Night Skiing: How is it?

[sweetnsnooty]

I've never tried night skiing and would like to hear about others' experiences!

Any recommendations for places to ski at night near Boulder, CO?

Thanks, Divas!!

 

[amanda]

Full moon skiing on Berthoud Pass is really beautiful!

 

[Jilly]

Here in the east any hill/resort near large centres have night skiing. It's OK. I find that some of the runs aren't well lite. Also it's usually COLD! But if you've worked all day, a few hours at night is fun. I used to teach ladies night 7-9pm class. Our local bump isn't too big, so it didn't tire you out too fast.

 

[Mafia_Princess]

I teach 10am - 8:30pm most days I work or patrol for 8 hours and then teach a few in the evening. It gets cold around dark, you feel a definite temperature decrease, but if you've brought extra layers to add on, and have a dry pair of mittens to change into it is fun.

I enjoy my evening classes, when I'm warm and dry. Then can drag if I am ill prepared though. Going to bigger hills at night can be fun, but like Jilly said some runs aren't well lit and I find it to be a little sketchy at times.

 

[Severine]

The biggest advantage I've found to night skiing is that crowds are usually lighter. Yes, it's colder and yes, it's harder to discern surface variations, but it's worth that. Some nights, it's like I'm the only one on the hill. I love that.

 

[volklgirl]

I love skiing at night. In fact, I'm headed out to Crystal after work tonight.

There's something about the quality of the air at night that just makes everything a little surreal.....the sounds travel farther and are clearer, any falling snow is sparklier (here I go making up words again), the snow under foot is crisper, and the pools of light and shadow are more well defined.

Night time conditions are really dependent on how things went during the day, though. Fresh powder or slush during the day can mean really ugly rock-hard frozen gack at night as the temps drop.

 

[Nautique Girl]

Night skiing; Ski Bowl, Mt. Hood Meadows, Timberline, Oregon

I love night skiing when there is little wind. The lighting on the mountain and the shadows they cast give me a peaceful feeling. This isn't an itunes time for me. The sound of snow dropping from the trees and the woosh under your feet - it's awesome!

 

[volklgirl]

Oooohhhh...and the sckkkk-thwack, sckkkk-thwack, sckkkk-thwack-thwack of the high schoolers doing their race training. Aaaahhhhhhh.

 

[Nautique Girl]

THAT'S an iTues time! Humm, or maybe not since ya gotta hear where those gremlins are coming from.....

 

[itri]

SnS, I think your only option for resort night skiing around here is Keystone. I've been and it can be a lot of fun, but it can also be COLD. I don't really know if it's worth it to make the drive just for night skiing, but if you're planning on skiing the next day, it can be a lot of fun to head up the night before and ski for a couple of hours before dinner/bar/hotel. Visibility can be challenging, especially if it's snowing or if they're blowing snow. There are a handful of runs lit, all on the front side of the mountain.

Most of my early skiing was night skiing at Perfect North in Indiana, but it doesn't get nearly as cold there most of the time!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Oh my.....I just love night skiing. Of course, being an upper-Midwestern girl, this is where it all began for me with skiing. Midwestern ski hills being tiny by comparison to others, the lighting is generally very good. Good lighting affords contrast that just doesn't happen in any degree of flat light (when that's a daytime consideration). One of the regional resorts used to regularly offer ALL NIGHT skiing (until 5 a.m.!) - just about always on New Year's Eve, and one year, several other nights as well. I spent quite a few New Year's Eves skiing (but only until 11 p.m., when another lift ticket was required for the all-nighter...which I was never crazy enough to do!)

Race leagues happen at night, clinics --- just a ton of activity (in the Midwest, anyway).

 

[Pequenita]

Midwestern ski hills being tiny by comparison to others, the lighting is generally very good. Good lighting affords contrast that just doesn't happen in any degree of flat light (when that's a daytime consideration).

Yeah, I would add that visibility at night in NY and CT is pretty good, too. The downsides have already been mentioned - colder, windier, icier, snowmaking, middle school and high school ski groups (having been one of these, I can attest that they are sometimes maniacs).

 

[frenchgirl]

I went night skiing tonight. It was great. As someone said, try to find out which night is the less busy. Here Mondays and Wednesdays are best.

 

[SkiBam]

I'm gonna come down more on the "I hate night skiing" side. I can't remember the last time I went willingly - my ski school always holds one evening clinic in early January (can you say "cold"?) and I always hate it - can't see well and, truly, I learn nothing. This year I managed to get out of it.

That said, I love to see the hills lit up. In fact, there's one that shines into our bedroom (not a problem as it's only open two nights a week and they shut down at 11). Also, I've been told that so much light is generated around here by the ski hills (Saint Sauveur region of the Laurentians) that it's visible from space. Crazy, eh!

 

[BackCountryGirl]

I love night skiing. I worked for a long time at a small mountain that did most of its lessons and many of its instructor clinics at night. Now, Sunday River has 12 hour skiing and it's a blast. One of my most memorable ski experiences was a "full-moon" torchlight a few years ago at the little mountain, honoring a former ski patroller who passed away at 93. The evening was really cloudy until we lit up; then the clouds passed to reveal a beautiful full moon.

 

[White tara]

I agree with the other divas. It does get colder but the crowds are definitely lighter. If you're prepared for it and its a place with good lighting you can definitely have a ton of fun. I like it but I have to be in the mood for it. Some of my best skiing has happened at night. Less people around to worry about bumping into lets me be more free.

 

[michpc]

I'm also a night skiing lover (when the conditions are right). I learned to ski in middle school with an evening after-school group at a tiny local hill. And the past couple weekends my skiing has consisted of "midnight madness" skiing at Crotched Mountain in NH. both trips were on Eastern hardpack, but ice and the crowds were light and I had a blast both times. Of course as others have said, best to avoid night skiing when it's been realy warm then the temps drop, or when it's just plain really cold and windy!