Gore or Windham (Driving from NJ)

Because all the trails go to the bottom at Windham the crowd issue becomes much more pronounced since the crowds can't spread out and lift lines will be much worse than Gore.

I don't think Sir said what his ability is but assuming his kids are lower level that fits well with Gore.  As they get older and better drive an hour past Gore and go to WF.  In a Jay or Wilmington you can buy a nice place for reasonable $.  It's well worth it.  The Nysef program is top notch ( had the us and Canadian girls u16 national champions last season) and many families are doing that drive every weekend.

Vert. Vert. Vert. Sorry, had to.

So much going on here,,,, I can hardly get a vert in sideways !

Wait....Sideways vert........isn't that horizontal ? Ja !

Sounds like what young Sno is postulating, eh mein Harr ?

And vats all dis about Face being better for experts ? How so Snitzels ? Is it the vindswept ice ? Gore's off-piste baume are no walk along z Rhine, ya know. Cleavage (while fun) can be a bitch. Tit's no baby ! Nein! Leave a two-sie in your lederhosen.

And Rumor, skier's left.... om-pah-pah ! We launch the MC2 helo from there.

   

snoloco wrote

I have no problem with Gore's vertical increasing when they add terrain.  I do have a problem with it being falsely advertised which they do quite frequently.  

Adding the Ski Bowl to Gore's total vertical is outright BS, but every other place does the same thing. Of course you can ski all of Whiteface's vertical, but most of the bottom half sucks. Stowe's vertical is great, but not on a weekend when you're waiting forever on line for the Mansfield Quad. And who tries to ski all of Killington's vertical? I did Great Eastern from top to bottom when I was a beginner many, many years ago and knew right away that I'd NEVER do that (big yawn) again.

You want top to bottom vertical that doesn't suck, book a trip to Big Sky, or even Snowbird.

I haven't been to Windham or Hunter in over 10 years, but I always went midweek and never on weekends because of the legendary crowds. In addition to higher cost and time and fuel saved by going to Windham instead of Gore, factor in parking and lift-line waiting time.

Snowballs wrote

And vats all dis about Face being better for experts ? How so Snitzels ? Is it the vindswept ice ? Gore's off-piste baume are no walk along z Rhine, ya know. Cleavage (while fun) can be a bitch. Tit's no baby ! Nein! Leave a two-sie in your lederhosen.

And Rumor, skier's left.... om-pah-pah ! We launch the MC2 helo from there.

   

No talking about Cleavage!

My eyes are up here . . . on Rumor!

Spongeworthy wrote

Adding the Ski Bowl to Gore's total vertical is outright BS.

I don't know, the formula that always worked for me is subtracting the base elevation from the top elevation. Is the 20 seconds of skating on pipeline that bad for people?

Spongeworthy wrote

 My eyes are up here . . . on Rumor!

HAHAHA !

Snowballs wrote

Hats off to the people who endure those long drives to ski !

THIS!!

I truly don't know how those who drive 3+ hrs to ski do it......that would just drive me crazy

sirskier wrote

 

My pad is 20 mins away in chestertown, small one bedroom simple.  We spend very little time there.  Not too expensive at 1000 per month.  

 .

That's kinda funny ---- my mortgage is less than that.....guess everything is relative, or not

Easy answer:

Go to Windham the 3rd saturday of December ( I have been there 8+ years on the drive to or from to Kmart, when we recieved deep discounts from our then sister resort.).   Trails are skied off by 10:15am--to rock ice down the middle.   Hundreds of snotty kids in program, that will lap you as you wait in monster lines.     Then add the added expense.     I would not imagine it gets any better eventhough more terrain opens, more skiers come.  

Never had a day similar to this at Gore---not even close.  

I would consider Hunter long before Windham; but that is terrain based.   As someone mentioned, we don't know the level of skier or that of the family involved.   That said, if you have the cash, love spending it and chilling with the snooties while you wait in lift lines, or can pay program fees for cut lines,  Windham is your place.   They do have  a ski jump airbag.....LOVE ME SOME OF THAT.    

How would you measure vert instead?

At Gore did longest continuous I think that would Bear to base - 1700. Would you call BS on that because of skating on Ruby Run.

Snowballs wrote

Long drives after skiing raises the risk factor considerably. Falling asleep on the way home is an ever present danger.

Some signal here.

campgottagopee wrote

THIS!!

I truly don't know how those who drive 3+ hrs to ski do it......that would just drive me crazy

Easy. Ski this over boring boilerplate groomers. I'd rather not ski at all if it's icy groomers

skimore wrote

campgottagopee wrote

THIS!!

I truly don't know how those who drive 3+ hrs to ski do it......that would just drive me crazy

Easy. Ski this over boring boilerplate groomers. I'd rather not ski at all if it's icy groomers

You'll get NO argument from me

I'd rather ski groomers than damage my skis by bottoming out in the trees.  Since my skis are seasonal rentals, either me or my dad would have to pay a big damage fee if they were destroyed.  The only time I ski ungroomed trails is when there is a big storm and there is still a base underneath.

In this case, I would choose Windham over Gore because if I owned a 2nd house, I wouldn't want getting to it to be a 4 hour odyssey.  I have never had a ski condo because my dad and I like to vary the destination for our longer trips and because my mom doesn't enjoy skiing as much as my dad and I do, but if I did, I would get it at Windham rather than Gore.

Also, at Windham, the condos are right next to the trails.  At Gore they are a significant drive away and you still have to deal with the parking headaches if you don't arrive early.  At Windham, the condos are within walking distance to the slopes, some are ski in ski out.  

One of the major drawbacks to Gore is that you have to go all the way to Lake George which is 40 minutes away for good lodging options.  The closest hotels where my dad earns points are the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Resort which are both over 40 minutes away.  My dad earns points on the Hilton chain, Holiday Inn chain, and Marriott chain.  He stays in these whenever possible because not only does he earn points for a free stay, but because they are all the same, he knows what to expect.

I remember when we skied Killington and Pico last President's day that we were closer than we ever dreamed of to the skiing- 5 minutes from Pico and 20 minutes from Killington Skyeship Gondola.  I didn't even need to get up at the crack of dawn to get first chair.  When my dad and I skied Whiteface last spring, we stayed in Lake Placid and were also surprised at how close we were compared to Gore.  Of the 3 ORDA mountains, the only one with easy lodging is Whiteface because of Lake Placid.  For Gore, you can't stay in any of the larger resort hotels unless you drive 40 minutes away.  If you want to be closer, there are only a few small motels which can be hit or miss.  For Belleayre, Coach provided an accurate description of how hard lodging is there.  He was stuck staying 20 miles away at the Andes Hotel although he had a good experience there, and those who stayed at the roach motel which he referred to as the Colonial Inn were highly disappointed and some checked out the night they checked in.

snoloco wrote

I'd rather ski groomers than damage my skis by bottoming out in the trees.

OMFG!!!

If he keeps on skiing.  Some day he will look back on this and his face will turn red.


The three hill pass is the way to go.  When you are no feeling the drive head to Bell.  Use gore as your home base.  When spring comes head 1:15 up the road to whiteface.  

BTW whiteface is only 1/2 hour further than Gore.

Nothing wrong with Windam...its skiing.

tjf1967 wrote

The three hill pass is the way to go.  When you are no feeling the drive head to Bell.  Use gore as your home base.  When spring comes head 1:15 up the road to whiteface.  

BTW whiteface is only 1/2 hour further than Gore.

For me it's an extra hour.

But if someone else was driving, I wouldn't complain. Maybe Sno's dad likes really bad music?

edit to add: THANK YOU for the pow shot. Pow > Packed Pow > Groomers > Ice > Base Damage >  not skiing.

tjf1967 wrote

 

Nothing wrong with Windam...its skiing.

Exactly.....i dig it baby

skiing is just better than not skiing

that is all

ml242 wrote

edit to add: THANK YOU for the pow shot. Pow > Packed Pow > Groomers > Ice > Base Damage >  not skiing.

Depending on where we are in the season, I might change around your last 3 choices...Groomers, Ice and Base Damage.  If I had my rock skis, I might very well choose some light base damage if I can get some pow turns in the woods over icy groomers.  

ml242 wrote

 Pow > Packed Pow > Groomers > Ice > Base Damage >  not skiing.

Love this!