trackbiker

That's cool chair. I don't remember ever seeing one with "Hall" cast into the frame. Where did that one come from?

I'll be hitting my 9th day on the Indy Pass tomorrow at West Mountain and 10th day at Bolton Valley on Saturday. They really didn't have to offer the 10% discount to renew. It was already such a great deal that I thought they would raise the price this year.

If you get an add on Indy Pass to a Montage pass you can ski every weekend & holiday on the Montage pass. You wouldn't ever use the 2 days at Montage on the Indy Pass.

Burke is the best off-the-radar mountain in VT. East Bowl is the best trail if conditions are good.

I heard Berkshire East has been picking up a lot of people who used to day trip to Mt. Snow because of Mt. Snow's high day ticket prices and crowds. They added the reservation requirement to the Indy Pass about two weeks ago due to the larger crowds. Glad to see them doing well but it was always a good place to avoid crowds on a weekend. I heard Magic had record crowds on Saturday.

I was there last Tuesday before the rain. Fun place. New owners are making some nice improvements. Are you planning on hitting Berkshire East?

Peak didn't have the big western resorts that Vail has. People thought if they bought the pass they could get a trip out west with cheap airfare and wouldn't have to pay for lift tickets.

Sno Trail Map See #26 on the linked map. The problem with half pipes in the east is that the thaw freeze cycles kill the rims and they usually just turn into ice chutes.

The lines came from selling 71% more Epic passes than last season. Anyone who bought a pass in Southeast PA and New Jersey/New York area and aren't going on a trip out West or to New England are showing up at JF/BB on the weekend. True; there's global labor shortage. But Vail isn't paying the going rate at any of their ski areas nation wide. While every business around has had to increase wages to get people to work for them Vail didn't increase wages until the season was half over and that was too late. I guess it wasn't in their algorithm budget out there in Broomfield. It also wasn't in their algorithm that if you increase sales by 71% you also have to increase capacity.

The RFID card is also good at Berkshire East which is even closer to Magic. Catamount is not huge but has some fun trails. I like Berkshire East better but they're both good.

Nice report. Check out the Zoomer lift if you haven't already. When Cannon gets windblown (which is often) the Zoomer area holds the snow better.

Black Mountain is a cool, old school place to check out on the IndyPass as well.

Magic got a lot of freezing rain. They didn't get the Red Chair running today and some of their natural snow trails took a hit. Might want to check out Bolton Valley a little farther north. All snow there and a fun place.

I was there last Sunday and saw a sign that the restaurant is closed Mon. - Wed. Not sure about the mid mountain thing but I doubt it. Didn't see anything about hours on the website so someone might want to call.

Try somewhere besides Camelback (or Blue, Jack Frost, or Big Boulder). You don't need a "big" mountain for a beginner. Camelback is a Sh!tshow on a Saturday.

Nice report. Check out Paradox brewing on the way home. It's right off the Northway (87) Exit 29.

People buying and converting former seasonal rentals to AirBnB's has caused a shortage of cheap places for seasonal employees and ski bums who used to work mainly for the free pass to live. They can't afford to live near the ski areas with the low wages.

And that's why they'll always be living off of the government they hate, with their Access Cards and CHIP and free school lunches for their kids, in their trailers. While I'm no fan of all the warehouses they're building in the LV, they would have benefits and an opportunity for advancement there. People move up to supervisors and can be trained to be fork truck and conveyor line mechanics and make a lot more money than they would ever make at a Vail resort. But they'd rather sit and bitch and say stuff like, "Hell! I ain't drivin' no 30 to 45 minutes for no job!"

So they'd rather work at JFBB out in the cold for peanuts. We were talking about ski area jobs where most are seasonal at best and not about MBA's looking for brokerage jobs, right?

Where have you been? Did you see how many warehouses they are building in the Lehigh Valley? They are all offering over $20/hr. to start plus benefits. Not just warehouses but every business is looking for people and all paying over $20/hr. I don't know what they are paying at JF but at other NE areas they are below the local going rate. If they wanted to get people they would spend a little of the $1.5 billion they have on hand. If people in the Poconos don't want to drive a half hour for more money, you can't fix stupid. Vail is what happens when you let the bean counters who only look at current numbers run things instead of someone who looks at the big picture.

I would save that trip for March. I love Magic but they have very limited terrain and may not even have a trail from the top open. You go there after a big dump or after they have enough natural base to open all of their trails. All the others are also on limited terrain and it's looking like it will rain all the way to Jay this weekend. You won't get any better skiing than in the Poconos for all that driving. Your skiing per dollar quality ration will suck. Use Shawnee, Montage, and Greek on the Indy Pass and save the others for when it's good.

Maybe Salty can fly over and give a report.

Vail Sucks!

If they let them drain out they wouldn't be able to make the cookies that they are so famous for.

2007 Trail Map I haven't looked at a trail map in years. I guess they went back to just "Switchback" some time ago. I think I remember seeing Upper and Lower on a snow report in the more recent past.