trackbiker

Skied Sno with my son on New Years Eve. The place was EMPTY! The 2" of new snow was still on the trails. Some of the drop offs and center of the trails were scraped off but the conditions were still great. Started snowing around 7:00pm and kept up until we left at 9:30. I think if we stayed until 10:00 we would have been the only ones on the slopes! The lights are better but they still need some work. They need to hire a lighting expert instead of having "Joe the maintenance guy" hang lights on some poles. Seems they bought some spot lights when they should have bought flood lights and hung them higher. Oh well. My son pointed out that the place is a lot better than when it was Montage. I'm sure that Camelback and Blue would have been scraped down to ice by the time we got to Sno. A great night, great conditions, and no crowds. Ski right onto the lift. Boomer had some nice small bumps forming which were fun. If they could just get the lighting right the place would be perfect. For $28.00 and $25.00 (my son got a $3.00 discount with his college I.D.) A great night and a great deal. I noticed that they have fire pits on the deck (gas?). A nice apres ski addition. But fix the lights!

Wow! Seems like I made the right decision to go to Ski Big Bear today. I had planned to go to Elk but they aren't 100% open and I will likely go later this weekend. Wanted to check out Ski Big Bear and today seemed like a good day. Got up early. Was temped to go to Blue on the drive. Drove right past CB on the way. Got to Big Bear at 9:30 and it was all fresh groomed cord. Was the third person down Screamin' Demon. Skied fresh cord until noon. No crowds. It started getting skied off a little around 4:15 when I left. Nothing too difficult. The only real black diamond trail is Screamin' Demon. Blue cruiser paradise. No lift lines. Report to follow with pics (once I figure out hown to post pics here.)

Thanks jd. Cold I don't mind but wind is not fun. Wind should die down by tomorrow.

Thinking of heading up Wednesday. Anybody been up this week? Looks like they only have 6 ways down from the top. Does it look like they'll have any more trails opening soon?

Nice report Root. It's not always easy to stop and take the camera out when you just want to get another run in but pictures make it that much better.

You can be in Stowe,VT in the same time it takes to get to Seven Springs. If you're in the area it's OK but Blue Knob is much better and is closer. If you're not in the area, you head north not west.

Website looks MUCH better! The trail map is much more representative of the actual layout. Didn't get to click around too much. Too busy with work, Christmas shopping, and kids home from college. How are the lights? Any noticable improvements?

If you're planning on just doing a day trip VT is pretty far. Killington is more like 6 hours. Mount Snow, Stratton, or Bromley are closer to 5 but if you're going that far you want to stay overnight. Greek Peak is overpriced for what they have. OLD SLOW lifts, nominal snowmaking and grooming. It is spread out though and has good terrain. If they get some lake effect it's a good place to go. NY has some better options in the Catskills for a day trip in NY and closer than VT. Bellayre, Hunter, Windham, and Plattekill. Plattekill is my favorite if there is some natural snow. Old school type of place and not crowded even on the weekends. Only open Fri. - Sun. non holidays. If you haven't been to Elk, they have long runs for PA, great grooming, and are only about 2hrs from BC for a day trip. Elk is the best option for a day trip. Unless Greek got hit with some lake effect it isn't worth the hour farther drive and higher lift price. JMHO

Go to VT if you can. I skied Okemo Fri., Sat., and Sun. They had some snow that turned to r@!n last night but have plenty of snow. It was below freezing this morning when I left and should groom out nicely. They opened some trails on natural only Sunday and it was thin but nice and soft. No rocks. Should have some snowmaking temps this week and open more trails. No crowds.

Go to Kmart. That's where they make snow early season. Pico is closed Tues. thru Thurs. IIRC.

$27.50 + $3.75 shipping = $31.25. Not a bad deal but only $1.75 per ticket savings over the 3 for $99.00 deal.

Definitely get to Elk. Once you go to Elk you'll likely make it your day trip destination. Sno is nice for night skiing but if you are going for the day, Elk is the place to go. The ski shops have the same discount tickets as the recreation departments but are usually a dollar or two more. An OK deal if you can't get to the township building during working hours. Liftopia isn't bad either. Plattekill is a great day trip option from the Scranton area when the snow is good.

A lot of local township recreation departments sell discount tickets of all kinds including lift tickets. I don't think Sno participates in this program. Some of the deals are better than others. Elk usually has the smallest discount and weekdays are better deals than weekends. Do a google search for some of the municipalities near you. I think Camelback is doing the 3 for $99.00 ticket deal again this year. Here's a link to a township near me that sells them. A lot of the townships don't have the new prices listed yet. Discount ticket prices Scan down to the bottom for the lift ticket prices.

Those of us who have been on this site for a while know that some people feel dis'd when anyone says anything negative about their home ski area. No one dissing the website is dissing the mountain. In fact we're making constructive criticism of the website. I love that I can go to Sno on a weekend night and the snow is still good and there are no lift lines. I even drive farther and pay tolls to get there. But I've been around long enough to know that they aren't going to be able to keep those fan guns cranking every night unless there's more butts in those chairs. They planned to have the water park open last summer. They barely got it open this summer and Santa was the only person who responded to my thread who had been there. From his pictures and report I don't think they were raking in the dough there either. Check out his report and pics here Sno Cove Thread How many of you "Sno's website doesn't matter" supporters went to the water park and told all of your friends and family to go? It's nice to have a ski area like Sno in your backyard but if you think that they are going to keep the fan guns cranking out snow and the lifts spinning with crowds like that you may want to study math a little more. I think the owners/investors may be getting ready to learn the old adage; Question: "How do you end up with a million dollars in the ski industry?" Answer: "Start with ten million dollars!!!" The cheesy video games in the lodge aren't going to make up for all the lift tickets they aren't selling.

Like you, I'm more concerned with the lights and snowmaking. My whole point is that they spent a boat load of money and are going to need some return on that investment to keep the lifts spinning and make improvements to the ski area. I drove past Montage for years before I finally ever went there for the first time the year before it was sold. I'm sure most of their business is local but they are going to have to convince some people to drive past the Poconos and Camelback to be profitable enough to add new lifts and trails. That website is not gonna help make that happen.

I can't believe that they haven't got it yet. The website is the most important advertising venue that they have. After any other advertising catches someone's attention, the first place they are going to go before going to Sno is their website. After seeing their amateurish website....they likely won't go. So the initial TV or radio advertising was a waste. They obviously just don't get the importance of the website. Fire the nephew or whoever is doing the site and hire a professional. If they don't get the importance of their website I don't have much hope for them surviving. Hopefully, Peak Resorts or Snowtime will keep those fan guns running after they go belly up. They spent a boat load of money that someone with marketing skills will take advantage of at a fire sale price. How are those lights coming to SIGNIFICANTLY increase the night skiing experience at a RELATIVELY LOW COST?

Don't be afraid to check out the ski and stay packages on the ski area websites. They're often the best deals when you factor in lift tickets. Especially mid-week. Many even include breakfast or if you get a condo you can make your own meals.

ski definitely has some serious anger management issues. That switch flipped whenever anyone had an opinion he didn't like. My guess is he's in jail for wife beating or for cold cocking some stranger in one of his uncontrollable rages.

If you're planning on staying in WP check out this place. The Rocky Mountain Inn & Hostel Rooms are huge and if you really want to save money you can stay in the hostel. Breakfast is included. If you stay there take the free bus to the ski area. It drops you off closer than if you drive. I wouldn't stay in Denver. I70 is a parking lot on the way home after skiing. The Berthoud Pass does take a lot of time especially if there is snow but is really scenic if it is clear.

I agree that they've made a lot of positive improvements. But what's the first thing people do when thinking about checking out a new area????? That's right. They check out the website! It's your most important piece of advertising in today's world. If you have a Mickey Mouse website that isn't updated regularly what do you think people's impression of your ski area is going to be? I thought the same thing, that the owner's son or nephew must be doing the web design. It would be much more cost effective for Sno to pay him double to stay home and then hire a professional web designer who knows what they're doing and what works.

Let me be the first to tell you, just in case this post wasn't supposed to be sarcasm.....It wasn't about the hat. Sounds like the kind of girl who would be very happy sitting at the bar in the lodge at Stratton dressed in a very expensive Bogner ski suit. Don't fight it. The Bogner suit and drinks are worth it if you can ski all day and the apres ski is good.

Robert2, You missed the whole point. You may be the best, most patient ski instructor in the world. And teaching the wife to snowboard may work out. Like Glenn and nick malozzi pointed out, there are a lot of variables. Does she really want to learn or does she just want do it because you do? Or is she just too insecure to say, "Go ahead and have a good time. I'm not into it." (It doesn't matter what she says about why she wants to learn. What's the truth?) A wise old man once told me, " The best barber in the world doesn't cut his own hair and the best golfer in the world doesn't teach his wife how to golf. They hire professionals. Why would you try to do it yourself?" Find a good instructor from recommendations, referrals, etc. and the money will be well spent. She'll be with peers and won't be pushing herself to "catch up" with you. She'll feel good about her progress. It takes time to aquire the skills. If you teach her, are you willing to have her glued to you for several seasons until she catches up? I sent both of my kids to ski lessons. They had fun learning with their peers and moving up.

I thought they would try to keep it to 5% or less. While I'm sure they have a contract for electric, it must be hard to try to guess what your expenses for gas and diesel are going to be 6 months out. And whether skier visits will be up or down and what is the weather going to be like? I'll gladly pay for Elk as well as long as they keep the quality of the experienc up. It's a well run ski area. Anyone know why they though they had to widen Susquehanna?

7% increase over last year. That's a pretty hefty increase in these economic times. Most of the VT areas haven't posted their new day ticket rates. I think they're all waiting for one of them to lead and the rest will follow.

You can get to Rutland via Amtrak and Killington has free shuttles from there. I don't think a lot of people other than visiting Europeans take advantage of it because you can get to Rutland a lot faster by car than by Amtrak. I would set it up with wherever you are staying so that they are expecting you. Once you get to Killington you can get everywhere on their free shuttle buses. Do NOT try to teach your wife to snowboard! Super-G Racer has it right, it will only end in disaster. Sign her up for lessons at Blue. They have a separate slope for lessons. Let her take at least three and build up her confidence before you ride with her. You'll BOTH be better off!