Indy-ish long weekend...VT/NH/MA?

[PSUFrankenstein]

Drove up late last night,  stayed in Lake George and then to Bolton valley this morning.   Rode there from 10 to 2...only hit Wilderness lift this time.   Vista wasn't running and I mainly did Timberline side last time.   A ton of snow in the trees and soft snow on the rest of the runs.  Outlaw woods probably had the best snow of the day 

[PSUFrankenstein]

After Bolton, I drove the 15 minutes to Cochrans ski area.  Small place with like 350' of vertical but it's a cool non profit place and for 19 bucks,  I wanted to check it out.   They have a t bar and a rope tow.  No lift tickets, just the honor system whether you pay or not.   Underprivileged kids pay nothing or whatever they can afford,  which is cool.  Grooming was actually really good and I had fun.  Only complaint was the t bar lifty playing Nickelback repeatedly. Did 6 runs and now at Zero Gravity Brewing in Burlington. 

[Mixilplix]

Fucking righteous dude..

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Nice report..a few years when I was in college Bolton wasn’t operational and I hiked it a few times with skis, I only skied lift served there once and was night skiing so not as much open.  Looks like an incredible amount of snow on the ground there and should stick around awhile. 

[PSUFrankenstein]

Yeah northern VT has a ton of snow right now.  Bolton is a really fun mountain.   Jay obviously has better terrain but there are a lot of trees and stuff to explore at Bolton. 

[PSUFrankenstein]

Hit Pats peak in southern NH this morning.  Really crowded but it's a pretty well run mountain and fun for a few hours.  Grooming was good,  especially on the cascade basin side.  Some nice trees off of the hurricane trail but icy so I didn't spend much time there.  Getting some Thai food at the place @Johnny Law recommended and then I'll hit Dartmouth skiway until they close at 4

[Johnny Law]

Sick sick sick trip ! Pats peak had the only EC FWT skier way back but God damn it got fancy.

Cochrans is the skiing family like from way back but also Ryan Cochran Seigle.

Sooooo fucking dope you went there sometimes you can't even tell if they are open or not.  

NE is deep right now,  Jay has more snow than alot places out west. It's the best I've seen since at least 14. 

Edited March 1 by Johnny Law

[PSUFrankenstein]

1 hour ago, Johnny Law said:

Sick sick sick trip ! Pats peak had the only EC FWT skier way back but God damn it got fancy.

Cochrans is the skiing family like from way back but also Ryan Cochran Seigle.

Sooooo fucking dope you went there sometimes you can't even tell if they are open or not.  

NE is deep right now,  Jay has more snow than alot places out west. It's the best I've seen since at least 14. 

Cochrans is usually only open late afternoon/evening during the week.  They normally have $ 5 Fridays from 3 to 8 but their hours this past week were 9 to 4 with it being VT vacation week.   I enjoyed it there way more than I expected.   

Pats was a fun place but really crowded.   Still cool to check out.  I actually hit that instead of Ragged expecting less crowds but that didn't work out 

I'll post a Dartmouth/brewery report in a bit 

Edited March 1 by PSUFrankenstein

[PSUFrankenstein]

After panang curry and Thai spring rolls and browsing the thieves of the week. I drove the 20 minutes to Dartmouth skiway.   Pretty crowded parking lot but no lift lines.   The terrain there is pretty fun, but I only got to hit the Holts ledge side for 6 runs.  Soft snow, kinda slow...Don Wardens was closed for racing.  After one run, my back binding felt pretty loose.  The ankle strap broke in half but the hard plastic part was still working.   Made for some funky turns but it was raining at that point so I didn't bother going to get another board from the car.

I'd like to get back here on a weekday and check out the rest of the trails, but looking at the map, Holts looked like more fun 

[mbike-ski]

Fuuuuuck yea !

[PSUFrankenstein]

Back to the hotel in Southern NH, I hung out for a bit and decided to get a brisket sandwich at 603 BBQ in Concord.  Some of the best brisket I've had...just on a regular potato roll but I actually prefer that over a thick kaiser roll or whatever.   Took my sandwich next door to Lithermans Limited brewing and had a pale ale with my sandwich.

Then I hung out at Feathered Friends Brewing, which is a bird themed brewery I guess.   Live music, dogs, pretty cool place.  Chocolate peanut butter stout was really good, but all the beers were great.  interesting artwork in the bathroom, especially the teabagging art.  

Trying to hit ski areas that I haven't been to, so tomorrow's plan is Pico until early afternoon and then maybe Saskadena Six for a few hours on Indy pass 

[Johnny Law]

The six had good short tree shots back at least way back and out the back is a cow pasture kinda farm thing.  

They should have kept the name though I think, nobody comits suicide because of the name of a tiny ski resort in Woodstock. 

[PSUFrankenstein]

8 hours ago, Johnny Law said:

The six had good short tree shots back at least way back and out the back is a cow pasture kinda farm thing.  

They should have kept the name though I think, nobody comits suicide because of the name of a tiny ski resort in Woodstock. 

Yeah I'm interested to check it out.   Not a place I'd spend an entire day but it's only like 15 minutes out of my way between Pico and where I'm staying in MA tonight so I'll ride there for a bit 

[PSUFrankenstein]

Rode pico from 9 to 1.  It was cold and sunny, conditions ranged from leftover powder to ice, but for the most part, the snow was good given the weather the past 2 days.  Started off on Golden express, then over to the outpost pod, then some runs on the Summit express.   Doozie off of outpost was a fun tree run.  Also dipped into Pico glades.  Never Summer had a demo tent so I rode their boards all morning.   Got a bratwurst to go and ate at the car before heading to Saskadena Six

[PSUFrankenstein]

Saskadeba/Suicide Six...cool place but unfortunately all the trees runs and natural snow trails were closed due to the ice.  Hit all the open runs in about an hour...did the face and one other run a second time and headed out.   Very cool terrain for a small mountain,  wish conditions were better for the trees

Edited March 2 by PSUFrankenstein

[PSUFrankenstein]

After S6, it was about 2 45...decided to hit another community t bar hill. Ascutney.  T bar only runs like 450' vertical but you can skin up much higher if you want.   Cool terrain, conditions surprisingly not too bad.   Got 4 tbar laps in before they closed at 4....now at Treehouse in Deerfield for beers and pizza

[Johnny Law]

Damn dude Ascutney too ! That was a very cool hill, especially the dark side of the moon stuff but i had no idea they had a t bar going.

VT environmentalists convinced the home owners after that shitty family had it and went bust to protect it. As far as i know zero development can occur there ever, not even a patrol shack. 

[PSUFrankenstein]

12 minutes ago, Johnny Law said:

Damn dude Ascutney too ! That was a very cool hill, especially the dark side of the moon stuff but i had no idea they had a t bar going.

VT environmentalists convinced the home owners after that shitty family had it and went bust to protect it. As far as i know zero development can occur there ever, not even a patrol shack. 

Yeah not sure on the development part, that's what I read too.  The terrain above the top of the t bar looked pretty cool but you'd have to skin up on a good snow day.  

https://www.ascutneyoutdoors.org/our-history/

The lodge (they call it a "discovery center") was completed in 2018, t bar in 2019, so relatively recent.   Definitely a cool place to check out.  No real challenging terrain off the t bar but fun nonetheless 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

@SallyCat moved to Ascutney back in 2018

[PSUFrankenstein]

I'm at Butternut this morning.   Pretty fun mountain, 1000' vertical and empty.  Not much challenging terrain but the awesome grooming makes up for it.  I'll do a few more runs then stopping at Catamount for a bit 

[PSUFrankenstein]

Catamount...pretty fun place,  better terrain than Butternut and surprisingly good conditions.   The amount of signs around the double black runs is comical.  Still some fresh cord at 2 pm.  May do a few more runs after a BBQ chicken sandwich and dark and stormy and then back to PA

Edited March 3 by PSUFrankenstein

[EdBacon]

The Nut! I was there once like twenty years ago. I should go back. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

How many different ski areas have you hit this season?  So are you buying some tickets since you can only use one Indy pass per day?

[PSUFrankenstein]

3 hours ago, EdBacon said:

The Nut! I was there once like twenty years ago. I should go back. 

It's a fun place and grooming is really good.   The weekday tickets are cheap...40 bucks and I think non holiday week Fridays are 25

[PSUFrankenstein]

3 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

How many different ski areas have you hit this season?  So are you buying some tickets since you can only use one Indy pass per day?

15 different places I think?  Yeah only one indy pass redemption per day but the only indy place I paid for was Dartmouth.   All the other tickets were less than 50 each except for Pico.