Where to ski in March?

[Phlogiston]

I'm soliciting suggestions on where to ski in New England on weekdays in March.

I like hardpack; and ice. I like to warm up on blue runs, and do most of my skiing on black diamonds. No bumps.

I will drive, stay overnight, ski for the first 6 hours after opening, and then probably drive home. I don't ski two days in a row because of soreness (old injuries).

I'm really looking for cold air, and vertical. I know that some mountains in VT NH and ME are colder than others; and I want to find one with 2000' vertical, minimum.

I may make two or three trips this month; the week of 3/10; 3/17 and 3/24. Probaby on Weds / Thurs of those weeks.

I'll consider all options.

 

[kcyanks1]

Where are you driving from?

 

[Phlogiston]

Where are you driving from?

OOPS! I'm so used to forums where they list your location next to your name... LOL

New York City.

 

[kcyanks1]

OOPS! I'm so used to forums where they list your location next to your name... LOL

New York City.

No problem. You can list location here but it's optional. Are you interested in glades or just trails? Given that you are coming from NY and you don't want moguls, if glades also are not a big deal, I'd probably suggest Killington (not trying to imply that they don't have glades and bumps, just that I'd go further north for more of the natural stuff). Killington is a better bet to get and keep natural snow than the areas to the south and will have more groomed blacks than areas to the north. If you prioritize groomed trails over steepness and are happy with intermediate-level cruisers, than Okemo is an option. Okemo is flat though. The areas to the north of Killington will have some of what you like, but in general will probably have a higher percentage of their blacks bumped up.

 

[Robbski]

In NH I would recommend Cannon, Ragged, Loon in that order based on your criteria.

Obviously depend on the weather but if it gets cold and hasn't snowed in a few days you'll find some nice firm and fast groomers on any of these.

 

[Phlogiston]

I used to have a season pass at Killington; I even attended the Ski Instructors school they had there in the 80's. No desire to go back. Ever.

I do like a long groomed intermediate trail to warm up... and glades are nice once I'm warmed up. My favorite surface is something that looks like a GS course; pretty packed down, with room for wide turns at speed. Tracked up is ok, just not a mogul field.

I'll check out pics / reports for Okemo.

 

[Mildcat]

Sounds to me like Cannon would be a good choice. If you're skiing Tuesday or Thursday they have 2 for $60 specials. Even if you are by yourself you can ask around the lot until you find someone to split the cost.

 

[marcski]

If you like groomers, don't want to drive too far try Stratton for one of those days. 2k of vert on some blue cruisers. They groom up everything there....even after last weekends storms, I read they only left 3 trails ungroomed for Saturday.

 

[tjf67]

New York City. Head straight up 90 till you get to 87. take 87 toexit 30. Another 35 minutes and you are at whiteface mountain. 3k vert of steep sustained terrain.

From where you are and what you are looking for I don't know there is a better option

 

[kcyanks1]

New York City. Head straight up 90 till you get to 87. take 87 toexit 30. Another 35 minutes and you are at whiteface mountain. 3k vert of steep sustained terrain.

From where you are and what you are looking for I don't know there is a better option

In this case, I actually have to agree. Whiteface makes a lot of sense. Definitely better than Okemo or Stratton, both of which are flat.

 

[Phlogiston]

Thanks. I love Whiteface, but it seems to be suffering from the same warm rain problems that have plagued Hunter, Wyndham, Gore, etc all winter.

The mountains of VT and NH always seem to be colder than the ones in NY State,

If Whiteface cools down at night to let the surface harden up; and there's no wind to close the Summit Quad; I'm there!
I can leave here at 4 AM, be there when the lifts open, ski until 2 PM, take a nap and drive home.
5 hours of continuous skiing on a weekday with no lift lines is usually enough! Sometimes I take an hour to do my last run, stopping to take pictures.

Still, I'm interested in VT NH and ME mountains; I have the freedom to go looking for cold snow this March; please keep the suggestions coming.
I'm planning on hitting Sugarloaf in April.

 

[campgottagopee]

New York City. Head straight up 90 till you get to 87. take 87 toexit 30. Another 35 minutes and you are at whiteface mountain. 3k vert of steep sustained terrain.

From where you are and what you are looking for I don't know there is a better option

DITTO

 

[tjf67]

Thanks. I love Whiteface, but it seems to be suffering from the same warm rain problems that have plagued Hunter, Wyndham, Gore, etc all winter.

The mountains of VT and NH always seem to be colder than the ones in NY State,

If Whiteface cools down at night to let the surface harden up; and there's no wind to close the Summit Quad; I'm there!
I can leave here at 4 AM, be there when the lifts open, ski until 2 PM, take a nap and drive home.
5 hours of continuous skiing on a weekday with no lift lines is usually enough! Sometimes I take an hour to do my last run, stopping to take pictures.

Still, I'm interested in VT NH and ME mountains; I have the freedom to go looking for cold snow this March; please keep the suggestions coming.
I'm planning on hitting Sugarloaf in April.

When a big system moves in the northern vermont hills get the same weather. They do get more snow in most cases but the weather is very similar. We are in a very different weather pattern than the catskills. Gore is a little warmer.
I think the only winner out of this storm is sugarloaf. Which is a hell of a hill. But it is a hell of a drive as well.

 

[kcyanks1]

Thanks. I love Whiteface, but it seems to be suffering from the same warm rain problems that have plagued Hunter, Wyndham, Gore, etc all winter.

The mountains of VT and NH always seem to be colder than the ones in NY State,

If Whiteface cools down at night to let the surface harden up; and there's no wind to close the Summit Quad; I'm there!
I can leave here at 4 AM, be there when the lifts open, ski until 2 PM, take a nap and drive home.
5 hours of continuous skiing on a weekday with no lift lines is usually enough! Sometimes I take an hour to do my last run, stopping to take pictures.

Still, I'm interested in VT NH and ME mountains; I have the freedom to go looking for cold snow this March; please keep the suggestions coming.
I'm planning on hitting Sugarloaf in April.

Whiteface's weather pattern can't be compared to the Catskills. Whiteface doesn't get the snow of northern VT, but it certainly gets more snow than the Catskills, and I think at least that it does get the same cold weather as VT. Whiteface certainly is colder than the Catskills.

 

[billski]

Thanks. I love Whiteface, but it seems to be suffering from the same warm rain problems that have plagued Hunter, Wyndham, Gore, etc all winter.

The mountains of VT and NH always seem to be colder than the ones in NY State,

VT is suffering /has equally suffered from the same malady called niar. And looking at the snow depth map, http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/nerfc/graphics/snowmaps/sd1_today.jpg suggests similar snowpack. Then again, the ambiance, skier experience and to some extent, the clientele is different, which probably also factor into your decision.

 

[Phlogiston]

There have been quite a few days when it was too warm, or raining at Hunter, and I looked at the weather for Wilmington, NY, and the Whiteface website and conditions were just as bad there.
Of course, if it's 45 and raining at Hunter; and 35 and raining at Whiteface, that is a difference, of sorts.
I hope to get to Whiteface before the end...

 

[kcyanks1]

There have been quite a few days when it was too warm, or raining at Hunter, and I looked at the weather for Wilmington, NY, and the Whiteface website and conditions were just as bad there.
Of course, if it's 45 and raining at Hunter; and 35 and raining at Whiteface, that is a difference, of sorts.
I hope to get to Whiteface before the end...

If it is 35 and raining at Whiteface, VT can be getting rain too.

 

[campgottagopee]

If it is 35 and raining at Whiteface, VT can be getting rain too.[/QUOTE

And usually is

 

[SKidds]

Have you been up to Whiteface, or are you just basing your opinion on a few limited observations on the weather websites? Yes, there have been a couple of brief warmups at Whiteface, with some rain showers, during the course of this season. But those haven't lasted more than a couple of days...and when Whiteface experienced those conditions, so did most of the VT resorts. Overall, Whiteface is having a great snow year.

Given what you say you want, there isn't a mountain that makes more sense for you than Whiteface. When normal winter conditions exist, Whiteface can be colder than just about anybody else. When powder isn't the order of the day it can be firm and fast. It's got the most sustained vertical of any resort in the east. The vast majority of trails are bump free and built for cruising. You have a great, long intermediate trail in Excelsior that is accessed via the gondola, then nice long steeps from the Summit Quad. It's everything you want, and it will save you HOURS of driving over any of the VT/NH resorts that can offer what you want.

 

[Phlogiston]

As a matter of fact I have been to Whiteface many times.

I take the facelift quad to the summit quad and ski from the top. When I'm warming up I get back on the summit chair; once I've got my rhythm, I go all the way to the bottom, and creep back up on the two chairs. I only ski on weekdays, lines are not a problem.

I don't care about saving hours of driving; I'm interested in going somewhere I've never been, and staying overnight before skiing. That's why I started this thread to ask for suggestions about places to go, not to discuss the conditions existing at a place I'm already familiar with.