Best Mountain in So VT

Platty skiier's TR got me thinking...

I'd like to know what people think is the best mountain in VT, south of Killington.

The only mountain I've ever skied in SoVT was Stratton and with that drive, I much rather go to Kmart, or even closer Gore, or even closer Plattekill.

Back on topic...Magic? Who is best? Who is second.  Your opinion. Trees, terrain, snow, whatever.

I really like Mt Snow.  Good terrain, close, great snowmaking, some awesome trees.  They get hit with storms.  I gotta get back there.

Magic

/thread

Much as I despise the base area and general feel of Stratton, once you get onto the trails, they are surprisingly nice. From my limited experience of one spring day there with limited terrain, I could easily see the potential for a sleeper mid-week glade powder day. For my personal tastes, not worth dealing with the resort. But I could see someone living relatively close to Stratton enjoying it for what it is if they could over look the resort atmosphere (and especially for someone that enjoys that type of thing).

Okemo does nothing for me.

Mount Snow has some interesting skiing on the North Face. I think skiers would be better served driving a little further to NoVT, though. Too bad Haystack is no longer open to the public and barely seems to be off the ground as a private, they had some interesting terrain.

Bromley is an interesting little place. Nothing steep at all but the fixed grip quad services a nice area with mellow black diamonds facing into the sun. Pretty low key area, probably great for families looking to escape the crazy mega resort skiing that Stratton, Okemo, and Snow offer but still have reliable snow making and a high speed lift unlike Magic.

With exception of Magic, my preference is a big "pass" on SoVT as mostly big resorts dedicated to CT/NYC area skiers that don't want to travel further to ski better mountains. Many lovers of those areas will disagree, but that is my opinion.

Killington.

sorry.

Should have defined this... I was originally thinking of SoVT as mountains south of Killington.

In my brain Kmart is the most southern mountain in Central VT.

Well, Stratton is a bore, and, Magic is only good if it snows. So, well, get an extra shot in the Venti, ALWAYS obey the speed limits, and,well, Killington. But, if it snows, Magic.

My 2 cents.  I like Mount Snow and I think you would too Harv.  Fun trees.  There's a TR on my blog from March 2010 you can check (too lazy to link).  I also like Bromley, fun family mountain (TR on my blog), but I think the terrain at Mt Snow is a notch better, particularly the north side of Mount Snow.  Stratton is OK, but IMO many of the trails seem similar to one another and there's not a lot of real challenging terrain.  Plus the base "village" is obnoxious.  Good snowmaking, HS lifts and grooming however (TR on my blog).  Okemo is lowest on my list.  Boring. I haven't skied Magic, which is a large hole in my resume. Could easily be the #1 on my list in good snow conditions.

#1 Mount Snow
#2 Bromley
#3 Stratton
#4 Okemo

Magic with natural, probably great. I love the North Vermont places but coming from.mid Hudson Valley it only once or twice in a winter that I will go that far ,K is even to far as I get old and if I'm going to K then I just drive to SB. Of Stratton, Mount snow, Okemo, I like My snow the best, x expert trails on north face are nice with  glades next to them, lots of chairs. No run outs, lots of crusing blue runs, good food, great owners not the ASC. Close enough for a day trips.

  A few years back I had planned hitting Stratton to start a VT trip, only because I had a BOGO. I was then going to head north. Stratton had just got a foot, places north got less, and it was cold, 5° highs. I found out I could do ski and stay at Stratton for $59, so we ended up doing 2 1/2 days there. It was great, zero crowds, great conditions, beautiful views, my pictures looked like postcards. Would I rather be somewhere more challenging? Sure, but it was a great skiing experience. I had been to Stratton before, and pretty much written them off. I don't think I'd enjoy it much on a busy weekend, the staging area for the gondola makes me queasy.

  Does the Mad River Valley qualify as So VT? If so, I vote for either MRG, or Sugarbush. If not, I'd have to say K. I've never skied Magic, I think I'll try to hit them enroute to Sugarbush and MRG this year. I hope to get to Mt Snow eventually, too much on my plate this year, thanks FOX 44.

Cornhead wrote

  Does the Mad River Valley qualify as So VT? If so, I vote for either MRG, or Sugarbush.

If only. I wish. I mean, the only reason I ski KMart so much is that it's an hour (in good weather) closer than those two.

If the Bush was in South Vermont that be heaven, and I would go their all the Times. For me South VT. Is anything south of K, K is  to Bush is central VT. , Bolton and other North of their is north VT. Epic but need 3 days weekend which I get like very little vacation time.

Grew up skiing "Big Bromley" and I still enjoy the old charm of the mountain and base lodge. I think the east side has more pitch than anything at Stratton except World Cup which is very short. We live in Fairfield County CT and the Stratton/Bromley/Okemo trifecta are the Fairfield County Alps.

A few years ago we committed to Whiteface/Lake Placid and it is definitely worth the extra hour in the car.