January 2, 2010 E-MAIL PRINT

Options abound at Okemo

by Brion O'Connor/

Okemo has plenty of options to please everyone in the family. (photo: Skye Chalmers/Okemo)

Okemo has plenty of options to please everyone in the family. (photo: Skye Chalmers/Okemo)

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Longtime fans of Okemo love the energy and commitment that Diane and Tim Mueller brought to this mid-Vermont resort after they purchased it in 1982. Once a quaint hill popular among Ludlow locals, Okemo underwent a huge transformation over the next quarter-century. Early on, the emphasis clearly was on the hill. Skiers and snowboarders reaped the rewards of a flurry of upgrades to the trails, the snowmaking capacity and the grooming fleet. Guest services, notably the ski and snowboard school and rental shop, also benefited from a number of improvements. Soon, this small resort started turning heads.

Today, Okemo stands as one of the Northeast’s premier ski areas, with 119 slopes, trails and glades totaling almost 650 acres of terrain spread over five mountain areas — Jackson Gore Peak, Solitude Peak, South Face, Glades Peak, South Ridge – and a 2,200 vertical drop (more than 95 percent of which is covered by the resort’s superlative snowmaking crew) serviced by 19 lifts. Free skiers and riders will be able to huck to their hearts’ content at any one of six terrain parks — including the top-to-bottom Amp Energy Super Park — and the Ross Powers Superpipe. Named after snowboarding legend and Olympic medalist Ross Powers, the superpipe got a facelift this past offseason, as crews increased its vertical pitch by 12 feet. The Okemo Ski + Ride School and the resort’s racing program have a long and laudable history, and the Penguin Playground Day Care allows parents to ski or ride worry-free.

However, the resort’s amenities extend far beyond skiing and snowboarding. The Muellers have never forgotten what first turned the resort around – an exceptional on-snow experience — but they’ve broadened that experience to accommodate a wide range of tastes. Now, guests will find a tubing park, an ice skating rink, a health club and massage services, an indoor golf center, shuttles between the different base areas, a slew of top-quality restaurants for virtually every taste and budget, and lodging options to match.

Okemo is, as my wife likes to say, a “one-stop skiing extravaganza.” The key, though, is that Okemo pulls it off without guests feeling overwhelmed. And that’s no small feat.

If you’re arriving on Friday night, and you’ve got a car full of kids, think about making reservations at Bella Luna Ristorante. A warm ambience and star-filled decor, coupled with solid but reasonably priced Italian fare, make Bella Luna a convenient carbo-loading station for the weekend’s adventures. If it’s just the two of you, you may want something a bit more private, such as the Inn at Water’s Edge in Ludlow or Harry’s Cafe in nearby Mount Holly. Then get a good night’s rest, because you’ll need it.

Saturday morning, expect to find a crowd gathering quickly at the main base area. Okemo’s reputation for top-notch overnight grooming is well-established, and people rarely dawdle in getting on the hill. If you plan to ski the entire resort, make a point to head quickly over to the 3,344-foot peak on Okemo’s South Face (the far left side, as you face the mountain). Stretch out beforehand, as the South Face has a bevy of black diamond and high intermediate trails that will serve as a quick-twitch wake-up call for your quads (though Dream Weaver, which skirts around the south boundary line, offers a gentle run-out). First runs on cruisers such as Wild thing, underneath the South Face Express Quad, and Stump Jumper just may be the best runs of the day.

“That’s what I would do if it was my day off,” said Dan Bergeron, director of Okemo’s acclaimed Ski + Ride School. “There’s also a good bump trail there — Punch Line — that a lot of people don’t go to, because they hit the bump trail on the main mountain. It stays in good shape.”

When the crowds start filtering in to South Face, usually between 10:30 and 11, you’ll want to migrate toward Solitude Peak or Jackson Gore, visiting the Summit Lodge for a quick refueling stop along the way. At Solitude, skiers and riders almost always can be assured of good snow on solid intermediate trails, highlighted by Heaven’s Gate. Call me biased, but carving big, GS turns on runs such as Exhibition and Sidewinder is one of the great pleasures of being outdoors in wintertime.

From the Jackson Gore area, at the far right of the resort, Big Bang and the gladed Black Hole are two disc-compressing double-black diamonds that will test your endurance and have you double-checking your trail map to make sure the peak is “only” 2,725 feet high. One of Bergeron’s favorite runs at Jackson Gore is a new trail, Rolling Thunder, which Okemo just opened last year next to the double-black gladed Supernova. “It’s considered a black, but it’s not terribly steep,” Bergeron said. “It’s just long, and they tend to leave that as natural bumps, so it skis a little easier than some of the seeded bump trails, which can get really tight and choppy.”

For beginners, or tired intermediates, Mountain Road provides a smooth path to the Clock Tower Lodge (or Solitude, via Village Run), though it can get crowded. Sachem, which runs alongside the Okemo Trailside Condos, is another main area beginner run that holds its snow well. At Jackson Gore, Tuckered Out does the trick for those with ski-weary legs.

The action, however, doesn’t wind down even after the sun sets, thanks to a number of terrific après ski watering holes and activities. The Jackson Gore area really comes to life, with tubing and ice skating in addition to the health club, complete with swimming pool. Need a break from the youngsters? The Ski + Ride School also offers a Kids Night Out from 6 until 9:30 on Saturday evenings at Jackson Gore. Open to children as young as 6 months up through teenagers (in either a day care or camp setting), Kids Night Out includes pizza and activities, including skating, swimming or tubing. In reality, it’s a euphemism for Parents Night Out. But no one at Okemo needs to worry about semantics. Rest assured, everyone will have fun.

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