Brownski
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
I went to Catamount on Saturday. I don’t think I made it last year but when I pulled in there was Rich Edwards helping his parking lot guys direct traffic, just like always. It was nice seeing him again. https://nyskiblog.com/rich-edwards-of-catamount/
I booted up at the car and headed up to get my Indy Pass processed. It may seem trivial but Catamount’s parking lot is awesome. Minimum walking even if you’re not the first car in the driveway. I got there around 8:50.
There was a line at the ticket window but it moved quick.
Interesting
My plan was to ski the 3 steep trails right away in case they got scraped off early. It was the first time I was there when Christopher’s Way was open (it is relatively new-a few years) so I headed over there first
I spent the morning working my way through the trail map, first the 3 double blacks, which were all in great shape, and then the rest of the mountain. On my third lift ride I remembered to start Strava to track my mileage. I don’t know why I’ve never done that before. Not that it’s important data or anything, but it’s so easy to do so why not?
It’s true that Catamount isn’t super tall or anything but the views from the top are fantastic
There is a vibrant uphilling culture here- which supports my theory that family oriented places always have the best skinning policies
I attribute this to a long history of accommodating the non-skiing members of large groups and families. A natural way to do this is with snowshoeing and once you’ve figured out how to have snowshoers on the hill, skinners aren’t all that scary.
Lots of racing going on too. They’re organized for it though. They have a trail that’s set up to accommodate them with a convenient lift to it and space for them at the base area.
One of the triple chairs on the Massachusetts side has a mid station. There is a sign on one of the lifts at Thunder Ridge that says “mid stations eat poles”. This mid station eats a lot of poles
It also has a legendary, high energy liftie. I don’t remember ever seeing somebody else work this station. Maybe Pete or somebody else can provide a name. Anyway, she’s great- always has good classic rock playing and always a smile on her face.
Yeah so, that’s it. Catamount is still awesome
I booted up at the car and headed up to get my Indy Pass processed. It may seem trivial but Catamount’s parking lot is awesome. Minimum walking even if you’re not the first car in the driveway. I got there around 8:50.
There was a line at the ticket window but it moved quick.
Interesting
My plan was to ski the 3 steep trails right away in case they got scraped off early. It was the first time I was there when Christopher’s Way was open (it is relatively new-a few years) so I headed over there first
I spent the morning working my way through the trail map, first the 3 double blacks, which were all in great shape, and then the rest of the mountain. On my third lift ride I remembered to start Strava to track my mileage. I don’t know why I’ve never done that before. Not that it’s important data or anything, but it’s so easy to do so why not?
It’s true that Catamount isn’t super tall or anything but the views from the top are fantastic
There is a vibrant uphilling culture here- which supports my theory that family oriented places always have the best skinning policies
I attribute this to a long history of accommodating the non-skiing members of large groups and families. A natural way to do this is with snowshoeing and once you’ve figured out how to have snowshoers on the hill, skinners aren’t all that scary.
Lots of racing going on too. They’re organized for it though. They have a trail that’s set up to accommodate them with a convenient lift to it and space for them at the base area.
One of the triple chairs on the Massachusetts side has a mid station. There is a sign on one of the lifts at Thunder Ridge that says “mid stations eat poles”. This mid station eats a lot of poles
It also has a legendary, high energy liftie. I don’t remember ever seeing somebody else work this station. Maybe Pete or somebody else can provide a name. Anyway, she’s great- always has good classic rock playing and always a smile on her face.
Yeah so, that’s it. Catamount is still awesome
