The Tour de New England

[Ride Delaware ?]

This will be the first post of the New England Road Trip I planned with Afroman7 to various areas in New England. The trip was to start Sunday whence we were supposed to drive to Sunday River and snowboard there Monday and Tuesday. We would then head to Loon in New Hampshire for Wednesday, go to Killington Thursday and Friday, and maybe somewhere in the Skillz on Saturday with OutCold... However, even the best laid plans are subject to change. On Saturday I received a phone call that a fraternity brother of mine had passed away in a car accident and his funeral would be held Tuesday in CT. I had already made reservations at Sunday River for Sunday and Monday, but they were kind enough to move my days to Wednesday and Thursday since the rates were the same. So list will most look like this.. Killington on Monday, Hunter or Bell (depends on wind holds) Tuesday until about 2:30 so I can make it to the funeral, Loon on Wednesday, Sunday River on Thursday and Friday, and either the skillz or pokes on Saturday depending on OutCold... With it being early season, we will probably check on conditions before making a decision...

 

We left Delaware at 10:15 AM on Sunday and drove to Milford, DE where we made our customary first stop to pick up some lifesavers and NOS for the drive. We drove until about midway on the Jersey Turnpike where we stopped for gas and a piss break... We used the blackberry on the NY Thruway to find and book reservations near Killington. We stopped around 5 in Troy, NY to get gas and then stopped around 7 at the Subway in Rutland for a quick bite to eat... We booked a room at the Econo Lodge on Vermont 4 about 9 miles outside of Killington. The room was only $60 including tax and a continental breakfast. We arrived around 7:30 and found a decent hotel. It wasn't swanky, but it was clean, had decent amenities, and and awesome movie station selection. Couldn't sleep well because of things on my mind and drifted asleep around 4 AM... Once I figure out how to embed and upload pictures, I will post my first day of the trip at Killington...

 

Don't miss it, it was awesome!!!

[AngryHugo]

sounds great so far. keep the updates coming!

[Ride Delaware ?]

I set my alarm for 7:45 AM and soon after woke up Afroman7. As soon as I woke up I took advantage of the free wifi provided by the Econo Lodge. Unfortunately, while it may seem a foregone conclusion, some hotels still don't offer free wifi... I checked the condition report and learned that 28 trails over 4 peaks with 7 lifts would be open... I opened the curtains to my window, and I was happily surprised to find that the "snow showers" that were forecasted had deposited 2 inches of light fluffy powder over the beautiful Vermont landscape. The snow was still coming down as I dressed and headed down to the basement to get my free continental breakfast. In reality, it was just donuts, bagels, coffee, and OJ, but it sufficed until Lunch. We quickly checked out, and arrived at the mountain at 9:05. We decided to park at the Ramshead Lot since it was basically empty...

 

 

By 9:30 we had our lift tickets and were "in line" for the Ramshead lift... Snowmaking was in effect over most of Ramshead... Easy Out should open in the next few days, but Header has a long way to go...

 

 

Since this was our first day of the season, we decided to take it easy and head down Caper... Along with 24 other trails, it was groomed but was definitely a good warmup... The 2 inches that feel over night, combined with the natural snow still falling, gave it an excellent coating that made it feel like we were floating...

 

 

Soon after finishing a run or two down Caper, we headed over to the K-1 Gondola which was shrouded in natural snow and snowmaking clouds...

 

 

We did a couple runs down great Northern which was groomed, but significantly more tracked out than Caper on Ramshead... There is always more traffic off the K-1... Here is Great Northern at the intersection with Rime...

 

 

After several runs off the K-1, we decided to go into the lodge to get a small snack and warm up... We arrived to temperatures of 19 at the base and 10 at the summit... The temperatures did not budge most of the day... Additionally, the snow showers continued throughout the entire day... Furthermore, the winds and snow both picked up after lunch and the visibility decreased greatly... I took this from the lodge at about 2 PM...

 

 

Following Lunch we hopped on the K-1 and headed over to the North Ridge Triple... I took this picture of the "Stairway to Heaven" to show how much snow had fallen at the peak...

 

 

The terrain off the North Ridge triple was amazing... At this point at least 5 inches of snow had fallen at the peak and was still coming down... Additionally, with the increased winds, each run was "naturally groomed" and I had fresh tracks at 2:30 PM... This is what it looked like...

 

 

At about 3:30 we decided to head back over to the Ramshead base area to Caper again... To my surprise, the snow was easily 6-8 inches deep at the top (some drifting) and was perfectly smooth... The "crowds" really thinned out after noon and very few new tracks were being made... Caper became my run of the day and Afroman7 and I raced to get down to the bottom for another run. I quickly got to the bottom and hopped on for "last chair"... 15 chairs behind me, Afroman7 got to the lift... Both lifites had gone inside and Afroman7 just got on the lift... Luckily it didn't end like that new movie "Frozen." We took our last runs and headed to the car where the snow continued to pile up... The car registered a balmy 4 degrees while the top of the peak was registering around 8... 5 inches of snow had fallen at the base with 7"-8" easily had fallen to the top... Rt. 4 was an absolute mess until you got to Rutland, where only about a half an inch had fallen... We stopped at Applebees for the 2 for $20 deal and then headed to the Comfort Inn in Saugerties where we are staying tonight... I've got a long day tomorrow but will most likely be posting on Belleayre or Hunter depending on the winds and lift openings...

Edited December 7, 2010 by Ride Delaware ?

[toast21602]

sounds great! got nice and lucky with that snow.

[Switchsideskier.]

Nice report...I have something to read here in the cemetery.

 

LOL! I drove by your place the other day

[moe ghoul]

This thread is approved by:

 

 

 

[OutCold]

Nice TR let's see some shots of afroman7 shredding the gnar and getting mad air off cliffs and shit.

 

Does he still wear a helmet even though he has the fro to cushion his fall?

[RootDKJ]

Great timing! Have fun out there

[AtomicSkier]

Any updates from yesterday?

[Ride Delaware ?]

There will be an update tonight around midnight from Hunter (Tuesday) and Loon (today)... Funeral went until 8 and I didn't get to NH until 12:30... Separate posts for each day... With pics... Aren't you proud that my Lehigh degree taught me how to embed pics Jeff?

 

There will be an update tonight around midnight from Hunter (Tuesday) and Loon (today)... Funeral went until 8 and I didn't get to NH until 12:30... Separate posts for each day... With pics... Aren't you proud that my Lehigh degree taught me how to embed pics Jeff?

 

Damnit, I'm on my BB and it double posted... Can a mod fix that for me?

[Ride Delaware ?]

Day #2: Hunter Mountain NY

 

After an excellent stay at the Comfort Inn in Saugerties for an affordable $70, we headed up to the mountain. It was 31 degrees at the hotel, and as we climbed into the mountains, the temperature dropped, the green foliage slowly turned to white, and the road slowly began to accumulate snow. The mountain claimed to have picked up 4" of snow and that seemed to be a very accurate estimate... We arrived at the mountain to strong winds, snowmaking, and 22 degree temperatures. The lot had maybe about 100 cars in it, and I was surprised to see the 6 pack running with all the wind. Hunter claims that the weight of the new 6 pack will reduce windholds by 1/3 over the old quad, and today that statement rang true. Afroman7 and I went inside to buy our early season tickets at the princely price of $35. I also had a $20 voucher from "other mountain season pass day" last year when Justo, Root, OutCold, and I linked up at Hunter... So, for $15 I was ready to head outside into the windy snowmaking maelstrom and freeze my ass off. Here is the picture I snapped from the base:

 

 

The 6 pack is definitely faster than the old 4 pack, but to my dismay, the lift is a side loader and unloader. The wind was blowing from the backside of the mountain, so most of it wasn't a problem until you reached the very top. We took our warmup run down Belt Parkway which had all of the snowmaking but one gun moved off of it. It had some nice rollers and started out with some great packed pow. Afterward we decided to hit the HBK mainline since it often gets skied off quick... I snapped this picture at the top of Hellgate:

 

 

We lapped these runs for awhile until they started getting scraped off around 1 PM, then we turned to some of the other options. In typical Hunter fashion, all the other trails were "closed" but were unenforced and had great snow on them. All of them had snowmaking with dry snow. We hit Bleecker Street which was loaded with fresh snow. Here is an action shot of Afroman7 shredding the gnar:

 

 

After hitting that several times, we headed down Kennedy and hit Park Avenue which was definitely "closed." There wasn't a single track anywhere on the trail and the snow was deep. Here is a picture of the snowmaking firepower of Hunter on Park Avenue in action:

 

 

We had arrived at the mountain about 10 AM and I began to pack up to get ready for the funeral at 2 PM for a solid 4 hours of boarding for $15. Most of the trails without snowmaking (Belt Parkway and the HBK Mainline) were scraped off... However, if you were willing to poach some of the "closed" trails, there were good to be had. At about 11 AM the snowmaking crew turned on the guns on the Cliff which was a personal favorite of mine last year. However, the snow was only several inches deep by 2 PM and not nearly good enough to poach even with my rock board. Here is a picture of the Cliff:

 

 

Afroman7 took a couple more runs and met me at the car at 2:30 PM... I was dressed and ready for the 2.5 hour drive to the funeral and arrived at about 5:40. There was an incredible turnout to say goodbye to a fraternity brother, roommate, and good friend. Rest in Peace Ryan David Vernooy. You will not be forgotten.

 

The ceremony was over at about 7:50 and we got on the road by about 8:15. The drive to Loon took about 4.5 hours and we arrived at the hotel at 12:45 AM. The doors were locked, the lights were out, and only one car was in the lot. Luckily, I used the service phone to ring the night manager and we scored a room for $60... We hit the sack and instantly fell asleep... Loon awaited us on Wednesday...

[Ride Delaware ?]

Day #3: Loon Mountain New Hampshire

 

After arriving late the night before, Afroman7 and I elected to sleep in until 8:15 since the mountain is only about 10 minutes from the resort. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, and after a meager but satisfying continental breakfast, we headed to the mountain at about 9:15 AM... We arrived, booted up in the parking lot, and scored our lift tickets for $56. They currently have 23 trails open with 4 lifts and boast the 3rd most open terrain in the east behind Sunday River and Killington. They invested in over 400 high efficiency snowgun towers this summer, and it most definitely paid off. Most of the terrain was beginner and intermediate, but was in excellent shape. Like most of the resorts in the Northeast, snowmaking was underway on open trails. Couple this with the 9" of snow they received from the upslope lake effect that has been pounding the spine of the Green Mountains, and you have awesome conditions. We started our day on Flying Fox to the North Peak Express Quad which had just opened Upper Walking Boss, their only open black trail... We went down the upper section once, and it still needed some work. While there was plenty of snow, there were plenty of the Blue Mountain Death Cookies and no Cookie Monster to eat them. We then went up the North Peak Express and hit Sunset and Haulback to Lower Walking Boss. The snow was mostly packed powder and corduroy and was way better than the "cookie bakery" above it. After that we decided to take Sunset over to the opposite side of the mountain... Here is a picture of Sunset from the bottom looking up:

 

 

We then went over and tried out Upper Speakeasy which didn't have active snowmaking, but was clearly pounded several days ago. It had great manmade packed powder and excellent rollers and pitch. Here is a picture of how much snow was made and how much snow was on the trees:

 

 

We then decided to hit Lower Picked Rock off of Upper Bear Claw and found an excellent mix of manmade powder and natural powder. There wasn't even hard pack, much less ice to be found on this trail. Here are two pictures from Lower Picked Rock... The first picture is actually the upper section of lower picked rock while the second picture is Afroman7 shredding the gnar on the lower section of lower picked rock. Snowmaking was in progress on that section:

 

 

 

One of our favorite trails of the day was Lower Bear Claw. While it is a beginner trail, it had snowmaking underway and was coated in an excellent dry powder on it. Here are two pictures on Lower Bear Claw. The first is a view from the top, while the 2nd is the view from the bottom. You can see me sitting in the middle of the trail:

 

 

 

After 6 straight hours of boarding we finally headed out around 4 PM. We packed the car and headed out toward Sunday River. It was still 19 degrees at the base, the same temperature it was when we had arrived that morning. We stopped at pizza hut for some stuff crust meat lovers pizza and arrived at the Grand Summit Lodge at 7:30. We scored a great online deal and had to have our rooms switched from the White Cap Lodge (a standard room) to a much schwankier hotel room at the grand summit lodge. We went to the hot tub and are now back in the room watching some TV and getting ready to shred the most open terrain in the East tomorrow. 32 trails and 171 acres await us... I'll let you know how it is...

[moe ghoul]

Lookin good, I'll be interested in the weather this weekend, keep us posted. Livin the dream with ski in/out at the Grand Summit Lodge.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Day #4: Sunday River, Maine

 

Sorry it took me so long to get to posting this, but I have been driving alot from mountain to mountain trying not to bore myself with the same early season terrain. Slept great at the Grand Summit. Got dressed and headed down to breakfast. When they upgraded our room to the Grand Summit, they also included breakfast. The breakfast was served on the 1st floor right beside the "ski in/ski out" entrance/exit in the Moonstruck cafe. I used my breakfast voucher to score a free made to order breakfast that was more than filling enough. Had something like 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, hash browns, and ham. They also included your choice of a hot beverage (hot cocoa) and a cold beverage (powerade). They had been blowing snow to the hotel and its corresponding lift at the White Cap Lodge, but it wasn't open on Thursday, so we hopped in the Jeep and drove over to the South Ridge Lodge where things were really hopping. We parked about 50 yds away from the lodge and were about the 60th car in the lot. At about 9:30 we walked through the base lodge and were greeted by this wonderful sight looking past the Chondola toward Barker Mtn:

 

 

We decided to warm up with a run or two off of North Peak. It was 14 degrees at the base when we arrived with a forecasted high of 20. Temperatures at the peaks varied from single digits to about 12 degrees in the middle of the afternoon. Luckily, there was absolutely no wind, so it felt much warmer than the forecasted temperatures. The conditions were excellent off North Peak. We had fresh cord consisting of a packed powder/manmade powder base. Here is a picture looking down the Chondola line from Tourist Trap:

 

 

After our warmup runs we decided to head over to the Barker Mountain High Speed Quad and get in some true top to bottom runs. We started off on Ecstasy, then Jungle Road, then the Cascades, and then the Punches (Upper Sunday Punch, Sunday Punch, and Lower Sunday Punch). Since every trail was groomed last night, almost all of the conditions were the same from trail to trail. Coming off the backside of Barker Mountain back toward Spruce Peak, I snapped this picture of the lazy river. It has great pitch, some nice rollers andsome fun things off the sides of the trail:

 

 

The Spruce Peak Triple had some of the best conditions of the day. Risky Business was groomed to perfection with excellent rollers and very few crowds. It had just been resurfaced and was perfect for ripping some turns at a high speed:

 

 

After hitting Risky Business, we turned to the right off of the Spruce Peak Triple, and headed down American Express. In the typical early season New England way, guns were blazing on American Express all day laying down fluffy powder all over the trail. The guns were tweaked to perfection and were dry all day from start to finish. I didn't have to worry about any of it sticking to my goggle's which is always a plus. It had been groomed out overnight, so there weren't many huge rollers; just 6 inches and counting of "the most dependable snow in New England." Here is the display of firepower:

 

 

Sunday River has an excellent trail layout, and almost every peak is interconnected to another peak through a single run. For instance, you can go all the way from Jordan Bowl back to South Ridge (4 peaks apart), through a single trail. We began linking runs together as it pleased us, and decided to do our last run off the Barker Quad around 3:30. The temperatures were dropping, more snowguns were coming online, and the "crowds" were starting to thin out. I didn't get any pictures today of the terrain park, but the park features are limited. The park today was just a small jibbing park set up on Jim's Whim that had about 5 features. They had not yet begun blowing snow on the main terrain park (rocking chair), the pipe, or the mid-season rail park on the South Ridge park trail. In order to add another trail to the open list, they began blowing Over Easy about 3 PM. I snapped this picture on the Barker Quad for the last run of the day. Below us is Rocking Chair, but it has seen no love from the guns. The snowgun you see firing is at the intersection of Rocking Chair and Over Easy. At around 3:45 we packed up the Jeep and headed over to the Grand Summit. The temperature in the car was still at around 14 degrees and falling. Temperatures were expected to reach close to 0 (2 degrees) at the base, and the single negative digits (-5) at the peak.

 

The room did not have a hotel, but did have a balcony. We bought some Otter Creek beer and kept it outside to keep it cold. Unfortunately, it got too cold and we had to suffer through frozen foaming beer for about a half hour. At around 5 PM we headed down to the Sunday River Brewing Company where we sampled their Blonde, Alt, and Porter. All of the beers were good, but the Alt and Porter had excellent flavor and character. I grabbed the Lobster BLT and was pleasantly surprised. The bar was surrounded with patrons (about 15), and several people (us and 2 more tables) were seated at tables in the bar, but the dining room was closed. The beer was an excellent value at $3.50 a piece and is brewed on site. The Lobster BLT was good, but a little small for $15. We left the restaurant, went to the Mountain Grocer to pick up another 6 pack (Long Trail Black IPA), and hit the hot tub. They were grooming out the snow toward the hotel, and by tomorrow, it should be ski in ski out.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Day #5: Sunday River, Maine

 

Friday started out mostly the same as Thursday. We got up at 7:30, got breakfast at the Moonstruck Cafe with our vouchers, packed our car, checked out, and went over to South Ridge to pick up our boards (waxed and sharpened overnight). It was frigid. When we arrived at the base lodge the thermometer read 8 degrees. We had to park a little farther away, but we expected greater "crowds" with it being a Friday. To offset the extra skiers and riders, Sunday River decided to open 2 new lifts, 9 new trails, and two more peaks, increasing their acreage to 236 acres!!! We booted up, grabbed our boards, and headed over to the Chondola. They had turned on some more of the guns on Easy Street and Broadway, so it looked like a snowstorm when we arrived. They had turned some of the fan guns and had begun making snow on the South Ridge Park overnight:

 

 

After one run off of the North Peak, we decided to head over to Barker again. Everything was in the same condition as yesterday and had been groomed. With all of the high speed lifts running, and it still being early season, there were still no lift lines or crowds to be found. There were sections of trails off of the Barker Quad that were being scraped off later in the day, but early on, everything was cash money... I decided to snap a picture of the mini park on Jim's Whim for all you jibhonks out there:

 

 

In the background you can see snowguns blazing on the Cascades. Right beside the Cascades is Monday Mourning, but it was closed both days for Gould Academy Race Training. Here is a picture of the Cascades at the bottom of Jim's Whim. Every other gun was roaring, and for the first time on this trip, we encountered several wet snowguns later on in the day towards the base:

 

 

After getting in some good runs off of Barker Mountain, we decided to head over to Spruce Peak. We started off with a run down the beautifully groomed Risky Business followed by a run down American Express. The guns had been turned off last night, but the terrain was not groomed, and by mid afternoon some bump lines were forming. Early on it was just excellent man made powder. Here is American Express without the guns:

 

 

After hitting each of these trails twice, we decided to head over to Aurora Peak to try out one of the new trails they had opened today. This is a picture from the top of Spruce Peak on the trail Sirius looking over toward Lollapalooza where the guns had been turned on overnight and were really cranking:

 

 

There were some death cookies to be had on the new terrain, but they had been grooming it for several days without freeze thaw conditions, so it was mostly packed powder corduroy. Here is Afroman7 on the Sensation runout to the Aurora Quad:

 

 

Aurora Peak and its trail Northern Lifts were the hidden gems of the day. The trail was not opened at opening, but closer to 10:30. Very few people found it all day and there were never more than 2-3 people on the trail and lift all day. Here is a picture of it from the top:

 

 

After we rode 3-4 times on Northern Lights, and Afroman7 visited the little boys room off the side of the trail, we headed back over to South Ridge to try out another new trail. We went to the top of the lift and headed to the right to find Dream Maker open and expertly groomed. It is a wide beginner trail with great pitch. It was a great place for Afroman7 to work on his speed and for me to continue working on my switch riding, although I can easily handle intermediate trails on my worst days. Here it is from the top:

 

 

Being as we had a long drive ahead of us to Clarks Summit, PA, we started making our last runs of the day around 2 PM. We decided to head over to one of the other newly opened trails leading to the White Cap Lodge where the White Cap Quad was running. We got to the top of the Cascades and took a sharp right down the newly opened Snowbound trail. This Expert trail was in good shape at the top with some very small death cookies and packed powder. However, as we progressed downward, the conditions became much rougher as larger death cookies began to appear. They had only groomed it once the night before so that they could presumably have ski in/ski out access from the Grand Summit. Here is a picture of Afroman7 shredding the gnar on Snowbound with the hotel in the background:

 

 

I stopped a little farther down the trail to snap a picture of the ski in/ski out section of the trail up to the hotel. Unfortunately, we had checked out and would not be able to use this added feature on this trip:

 

 

We took our last run of the day around 3 PM and were back to the Jeep and packed up by about 3:30. The temperature had warmed up considerably and the thermometer read 19 degrees at the base and nearly 24 in town at the gas station. We grabbed some Subway and pointed the car toward Clarks Summit, PA. Tomorrow we would be riding in the real pow, the Endless Mountain Pow!!! (Pocono Pow sounded better when I first wrote it, but that wouldn't be true)

 

I will post the TR from Elk in the Elk Mountain thread and post a link to it from here...

[Ride Delaware ?]

As promised, I have posted the Elk Mountain trip report in the Elk Mountain thread. Here is the link:

 

Elk Mountain 12/11/10