Timeless

I think I can manage it. More like "cooooookiees....." Does that special 6-pack "for the park" have steps on the loading area to keep the crowds down?

Obviously suffering from "vermont confusion", a very serious condition that can only be cured by early season skiing in October at Killy. See you there.....

yeah, last season was her 3rd full season (at the grand age of 10) and she really found her natural speed and a much smoother riding style. I suspect this season may be the last year when it's still OK to ride with Dad

Doug, less SFR, Bunny Buster is at Killy. He is right about the black d's though, Chief and World Cup are great blue/black type runs and the grooming is almost always awesome.

It certainly wouldn't be my place of choice if nightlife is a criteria, and if you are going at a weekend there are going to be lots of families, but to me it has never seemed any worse for this than Killington. I would imagine that Jackson Gore Hotel might be your best option, if you go for a slopeside condo there are going to be kids around (not that you cant avoid, I wouldn't want to give the impression the place is overrun with hordes of them). If you really hate them then I would certainly avoid the condo's at the base area as that's where most of them would tend to be. This is how crowded with kids it was on Easter weekend last season (this one is one of mine....)

The first time we stayed there we were at the Clarion Hotel on the outskirts of Ludlow (officially at "cavendish point") which was pretty good. The restaurant was OK, the rooms were on the good side of the Choice Hotels standard and the rooms at the front have a great view of the mountain first thing in the morning. It a few miles to the slope (3-4 I would guess, maybe less), about 5 minutes in the car. They are on the bus service but we never tried this. If I was going to do a hotel, this would be my choice again, there are plenty of others but some look much worse in reality than on line. The only downside with this one really is that it's too far to walk to the town centre, but as there is little/nothing going on in Ludlow anyway, this didn't really matter to us. Our second and third trips we went for slopeside condo's and I really can recommend this if your budget can stand it. We were in the winterplace condos and they really are slopeside, Ranging from "ski-in" to "walk across the parking lot" and then ski down to the lifts. We did three different condo's there this year and they were all really nice, and the service at Okemo is fantastic. One other nice thing with staying there is that you do not need to buy a ticket for the first hour and you can buy them at the on-hill lodges, so when you get up you just walk out and go skiing (they run the lifts at least 10-15 minutes before official time, then choose to stop after an hour or so for a drink and pick up your ticket. If I wasn't taking the kids, I would look at a room at Jackson Gore, but only mid-season when you can be sure the connecting trails are open, or the solitude condo complex looks really nice. Hope this helps.

This scheme has been running for some time, it's worth doing if your kids fall in the age range. Vermont does the same for 5th graders, even better value IMO (an you don't have to live there either).

If you call them, they'll send you a new one straight out. Got a replacement toe strap for mine with no questions or hassle and that wasn't 'cos it broke (I didn't check the fasteners after a few hours of use and part of the strap fell off). T9's service is great.

Optional Service: Binding Mounting For you convenience, we can mount the bindings in this package for you. We will need your height and weight below only if you are buying boots to go with these skis. By selecting this optional service you are indicating that you have read and agree with our binding mounting terms and conditions. Bindings will still need to have final adjustment done with your boots by a certified ski technician for your safety. Please be sure to select your boot size before check out.

CB has new trails every week, you never know which ones they'll have open.

you'd need to keep going way past December then.

I've done it for early season riding too, not too bad at all from NEPA (not much more than 5 hours in a straight drive, just watch out for the ... oh no you don't need to worry about that do you....)

Isn't that the bottom of Nile / Cliffhanger?

wouldn't disagree with any of that.

compared to what? Killington / Stowe (Agreed) , to PA resorts (no way), to stratton/Mt snow (about the same) Have you been there since they added the Jackson Gore side? The lack of real steep stuff doesn't make it slow. The top to bottom runs like World Cup and Chief are great for some speed.

So recently we booked slopeside trip to Okemo, not cheap but here's how it worked out for us: We stayed 3 nights in the Winterplace condo's at Okemo, the condo was great and the access to the lifts was a 20 yard walk to the snow which was at the top of the "bunny hill" lifts, a short ride down the hill got you to ther main quads. The provision of (free) ski lockers half way between condo and snow made this even better because you could drop-off / pick up the gear on the way to and from the condo. Check in / out was smooth and pain-free, the whole set-up is very well run. One of the best "features" was the "try before you buy" lift ticket arrangement, the first hour at Okemo requires no ticket, you dont have to go anywhere near the base for the first hour, and then if you decide the conditions are OK (or better) there are on-hill locations where you can quickly stop and buy a ticket. You can also pre-buy your tickets the night before should you wish. The lifts were also open 15-20 minutes before the official time, so getting first tracks was a breeze. My son (6) went into ski school on two of the three days, got a group of 2 on the first day and 1 on the second, both days his instructors were great, especially the second day when he effectively had private instruction for the whole morning. Ski school was reasonably priced ($65) and his lift tickets were free. They also had a promotion which allowed my Daughter (11) to ride for free when I paid for an adult ticket, so all three of us paid $66 for the day. On top of this, all three of us got discount tickets each day for a return visit. On the last night of our stay, the condo above us burst a pipe (it was very cold, like -21F) and we started to get water leak through the ceiling ito one of the bedrooms, so we call the desk and they rushed people up to turn the water off, and move us to a new condo for the night, we were fully moved and settled in the new condo within an hour and I felt they had handled the situation very well. So the day we left (very happy), they called and told us that they would like to apologize again for the inconvenience and that they would like to offer us a complimentary stay between then and the end of the season "to make it up to us". We were amazed at this but not wanting to turn down their generosity we accepted an Easter weekend stay in what turned out to be a very nice 3 bedroom unti in the same block of condos. So we went back this weekend, got even cheaper tickets thanks to the discount vouchers, had free slopeside accomodation, they even laid on fresh snow and sunny weather for us.... Other points about Okemo: - They may not have the steepest terrain but there is some if you search it out, especially over on each side of the mountain. - The grooming is the best I've experience anywhere. - The parks are immaculately maintained, well spaced out and seem very well designed for flow and challenge, the first big jump on Noreaster is amazing. - There are plenty of places to eat and drink at not outrageous prices, and a waffle hut. Overall, you may be able to tell that I'm very impressed as a family resort.

Me and the kids finished our season this past weekend with a "free" weekend at Okemo, with ironically some of the best conditions of the year. Perfect groomers (not frozen) on saturday breaking into loose powder as the day wore on, followed by 2-3 inches of fresh fluffy pow' over the top of this for Sunday morning. It was wierd to be riding this thinking it's the last day of the season, but much fun was had by all. '07 has been an odd season for me, I got more days and more vert than either of my previous seasons but it seemed very short. I'm almost convinced that next year we won't buy season passes and we'll continue the trend of travelling further afield to try more places. Here's a picture of my kids enjoying Easter Sunday OK, the network won't let me upload from here, I'll do this from home.

Chip Just enjoy yourself, there's something for everyone at an out-west resort, from deep powder (wet and heavy or light and fluffy) to groomers nicer than you will see on the east coast (except on very rare days), to trees, chutes, bowls etc. Dont kill yourself trying stuff your not happy with just because of anything we've said here. I wish I was still out there.... Oh, and you don't need powder ski's, you need a snowboard

Not sure it will necessarily help that much, I'm not exactly in good shape aerobically but I don't get affected by the altitude either (at least not on the two trips I've done) but one of my companions to Utah this year who is a fit-freak was a heaving wreck for the first 2 days. I've heard that altitude can affect anyone in a random manner, just because you dont get hit once (or many times) doesn't mean the next trip wont nail you. Best advice I've received is drink tons of water, very little beer and coffee, eat plenty of carb and protein rich foods and dont push yourself too much the first day you arrive. All of this came from people on here before I went last year and it's really worked out fine for me, big thanks to PASR. Oh, and Chip, with a foot of powder, what the hell were you doing on groomers? Glad you had (are having?) and awesome time

So I'm back in Sunny PA, all the snow has gone and I'm completely wiped out by 4 great days in Utah. I didn't manage to post much while I was there but here's a summary of the trip: Day one (Friday), cold and overcast with light snow, fresh powder and tons of great tree skiing (riding), I nearly impaled myself a few times but it was such a good time, I really think Brighton may be my favourite place in the universe. Day 2: Solitude, bright sunshine and groomers, with some soft but used snow off the sides which was tough in the morning (when the groomers were best) but rideable in the afternoon once the groomers got sticky, did tons of runs in the main bowl area, best runs were Diamond Lane and the areas off trail around serenity, grumble, stumble etc, worst area was off of the sunshine lift where a blue run called sensation kicked the butts of the two "expert" skiers I was with (it was bumped up really bad with sticks and rocks poking through all over it. A great day with beautiful weather and goggle tans all round. Day 3: Snowbird, my first time here and I was a little apprehensive but we took the tram to the top and decided to "warm up" on Chip's run which was a piece of icy sh!t, cat track, footpath from hell. Less then half the way down I was ready to go home and decided to jump off of the side onto one of the blacks (silver fox) which was so much nicer, so that set the tone for the day. The blues and greens at Snowbird are really crappy (with one or two exceptions like bananas and bits of bassackwards) but the steeper stuff is awesome. We spent most of the day runing laps in the Gad valley area, on (and off the sides of) Regulator Johnson, Shireen and Last Choice, this area up there above the tree line was just 'kin amazing, the conditions were fantastic with bumpy but carve-able 3 day old snow and sunshine, the traverses up there are a bit sketchy (thin) but as the whole bowl was rideable this really didn't matter 'cos you could drop off just about anywhere. We did a couple of runs in mineral basin aswell which was in pretty good shape but a little scraped off on one side and slow and slushy on the other, another great day and snowbird goes very firmly to the second spot in my favourites list. Day 4: only half a day (9-1pm) with a plane to catch in the PM but they picked up a couple of inches of fresh snow so we headed back to Brighton. Beautiful blue skies and patches of powder blown around by the wind. The trees were much harder work because the snow under the light new coating was hard and crusty but the groomed runs were in great shape and the odd patches of untouched powder were fun. It was noticeable that the base was nothing like as deep as last year (a week later) because some the runs had all sorts of stuff showing through (like aspen glow, was awesome last year but almost unrideable this time). Did lots of mellow runs down the middle and quite a few off of elk park ridge, then headed over to Millicent which was not in too good shape so we did 2 runs then skipped back over to the middle again. Not sure if it's the trees but the snow at Brighton seems to stay in better shape during the spring than either Solitude or Snowbird, by the time we quit (1pm) it was warm and sunny and the conditions were still fantastic, a great way to finish the trip.

If you can get to Brighton, you really should, but I'm sure you'll have a blast at PC anyway especially if you ride park.

Hi All just checking in from SLC after the first day of my trip, at Brighton. They had some new snow this week and cold temps and the conditions were great, loose powder on the trails that had been groomed and untouched powder 12+" on many of the ungroomed areas and in the trees. I've never spent so much time riding in the trees, it was awesome, and the runs down off of elk park ridge were all phenomenal, although some must have been pretty sketchy before this snowfall 'cos there was a lot of stuff poking through the surface powder. Anyone planning a trip out here should think very carefully about resort choice. PC and Canyons are closing runs all over the place and there's nothing in the forecast to make this better, but the LCC,BCC resorts have a very good base and are 100%. This is a real shame because I was very keen to get back to PC on this trip but it doesn't look worth the trip. Solitude tomorrow, Snowbird Sunday, probably back to Brighton on Monday. Have a fun weekend all

No point bitchin' about it. It is what it is. if you dont like it, go elsewhere then complain about it even when you don't ski it.... This year has given me a clear perspective on CB, but I still think it's the best hill within 5 miles of my house.... not going to change that any time soon. I do think there will be no season passes next year though, I want to encourage my kids (and myself) to look further afield. 6 more days to Utah....

Can you imagine Papasteeze's reaction if boulder closes on, or shortly after the 25th? Given the amount of effort they are putting into the park it seems unlikely, but they are just as much at the mercy of the weather as the others. It would be cool if CB keep the east side open as long as they can, even if it's just raceway and the park(s), one lift and minimum staff.