade snow.

As a Killington vs Sugarloaf comparision:

Killington May 12th, 2007:

Sugarloaf May 11th, 2007:

 

[MikeTrainor]

The two mountain that I usually go to in the spring are Wildcat and Sugarbush. Sugarbush is just about as far I want to go for a day trip out of MA.

 

[snowmonster]

Ditto on Sugarloaf -- holds snow well into May. Potentially, it could be the real king of spring but the problem is that it's too far from major metro areas to make it realistic for them to remain open that long. I don't know how long Sunday River can last but I remember skiing there in the third week of April last year and there was a ridiculous amount of snow that we were poaching on Aurora. They shut down the western parts of the resort (Aurora, Oz, Jordan) because of lack of personnel but there was so much snow there for the energetic crowd. If the new owners continue being aggressive (and they were blowing snow until about 3 weeks ago), I can see Sunday River taking over the title.

 

[loafer89]

Sugarloaf looks to be open until May 4th this season as that is the date they have as the last day for their winter vacation packages.

As for it being too far, I would rather make the drive for a few dozen trails in early May than 1-2 at Killington.

 

[deadheadskier]

As for it being too far, I would rather make the drive for a few dozen trails in early May than 1-2 at Killington.

True, but you represent a bit of an anomoly in the amount of driving you're willing to do for a weekend of skiing....far more ambitious drives than most going from CT up to Saddleback and Sugarloaf.


Don't get me wrong, I think Sugarloaf in terms of holding snow and terrain is the best option out there for Spring turns. I'd even reverse your statement and would prefer to ski one or two trails there over a dozen at Killington. It's just to far for what 95% of most skiers are willing to do for a day trip.

To me, being an easy day trip is key for Springtime success. I spoke of A-Basin in the first post as they are the king of spring out west. Part of the reason is it's such an easy drive from Denver for a day trip. I would put 2.5-3 hours as the max most are willing to go for a day trip. That's why places like Killington, Loon, Wildcat, Cannon come to mind.

 

[loafer89]

I lived in NYC and Long Island for most of my life and good skiing was a 3-4 hour drive away so I am used to a long commute to ski. Now I can get to Maine in the same four hour time span that it took just to get to Killington, so I do not mind the drive.

This weekend the drive to Sunday River was easy due to the lack of traffic and we made it to Sunday River in 3 hours and 45 minutes, which is about as long as it would have taken me to get to Sugarbush if we had gone there.