Do you love or hate mountain creek?

I figure we needed a poll for this.

I also don't consider mountain creek to be a small ski area. It has 1000 vertical. It's medium sized for ec.
Lift tickets are outrageous though at 67 bucks midweek....are you KIDDING me? And no 2 hour quick ski options either, which is ridiculous for a close by ski area where sometimes people just want to go skiing for a few hours. Ski butternut/thunder ridge charge 25 bucks midweek for lift tickets for comparison. And ski butternut gets double the natural snowfall so better conditions.

That being said, I think location is one of the most important things when choosing your ski area. You'll get to go really often rather than driving hours and hours. It's nice NJ has a ski area.

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snoloco wrote

I will answer for everyone.

Why? Less is more.

If I lived in Northwest NJ I would go. I would even go just because I haven't been there since 1995 and I hear it's changed a lot. But I don't like skiing park so I will wait for a midweek nightski day with pow and short lines before I go.

There's no median between love and hate?

I mean, I don't hate it, it just sucks. Much like "Keeping Up With the Kardashians", Nickleback, and the Oakland Raiders. Just because it sucks, doesn't mean I hate it. I just prefer to go to other places . . .

Because it sucks.

Intrawest saw the potential and grabbed it. I skied there a lot when I was a kid and I loved it, this was when it was still Vernon Valley.

A lot of kids as Snoloco said don't need a ton of vert or gnarly terrain, all they need/want is a plce to hang with their friends, socialize, and ride some park. If you can create a good product of just that near a huge population center you have done good in my book.

I was never a park skier but I used to like hitting some of the big hits but as I get older I want less and even less to do with it than ever before. I do love the energy they have brought back to ski areas and skiing. You can be at a ski area in Ohio that has little to offer a skier into terrain but the kids can be skiing at the same level as the kids in Squaw Valley, at least in the park. That is pretty damn cool. I'm also amazed at what the standard levels are set at, the skiing today is like nothing I had ever imagined 15-20 years ago.

So, in a way, I really like MC. I don't want to ski there but I see the value in it.

Snoloco, don't be so set on not ever getting into freeskiing. The whole mountain with the right terrain and snow can be a terrain park. It is skiing and this sport has roots in skiing mountains, not lanes of artificial snow sculpted to perfection. It sort of takes away the mountain aspect when all you ski is groomers.

One of our sayings lately is keep the mountain in mountain biking. With all of the trails turning into larger sized bmx tracks a lot of us feel that a very cool aspect of the sport is being lost. That reminds me a lot of some of your comments pertaining to skiing.

snoloco wrote

I will answer for everyone.  The short version is that I love it for what it is.  Everyone else hates it.

I will answer for me. I don't hate it. I've never skied it. I don't know why I would, considering its size and location. It wouldn't even be on my radar if it weren't for your numerous posts about it. I don't have a problem with Mountain Creek, per se. I do think there are far too many posts about it.

I started my teaching career there.  I don't hate it.  It is what it is.  A feeder area in many ways.

What I am is sick of hearing about it.  It's not in NY and really is not worth talking about.  I find the little West Point ski facility more interesting.

It would be nice if thus was the last time it's discussed here.  Only chance of that happening is loco starts the NJ ski blog or get a girl friend.

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Sometimes the name of the web site is off, at least in retrospect.  NELSAP should be the NYNELSAP and this should be the Mid Atlantic/VT Ski Blog.  We certainly seem to have a heavy NY Metro/NJ lineage, and we like to talk about VT a lot, so I don't think we should exclude MC by any means.  We give lots of thought to Jay and so why not Jersey?  Having said that I would also like to point out that the one NY team, the Bills has more wins than the two New Jersey teams combined this year.  Getting back to skiing, if I'm in the downstate area, I can't imagine a scenario where I'd rather go to MC than spend the day in NY city, ever.  Greatest city in the world vs a crowded, tiny meh of a mountain.  

evergreen wrote

  Getting back to skiing, if I'm in the downstate area, I can't imagine a scenario where I'd rather go to MC than spend the day in NY city, ever.  Greatest city in the world vs a crowded, tiny meh of a mountain.

Yeah I'm complete opposite of you. I'd avoid nyc(a rat and crime infested overpriced crowded filthy hell hole) like the plague and hit up mountain creek. lol

evergreen wrote

this should be the Mid Atlantic/VT Ski Blog

I liked NYSkiBlog better than NYSkierBlog so I snagged it. New York Skiers are primarily from NY and NJ. That's a fact that represented by our audience - 65% are NY/NJ. New York Metro 30% and Capital District 15%.

Like skiers from around the country, NY Skiers also ski in other states.

And even if you can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the name is wrong, I'm not changing it. I'm like that.

Harvey wrote

evergreen wrote

this should be the Mid Atlantic/VT Ski Blog

...New York Skiers are primarily from NY and NJ. That's a fact that represented by our audience - 65% are NY/NJ. New York Metro 30% and Capital District 15%.

I don't hate mountain creek, I just HATE hearing about it very other post. My home mountain is blue in pa which is very similar to mountain creek in a lot of ways (although much better with both a high speed quad and six-pack) but I don't feel the néed to post about it in the NYSKIBLOG!!!!
It's a shame too because I enjoyed sno's perspective but now typically skip over his posts and the endless mc drivel

I've never been there nor would I ever go there due to where I live.  I get it and it makes sense to cater to local kids in the park.  It is annoying to hear about the place because it will never be on my radar.  $67 sounds cheap for rich city folks whose parents buy their passes.  But like Loco said it's crowded so surely they wouldn't mind paying even more.  I say raise the lift ticket into the $80 range and try to eliminate a little of the traffic there.  

Add me to the legions that spent a lot of time at Vernon Valley/Great Gorge, now known as Mountain Creek. Living but 15 minutes away and previously having a practice with a view of the Great Gorge South (Bear Peak now?) summit lift, I still spend several weekdays there each season. I avoid it like I would a hooker with open sores on weekends and nights, though.

Like so many other lower minor league ski areas, one has to view Creek for what it is. The limited vertical provides for 8 minutes on a lift, 2 and a half minutes on a trail. I must admit that the snowmaking system that Intrawest installed makes for a usually decent man made surface. There are a couple of trails in the Granite Peak area (Grand Prix, Pipeline) that provide legit pitch to them, albeit for short duration. Pipeline seems to only open every-other-winter and at best for a few days.

I agree that it is an ingenious marketing ploy to have designated a significant portion of the property as terrain park. While doing so has taken some of the more picturesque trails out of play for free skiing/riding, the segregation makes for a better experience for both the park rats and the rest of the clientele. Sure, the finally updated Sojourn lift and trail provides for connection between the two pods that make up Mountain Creek, the two worlds remain essentially apart.

This thread is kind of funny to me, coming from pancake flat Ontario.  We would kill for 1000 feet of vertical.  I think the highest vertical in Ontario is Blue Mountain (another Intrawest resort) and it's about 650 I believe.  I go there pretty much every weekend because it's the best option.  Its a 2 hours drive (125KM) from Kitchener, Ontario.  I personally love it the same way that Snoloco loves MC.  If I could I would move there,. There are other benefits like have a picture post card town , miles of beaches and amazing road cycling roads.  I won't even mention the mountain biking and hiking trails.    

On the other side of the coin I grew up in London, Ontario.  We had this little hill that was 135 vertical feet.  I learned to ski there and it sparked the fire for my love of skiing.  At that time it was 350KM to Blue Mountain and 4+ hour drive.  Needless to say I was stuck at my little ski hill because I was too young to drive and my parents didn't ski.  That being said I can't thank them enough for the countless hours they spent driving me to "Boler Mountain"

Claude  

gorgonzola wrote

I don't hate mountain creek, I just HATE hearing about it very other post.

+1

The constant MC banter is one of the reasons I find myself posting here less and less...

I have skied there twice. Once was my first time on skis, and the second time was because I received a free weeknight pass. I will not ski there again unless I was offered another free ticket (and this is coming from a NJ resident). One reason is the "gondola"...a cattle car is a more apt comparison for that sorry excuse of a people mover. For my money, it's worth driving 90 minutes further to go to Platty. I'll compare it to grocery shopping- Shop Rite is the closest store to where I live, but I prefer to drive a little further to go to Wegmans for better selection and better quality. I have accepted MC for what it is and chosen to move on...to a better mountain!

I'm an infrequent poster but a regular reader of this blog & I've enjoyed reading Snoloco's Mountain Creek trip reports, updates etc. Coming from Long Island NY, MC is the closest major ski area for me & is where I first tried skiing back in the 80's when it was known as Vernon Valley/Great Gorge so I have a lot of affection for the place. I ski there 3 times a year on a triple play card which is a great value for me. So I fall into the "I love MC" category.

I don't hate it but never considered going there even though I am only an hour away.

njadk wrote

One reason is the "gondola"...a cattle car is a more apt comparison for that sorry excuse of a people mover.

Then ride the park at South.  North is boring.