Brownski
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
Okemo has always occupied a cloudy space in my brain. I knew it was located in southern Vermont, conveniently accessible for New Yorkers. I’m not sure where the opinion came from but I have always thought of it as bland, not worth the trouble somehow. With lots of cool hills in New York and Killington a little further north, I never Found a reason to visit Okemo. In the back of my mind I wondered if it was unfair dismissing Okemo but I just never found a reason to test my perceptions- until I bought a Max Pass last fall- five days at Okemo included. Junior’s midterm schedule gave him Friday off last week so we decided that would be our day. We pulled into Okemo’s parking lot around 9:30.
I’d heard that Okemo groomed every inch of the mountain every day so I figured I would take the opportunity to get out my 1980s era K2 812 GS skis again. They’re old but they’re still a lot of fun when conditions are fast. The base area was abuzz with activity already but we claimed a spot in the lodge, booted up and made our way out to the lift.
Surveying the hill on our first lift ride didn’t reveal much. Nothing looked very steep and all the visible trails were groomed, wide and more or less uniform. The main detachable sixpack bubble lift had a big line already so I tried pumping a local for some intel on which chair would be the best alternative. He suggested a nearby triple but we would have to ride the bubble lift to get to it. I wasn’t ready for standing on line just yet. We hopped on another, slower quad instead and explored a little.
It was generic intermediate skiing but we had fun. After a couple runs we went ahead and got on line for the bubble lift. This was a big treat for Junior who had already been making 1%er jokes all morning. A while ago he saw a TR with some over-the-top praise of bubble lifts and it really cracked him up. I think he just finds the word “bubble” funny. Anywhere we go he’ll find a way to work a bubble lift joke into the conversation so finally getting to ride it was a big opportunity to work on his routine. We got on quick, due to the lifties efficiently consolidated the crowd into groups of six. I was surprised to find that in addition to the giant transparent plastic wind shield the lift had electric heaters in the seats. It must be awesome on really cold days.
We zipped down to the triple our local source had recommended only to find it closed with no indication that it was going to run any time soon. Oh well. We spent the rest of the morning exploring more, trying to sample everything that was open.
After lunch it was more exploring. One thing I can say in Okemo’s favor is that it’s big, which has a value in itself. I hate to say it but most of my preconceptions about Okemo were pretty accurate. There was a remarkable sameness to the trails. There wasn’t even much difference between the blues and the blacks. It wasn’t 100% open when we were there so I guess it’s possible there’s something more interesting that I missed but I may never find out.
Also, there’s a lot of orange fencing
The coolest thing I discovered there was a fire tower at the highest point of the resort, visible from the top of one of the lifts. Once we saw it we had to check it out of course so we popped out of our bindings and followed the obvious herd path back through the trees to the base of the tower. I warned Junior to be careful of the icy ladder as we went up. The view from the top on such a clear, sunny day was truly breathtaking.
We lingered a bit, trying to identify the numerous ski resorts visible from up there. Just the view from the fire tower would have made the whole day worth it but honestly we had a good time. Okemo might not be our first choice but skiing is skiing. We had a great day.
