December 16, 2010
20 trips you need to take
The very best of the New England skiing world isn't that far away
by Tony Chamberlain/
Wildcat Mountain (photo: Chris Dow/Courtesy of Wildcat Mountain)
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the December 2010 issue of New England Ski Journal.
Long destination trip. Short day trip. Big group of family and friends. Small group or doing the loner thing. There are all kinds of ski trips in the course of a season, and some are in the fit-one, fit-all variety. In no particular order, here are 20 trips you should mark on your calendar for this season.
My good friend Dave, a lawyer, has, um, rather flexible hours, and as a ski writer, well you can guess. One of our favorite routines — we tried to make it weekly — was to meet at a ski area near enough the city to fit in 10 quick runs before resuming our life on the clock.
One of our faves was Wachusett in Princeton, Mass. Just 50 miles from Kenmore Square, this is not only convenient as a “local” ski area, it also skis like the biggies to the north. Proving once again that ski areas don’t really need much more than 1,000 feet of vertical to wind some fine runs down a hill — in this case 22 of them.
The longest is 1½ miles, Balance Rock, which winds at a leisurely pace, as opposed to the two signature black diamond shots — 10th Mountain and Smith Walton. The latter has you wondering what the designation is all about as it gently pitches into the run, then pulls the rug out in short order.
After our 10 runs, Dave and I usually repair to the cafeteria, which has superior burgers and waffle fries, or the Balance Rock Coffee Company (both on the base lodge first floor) for some strong coffee and a Panini sandwich.
Wachusett also is devoted to family and club skiing, and makes amazing use of the clock — skiing from sunup to long after sundown under the lights. The ski school for kids and older learners is first rate, and the prices on the low side. A lift ticket on weekends and holidays is $56, though this is the least wise way to buy a ticket. For something completely novel, check out the Wachusett ski train that chugs (well, not exactly) out of Boston’s North Station on weekend days December through March.
Pushing further north, Loon, like Waterville Valley can get slammed with crowds on weekends, and largely for the same reason. They offer the closest big-mountain skiing to Boston. These areas are comparable in size and price, with most of the terrain offerings in the blue cruise variety, but both with sufficient steep bumps to qualify as genuine black diamond.
Cannon Mountain (N.H.): This is a standard for generations of skiers in the no-nonsense, no-frills, ski-fast school. State run, with few surrounding amenities, Cannon, at 2,180 of vertical, has always had a reputation for toughness, but there is lots of delightful cruising for the solid blue and barely black skier and rider. And much of that depends on whether the surface has been burnished by the bellowing NW winds through the valley. The gondola always strikes you as the best way up a mountain. Interesting this season is how newly reminted companion Mittersill will develop in the future. Billed as a back country bushwhacking ski experience, the area has installed a double chairlift, but still no snowmaking. Some fear the increased skier traffic could overwhelm the pristine backcountry feel, especially on new pow days. For those looking for that pure experience, the lift won’t go in until after the New Year, so there’s still a chance when the first snow flies this season. 603-823-7771 www.cannonmt.com
Bretton Woods (N.H.): Every year, this area in the heart of New Hampshire’s north-of-the-notches high country just gets better. Most know it as the easier, somehow less foreboding of the White Mountain offerings, but then latter day operators have tried to distance Bretton Woods from the days it offered “Low stress skiing.” What this meant is that your hotshot kids want to take the shuttle bus over to Cannon for the day rather than snooze one more run down Granny’s Grit. All that said, the newest trail offerings at Bretton Woods are ungroomed tree shots with some truly steel faces, along with a couple of real quick groomed shots down pleasingly steep faces over ego snow. This year look for more expansion into the Stickney Mountain area with 30 acres of backcountry and glade skiing. The newly refurbished bass lodge offers cafeteria fare or very decent dining in a top-floor restaurant. And those staying at the historic and lofty Mt. Washington Hotel will discover the essence of self-indulgence.
Wildcat (N.H.): In any argument over the most beautiful trailside views in skicountry, this classic White Mountain legend would be prominent in the discussion. From midmountain, one cannot help but view across Pinkham Notch to the Huntington Ravine of Mount Washington itself, New England’s largest. For many years, Wildcat, privately owned, understated its development and infrastructure, delivering just the pure skiing experience generations came to think of as a landmark in the sport. Now Peak, a management corporation, has purchased Wildcat, leaving its fiercely loyal devotees holding their collective breath to see what changes a big money ski corp will visit on their beloved legend. But if it shakes up the comfortably familiar, change should also improve Wildcat, and Peak has already unveiled plans for some much needed rehab to the base area and new snowmaking. And since Peak also owns Attitash, also a White Mountain area, surely some interchangeable ticket deal will be in the offing. 888-754-9453, www.skiwildcat.com
Jay Peak (Vermont): Rawboned terrain off this 4,000-foot Northeast Kingdom is the big draw that brings Quebec skiers across the border, and it stands as one of the fine destination trips from lower New England. Jay has always felt a little European with the Montreal influence. With the continued growth, particularly the 100 acres of dense glades — which has been everyones’ watch word for the last decade — Jay is one of those something-for-everyone ski resorts. The quaint and somewhat restricted Hotel Jay is being replaced by a 170-unit slopeside hotel that will feature an indoor water park. Also, for off-slope amenities, Jay has built a NHL-size rink, and added a new magic carpet ride for beginners. But the new veneers at Jay do nothing to alter its real nature. Here is all you need to know to understand the Jay character: on March 7 they will hold the 30th annual George Syrovatka Downhill race, in which local skiers don helmets, get out the long boards, and hit speeds pushing 80-miles an hour through a true downhill course. It is the only such race in the country. 802-988-2611, www.jaypeakresort.com
Stowe (Vermont): The very name rings with skiing royalty, and indeed in the decades after its founding some 70 years ago, Stowe was the queen of New England ski resorts. Whatever amenities it was behind in developing, and even during periods when other newer areas stole the headlines, Stowe was always Stowe. It’s not the largest, does not make the most snow or chop up its trail map in order to claim runs by the hundreds. But, Stowe has the irreducible element of great terrain, perhaps the greatest. Few mountains anywhere can offer anything remotely like the Front Four. Stowe also averages 300 inches of snow yearly. And, if you are up for a North Country pampering, the new Stowe Mountain Lodge is, in short, magnificent in every way. Even enough to restore the very name Stowe to its position atop the throne of eastern skiing. 802-253-4754, www.stowe.com
Smugglers Notch (Vermont): Many ski resorts have a Jekyll and Hyde personality, but none quite so pronounced as this sprawling resort in northern Vermont. On one hand is the average family from the Boston burbs who love the polish, the kid-oriented programs and living conditions (wonderful game-roomy condos), the wide open gentle cruising and excellent learning environment. Then there’s the dark side of Smuggs, the wild side. Here are the super-steep terrain, the steep and deep glades with these forever runs through some of Vermont’s greatest vert. One of the best techniques for skiing or riding Smuggs, especially on a big pow morning, is to follow some known locals (you’ll spot them) and see where they get their milk run kicks in the deep woods. 800-451-8752, www.smuggs.com
Killington: What is there left to say about this, the largest ski area in New England, and one that provides the most of every product and service concerning skiers and riders? The Big K is spread over seven peaks and down 3,000 vertical feet — largest vertical in New England. What it all really means is that there’s something here for everyone — except, perhaps, the intimacy of a quiet country inn. The K-1 Express gondola brings you to Killington Peak at 4,250 feet, the kind of altitude that preserves snow. On big pow days, you won’t find solitude riding this lift as the powder hounds flock to K-1 for a descent in the amazingly deep glades. This is just one extreme — from big bumpus runs to long cruisers down a hero-packed white runway, Killington fits all moods and skill levels.
Even the hottest riders in your clan will have all they can handle in the 430-foot long Superpipe with its 18-foot walls on Bear Mountain. A well-designed terrain park leads down to the Superpipe. In the après ski hours, Killington sports one of the most famous hot spots in eastern ski country — Wobbly Barn and Pickle Barrel, not child-appropriate, and not quiet getaways. Like all of Killington, just mega-fun. 800-734-9435, www.killington.com
Mad River Glen (Vermont), which shares a valley with Sugarbush, still parades forward under the banner (or bumper sticker) “Ski it if you can”, trying to emphasize its flinty devotion to the good old days when skis were long, snowmaking and grooming uninvented. If you’re used to groomed white parking lots, Mad River really is gnarly and tough to ski and ride, giving some currency to that old admonition to map up and ride the old single chair. (Actually the old one has been replaced by a new model). Actually, Mad River is the only cooperatively-owned ski area in the east, standing not only as an example of the “good” olde days in the sport, but also what an area looks like when its owners personally saved it from bankruptcy. 802-496-3551, www.madriverglen.com
Sugarbush: The nickname Mascara Mountain once clung to this mountain because its founding in the ‘60s with lots of New York glamour and Mr. Ski Glam himself (in his day) Stein Eriksen (Norway’s Olympic gold medalist) right in the middle of things. Well, Sugarbush never quite became “Aspen of the East”, but much more importantly this year the readers of Ski Magazine ranked its terrain #1 for terrain variety. That’s no small accomplishment, and for most ski groups it’s one of the very important considerations — there’s something for everyone. This year Sugarbush spent $10 million in developing two new “skier services buildings” (once called lodges) and kept extending the snowmaking system, though the area gets plenty of natural snowfall. This resort has real beauty to it as well, with one view from Panorama across the expanse of the Champlain Valley to the Adirondacks and Whiteface Mountain at Lake Placid. 802-537-8427, www.sugarbush.com
Okemo: Before current owners, Tim and Dianne Mueller bought and developed Okemo in the early ‘80s, the comfortable mountain above Ludlow Vermont was a nice, small local area known as a “sleeping giant.” Which the Muellers not only woke up, but turned into one of the largest ski resorts in New England. Taking a page from Les Otten’s development of Sunday River, the major emphasis was on snow quality, and if the terrain has some sameness to it — largely open hero cruising — the grooming and snow quality is superb. 802-228-1600, www.okemo.com
Stratton (Vermont): Stratton, known for its New York styles and high-priced boutique village shopping, also has become the heart of the eastern snowboard scene. Not that the ski terrain is anything but varied and well-finished, how snowboarding happened here has lots to do with Jake Burton and at least something to do with the fact that the area had terrain parks before most people ever heard of them — let alone what a “jib” is. Each year upwards of 15,000 fans turn out to the U.S. Open snowboarding championships to see the best, the Whites, Clarks, and Powers leap out of the 18-foot superpipe wall high into the night sky. 802-297-4211, www.stratton.com
Saddleback (Maine): For two decades doing battle against the Appalachian Mountain Club, Saddleback, once the peer of neighboring Sugarloaf, became all but forgotten. Except for local skiers from Farmington to Rangeley, this big brute of a mountain was largely unknown. But in the first few years of new ownership, and post-legal problems, Saddleback has reannounced itself as the newly arrived big guy on the block. At 2,000 feet of vertical, this mountain, whose summit overlooks amazing views of the fabled Rangley Lakes region, is a must-ski. 207-864-5671, www.saddlebackmaine.com
Sugarloaf (Maine): With rarely a slowdown in its own fortunes, Sugarloaf also is a distant destination for Boston area skiers. But one most have come to believe is worthwhile. The Loaf always has inspired the kind of loyalists that are hooked from the first time they come around “Oh my gosh corner” on the access road to view this monster snowcone capped with untrammeled snowfields. What people love is the huge variety of terrain, naturally, the gritty toughness of some parts, smooth-flowing long cruisers in others, and the ambiance of a friendly, no-nonsense mountain town suffusing all. There’s even some panache to the phrase “The road to the Olympics goes through the Narrow Gauge.” (Bode Miller, Emily Cook, Seth Wescott, Kirsten Clark and other Olympians all trained on this trail while students at Carrabasset Valley Academy).
But Da Loaf this year embarked on a 10-year master plan (Brackett Basin and Burt Mountain) that will basically double the size of Sugarloaf making it the largest ski resort in the East. 207-237-2000, www.sugarloaf.com
Sunday River (Maine): It’s hard to recall the intense sniping that once went on between these two Maine giants, because Sugarloaf and Sunday River are both now owned by the Boyne Company of Michigan. Sunday River is a wide ski area spread across seven peaks, requiring about half a day to get from one end of the ridge line to the other. But it’s well worth the effort. For sheer variety of terrain and scenery, all Sunday River’s separate mountains deserve the effort, especially when looking for your special run — the one that fits your taste and ability. It will be here.
As it always has since the Les Otten days, this ski area prides itself on a huge focus on snowmaking and grooming. The resort is bordered on each side by its own hotels — Grand Summit at South Peak and the Jordan Grand at Jordan Bowl. Both of these are serviceable hotels with restaurants, bars, and ski in/ski out access. For driving, this area is a bit closer to Boston than Sugarloaf, but not much. 207-824-3000, www.sundayriver.com
Butternut Basin (Massachusetts): This is an entirely unheralded ski area in the Berkshires that began as a family mountain in the ‘60s, and has remained a low-key gem in that niche ever since. The prices are low and the terrain is extremely pretty, and oriented to New England cruising along tight trails and switchbacks and open slopes. Full price (no-blackouts) for a season adult pass is an incredible $275, with children and seniors just $100. This year, with 30 more snowmaking guns, Butternut now has 100 percent coverage over its 1,000-foot vertical drop. As is often said, skiers only use 1,000 feet at a time. 423-528-2000 www.butternut.com
Jiminy (Massachusetts): Jiminy Peak is the largest of the Berkshires and a must visit in western Mass. From lodging to dining, all manner of alternative recreations, Jiminy is complete. From zip lines to mountain coasters and adventure parks, Jiminy is especially good for family with young kids and those with varied enthusiasm for a steady diet of ski terrain. In fact, Ski Magazine includes Jiminy in the top five eastern resorts for family destinations. 423-738-5500, www.jiminypeak.com
