Liftopia’s Ron Schneidermann

LiftopiaThere are some basic truths that human beings are eventually forced to recognize — day follows night; winter is the best season; and lift-served skiing is a expensive sport.

After overcoming the hurdles of paying for equipment, clothing, gas, lodging, food, lessons, and lift tickets, it’s a wonder that we’re psychically capable of strapping on our boots and skiing.

As a survival technique, skiers and boarders are genetically wired to look for deals, and one of the most obvious places is lift tickets. 2-for-1 coupons, season passes, and buying at offsite ski shops are some of the time-tested ways to take a small bite out of this unavoidable cost.

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Snow Ridge Powder Day! (Video)

Over the past month, fresh snow has been a scarce commodity in New York State, the northeast and across most of the continent. After a long drought, Ullr pushed some cold arctic air across Lake Ontario and dropped a foot of lake-effect blower on Tug Hill. The just released video is from Tuesday’s Powder Day at Snow Ridge.

Snow Ridge Lake Effect from Ted Battesh on Vimeo.

“Skiing groomers on manmade snow was getting old, pretty quickly. When I heard that the Tug Hill Plateau area was about to get hammer with lake effect snow — to the tune of 2-3 feet — it got my attention. I kept an eye on the radar and snowfall totals.”

Mad River Glen’s New Terrain Parks

Browsing Facebook a few weeks ago, I came across a photo posted by Mad River Glen. The image, of the loading area of the Sunnyside Double chair, bore the caption “Notice anything new?” I didn’t. Then I saw the sign: “This lift services terrain park features.”

Building the Mad River Glen Terrain Park.

I admit I was a bit surprised that one of the Northeast’s most prized natural playgrounds would be adding man-made features, considering the old-school atmosphere associated with Mad River. I spoke with Eric Friedman, Director of Marketing and Shareholder Relations, to find out more about the new park setup.

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