Alba Adventures - Boston Ski Expo 2018

I am sorry to be a bit late with this thread, though as my dad would say to me, better late than never.

As some of you know, Alicia and I decided it might be a good idea to go to the Boston Ski Expo this year and from a personal standpoint, the kids, wife and I were a bit shocked as to how many people knew us. Being stopped a few times while roaming the halls was sort of a shocker and a boost for us. Though enough about us.

If you have not been to the show, its a must do event, at least for a day. With a ton of activity, deals, and information on all the places you can go.. And not just for adults, though for families too, this event has enough to keep your kids occupied for a good part of your day, in addition, the adults can feel stoked that Winter is upon us with all the amazing ski areas in the US to ski.

What we found were mountain managers and directors represented the larger resorts and the smaller resorts, you would find the owner of the mountain, talking to everyone. Everyone was friendly and all of them proud of being in the ski industry, though realizing its changing due to fickle weather. That these mountains have to adapt to these changes by offering more off-season types activities like mountain biking, or other adventure like things to keep their mountain busy. For the most part, it's still about the skiing for these places and it seemed like many of the mountains we were meeting with, were all going through some great improvements.

Alicia and I met some new companies like Whisper Ridge Backcountry Resort - that brought one of their awesome snowcats over - the kids loved their vehicle - and were begging me to buy one - like I can afford it -RIGHT....

In any event, Whisper Ridge offers now 70,000 acres of backcountry skiing! It was 60 until recently and where they are located in Utah, well it gets pounded with feet of snow. This place offers skiers and families some amazing options for skiing.

Now, I have not skied Utah, and we can't afford to do this type of adventure (yet) since at $550 a day per person, it is a bit outside (by a lot) of our pockets. Then again, if you have a bucket list, I would make this one a MUST do... I know we are planning to do this one day, though need to save many more nickels.

Here is an edit that we found on Ski Utah

Alicia and I had some amazing talks with our ski family staff at Killington and what they have planned over the next few years is amazing. For us, it is hard to think we used to hate skiing Killington now, it is our home. Pico obviously is the reason this changed our opinion of this mega resort and its so nice that Killington let's Pico be that family resort to escape from the larger resort. Knowing that if you have a K-Pass, that you can take advantage of all that Killington has to offer, though come back to its older sibling.

We also had another first; something that took us 5 years to do and that was meeting with Steve Wright, CEO of Jay Peak. Steve has always been supportive of our work and needless to say that was way way cool to finally meet him. Steve is a such a wonderful person to speak with and his passion for this sport, for Jay and its staff, is something to be respected. Needless to say, Jay Peak has a special place in our hearts.

Alicia and I also finally met with MARZNC - who we have virtually known now for about 5 years or so. It was so great to meet with her, her SkiDiva family and of course her daughter. It is funny how social media can make you feel close to people we don't really know. We hope that this Winter we can achieve another first, ski with her!

We met with the Vail Resort team and funny, for such a large organization, we could not believe how down to Earth their team and management were. Totally relaxed, that love this sport and seemingly it was not about margins or bottom line. It was about producing the best possible product at all costs. This was very interesting for us to hear from them. They are not about being the overlord (it seems), its about an opportunity and I got the sense it was about saving the ski industry... I think in some ways, their size can actually help the smaller resorts though at the same time, I am sure it puts the pinch on smaller resorts as its harder to justify the costs for a season pass when you can get an Epic Pass for as little at $700 with a ton of options.

Again, this is just an impression I got.

The event had some fun events like an indoor park and pipe event, some trampoline aerial skiing and prizes. Oh, and I forgot, a good amount of ski legends. John Guiffo got to meet with a few of them, including Tommy Moe who is a real down to Earth person.

Anyway, I do have more to write though I am in Florida right now working a conference. I hope that this has helped you all in some way.. Alicia put together a short edit - that can be found below.. Yes, there is a plug for the Alba Adventures so, don't be too surprised by that ;).

Lastly, sorry for any typos.. I am sure there are many.... Will get around to making those corrections later.

See you soon.

Nice video intro.  Gets some sense of the energy on Saturday.

I was also at the Boston Ski Expo last week.  My third in a row since my daughter started prep school near Boston and happens to have a long weekend around that time.  I spent even more time this year because I won't have an excuse to fly up to Boston after next June when she graduates.

I wandered about with another Ski Diva on Thursday afternoon and evening.  She's a local and left around 7pm.  We entered a bunch of the drawings for trips.  Came away with some BOGO and a couple of free tickets for small ski areas from playing a carnival game and proving an email address.  I had a good time talking to reps who weren't in a rush since not many people show up on Thursday.  Included the guys at Kulkea, which is based near Boston.  They make quality ski bags that are well thought out.  I got the Micro Pack at the show last year at a discount from the big ski shop that brings lots of inventory.  Their new product is a padded rolling double ski bag that long enough for 190s.

Whisper Ridge is very cool.  I talked with Dan and his son Cort in 2016 when they were getting ready for their first season.  By Thursday evening, the Expo was pretty empty so had a chance to talk with them quite a bit.  On my list when I go back to SLC for a mid-season stay.

The other person who was fun to talk with on Thursday was Geoff Hatheway of Magic.  He's pretty happy with the article in the October SKI Magazine.

Wow Ray thank you for the rundown.

I agree Steve is a really good guy and worth following on social media as he is funny as hell.

I know a lot of people were there this past weekend. It is probably something I "should" do but I just can't.  My family isn't really a skiing family anymore and I want to reserve my days away from them for skiing.  Sounds like a great experience for you though.

Really appreciate the effort to write this.

MarzNC - I edited this post actually not realizing you had already replied.

It was SO SO SO SO COOL to finally meet you. Crazy that it took us all these years... Now we need to ski together!

Alicia did that video off her phone.....

Harvey wrote

I know a lot of people were there this past weekend. It is probably something I "should" do but I just can't.  My family isn't really a skiing family anymore and I want to reserve my days away from them for skiing.  

Completely understandable.  I went on Thursday because I knew when I went with my daughter on Saturday, I wouldn't be able to spend as much time just chatting with people at resort and vendor booths.  DD is a skier who enjoys the Expo up to a point but isn't into gear or the ski industry as a hobby.  Plus there isn't any tele gear.  She asked the first time we went.

Meeting up with the Alba family was definitely a highlight for Saturday.  It was easier to do because of the special area sponsored by Sunday River called Her Turn that was geared towards women who are into skiing enough to get a ticket to spend a few hours at a ski show.  The Ski Diva herself was one of the invited guests so she was there on Friday evening and midday Saturday.

My teen daughter had a great time with Alicia and Nevada while I was meeting a few Ski Divas in person for the first time.

Here's some of the stuff I ended up with from Thursday afternoon.  The past couple years I went on Friday morning but this year the Expo didn't open until 3:00 on Friday and my daughter wasn't free until Saturday.  Saturday was much more crowded even in the first hour after things opened at 10:00.

* Gore 2-1 lift ticket
* Code for 20% off 4,5,6,7 day tickets for Big Sky, expires 11/16/18
* Nashoba lift or tubing ticket
* $5 off Nashoba lift or tubing ticket
* Ragged 2hr tubing (Grand prize is a season pass, grab "money" in the air game)
* Waterville Valley voucher for M-F lift ticket
* Wachusett show specials were pre-season prices (3-peat card $20 less, 10% Cow Card)
* Mount Snow had $59 flex ticket, $199 4-pack (transferable I think)
* Sugarloaf was offering 20% off on lodging for Ikon holders

Ikon mountains were well represented in general, there were Ikon flags all over. The Epic pass booth didn't seem too busy. It was next to Okemo and Sunapee.  Stowe booth wasn't very busy either.  MCP is there too.

Waterville Valley had a huge booth and assorted show specials.  Apparently a lot of upgrades in the last year or so.  Funny that an upper mountain chairlift has been replaced with a T-bar.  Not as likely to have to close due to high winds.

J Skis and 4FRNT were sharing a booth.  Had a drawing for two pairs of skis.  I assume one from each indie brand.  Learned that 4FRNT has a 3-day guarantee.  Return after skiing for 3 days and get a full refund.

Got to pick up the new Head ski boots.  Very lightweight because of graphene.  Also something called Liquid Fit in the liners.

Since the Boston Ski Expo is the only big ski show on the east coast, there were a few people from Canada as well as NYC.  (Used to happen when MacExpo was in Boston for a few years.)  The other Expo is in Denver next weekend.  Apparently last year the two Expos were on the same weekend.  That was a problem for the Kulkea folks.