Is there a reason that driving somewhere that takes a travel day is not an option? Packing to fly, dealing with an airport, and then still needing a rental car, doesn't save much time in my opinion.
Timberline/CV would be a good long weekend trip. The place I'm staying next week has 2BR/2BA condos available for Feb weekends.
Driving in Vermont is like driving in WV in some ways. Although VT is better about clearing roads during a snowstorm. I drove around New England in March a few times for ski safaris the years my daughter was in school in Lake Placid or Boston. I often did the drive before/after her spring breaks, which were in March. Helped to have a flexible schedule so I could avoid roads because of a heavy snowstorm since I was driving a minivan with regular tires.
After Pres. Day, snow can be good in New England and finding reasonable lodging is easier. Note that the entire week after Pres. Day is an annual winter break for most schools in New England.
Mongo, are you still talking April? If you are going to get in an airplane at that time of the year you might as well go west. I've had some good skiing in New England in late March and April (Sugarloaf, ME, LeMassif, QC come to mind), but it is extremely hit or miss that late in the spring and those two are far north.
Whereas, April at Snowbird, UT is perhaps my favorite month of all because the snow remains quite good and the crowds go away. Airport to Alta/Bird is about 40 mins. A great many visitors do three-day trips to the area all winter long.
Snowbird, Apr 27, 2021:
Alta, April 12 2022:
Colorado can be very good in April too, but the ski areas are a little farther from the airport and the elevations are a little higher for flatlanders to adjust to for a short 3-day visit.
"Is there a reason that driving somewhere that takes a travel day is not an option?"
My son has gotten to the point where he wants all black runs all the time. When we go to Snowshoe now he only skis Western Territory. When we go to Killington (where we were after Christmas) he does Bear Mountain plus the blacks under the K1 gondola.
Killington is just a little bit too far for a weekend road trip - 9 hours from my house - and I'm at the point where driving that far after a day of skiing is a risk I don't like to take.
I don't know enough about the PA and non-Snowshoe mountains to know if the black runs would be "satisfying" to my son. (Length of time standing in line would also be a concern.) My suspicion was we'd have to go to a bigger mountain in New England to do that but I'm open to recommendations.
Part of the reason we haven't explored them is that we are Ikon members so we always go to Ikon resorts. But I will likely have to make an exception to that this spring.
Flying into Salt Lake city gives about the least amount of driving on the other end of just about anywhere. Also, you can stay pretty darn cheap just in Salt Lake city instead of up at the resort. The costs of the flights are often fairly comparable to flying up north. By the time you add all the costs of rental car, lodging, boarding pass, plus waiting at the airport, the extra few hours on the plane are a small extra price to pay for a tremendously better ski experience. I just have never thought it worthwhile to go up north by the time I get on a plane. I have done it a number of times mostly to Colorado, but also Utah where I fly out one day, ski two days, then fly back one day.
Mongo wrote:
"Is there a reason that driving somewhere that takes a travel day is not an option?"
My son has gotten to the point where he wants all black runs all the time. When we go to Snowshoe now he only skis Western Territory. When we go to Killington (where we were after Christmas) he does Bear Mountain plus the blacks under the K1 gondola.
Killington is just a little bit too far for a weekend road trip - 9 hours from my house - and I'm at the point where driving that far after a day of skiing is a risk I don't like to take.
I don't know enough about the PA and non-Snowshoe mountains to know if the black runs would be "satisfying" to my son. (Length of time standing in line would also be a concern.) My suspicion was we'd have to go to a bigger mountain in New England to do that but I'm open to recommendations.
Part of the reason we haven't explored them is that we are Ikon members so we always go to Ikon resorts. But I will likely have to make an exception to that this spring.
Helps to know the type of terrain of interest. Have you been to Windham or Hunter? From a black terrain standpoint, could work. But Saturday lift lines could be an issue.
Smuggs would be better than Stowe from a liftline standpoint. Plenty of black terrain, but slower lifts and a longer drive tends to keep people away. Slopeside lodging is available and probably less expensive than at Stowe.
Montage near Scranton has steep trails (on the lower mountain, base lodge is in the middle) and shorter lift lines than resorts like Blue and Camelback. I stopped by Blue in the fall just to walk around. Terrain on the upper mountain looked interesting. However, sounds very crowded on weekends. My friends who live in Philly have season passes at Montage for local skiing. They use Ikon for trips out west.
Would driving up to Lake George to ski Gore take less time than going to Killington? Should be less 2-lane road.
Have you heard of Plattekill?
Mongo wrote:
"Is there a reason that driving somewhere that takes a travel day is not an option?"
My son has gotten to the point where he wants all black runs all the time. When we go to Snowshoe now he only skis Western Territory. When we go to Killington (where we were after Christmas) he does Bear Mountain plus the blacks under the K1 gondola.
Killington is just a little bit too far for a weekend road trip - 9 hours from my house - and I'm at the point where driving that far after a day of skiing is a risk I don't like to take.
I don't know enough about the PA and non-Snowshoe mountains to know if the black runs would be "satisfying" to my son. (Length of time standing in line would also be a concern.) My suspicion was we'd have to go to a bigger mountain in New England to do that but I'm open to recommendations.
Part of the reason we haven't explored them is that we are Ikon members so we always go to Ikon resorts. But I will likely have to make an exception to that this spring.
Driving from Burlington to Jay/Smuggs/Stowe/Bolton is easy. The problem is flying to Burlington is always and I mean always ridiculously expensive.
For a short airplane ride and pretty easy drive Manchester NH is just down the interstate from many of the White Mountains resorts. Cannon should be on everyone's Eastern bucket list.
Hartford can be a cheap flight but a tad more driving, still manageable. Albany not too bad a drive to Southern Vermont but fares can be pricey.
Fly to Denver and get your days in at A-Basin and Copper, both are IKON.
Plenty of hard blacks to keep anyone busy.
Stay in Silverthorne which is located between both resorts. OR
Check out Sugarbush in VT instead of Stratton (too easy) or Killington (really big).
I'm heading there end of January to see what they're all about.
Good luck, and have fun exploring.
RodneyBD wrote:
Driving from Burlington to Jay/Smuggs/Stowe/Bolton is easy. The problem is flying to Burlington is always and I mean always ridiculously expensive.
For a short airplane ride and pretty easy drive Manchester NH is just down the interstate from many of the White Mountains resorts. Cannon should be on everyone's Eastern bucket list.
Hartford can be a cheap flight but a tad more driving, still manageable. Albany not too bad a drive to Southern Vermont but fares can be pricey.
What about flying to Boston and driving north? I would expect better flight options from DC/NoVA. Issue is not getting stuck in traffic leaving Boston and/or getting back to the airport.
Maybe fly to Portland, ME? The Maine Ikon resorts are not as crowded as VT/NH, even on weekends.
marzNC,
I've never been to Windham or Hunter. Never heard of them or Plattekill. Just not familiar with eastern NY ski areas.
Rodney,
"The problem is flying to Burlington is always and I mean always ridiculously expensive." - good to know.
I've flown into Portland to go to Sunday River before. Will probably do that at least once. The problem there is that every single time I fly there - every time! - fscking American Airlines forgets to put my skis on the flight, so I have to rent skis the first day and apply to AA for reimbursement.
As for Utah or Denver, my concern is the flight back. Fly out Friday from Dulles, that's easy, but then flying back on the Sunday the choice is either early AM flight (which means no skiing that day) or take the redeye and arrive Monday morning (which is never fun). But that may be the compromise I have to make this year.
Last time we went to Alta/Snowbird, I was really feeling the altitude the first few days. That might just be an old man problem, it didn't seem to affect my son at all.
For a sense of Plattekill, here's a link to the more recent posts in the on-going Plattekill Conditions thread on NYSkiBlog.
Note that Plattekill is only open Fri, Sat, Sun. Lifts are slow. Trees are often in play. It's about 1000 vert, but there is more than one trail that you get almost all the vert in one blow. Bumps are allowed to grow on a few trails. Usually one has bumps on one side while the other is groomed out so bailing is an option.
Plattekill is family owned/operated. Has plenty of snowmaking but also gets lake effect snow at times because it's farther west than the Catskill resorts (Windham, Hunter, Belleayre).
Snow Farmers - Vimeo documentary about Plattekill
Skiing Bolton Valley/Stowe/Mad River Glen/Sugarbush would be an especially convenient option if flying to Burlington from DC. My partner and I went to Bolton Valley between Christmas and New Year’s and really enjoyed it. It is a 10 hr drive (including short stops) from DC but only a half hour drive to the Burlington airport if you’re looking for convenience and are fine with paying a bit more (found the least expensive advance purchase flights are $350ish rt) for a flight. Flying into Hartford, Manchester, Albany, or Boston would be less expensive but also less convenient options. I’ve found the cheapest flights are to Boston at around $150-ish rt.
An alternative to flying to New England:
Amtrak could be a good option if you can work remotely from the train and therefore wouldn’t have to use vacation time on Friday/Monday. You could take the train out on Friday, ski all day Saturday and Sunday and take a Sunday evening or early Monday morning train to maximize your time. The WiFi on Amtrak has improved a lot over the years (or you could use a hotspot) and the seats/tray tables are quite comfortable. There’s the Vermonter (very long train ride from DC but it does stop in places convenient to skiing like Waterbury, VT near Bolton Valley or Stowe). Alternatively, you could take the Northeast Regional to NYC or CT and then rent a car and drive the rest of the way. I only am bringing this up because I was looking at the options to go to Mount Snow in VT in March. I checked Amtrak and train fares from DC to New Haven, CT are $33 one way per person. Significantly less expensive than flying!
Taking the train and then renting a car to drive the rest of the way could be much less expensive than taking even the cheapest flight into Boston Logan, especially considering you can bring skis onboard Amtrak without having to pay extra luggage fees. You would need to rent a car and drive a few hours to wherever you decide to go but this could present an excellent value. Not the most time efficient way to travel but if you can work from the train it could alleviate that problem. Just some food for thought.
Easy drive to Catskills - Belleyare/Plattekill/Hunter. Do your Saturday not at Hunter in Jan/Feb although in March crowds may be not a big issue. Should be good though March. Plenty of bed and breakfasts, rentals, hotels etc. near all the ski areas.
Until mid march PA and CNY areas would still be in play, it is an even shorter drive to Greek Peak and Elk than the Catskills - could add Montage or Blue Mountain for day 2 or 3.
You could fly or take the train to Albany which gets you very close to most Vermont and NY areas (1 1/2 hr to Gore or Mt Snow/Magic/Bromely/Stratton; 2hr to Whiteface or Okemo/Killington/Pico; 3hr to Sugarbush/Mad River). There should be rental cars right at both the train station and airport. Easy and fast train ride from NoVA/DC/MD (change at Philly 30th St or NY Moynihan both are now very nice). The train line to Albany is "high speed" and lot faster (100+mph) and frequent (hourly) than those through Vermont. I think you can schlep your skis right on the train into the overhead rack or at the end of the car - Amtrak even promotes this for skiing. Nobody really counts your bags or anything as long as it is not obscene. No security, no bag check, massive comfy seats, wifi, cafe. Should be plenty of flights to Albany as well. Albany traffic should be negligible compared to the I95 corridor.
abeski wrote:
IF you can be spontaneous, keep an eye on Blue Knob and IF they get absolutely dumped on with snow to the point where they open ALL the expert lower mountain terrain for the weekend, it is a very fun old school time and very inexpensive condos on site. Day trippable from DC. Best advanced skiing south of New York on but only on a good snowy day.
I keep hoping it'll line up some day, but I think that might happen every couple of years. I looked last Friday at the trail count, I think, and it was grim.
