Vermont Skiing 2018-2019

[ski diva]

There was at least 16 inches of new snow out there on the mountain (Okemo) today. Up to two feet in spots. Incredible that it's November 27 and I've already had two amazing powder days!

 

[newboots]

The power company tells me that 34,000 Vermonters didn’t have power this morning due to 1,500 outages. My own particular outage has 7 customers. Guess who isn’t expecting power bAck any time soon?

 

[newboots]

There was at least 16 inches of new snow out there on the mountain (Okemo) today. Up to two feet in spots. Incredible that it's November 27 and I've already had two amazing powder days!

Looks like you made it home? Hope you’re okay. Mr. Blizzard had to come home and get his tractor to pull a tree out of the way before he could get out our road.

 

[Mary Tee]

Yes, lifts started running around 11:00. We had about 15” in the last 24 hours...it was so much fun! I just wish I had the stamina to keep going!

 

[ski diva]

Looks like you made it home? Hope you’re okay. Mr. Blizzard had to come home and get his tractor to pull a tree out of the way before he could get out our road.

Yes, I got home around 1:30. The mountain closed at 11:30 because of the power outage. We got our power back at home around 3:30; it’d gone out at 9AM.

 

[Abbi]

I’m glad you were all home, safe and getting power back on! I’m moving up this weekend. First time ever I will be unloading with snow on the ground at my place!

 

[newboots]

Our power Went off at 10:30 last night and no hint of when it will be back on. Mr. Blizzard’s 88-year-old mom has none, either, but she is fed and safe and bedded down with the cat and extra blankets.

Abbi, we are excited you’re coming!

 

[MissySki]

My skill level is "plodding intermediate" but I would definitely be interested if I wouldn't hold you back. I also have a pass that lets me and a friend ski for free at any Vermont resort, so if we teamed up, you wouldn't have to buy a lift ticket.

Excellent, would love to team up! I'll come back with the response from Magic when I get it and we can go from there to determine if that or MRG seem more appealing. We can then also see if anyobe else would like to join us.

@marzNC Didn't really have any dates in mind yet, so not set on weekday versus weekend right now. Weekends are always easiest for me due to work, but I like to get away for weekdays here and there too!

 

[VTsnowflower]

There was at least 16 inches of new snow out there on the mountain (Okemo) today. Up to two feet in spots. Incredible that it's November 27 and I've already had two amazing powder days!

We arrived at Okemo noon-ish today, after the morning power outage was over. Took a long time to get there - 1 1/3 hours, with half of that at 20 mph because the (back) roads were so bad. But worth it - what magnificent powder! Hope to go back tomorrow! Is this really November?

 

[tinymoose]

I can do the absorption extension exercises on runs with small bumps that don't scare me. My challenge is not mentally psyching myself out on where to turn and slowing down to a couple of turns at a time rather than going continuously at an appropriate speed that still allows for good decision making when bumps get bigger or in trees where I start worrying about what obstacles may be right beneath the surface. If that makes sense. I can get down most runs pretty easily, though very tight trees still scare me, but way too slooooowly and I haven't been able to up my speed even though I put myself in the terrain as offen as I can. So I'm not sure if it's way more mileage I need, or more specific fundamentals I'm missing to make me more comfortable there.

Granted we haven't skied together much the last couple years, but I really all think it's mostly a mileage thing... just getting comfortable with it. Sure we can always improve something, but you have always looked effortless in anything you ski. Even if you don't feel that way.

 

[MissySki]

Granted we haven't skied together much the last couple years, but I really all think it's mostly a mileage thing... just getting comfortable with it. Sure we can always improve something, but you have always looked effortless in anything you ski. Even if you don't feel that way.

Aww thanks! (We need to fix the haven't skied together much recently part, but that's another story! )

The chaos in my head when skiing bumps/trees/ungroomed is so at odds with the sentiment of looking effortless lol. I agree that mileage is a huge thing too though! I always feel like I'm a spilt second away from utter disaster in that terrain.

 

[marzNC]

The chaos in my head when skiing bumps/trees/ungroomed is so at odds with the sentiment of looking effortless lol. I agree that mileage is a huge thing too though! I always feel like I'm a spilt second away from utter disaster in that terrain.

Finding mellow but interesting bumps and/or trees to gain mileage without too much of a mental challenge is not that easy. Pico has good terrain in that regard. Smuggs has some more open trees. Sugarloaf seems to have some on the Mt. Ellen side. How about Sunday River?

I found that my bump skiing improved after a week of skiing Taos in Feb 2017 even without doing a Taos Ski Week simply because there are bumps of every level from easy to crazy expert. Lots of short bump sections (10-20 turns) at the sides of groomers. At least when there is good snow coverage. Even in Feb 2018 our instructor knew where to find a bump section when no black terrain was open at all. It was between a turn on a green trail and we skied it after a few inches of new snow.

 

[marzNC]

Finding mellow but interesting bumps and/or trees to gain mileage without too much of a mental challenge is not that easy. Pico has good terrain in that regard. Smuggs has some more open trees. Sugarloaf seems to have some on the Mt. Ellen side. How about Sunday River?

Oops, I meant Sugarbush.

Guess I'm thinking about going to check out Sugarloaf. Although the advantage of not having as many people because it's a longer drive tends to mean fewer bumps. But plenty of ungroomed and perhaps untracked terrain even a few days after a snowstorm.

 

[MissySki]

Oops, I meant Sugarbush.

Guess I'm thinking about going to check out Sugarloaf. Although the advantage of not having as many people because it's a longer drive tends to mean fewer bumps. But plenty of ungroomed and perhaps untracked terrain even a few days after a snowstorm.

Haha I knew what you meant!

I have done a ton of tree and bump skiing at Sunday River, including small to large bumps and open to tight trees. That's why I'm thinkin I need another dose of instruction, because while the repetition helps in some ways of course, I still feel like I'm missing something to feel more comfortable.. I can get down it all fine, but I'm not comfortable for the most part even if it looks like I am on the outside. Might truly be more mileage needed, but can't hurt to get out there with a good instructor of course.

Yesterday I went to Killington, and it was allllllll ungroomed powder and then tracked out deep powder and bumps everywhere, not a groomed run on the mountain. What amazing practice in fabulous soft conditions, but conditions that are usually really strenuously tiring to me! Don't get me wrong, I did eventually get tired (especially since day 1 at Wachusett didn't exactly get my legs ready for that type of skiing a week later!), but I did much better than I normally do and attribute that to the skis I was on, including on the bumps.. Went up to demo the Black Crows Camox Birdie and just wow. Really lucked out with the snow because it's the exact conditions I'm trying to get a new ski for, and to also bring out west for trips. I'll post more on that all later in the 90 something width ski thread where there has been a lot of discussion on these particular skis recently..

After this I'm a little more hopeful on making some progress on bumps this season after starting out pretty strongly. Of course soft fresh snow bumps are a different beast than trees and then firm icy bumps where you don't get the natural speed control of powder..

 

[SallyCat]

I accidentally went out to my porch in November without checking the avalanche report. Rookie mistake. #Vermont

 

[newboots]

I accidentally went out to my porch in November without checking the avalanche report. Rookie mistake. #Vermont

I have one of those! Yours is a beauty. Mine has dozens of icicles hanging from it, but it doesn’t have such a wicked curve! A couple of the icicles were pushing their way into the window screens.

 

[MsWax]

We're going to visit some friends at Stowe next weekend and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the lift ticket prices! With 2 adults and 3 kids it will cost us nearly $1k for lift tickets alone for the weekend! Any tips on how/where to find them cheaper?

 

[MissySki]

We're going to visit some friends at Stowe next weekend and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the lift ticket prices! With 2 adults and 3 kids it will cost us nearly $1k for lift tickets alone for the weekend! Any tips on how/where to find them cheaper?

Unfortunately I have no tips there, hopefully some of the Vermont divas will. Certainly puts into perspective what a family has to pay to ski for a weekend, and I complain about pricing for just me, myself, and I.. At some mountains it would probably be cheaper to get kids a season pass depending on ages. Yikes!

 

[MsWax]

Unfortunately I have no tips there, hopefully some of the Vermont divas will. Certainly puts into perspective what a family has to pay to ski for a weekend, and I complain about pricing for just me, myself, and I.. At some mountains it would probably be cheaper to get kids a season pass depending on ages. Yikes!

We have season passes to our home mountain(s), but wanted to explore a new place with friends. It certainly is a bit of sticker shock!

 

[nopoleskier]

WOW 1K?!!!! I'd look for lodging that includes Lift tickets.

Stowe now being 'Epic"/ Vail may not do the discounts Some resorts do discounts via Liftopia and other ski ticket sites.
If you can find some Epic pass holders skiing same time maybe they can give you the friends discount?

Here's from a google of "Discounted Stowe Lift tickets" maybe something here will work: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-ab&q=discounted+STOWE+Ski+Tickets?+