Where are you skiing this week?

Killington Friday

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hopefully somewhere.. didn't get out last weekend and this weekend seems like the rain and heat is going to kill everything. I have nothing to complain about with 24 days including Big Sky, Copper, A-Basin, Sugar Bush, Stratton, Gore, Killington, but really hoping for 1 more day before I put the sticks away.
 
I bought my ticket for Kmart on Duck's Birthday(even though he won't be there) and tomorrow in the rain at WF. Might be the end of my 20 month Odyssey...unless I can ski June 1 lol
 
How come little Vermont has more skier visits than the much bigger NY UpState?
There are more huge visit generator destination ski areas in VT than NY. Currently, there is only 1 area in NY that might pull numbers that would be in the same ballpark as Mt Snow/Stratton/Okemo/Killington/Stowe/Jay type numbers and that would be Holiday Valley in Ellicotville, NY. Even Sugarbush might have more visits than everything in NYS except Holiday.

In NYS - Belleayre,Gore and WF are in the mid 200k range, Vail has totally effed up Hunter (used to pull numbers like Holiday Valley) and then there is a bunch of local areas. Gore has the most potential to increase skier visits without ruining the experience as it has a load of monster blue terrain like SVT, 4 high speed lifts and easy access to a major highway. It is so surprising that Gore has never caught on with the skiing public.

Vermont also has more acres of skiing than NYS, according to the Storm Skiing Journal.
 
How come little Vermont has more skier visits than the much bigger NY UpState?
VT is within driving distance of Boston and CT, as well as southern NY and NJ.

It's worth noting that VT has well known destination resorts on Ikon or Epic that have long histories, as well as mountains like Jay Peak or Smuggs that have regular overnight guests who are part of multi-generational skiing families.

People who live in the mid-Atlantic or southeast think about traveling to VT for a ski trip. They even consider flying. Few people in Philly, DC, or Pittsburgh think about going to Whiteface. Most have never heard of Gore. Although the Indy Pass has introduced some people to the idea of. a ski safari to NY and/or the Berkshires.
 
One of VT's advantages over ORDA bumps is on mountain lodging. Not happening inside the Blue Line.

Also, ORDA has done a lousy job of marketing Mount van Hoevenberg. I could cite chapter and verse about people I talked to back in NJ who planned trips to Trapp Family Lodge, Bretton Woods, Craftsbury, and other New England destinations, and they'd never heard of the Ho.

Difficulty levels, Whiteface vs Vermont hills? We had a couple Olympics here.

Would be curious to hear about this from the alpine skiers on here.
 
As someone living in Southeast PA who has work and family responsibilities, it is rare that I can decide at the last minute to travel all the way to the Adirondacks or Vermont when the conditions are good. Therefore, the majority of my trips up that way involve committing months in advance and hoping for the best. I tend to go to Vermont because, for the most part, they get more snow. Have I been skunked on a Vermont trip? Of course. I’m still not over my trip to Jay Peak last year. Day 1 involved all groomers having freeze-thaw conditions, any non-groomed trail being ice moguls and all glades were without snow. Day 2 was even worse (i.e., same conditions as day 1 but now there were wind holds)! That said, I’ve had far more Vermont ski trips with fantastic snow conditions than bad snow conditions. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my trips to the Adirondacks. I’ve taken five separate preplanned trips to the Adirondacks in the last five years and all five of them were a bust (two trips to Gore and three trips to Whiteface). Come to think of it, I have never skied in the trees in the Adirondacks because there has never been snow off the groomers or all tree runs were a block of ice for all my visits up that way. Therefore, you can understand why I ski more in Vermont than the Adirondacks. However, I really do want to have a positive ski experience in the Adirondacks. I’m already planning a trip to McCauley/Snow Ridge for next year (and I’m hoping for the best)!
 
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