Ride Delaware ?

After 10 days away, I finally made my return to the MRV. What a return it was. While I had been enjoying moderate snowfall at Killington the previous two days, it had been dumping up at the Bush. While Killington had reported 8" in the past 48 hours, Sugarbush was reporting nearly 24". While Killington has been t2b for nearly a week, Sugarbush just opened t2b yesterday. With this little system coming through, it looked like things could only get better. I woke up this morning around 7:15 and quickly looked outside. It was snowing at a good pace, and nearly 3" had fallen at my townhouse at 1,700'. Sugarbush was reporting nearly 5" at the top, which seems to be the theme early in this season. The snow has been incredibly elevation dependent, but Sugarbush has an upper mountain lift and is well prepared for this type of snowfall. We were able to get on the mountain shortly after 9 AM. Hardly anyone was at the mountain, but the snow continued to fall while Sugarbush lent a helping hand on several trails. We immediately headed down Downspout to Heaven's gate and were pleasantly surprised by the amount of powder still untouched on the sides. We decided to head down Ripcord, which still had snow guns running, to Spillsville. Spillsville was the first natural trail I had ridden all year. The top 3rd was deep and soft with no bare spots. As we worked down the trail, the snow became less copious with some rocks in the troughs, but they were easily avoided. We then loaded HG and rode Ripcord t2b. It was a good mix of natural and snowmaking, but the snow guns were running a little wet and sticky near the bottom. We then loaded the lift and headed to Organgrinder for four straight runs. It was natural snow on top of a snowmaking base. The snow was soft and copious and the trail was uncrowded. Following those runs, we decided to head over to Jester and try out some lower mountain runs that they were opening on natural snow. It's rare that the S turns on Jester aren't icy, but today was one of those days. We headed down the Valley House Traverse and went down Murphy's. Simply put, this must be what heaven is like. It was deep (I went up to my shoulder trying to get up), it was soft, it was relatively untouched, and boy was it fun. We followed that up with a run down Birdland, which was exactly the same same as Murphy's. We then returned to Murphy's for our final run. The place where things got real tricky, was the bottom of the mountain. Murphy's and Birdland both feed into Lower Jester, which was open without snowmaking. There were several open water bars on that section that needed to be hopped. Following that, where Lower Jester intersects with Lower Downspout, the snowmaking mounds began. Earlier in the morning they had been running wet, but now they were turned off and had become some pretty firm mounds. The mounds were 5-6 feet high and were spread out across the relatively flat and relatively narrow trail. When we reached the end of Lower Jester, we went to head down Coffee Run only to find it closed. Apparently they had some giant snowmaking mounds that were then run over by a rogue snowcat and made it impassable. They funneled us down Gondolier, which was open on natural, was littered with water bars, and had some dirt poking through. It got the job done, but with the reopening of Coffee Run tomorrow, I expect it to be closed. Overall, I think I did 11 runs. It was a phenomenal day, and it beat Saturday as my best early season day ever. I would have loved to have kept riding, but with the low visibility, deep snow, and moguls, I took a hint from my out of shape legs and decided to play it smart. I believe we totaled 8" of snow throughout the day with more lightly falling tonight. I guess Ullr is making up for last year. It's hard to believe that the summit has already seen 80", and it's only December 5th.

It wasn't hard. Even better today. Trip report later tonight.

How much snow in the pokes? 3"? Should be a nice topper. Nice to see them opening so people can get the goods.

Winter has definitely arrived up north. I think the top of Lincoln Peak has received about 30" in the last 4 days...

After a great day on Saturday, my buddy decided to delay his flight home so he could ride with me on Sunday and Monday. We had to help clean the house and pack, so we didn't get to the mountain until around 10 on Sunday. Everyone else headed home. We were once again directed to park in the Vale parking lot and snag a shuttle. Despite being nearly 45 minutes later than the day before, the amount of cars in the lot indicated that it would be a much slower day today. We snagged our lift tickets using another 2 for 1 (my fifth so far this season), and headed to the lifts. Unlike yesterday, all the base area lifts were running when we arrived. Even though the gondola line was only about 5 minutes long, we decided to walk by it to get to the Snowdon Triple where there was no line. It was obvious on the way up that there were less people, but with the bottleneck on Snowdon, the Mouse Trap intersection was still really crowded. We did some laps on the Snowdon Quad before heading to the NRT for a couple runs. The snow was mostly the same across the mountain. Light natural snow on the edges with hard pack and ice in the middle. It wasn't as good as Saturday, but it was still quite fun. After the runs we made off the NRT, we decided to head over to the Superstar lift and see what it looked like over there. Since Superstar and Skylark were blown just for the women's World Cup, it is still an Island from the rest of the mountain. It was obvious going up, that Superstar, while groomed and resurfaced, was still not in the best shape for the public. It's going to take a lot of snow to be enjoyable. We decided to head down Skylark for some long and uncrowded cruising runs. Skylark was firm, but still quite enjoyable. There were still pockets of fresh on the side. After a quick bathroom break at the KBL while walking back to the K-1 gondi, we loaded the gondola for our last run. We cruised down Great Northern back to the Vale lot. We probably got 11-12 runs in about 3.5 hours. While we would have liked to have gone longer, we were tired from 5.5 straight hours the day before and limited sleep. We still had another hour to drive to the Bush as well. Overall, it was another enjoyable day. It's nice to get to Killington before the real crowds descend.

I've also been in them a couple times. It's kind of tough to get caught, especially midweek. There's so few patrollers and all the trails are lined with Evergreen's. Once you're in, it's tough to see you unless they see you come out.

A good friend of mine is getting married, and the best man decided that he would most enjoy a winter getaway at a mountain larger than Blue. After some debate, we decided that Killington was the most central location that would have decent conditions this time of the year. After going to 4 different breweries, we finally rolled into our house rental around 9 PM. After a couple inches of rain the previous two days, we were skeptical about conditions, but the upslope machine was cranking, and snow was falling at elevation. After staying up late drinking, we got to the mountain about 9:30 to find the parking crew already parking customers in the Vale lot between K-1 and Ramshead base areas. We got a shuttle ride up to the lodge, scored our 2 for 1 tix, and headed for the Gondola. The queue was about halfway filled, but the line was moving quickly. We were on the lift by 9:50. It was frustrating to see so many people at the mountain, and only the Superstar, Gondola, and NRT lifts running. The snow guns were running all over the mountain, but they weren't quite to the bottom with the higher humidity. It was in the low 20's at the top with steady snowfall. We decided to do some laps on the NRT so we could avoid waiting in line at the Gondola. There was a 5 minute line at the NRT, but it was better than a full gondi at the base. After doing some runs on Rime, East Fall, and Upper Great Northern, we decided to head to the bottom. As we headed down Bunny Buster, we noticed that the Snowdon Quad was finally loading with no lift line. We decided to do some laps on that. As we did a run down Mouse Run, we noticed that the Snowdon triple was finally running as well. All of those lifts should have been running at opening, but for some reason, they weren't. Once they were all open, the lift lines spread out and most lifts were ski/ride on. The trails were in great shape. Roughly 5" of snow had fallen. Combined with resurfacing on all open terrain, the snow was in great shape despite the crowds. There was amazing snow all over the mountain. I was shocked at how well it skied after the rainfall earlier in the week. I was also shocked at how well it held up with the crowds. Unfortunately, while the lift lines were relatively empty, the trails were a mad house. There were 24 open trails, but they all still funneled through Snowdon, so the area around Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, and Great Northern was a complete cluster. It was icy and crowded at that intersection, but just below it they spread out. After some excellent laps on the quad, we headed back to the NRT to do some more laps before heading to the bottom. We were able to duck the rope and ride right to the Vale lot to save some time on our return. As we were leaving, they were turning off the upper mountain guns and moving them down the mountain as the temps dropped. They had Ramshead, parts of Skye Peak, and parts of Snowshed lit up. I'd expect a new base area by the weekend and a decent chunk of new terrain. Overall, it was one of the busiest days I have ridden with the amount of people on the terrain available. However, it was also one of the best early season days I have had. It was also awesome riding with 8 very good friends. I logged some serious vert on 16 runs and left quite happy.

I think I was getting more to the point of them actually being open...

It's probably Jay. Upslope machine was cranking the past two days. Sugarbush was reporting 2' + in the last 48 hours. Only 3" at 1,500', but go to the top, and it just kept snowing.

Keystone was definitely more crowded than Blue was yesterday...

So, that following Friday?

Unfortunately, we are still lumped together. Why isn't anyone standing up for us in the name of political correctness?

Considering POC has been spot on in recent history with his wishcasting, I'm going with what he said...

Just see my Bretton Woods report to confirm this mindset. Hour drive to Killington each way, or two and a quarter hours each way to Bretton Woods. I was skeptical, but I made the right decision and didn't think twice about it.

Skillz will be your best bet for something decently close...

The Belleayre area is still pretty depressed. I think they are banking on the new development and reopening/connection of Highmount to turn it around. Hunter and Windham proper are decent, but I wouldn't stray too far from the resort. Windham has been trying to make it more of a stay and play place the past couple years. Tannersville/Hunter has some ok options. I've never been to Roxybury, but the access road to Plattekill looks like a cemetery for abandoned mobile homes.

They have the basics of what people love in a ski town. The road is tight. Has shops right on the street. Parking on the street. They have a grocery store and Rite Aid. Seems like 28 bypassing them hurt the most.

I had heard North Creek (Gore) was having a little bit of a renaissance downtown with train service being restored, but not sure what that means exactly. If that is true, then that's only a very short drive from the mountain.

Least crowded will be Bell, but they will have the most limited terrain out of the Catskills "big three".

I'd still hit it. Way to get it TP4. Haters gonna hate.

The Skillz are much better imho than the Pokes. I much prefer Platty and Bell to Hunter and Windham. Windham and Hunter have the best infrastructure in the Skillz, but Windham gets boring fast, while Hunter gets crowded and icy due to the trail funneling at the top. I'll take the ambiance, terrain, and no lift lines at Platty any day. I have a soft spot for Bell, but it's really nothing more than a soft spot for no reason. It is slightly less crowded than Windham or Hunter. Platty gets the same amount of snow as Okemo and has better woods. Gore gets equal snow to Platty but has better trees. I enjoy Gore, but at that point, you might as well go to Northern VT (SB/Stowe). The drive is negligible and the snow is better.

22 runs is impressive, even if it is a short trail. Doesn't matter as long as you enjoyed it.

Soft turns are better than hard turns. Glad to see GP open as early as possible for its pass holders. Sounds like the new owners are doing well enough.

Nice trip report TNT. Way to get after it. I don't mind Hunter. Don't think West has ever been open since I've been going there. Sometimes that upper funnel gets scraped off early, but the corn probably prevented that from being too apparent.

After an average day at Killington, I was relaxing and checking up on Facebook, when I noticed that Bretton Woods was opening for the season the next day. I had resigned myself to another day fighting the masses and walking the stairway at Killington, but this gave me a little more to think about. The drive to BW is 2.25 hours, but it was priced similarly to Killington at $29, had t2b skiing, and was serviced by a high speed quad. After waffling back and forth for a couple hours, I decided that if I woke up early enough, I would head to BW. I woke up the next morning at around 7:30 and got ready before heading out at 8:30. The drive was mostly uneventful. There was still some snow on the edges of the highway, but otherwise the roads were clear. I arrived at BW just before 11 to 26 degree temps and snowmaking going at the base. Compared to Killington the day before, there was nobody at the mountain. Including the employees, there were maybe 70 cars in the parking lot. I booted up, went inside to grab my $29 lift ticket, then headed out to the lift. They were making snow outside the lodge on the beginner terrain and the other high speed quad. The only trail open was Range View off the Zephyr high speed quad. The trail was only a green, but it had been groomed and was being pounded by snowmaking. They had received roughly 6" of snow two days before. I couldn't see any bare spots from the lift and was already happy with the decision I had made. I got off the lift and immediately decided to head down underneath the guns. Unfortunately, the guns were running a little wet, were glazing my goggles, and the snow was a little wet. The snow report claimed a 4"-18" base, and that was pretty accurate. I was happy with the crowds and coverage, but I was hoping the snow was a bit better. My thoughts on the conditions took a drastic change for the better on my second run. I decided to hit the far skiers right directly under the lift and off the groomed surface. There was a little natural, but there was plenty of blow over from the snow guns. It was ungroomed and dense, but there was still great coverage, I was out of the guns, and I got some "powder" turns. My next run up, I decided to try out skiers left close to the base of the snow guns. The snow guns were blowing farther into the trail, and this side offered more of groomed surface with a light dusting of manmade every run. It was also a smart decision. I ended up doing 12 runs straight. I never waited in a lift line, and there were only skiers and riders on every fifth chair. I decided not to ski under the guns again and stuck to the sides. The water bars on skiers right were a nice touch and allowed for some natural terrain features. I was able to do 12 runs in 10 minutes longer than 11 runs at Killington while doing twice the vertical. It was well worth $29. All in all, I had a great day. BW has great infrastructure and is now owned entirely by Omni resorts. It looked like they would have at least 3-4 more trails and 2 more lifts by Root Friday. It may get a rap for being flat, but the route they offered was much better than what Killington was offering. I'd love to get back later in the season when the whole mountain is open, but overall, I must say, my first trip to BW was a success.