NYSnowflake
Angel Diva
Try Sunrise then Ridgeview as your first runs off the Forerunner. They are beautiful early AM and fairly mellow.
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Stowe 2019/2020
- Thread starter ilovepugs
- Start date
NYSnowflake
Angel Diva
Personally, I strongly dislike Toll Road. It’s too narrow and has no flow. However, many others really like it.
ilovepugs
Angel Diva
As I was just saying to @NYSnowflake, the terrain off Sensation is my favorite. There’s one winding blue trail called Sterling, which is just fantastic in fresh snow (hopefully you’ll get some this week... it is looking promising). The other trails off Sensation are delightful as well - Main Street is a black trail that is fun to bomb down, Whirlaway is a fun ride in narrow, wooded terrain, and Upper Smugglers can get delightfully bumped up. When Upper Smugglers is soft, it’s very playful.
marymack
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Chiming in to add that gondolier and Perry Merril off the gondola are also great blues.
If you are interested in trying some glades there are some really nice open glades off the toll road.
So yes, start as early as you can in the am, and then "follow the sun". Start on forerunner with sunrise, then ridge, then lord. Then hayride and nosedive. The tricky part of nosedive is the switchbacks at the start, once you are past that its a wide open cruiser. Hayride has one really steep pitch with the option to take a sneak route around on the left.
Nosedive will drop you off on the lookers right side of the mountain for easy access to the gondola. Play on all the trails off the gondola. Chin clip is a bump run but not very steep, just committing as past a certain point you cant cross onto a different trail until it's done.
Then take the over easy gondola over to spruce and sensation.
The Mansfield lodge is the most direct access to the forerunner, you do have to walk up some stairs to get to the slopes. On weekday it wont be too crowded. Moderation on the gondola side is super quiet and where i base myself out of if its a weekend, since the gondola doesnt open right away does require a skate to get the the forerunner but after it does its pretty central and is ski in/ski out for lunch. As mentioned spruce lodge is beautiful but since they built up that whole base area everything feels so crowded :( . Food options are the most abundant there, they dont allow "picnicking" on the second floor/main dining room.
For lodging, the commodore has reasonable prices and is on the shuttle route. The last few times ive been ive stayed in an airbnb and there are several in that area.
If you are interested in trying some glades there are some really nice open glades off the toll road.
So yes, start as early as you can in the am, and then "follow the sun". Start on forerunner with sunrise, then ridge, then lord. Then hayride and nosedive. The tricky part of nosedive is the switchbacks at the start, once you are past that its a wide open cruiser. Hayride has one really steep pitch with the option to take a sneak route around on the left.
Nosedive will drop you off on the lookers right side of the mountain for easy access to the gondola. Play on all the trails off the gondola. Chin clip is a bump run but not very steep, just committing as past a certain point you cant cross onto a different trail until it's done.
Then take the over easy gondola over to spruce and sensation.
The Mansfield lodge is the most direct access to the forerunner, you do have to walk up some stairs to get to the slopes. On weekday it wont be too crowded. Moderation on the gondola side is super quiet and where i base myself out of if its a weekend, since the gondola doesnt open right away does require a skate to get the the forerunner but after it does its pretty central and is ski in/ski out for lunch. As mentioned spruce lodge is beautiful but since they built up that whole base area everything feels so crowded :( . Food options are the most abundant there, they dont allow "picnicking" on the second floor/main dining room.
For lodging, the commodore has reasonable prices and is on the shuttle route. The last few times ive been ive stayed in an airbnb and there are several in that area.
marymack
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Mid station not moderation
VTsnowflower
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thank you all for the advice and suggestions! So very helpful. Now I have to settle in and make some lodging plans, maybe get on the road tomorrow.
ilovepugs
Angel Diva
Just to avoid confusion for any first-timers... It’s actually Midway Lodge. You can park right by this lodge, just hang a right when the signs tell you to and don’t drive towards the Mansfield lot!
VTsnowflower
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Here's another Stowe question..... I try to avoid all ski areas on weekends and holidays, but not everyone has that luxury. My daughter and family want to take their European guests skiing, and thought about Stowe this Sunday (Feb. 22) - end of Presidents' week. In general, are crowds bearable there on Sundays? Would this weekend be lighter or heavier because it's between the February break weeks? My instinct would be to avoid the place, but I said I would ask!
marymack
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Since it is the end of the week most people will head home by lunch time and those that have been up all week might forgo skiing on Sunday to start their drive home. Is there a particular reason they chose stowe? Do they have an epic pass and planning to use a buddy pass? Is the family truly avid skiers? If no, I might choose a smaller ski area save $$ and avoid crowds. Depending on where they are from they might be used to the very resort/luxury feel of stowe and might find it cool/quaint to try one of the small mom and pop ski areas?
Like2Ski
Angel Diva
I’m here now and the crowds are not bad at all for February break. Conditions are very good as well, however, if they don’t have epic passes I’d second the recommendation to save money and go elsewhere, Bolton maybe.
newboots
Angel Diva
I was thinking this but don’t know enough about the various ski areas to really say. I do know that Bolton Valley and Cochran’s are nearby, and will cost half, or less. Possibly fewer crowds, I would think. I was told that the restaurant in the little village at Bolton has a new chef and is excellent. The skiing was great when I was there. Smuggler’s Notch is also near there.
VTsnowflower
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thank you, all. They are indeed considering Bolton. But they do have discount passes for Stowe. We'll see....
ilovepugs
Angel Diva
Bolton is cheaper at full price even with the discounted Stowe passes. It’s likely that there will be fewer crowds, but Bolton has longer lift times. Just something to consider.
I am a fan of both mountains for different reasons and don’t think you can go wrong with either.
However, to answer your original question, keep in mind that today is the start of school vacation week in many Vermont towns. Many, many people leave town during this week, so it might actually be pretty quiet at Stowe.
