Where should New Milo ski next?

[Brownski]

So our new member - Milo K- got to experience Plattekill for the first time on Monday and he said all the right stuff about our favorite mountain- cool trails, short lines, vibe, great snow etc etc… It turns out the young man is a transplant from the west coast and previously spent his time skiing Mammoth.
So I thought we could do him a solid and recommend some other places like our beloved Plattekill. The criteria is cool terrain, inexpensive day tickets, daytrippable from metro NYC.
Where should New Milo ski next?

 

[lukoson]

Gore - I mean other than the great snow this season...
Magic - has the vibe but I haven't seen short lines when I've been there.
Bromley - I haven't been in a while, but always enjoy it.
Jay - absolutely worth it if you can do an overnight from NYC.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Gore - I mean other than the great snow this season...
Magic - has the vibe but I haven't seen short lines when I've been there.
Bromley - I haven't been in a while, but always enjoy it.
Jay - absolutely worth it if you can do an overnight from NYC.

Don't come to Gore until it gets a LOT of natural snow.

Maybe Pico? Sugarbush/Mount Ellen?

 

[gregmarx]

Magic - has the vibe but I haven't seen short lines when I've been there.

I was at Magic on a late-morning Sunday last year shortly after they finally got the black chair up and running. No fresh snow so somewhat limited terrain and it wasn't a pow-day crowd, but it was a cold midwinter day. We didn't actually ride the black chair at all but red and green chairs were ski-on and from what I could see lines at black chair weren't bad. Certainly the most Plattekill-like place I've found within 4 hours of metro NYC... ymmv on whether that's day-trippable. Pico fits the bill too and even has a couple fast lifts but a bit farther.

Going west, Elk is old-school and day-trippable and reasonably priced and has short lines but less vibe-y and lacking in tree runs or steep steeps. Montage is extremely affordable Mon-Wed, I've never been.

 

[Brownski]

Elk and Montage were not on my radar. I have never been yo either. I think Montage is on Indy. Pico for sure. I think I’d add Catamount- not all the vibes but cool terrain

 

[gregmarx]

Some links with useful information about Elk and Montage to be found here... https://nyskiblog.com/magazine/eastern-us/

I am not a tree skier but for those who are, I have heard that Elk does enforce its rules on this. It's very pretty and I like the trails and recommend it, but there's not much in terms of moguls and the steepest stuff is flatter than the Belleayre headwall, so does not compare to Plattekill in that respect. Will not come close to Magic/Pico in terms of challenge, if that's a priority.

(If the time-stamp on old comments is correct, that linked Elk article is at least 14 years old. I visited MLK weekend in '23 and '24 and the article is exactly accurate to my experience, down to where the bumps are -- the place has an unchanging, set-in-its-ways quality to it. There were reports last year that the elderly owner was in the process of selling but no update on that for months, unclear whether it's still pending or has fizzled out.)

Montage is on Indy, they also sell a $40 lift ticket that's good 9am-9pm Mon-Wed.

 

[Campgottagopee]

If he's thinking of Elk I might suggest stretching it out to Greek Peak. It's a bit better terrain than Elk, IMO, plus with all the chairs open it skis bigger than it is.