Ride Delaware ?

Except Blue had closed 2 weeks before. Blue definitely has better terrain and vert, but when it's April 5/6, you've gotta take what you can get. I wouldn't complain about a short drive to keep skiing in PA during April.

I've been riding CB since 01, and it has been there since then...

Elk will be the first to $1,000 season passes in PA I bet. Sugarbush is about $1,600 for a season pass if you don't get it early season. Early season can chop off $300 or so, and you can always get a Mt. Ellen only pass which is about $750. College passes and for 20's pass is only $300 too. Or you can volunteer on patrol and get it for the price of 20 or so days of your time. And, since the majority of condos are currently at South, that's where ours is.

She was joking with Vinny. The only place that ski season and football wouldn't overlap would be some southern state such as South Carolina.

I'd like to get back to Gore this year. Depending on when you go, hit me up. If I'm up in VT, I'll make the drive over if I can. I'd definitely like to get to Burke this year before it becomes all Jay resortified. The hotel was supposed to be under construction, but I heard that it's on hold for lack of EB-5 money. That may buy the old school Burke vibe an extra year, but I'd rather not run it down to the wire.

Once again, wasn't it bought in 05 by a local businessman? I think he bought it for $48 mil if I remember correctly, so that's a $21 mil gain. That probably includes debt, so they are probably on the hook for even more than the $69 mil. Imagine what it would have cost if they had finished the hotel/waterpark. Is that still going in? They break ground?

Another thing I really like about Killington is that they have a pretty solid upper mountain lift setup. I have been there at least twice when there have been elevation based snows. Since Killington supposedly has a 3k vert from top of Killington Peak to bottom of Skyeship Stage 1, there can be some different conditions. First one I encountered was a rain snow event, and the snow line happened to be at the bottom of the K-1. I was raining at the bottom of Snowshed and Ramshead. I rode off the K-1 all day to the tune of about 6 inches of fresh (albeit sierra cement style pow). Second was an upslope event. I would say accumulation at the top of Killington peak was about 10 inches, 3-4 inches at the KBL, and a dusting in Rutvegas. I rode the NRT for 4 straight hours getting in some amazing early season powder (pretty damn dry) with some nice little tree runs off of Powerline. They ended with 22 inches the next day. Wish I could have stayed, but I had to attend a funeral in CT. Say what you will, but being able to hit some legit powder when its raining everywhere else, thats fucking cool. Most places try to run t2b lifts and you lose that ability.

The farthest north I have been is Sugarbush, which geographically is right near the line for the upper 3rd of the state. Smuggs and Stowe arent even considered to be in the NEK. I will probably hit up Jay this season for at least a day. I havent had the luck to hit any of them on a powder day. Killington and Pico I have hit on powder days. What an experience. When its good, its good. I quoted this one instead of JL's so I didnt have a page long quote. I completely agree with JL's assessment of the Intrawest make a faux western resort experience. No need for that at area in Southern VT. The one place I will say that I was not bummed out about it, and completely understand why they did it, is Snowshoe, WV. First off, there was already the beginning of a village before they built it. Second, for where Snowshoe is, it is absolutely necessary to have a village and all the amenities that come with it. That place is absolutely in the middle of fucking nowhere. You would have to drive on some slow roads an hour each way to find all the amenities they have.

I thought some rich dude bought it in 2005. Was his name Berry? What happened to that? Was he the primary partner in the REIT?

I have business responsibilities I need to look after. We got a place at the Bush so I can come and go as I please and conditions allow.

It's true. This is how I feel about Killington. It is the first "large scale" mountain you come to from the metropolitan areas. It has a combination of size, snowmaking, lodging, and trails. It gets 250" of snow a year and most seasons has the longest season in the east. However, out of the major Vermont mountains (Killington, Sugarbush, Stowe, Smuggs, and Jay), it gets the least amount of snow, is sold out, and has the most crowds. Killington is also the most accessible out of any of the resorts. It has limited access highways and four lane highways (2 each way), almost to its doorstep. That cuts down a lot on the travel time. Other resorts have highway access 90% of the way, but the last half hour or so is on slow two lane roads (one each way). Like Johnny Law said, Killington has a special place in my heart. It was the first major resort I rode at, and the more I went there, the more I gained an appreciation for certain things below the surface. I really came to enjoy the secret stashes, the luxury of early season riding, and the elevation based stashes on the upper half of the mountain. Is it my favorite place in the world? No. But I still find things I enjoy about it and are unique to it. Killington gets a bad rep at times, but it has a bunch going for it. It has easy access, a large assortment of lodging, decent natural, strong snowmaking, and good size. It isn't the best in the northeast, but I wont trash it. It is good for what it is.

Thats a big argument in the town against the Village at the mountain. Basically, although it is spread out, the town of Killington spent a bunch of money years ago to construct a sidewalk so everywhere on the access road was connected. They want to keep it an access road type village instead of having the people stay at the mountain at the newly constructed village. The village of Lake Placid is awesome. I think there would have been much less opposition at Killington if the village was built initially and then the access road businesses followed. I still think that the access road businesses will get their fair share of business, but like everything, if theres something to gripe about, people will find it, and blow it out of proportion.

It's going to be weird not going back there a month from now. They do it right early season. Last year they only had to upload/download one day before they were t2b. Beat Killington by almost a week. That being said, that was the exception not the rule. Ski season is just around the corner.

It's just something ski related during a time when the jonesing is high. That is all. But, that does kinda back my statement that accuweather usually isn't accurate at all. In other news, it looks like the pattern is starting to change.

Building it yourself toast? Kit? Contractor?

I remember your TR from that day. Pretty awesome day. Made me wish I was there. I think they average in the upper 100" range, like 180" usually, but several years ago they had back to back 280-300" seasons that seemed to come out of nowhere. Pretty legit for PA. Can't complain about that.

Well, most of them haven't been Stoke Stompers. But your trying your hardest to make up for that. Arctic Ice is at a huge high. I'm keeping the faith.

Not mad at all. Just waiting for you to provide your proof. Not of climate change, but long range forecasts calling for warm winter weather.

I usually always park at Rams Head if it is open, take Caper to the GN and then down to the Snowdon or to the K-1 (albeit a slight hike to actually get to the entrance). I only drive to the KBL if it is early season. If/when this goes through, I will likely alter my mid season parking arrangements. I'll probably park at the Skyeship Stage 1 (super easy on Rt 4) or drive up to Bear. I still don't see this happening for years because I dont think they will be able to find the financing to go through with it.

Remember, in 1985, plutonium may be sold in every corner store, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by.

For sure. I will only be volunteering most weeks Fri-Sun, so if you come midweek, I should be more than available. Definitely would be nice to take some legit runs. If the season turns out to be decent, maybe I'll know some good off the map stuff by the time you get there.

Warm? Accuweather is the only one I have seen as warm, and that's only for the first month or so. One farmer's almanac says average and one says bitterly cold and snowy. So?

I was going off memory, but I knew it was up a decent amount. I'm guessing they are somewhere in the mid 800k range, so they may need some more lodging. I'm not saying this is the answer though. It would take 30 years to sell 2,300 units. Considering Sugarbush has only managed to sell 10 of their high priced units in Rice Brook in a year, I think it would be a stretch. They still plan to build another couple hundred as well. Still 4 more phases left to go.

Last years new skier friendly approach really brought the skiers back in droves... I think they reported 10% annual increase in skier visits, so I think they are back somewhere in the low 800k range. To the lodging point, I think there is a decent amount of lodging, but the quality has decreased as the skier visits did. Many of the condo units are dated and many of the motels, especially down by Pico, have recently gone out of business. In fact, one if the chain hotels on the access road was converted into condo units. I think that we will see a need for more units if they can recapture their lost business.

Shit, I see what I did now...