What ski areas will you never ski again?

[JimG.]

Anybody changed their opinion about ski places after starting a family?
I never imagined I would ski Wawa on weekends but now I ski there a lot
on weekends with my kids. Also I didn't care at all about Breton Woods before
but now I think it is great for family skiing. Priority changes drastically when you
are with small kids.

Not here...my family skis where I ski. My wife and I have a system for dealing with family issues. We talk, but she is firmly in charge of everything marked "SCHOOL" and I support her decisions (made together while we talk) and I am in charge of everything marked "SPORTS" and the family abides by my decisions (also arrived at jointly) here.

My wife has a better handle on school issues so it makes sense for her to be in charge there, while I have a much better handle on sports and especially skiing. We ski at Hunter. No, my kids have never been hit by other skiers there, nor at other resorts. Know why? Because I tell them that if they get hit it is because they weren't paying attention. I teach personal responsibility in all things. Life isn't going to take it easy on my kids, why should I?

Some folks might find this odd, but it works very well for us.

 

[Big Game]

the only place i can truly say i will never ever go to again is powder ridge. and its only 15 minutes from my house.

Even besides the overall lack of a quality, the lack of maintenance has created a deathtrap. I'm in Wallingford and I will never go there again --- at least until current owners are foreclosed upon. It is probably the most unsafe and worst run hill in the world.

 

[tree_skier]

I have learned to never say never

 

[Grassi21]

Even besides the overall lack of a quality, the lack of maintenance has created a deathtrap. I'm in Wallingford and I will never go there again --- at least until current owners are foreclosed upon. It is probably the most unsafe and worst run hill in the world.

I have only heard bad things about that place. Didn't they have a couple of long periods last year where the hill was closed? It's too bad. Its possibly the closest place for me to get some turns in. But much like Mt. Southington (skied Mt S once), I've heard PR is only worth it after a good dumping of snow.

 

[Mad Skier]

Okemo, or any other Mtn. with nothing but groomers. All I can do is go way to fast for anyones own good. I almost killed a couple of people within 2-3 hours before I decided I had to slow down if I was going to make it through the day without creaming someone. I was cruising pretty good down one trail and theres a woman walking up the trail a 1/3 of the way across it on the downhill side of a knoll across the trail. Missed her by inches in midair(she had the fear of death in her eyes, would.ve been real nasty). The majority of skier fatalities happen at mts. like this, ie. big wide groomers with no obstacles because people get going way to fast and catch an edge or something and end up in the tree's at a high rate of speed.

Mad River Glen on the other hand has never had a fatality and they don't even pad the lift towers. Its a skiing philosophy that you either subscribe to or you don't, but the proof is there.

 

[kingslug]

Stratton, never again, even for free. Mountain Creek, nothing for me there. Deer Valley, why bother when all the other ones are better.

 

[SnowRider]

I will never go 2 Ragged again, unless they have a lot of snow.

SnowRider

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Okemo, or any other Mtn. with nothing but groomers. All I can do is go way to fast for anyones own good. I almost killed a couple of people within 2-3 hours before I decided I had to slow down if I was going to make it through the day without creaming someone. I was cruising pretty good down one trail and theres a woman walking up the trail a 1/3 of the way across it on the downhill side of a knoll across the trail. Missed her by inches in midair(she had the fear of death in her eyes, would.ve been real nasty). The majority of skier fatalities happen at mts. like this, ie. big wide groomers with no obstacles because people get going way to fast and catch an edge or something and end up in the tree's at a high rate of speed.

Mad River Glen on the other hand has never had a fatality and they don't even pad the lift towers. Its a skiing philosophy that you either subscribe to or you don't, but the proof is there.

Good thing MRG only lets skiers like Mad on their mountain, they sure wouldn't want any crazy inconsiderate snowboarders there. :razz:

As self absorbed with his own gratification and obviously totally uncaring of other peoples fun and safety as Mad apparently is, he actually makes a good point.

If trails where not overly groomed and left bumped up it would force skiers/riders to slow down. Trails left in a more natural state might cause more minor injuries, but not the kind of ones that are life threatening that high-speed impacts cause.

Trouble is most of the skiing public want groomed trails.

"she had the fear of death in her eyes" - that had to be a proud moment for you Mad.

 

[tekweezle]

to me skiing is skiing. give me enough miles of terrain and snow and I probably could be happy anywhere since I just like to cruise.

However, i probably will never ski at Camelback again. I took some friends there and they ran out of rental equipment. they still rented them the 90's era rear entry boots and too long straight skis. felt a litlle unsafe.

if I ever ski at Mountain Creek again, it would only be at night

 

[SnowMiser]

Agreed. At least I wouldn't ski it at night, that's for sure. Twas the site of my shoulder injury.

So you screwed up your shoulder there too!

I slept on mine funny yesterday afternoon (I work nights) and now the "traumatic bursitis" or whatever my doctor called it is acting up again. This is a 20 year old injury which hasn't bothered me in about the last 10.

Mountain Geek (or Vermin Valley as it was called the LAST time I will ever ski it) has all the bad features of Hunter and then some, but without the terrain.

I could go on for another few paragraphs, but Andyzee summed it up best in 2 words.

 

[SnowMiser]

I have skied about 75% of New England and the places that I do not care to visit again are: …

Wildcat - Bad snow conditions on all three visits when other areas where much better …

Key point, you gave it 3 shots. I think some people call it quits on a mtn. if they just have one trip there and the conditions where bad, too crowded, ticket window staff gave you attitude, etc.. You have to give a mtn. multiple chances to really know if it's for you or not.

Agreed. You can catch ANY mountain on a bad day. I'll usually go back for at least a 2nd opinion.

I'm surprised that loafer89 caught Wildcat on THREE bad days. I've only skied there once -- for 1/2 day -- and enjoyed it. Conditions were a little slick but edgeable, and despite trashing my skis on a too-thin Al's Folly, I had a great time. And that view of The Rockpile from the summit is awesome.

On the other hand, two visits to Vermin Valley were two too many.

 

[Mad Skier]

Good thing MRG only lets skiers like Mad on their mountain, they sure wouldn't want any crazy inconsiderate snowboarders there. :razz:

As self absorbed with his own gratification and obviously totally uncaring of other peoples fun and safety as Mad apparently is, he actually makes a good point.

If trails where not overly groomed and left bumped up it would force skiers/riders to slow down. Trails left in a more natural state might cause more minor injuries, but not the kind of ones that are life threatening that high-speed impacts cause.

Trouble is most of the skiing public want groomed trails.

"she had the fear of death in her eyes" - that had to be a proud moment for you Mad.

WRONG-I was skiing at Okemo with a former co0worker who hooked me up w/ a free day pass. I wouldn't go there by my own decision. I was skiing on my old lockdown gear from the mid 90s and was skiing the way I used to which is "Bode Miller" fast. Thats the only way I can feel like I'm pushing that equipment and myself on that type of terrain.

If skiers want groomed trails and the like that is absolutely fine with me. Whatever floats your boat. If you wanna go 90 down a groomed slope-also just fine with me. Live and let live baby.

I do think I was very considerate after the near collision-I slowed down for the rest of the day.

As for my self-gratification, that'll come when I'm sponsored and in ski flicks you rent out to get psyched up for your up&coming season8)

 

[NYDrew]

Mountain Creek....what a waste of time and money.

 

[andyzee]

Mountain Creek....what a waste of time and money.

You could get their Triple Play Pass, which last time I got it, it was about $49 for three days of skiing, but it's still one BIG waste of time. However, I did find one good thing about Mountain Creek, it actually makes ASC look good.

 

[powderman]

I believe in giving ski areas second and third chances, but you won't see me at Windham ever again. I went once on a Friday morning (non-holiday) and although the place was dead, several of the trails were scrapped off. I was looking forward to giving Windham another chance when the snow surface was better, but after reading several complaints on Windham's snow surface and grooming, I won't be giving it another chance. Also, Hunter which is also two hours away is better than Windham.

I also won't be visiting Greek Peak, Bristol, or Holiday Valley ever again. Nothing wrong with the first two, but these areas aren't worth the 4 + hour drive.

 

[ski9]

Mid Atlantic:

Alpine Mountain - I positively hate that place
Tanglewood
Sterling Forest - If they ever reopen
Thunder Ridge
Mount Peter
Holiday Mountain
Shawnee

Just FYI, Tanglwood didn't open this season and is 99% on its way to NELSAP pages. For how tiny it was and for how slow the chairs were, the T'wood owners did turn over their one little headwall slope for at least two ASRA races for many seasons and it was always a fun race.

It was such a popular race venue that even GSS made the trip up from Blue to get six or seven hundred vert after his race runs...

 

[deadheadskier]

Wisp in Maryland and Snowshoe in WV are on my never ever list. Not because I don't think I'd have a good time skiing there as these days I can have a good time skiing just about anywhere. I had the most horrific employment experiences at those resorts that I would NEVER give them a dime of my money. You'd seriously have to pay me to ski there; it was that awful working for those two employers.

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Every year I say "Stratton." Every year I go back.

Actually, it can be pretty okay when nobody's there -- nothing mind-blowing -- but the incongruity of there being so many crowds at such a meh place makes me brain hurt too much to enjoy the weekends.

Almost certainly Mountain Creek. Even though it's the closest semi-big place to me, the only biggish place with night skiing nearby and only 45 minutes from my Dad's. The last visit -- in 2006, after 10 or so years away from the place -- was enough to convince me the mountain is irredeemable (and management hasn't done anything of late to convince me otherwise.) I did maybe three or four runs and split -- that's how much I hated it.

 

[frozencorn]

Agreed. You can catch ANY mountain on a bad day. I'll usually go back for at least a 2nd opinion.

I'm surprised that loafer89 caught Wildcat on THREE bad days. I've only skied there once -- for 1/2 day -- and enjoyed it. Conditions were a little slick but edgeable, and despite trashing my skis on a too-thin Al's Folly, I had a great time. And that view of The Rockpile from the summit is awesome.

On the other hand, two visits to Vermin Valley were two too many.

I'm convinced that if your first day at Wildcat is firm and cold, you're not likely to get it and may not return. It's really a mountain that should be skied either immediately after a dump or in the spring for first-timers to get the vibe and overall goodness of the place.

Then, when those cold, firm days come along down the road and you're swearing at the rough conditions shooting down Lift Lion as your left ski hits exposed rock for the third time, it's not as bad because you know the next time will be one of those awesome Cat days.

 

[frozencorn]

I would say Stratton as well, except I seem to keep getting free tickets for them every year. Makes it tough to stick to your guns about it.