Best Cruising Ski Runs (East Coast)

Agree with Foxlair to Sunway to Quicksilver, first run almost every morning, while waiting for the rope to drop.   Then back to the Gondi to remove the white patches from the face.

Gore , Fox-Sun-Quick, Showcase and old Twister. I used to ski mostly midweek, so bomb 'em. On old twister, I used to exit the triple, tuck until some slope on twister was reached and let the Snowballs Fly ! Woo Hoo !

One year after Uncas opened, it was groomed nice, nobody there and I made 5-6 runs virtually bombing it. Way fast. I got to thinking " if you fall at that speed ". It was awesome fun, almost addicting, but looney. I don't go that fast anymore. Friggin nuts.....but fun!!!

sudsnbumps wrote

I just would rather not cruise

I'm in the "rather not cruise" mindset, too, but I just dropped in to say that the best cruisers in the east are at Sugarloaf. Hayburner and Narrow Gauge are sweet, but there are good ones all over the mountain.

Good cruisers to me are wide but not too wide, steeper blues but not too steep. Lots of bends are good but too many are bad (i.e. Upper Cannon at Cannon and Jester at Sugerbush are TERRIBLE cruisers, let the comments fly!). Conditions should stay good throughout the day (thus the "not too steep" comment, because steeper groomers get skied off damn quick, Big Dipper at Burke as an example). Traffic should be manageable throughout the day to prevent excessive condition degradation (looking at you Lynx at Wildcat, perhaps the best cruiser in the northeast excepting its horrible conditions after an hour of skiing). The trail should manage traffic well so everyone has plenty of elbow room. Not many intersections is also helpful. A few off the top of my head...

Attitash: Wandering Skis (still blown away by this one!)
Saddleback: Silver Doctor, Blue Devil, Red Devil
Burke: East Bowl (Willoughby used to be top notch, but it was widened & too much traffic due to the HSQ)
Wildcat: Polecat
Stowe: Hard to beat Nosedive, Perry Merrill, and a few others
Owl's Head: Hard to name any specific trail. This place just rips for high speed carving.

mattchuck2 wrote

I'm in the "rather not cruise" mindset, too, but I just dropped in to say that the best cruisers in the east are at Sugarloaf. Hayburner and Narrow Gauge are sweet, but there are good ones all over the mountain.

I still have yet to hit the Loaf on a good day. The times I have been there, the groomers got scrapped down really quick. But that might be because all options were not on the table and ungroomed was quite firm, so perhaps folks were not scattering as much as usual. I definitely saw the potential, though. I'd like to get back there for a spring day at some point. I suspect that mountain really shines in April.

riverc0il wrote

Attitash: Wandering Skis (still blown away by this one!)

I titled an article after it but forget to include in my list!

riverc0il wrote

Owl's Head: Hard to name any specific trail. This place just rips for high speed carving.

Agreed, an underrated hill for a one-day visit and there are some nice trees there too.

Twister and Echo. If you get to ski midweek you can really let the skis run. I love that.

Fox-Sun-Quick, Showcase and old Twister.

Fox>sun>quick, sort of sounds like something I once wrote on a cassette tape.  Alpine Valley, Second set perhaps?!
Those that know what I'm talkin about know what i'm talkin about :-)

How about ski set lists for a day at the mountain using slopes instead of songs?  1st set pre-lunch, 2nd set afternoon?

A sunny 45 degree late March day down Showcase...how can that be beat?  Though it seemed more interesting as a kid, I always enjoy it.  Sagamore is a great one is well....the two decent pitches give you just enough zip to make it exciting.

Gorefarmhouse wrote

Fox-Sun-Quick, Showcase and old Twister.

Fox>sun>quick, sort of sounds like something I once wrote on a cassette tape.  Alpine Valley, Second set perhaps?!
Those that know what I'm talkin about know what i'm talkin about :-)

How about ski set lists for a day at the mountain using slopes instead of songs?  1st set pre-lunch, 2nd set afternoon?

help>Slip>Franklin's

First run of the day- Excelsior....before anyone else is on, the S turns are fun and get your legs moving....drop the back pack off at Mid Mountain, hit the Gondi before 9-  then approach to Thruway to Drapers Drop...(assuming you beat NYSEF to it)....otherwise mt run and cut over to Boreen....once the legs are awake- Look Out chair and enjoy Wilmington with goal of beating the line build up at the Gondi....if there is a line- face lift to the summit quad to Skyward...that is a nice plan to start a day...

and then find the snow in the woods.