Old School ski areas to explore

[marzNC]

As noted back in July 2019 when I started this thread, the list is not meant to be comprehensive. It's mostly names of ski areas mentioned by Divas or that I have first-hand experience with or curiosity about based on what I've learned elsewhere. Since the NYSkiBlog covers New York in a comprehensive way, I haven't spent much time searching out old school places there.

Here's the latest version of my personal list. My thinking about "old school" is that there is a low key vibe, the lodge and terrain are family friendly, there are good areas to learn for children and adults, often lower cost, and less worry about lift lines even on weekends. The split at 500 acres is purely arbitrary.

In short, this is a list of suggestions of places to explore and discuss, and not meant to be comprehensive. Best to check on details if considering checking a ski area out as some places are only open a few days a week even during mid-season.

? - old school to some people, but not to others
Bold - not on the list the last time I posted it

CANADA

QUE: Mont Blanc, Mont Gabriel, Mont Garçeau, Vorlage
ONT: Batawa Ski Club
NL: Smokey Mountain
BC: Whitewater (1200 acres)

MORE THAN 500 ACRES

49 Degrees North, WA
Mt. Spokane, WA
White Pass, WA
Willamette Pass, WA
Anthony Lakes (cat skiing), OR
Hoodoo, OR
Dodge Ridge, CA
Homewood Mountain Resort (views of Lake Tahoe), CA
Sierra-at-Tahoe, CA
Diamond Peak, NV

Blacktail, MT - bought by Mission Ridge Nov 2021
?Bridger Bowl (non-profit), MT
Great Divide, MT
Turner Mountain, MT
Lost Trail Pass, MT
Lookout Pass, ID/MT
Bogus Basin, ID
Brundage, ID
Pebble Creek (near Pocatello), ID
Pomerelle, ID
?Grand Targhee, WY
?Alta Ski Area, UT
Beaver Mountain, UT
Brian Head, UT
Brighton Resort, UT
Powder Mountain (restricts number of day tickets), UT

Eldora, CO
Loveland, CO
Monarch, CO
Powder Horn (near Grand Junction), CO
Sunlight Mountain (near Aspen), CO
Wolf Creek, CO
Santa Fe, NM

Mt. Bohemia, MI

?Sugarloaf, ME

OLD SCHOOL LESS THAN 500 ACRES

CA: Badger Pass (in Yosemite), Boreal, Granlibbakken, Mt. Waterman, Soda Springs, Snow Valley

WA: Bluewood, Loup Loup Ski Bowl (non-profit), Summit East at Snoqualmie Pass
OR: Mount Ashland (non-profit), Ferguson Ridge

MT: Maverick Mountain
WY: Pine Creek
CO: Echo, Howelsen Hill, Monarch, Ski Cooper, Wolf Creek
NM: Pajarito, Sipapu

Midwest in general: any ski area on the Indy Pass
MI: Nubs Nob
IA: Seven Oaks

ME: Mount Abram, Shawnee Peak (formerly Pleasant Mountain), Black Mountain (non-profit), Lost Valley, Big Rock (non-profit, formerly Mars Hill Skiway)

NH in general, except Loon: Arrowhead (non-profit), Attitash, Black Mountain, Cannon, Cranmore, Crotched, Dartmouth Skiway, Ragged, Tenney, Waterville Valley, Wildcat

VT:
Ascutney (non-profit), Bolton Valley, Bromley, Cochran's Ski Area, Mad River Glen (coop ownership), Middlebury Ski Bowl, Magic Mountain, Northeast Slopes, ?Pico, Queechee, ?Smuggler’s Notch, Suicide Six

MA: Berkshire East, Bousquet, Catamount (on NY border), Nashoba Valley (near Boston), Ski Butternut
CT: Mohawk, Powder Ridge
RI: Yawgoo Valley

NY:
Western NY: Buffalo Ski Center, Kissing Bridge, Snow Ridge
Central NY: Greek Peak, Labrador, Plattekill, Song, Swain
Catskills NY: ?Belleayre, Mt. Peter, Plattekill
Upstate NY: ?Gore, McCauley, Mt. Royal, Thunder Ridge, Titus Mountain, West Mountain

PA:
West (drive from Pittsburgh or DC): Blue Knob; Laurel Mountain
East PA (drive from Philly or DC): Big Bear at Masthope Mt.; Elk; Jack Frost/Big Boulder; Montage; Shawnee Mountain

WV: Winterplace, Canaan Valley, ?Timberline
NC: Appalachian, Beech, ?Sugar, Cataloochee

 

[Knitjenious]

As noted back in July 2019 when I started this thread, the list is not meant to be comprehensive. It's mostly names of ski areas mentioned by Divas or that I have first-hand experience with or curiosity about based on what I've learned elsewhere. Since the NYSkiBlog covers New York in a comprehensive way, I haven't spent much time searching out old school places there.

Totally! That's why I only mentioned the two we actually frequent. I appreciate you starting the thread and was excited to find the place where my home ski areas fit on the forum!

 

[ilovepugs]

Add Lyndon Outing Club in Lyndon VT to your list!

The Lyndon Outing Club - Lyndon Outing Club

And That’s A Wrap! Our 22/23 Ski Season is at an End. Our southern exposure, warmth, and rain have ended our season. The LOC would like to thank our patrons, volunteers, lift attendants, board members,Continue readingThe Lyndon Outing Club

www.skilyndon.com

also Hard’ack in St Albans VT https://stalbansvt.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=21613

 

[SMichael08]

And another for the under-500 acres category in Oregon is Warner Canyon Ski Area. Love having this list!

 

[marzNC]

And another for the under-500 acres category in Oregon is Warner Canyon Ski Area. Love having this list!

Very cool! The advice to "patch up" gear certainly fits it with the old school concept. Looks like 300 acres with about 800 ft vertical. Still twice as big as ski areas in the southeast. Big difference is that Warner has operated since 1938 and still has no snowmaking. I'll add it to the non-profit list too.

Warner Canyon Ski Area - Travel Oregon

Warner Canyon, opened in 1938, is one of the oldest operating ski areas in Oregon. This old fashion ski hill was founded in the spirit of the old west,

traveloregon.com

Warner Canyon Ski Hill

www.warnercanyonski.com

 

[SMichael08]

It is definitely old school and has a real community feel. "The ski hill [lodge]" is one of a few spots in town people will rent for larger events like class reunions, retirement parties, etc. Hoping they get enough snow to open and I'm able to get a few half days in over the holidays - hard to beat that $30/half day $40/full price tag anymore!

 

[marzNC]

A little bit more about the purchase of Blacktail by Mission Ridge.

November 24, 2021

Mission Ridge, Washington Buys Blacktail Mountain, Montana

Mission says purchase will not interfere with Washington expansion plans

www.stormskiing.com

 

[marzNC]

A key strength of old school ski areas is that owners are more like to tell the full story when things don't work out as planned. Jon Schaefer has been running Berkshire East for a while. Catamount was purchased relatively recently, so the planned big projects weren't quite done before the pandemic hit. Sounds like the frigid weather and other unexpected issues made the 2022 MLK Weekend extra challenging. Per usual, Jon is being completely transparent about the situation.

Berkshire East and Catamount are on in the Indy Pass. Looking forward to skiing at both next month.

January 17, 2022

A letter from Jon Schaefer

Hi all. Jon Schaefer here. I run Berkshire East and Catamount. My family has owned Berkshire East since 1976, and Catamount since 2018. When we bought Catamount in 2018, we committed to revitalizing it and haven't stopped. Admittedly, these improvements haven't been easy, and there have been...

catamountski.com

"
Hi all. Jon Schaefer here. I run Berkshire East and Catamount.

My family has owned Berkshire East since 1976, and Catamount since 2018. When we bought Catamount in 2018, we committed to revitalizing it and haven't stopped. Admittedly, these improvements haven't been easy, and there have been some real challenges. In June 2020, we discovered structural issues with the old Chair 1 double. We tore it down, not because we wanted to, but because we had to... We embarked on replacing it with a refurbished Poma. This lift was ultimately unable to be installed until the summer of 2021. Additionally, we choose to replace the nearly 60 year old double up the center of the mountain that serviced the center beginner and race terrain with a refurbished early 2000’s lift that we purchased last winter from Holiday Valley.

With a little self-inflicted wound of trying to do too much, and a healthy dose of COVID and all that comes with it, we’ve experienced a myriad of parts delays, . . .
. . .

At Catamount, we've mostly swallowed the pig that's plagued the start of the season, and we are getting ahead of it. At Berkshire East, we had a couple of wonky lift issues that hurt yesterday's holiday experience, but we are on it and have moved past those issues.

In terms of capacity, we are looking at our presale ticket numbers at both resorts to manage capacity. We didn't announce it this year, but we have capped our numbers internally on the ticket side by managing day ticket sales in the same way we did last year. Unfortunately, the crowds were thrown out of whack yesterday by a higher-than-normal season pass holder arrival rate, so we will do what we can to manage the ticket sale numbers and are looking at capping those at a lower number.

Anyway, we will persevere through these challenges, which I must say are 100% caused by working through upgrades to the systems and are 100% my fault for pushing ahead on and we are not going to stop. 2022 will see improved snowmaking upgrades at both resorts, but you will see more staff, stability and the completion of this first phase of effort."

 

[Lmk92]

"Our staff is incredible, and we are adding to it with talented staff from some of the ''big guys.''

I really hope this means he's paying well, and offering good perks.

 

[marzNC]

A really nice introduction to how Whaleback in NH managed to keep going with dedicated volunteers after being closed.

February 2020