"Holiday" Week elsewhere?

[MaineSkiLady]

Curious, and here's my chance to ask and find out: Is this a bonafide holiday/school vacation week upcoming next week, especially for ski resorts, in more locations than just the Northeast?

"February Vacation Week" is non-existent in the Midwest, for the most part. As far as I know, the closest location I recall where it was: Detroit.

Here in New England, we are on the cusp of one of the busiest ski weeks of the season. Sometimes busier than Christmas to New Year's period. I think at least 5 states in my region let schools out, starting today, for a week.

Do Rocky Mts and other western regions have an increase (or perceived increase) in skier traffic during this week? My son says it is not generally any kind of "holiday week" in CO.

It certainly was not in the Midwest, from whence I came, so I was really surprised when I moved to New England and experienced this annual onslaught. DH even used to take an entire week of vacation during this busy period to teach/coach (and they asked him to step in this year as well).

I likely will not be skiing at any major resort until MAYBE the tail end of the week. Probably will opt for the "minor leagues" altogether. Small hills can be fun The heavy-hitters around here are unimaginably crowded and booked solid.

 

[ride_ski]

I don't know about elsewhere in the US. But NH vacation week is the week after next.

 

[ski now work later]

My Cincinnati kids have break at the end of March/early April. Here in MA, my kids are on break next week and again during the 3rd week of April. We ski our local mountain during holiday periods and weekend. It will be busy next week but without lift lines and they always see friends there. Now if it would just stop raining!!!!

 

[ski diva]

Vermont's vacation week is the week after next, too, but a lot of other schools - I guess in NY, NJ, CT, MA, who knows where else -- seem to have off this coming week.

The next two weeks are going to be crazy busy in New England.

Oh, and I hear the first week of March is Canada Week, with schools in Canada closing. Is this right?

 

[ski chick]

No vacation week here in the Hudson Valley

Our schools only have off today and Monday. But in other parts of NYS they do have this next week off. Ironically we only have Good Friday and the Monday after Easter off. Our break isn't until later in April. This is the first year we have not had the week off around Easter.

We stay far, far away from skiing this weekend. We've just learned...

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Maine schools are off next week, but the size of the "dent" at ski resorts from the Maine population is minor compared to what MA does here. Most of them, however, opt out of Sugarloaf, perceiving it as being "too far away." Happily, this is more of an illusion than a reality, so Sugarloaf is actually almost tolerable.

 

[Robyn]

MSL, are you sure your son is in Colorado? This is one of the busiest weekends all season at Colorado resorts. Last year I gave up after 3 runs because it had taken me 3 hours to do those 3 runs due to lift lines. Nevermind that last year the traffic was horrible due to a closure for avalanche danger on I-70 on Saturday morning. Also, we don't train this weekend because it's so difficult to get anything done with the kids. It's not typically because local kids have time off, it's due to people coming in from out of state.

I will go up one day this weekend, not sure which.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

MSL, are you sure your son is in Colorado?

Totally. Yeah, I know the forthcoming weekend is a busy one, 3 days everywhere, due to Presidents' Day. I was referring specifically to the entire week following being a week off of school for public school kids. It's not a week off school in most of the Midwest. But with at least 4 heavily populated states in the Northeast having next week off school, this is considered almost as busy of a vacation week pending as Christmas. Will it be busy/crazy during the week after Monday as well out there?

 

[Jilly]

Monday is a holiday here in Ontario. Family day, its new this year, an election promise last fall. Next week is "reading week" at some of the colleges and universities. The last week of Feb and the first week of March is school break in Quebec. They split the time so not everyone is trying to vacation at the same time. Ontario March break is the second week 10-14. Again some of the colleges take the last week of February for reading week. All I know is that snow school is looking help for the next 2 weeks here.

 

[Robyn]

Totally. Yeah, I know the forthcoming weekend is a busy one, 3 days everywhere, due to Presidents' Day. I was referring specifically to the entire week following being a week off of school for public school kids. It's not a week off school in most of the Midwest. But with at least 4 heavily populated states in the Northeast having next week off school, this is considered almost as busy of a vacation week pending as Christmas. Will it be busy/crazy during the week after Monday as well out there?

I'll tell you on Wednesday when I'm at Copper for Women's Wednesday.

 

[atlantiqueen]

March Break for schools in New Brunswick is March 3-7. Sugarloaf has big ads here about NB vacation week to promote Canadian visitors.

 

[astridhj]

In Norway, usually the east coast have one week off, and then the south coast and the west coast have the week after. This year, due to early Easter, they have decided to have the same week. So all the resorts are going to be really full, so most of the time will be spent in lift lines, and trying to avoid all the never evers sitting in the pistes.

I will not be skiing this week, but for all of you that is, good luck to you.

 

[mollmeister]

MSL, are you sure your son is in Colorado? This is one of the busiest weekends all season at Colorado resorts. . . . It's not typically because local kids have time off, it's due to people coming in from out of state.

^^^^^ What she said. The weekend itself is the absolute worst, b/c kids here also have Monday off for President's Day. So the three-day weekend = local families AND vacationers.

But the weeklong *Winter Break* seems to be primarily New England-based (that was when we always came west to ski when I was a teenager in CT). It definitely ups traffic out here for the week due to it being a good time for a ski trip, especially when Easter/Spring Break isn't until late. Husband is from the southeast, and some schools (mostly private) got a winter break down there, but it wasn't as common as in CT, NY, and MA.

After Monday it's a little quieter. . . but not the sort of midweek quiet I'm used to, with family and school groups here from the NE.

We have access to a place in Minturn this week, but we're not going up until Thursday night, and plan to ski Fri/Sun (and I may get in a few hours on Sat morning). It'll be dying down a little by then, as the Fri-Fri stays and Sat-Sat stays will be heading for home. I hope. Sunday at least should be quiet-ish at the Vail resorts. It's usually a quieter day there anyway, as people move back in the direction of Denver and ski closer to home at Keystone or WP on Sunday.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I thought it probably had to increase the week's traffic in CO (week, not weekend - all weekends everywhere are busy - 3 day weekends are unbelievable). I will probably go into ski resort hiberation for the next 9 days or so, might opt for a couple of small, local hills, but our weather forecast isn't wonderful (again/for a change). A brief reprieve: get some stuff done at home, get to more fitness classes, do the dumb taxes, deliver a pair of new skis to a friend --and wait for my cw-x insulator tights to show up!!

In northern New England, late late March into April is die-hard season. It's usually the best time of the year to ski anyway, especially at the higher elevation resorts. Stays light later (sunset is at 3:40 here in the dead of winter), warmer out, snow's softer - just better all around. Last year, we were at it til April 23. Hoping for similar this year. By that point in time, the city people are biking, hiking, playing golf - have totally given up on skiing. Die-hard time!
April skiing in CO is amazing. OH THE SUN!! STRONG.

 

[abc]

In northern New England, late late March into April is die-hard season.

I totally don't understand that.

When I used to live in the midwest, I would go out west late March or early April. Why? It was still cold in Michigan but the price would start to come down in the Rockies. The snow was always great and the temperature warm. I had a good time every time. Never understood why there're so few people around. I guess I do now.

I know a lot of people gets antsy WAITING for spring to come. Why? On years I don't go out west skiing, I would simply go down to Florida. I get my spring my way! Not waiting and complaining about it...

 

[MaineSkiLady]

hate reading about serious snow-related injuries

Holiday weekend for sure in my region, and the carnage begins....story on front page of my paper of an airlift evac from Sunday River - 16 y/o male snowboarder, happened on one of the steeper runs over there. If airlift was summoned, internal and/or head injuries suspected. No other details, the resort is great at "covering." Is this the same elsewhere, where bad stuff gets swept under the rug?? Certainly wasn't the resort's fault if someone crashed and burned, but no matter what the mishap, it gets buried.

I can hear the helicopters heading to/from Sugarloaf and vicinity from my house. Scary sound.

 

[Jilly]

Tremblant is the same way. A friend of ours called in the Disney land syndrome. Nothing bad happens here. There was a death in January in the snow park. Not mentioned except in hushed whispers around the resort. Young adult was not a local, so that's probably another reason. But the same thing - his stupidity caused the accident, not the hills fault at all.
Infact if the chairs break down, there is no mention of it anywhere except the Tremblant-insider website. The propaganda machine wouldn't mention a thing.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

^^^The chairlift malfunctions/possibly evacuations are the news items that definitely "go away" here as well, at least at the Big Time resorts. Good publicity machine in action -- even the mention of a mishap on some message boards gets deleted in a heartbeat. At least Sugarloaf has a website similar to tremblant-insider -- i.e., the "real" story. Sunday River has no such alternative.

 

[altagirl]

^^^The chairlift malfunctions/possibly evacuations are the news items that definitely "go away" here as well, at least at the Big Time resorts. Good publicity machine in action -- even the mention of a mishap on some message boards gets deleted in a heartbeat. At least Sugarloaf has a website similar to tremblant-insider -- i.e., the "real" story. Sunday River has no such alternative.

Yeah, I don't know if you guys saw the thread on TGR, but one of our friends was skiing with his family at Snowbasin and a snowcat got too close under the gondola at the top, hit the gondola cabin and he had to be life flighted to the hospital due to head injury from hitting the ceiling of the cabin. (He's doing okay now) Never heard a word of it on the news... It is interesting how they manage to keep that stuff quiet.

 

[num]

I've been wondering about this, as I've seen a lot of mentions of "Presidents' Week" here and on epic. Around here there's Presidents' day (Monday) and that's it. Do the New England schools which celebrate Presidents' Week also have spring break, or is this week in lieu of spring break? Public school spring break around here has historically been in early April, but this year it's in late March.