How Diverse was your season

  Now that Lift served season has ended in NY, how diverse was your season?

      My season I skied 26 days lift served at 11 different ski areas.  Two cross country days Skied in 3 states and two different countries. Skied at least one day with all of my four children and wife. Brought a newbie skiing and taught her how to ski.
   Skied at least a half day on four different ski boots and 6 different pairs of skis.  Skied in parts of 6 months and drove anywhere between 30 minutes and 7 hrs to get to the skiing.What did you do this season?

My season to date was pretty normal for me without much variety, 35 days:

12 Gore
08 Plattekill
08 Nordic
02 Magic
02 North Creek Ski Bowl/BR
01 McCauley
01 Killington
01 Belleayre


I did get one new area, Magic.  That is always a goal.

I haven't quantified it, but I am sure that I got more pow this season, far more, than I have ever before. At least 8 days were powish and because those days were mostly Plattekill, Magic and McCauley these weren't Pow Hours, but true Pow Days.

Some good corn days too.

Very satisfied.

Did pretty good:

Whiteface
GORE
Le Brevent-La Flegere
Courmayeur
Belleayre
Plattekill
Ski Land, AK
Various backcountry in the ADKs

27 days

Gunny, I skied 22 days, all cross-country, at 7 different venues. Couple local venues were 15 minutes away; the furthest was Mount van Ho at ~5 hours.  Six different pairs of skis; I prepped a 7th but never used them.  Didn't bring any newbies out.  But if I see a newbie struggling, and they appear open to it, I offer technique feedback.

Working Saturdays, illness, and family obligations cut out some opportunities, but that's to be expected when living in the flatlands.

All in all a good season.

Geez. Thank you multi mountain passes.

Killington (duh)
Gore
Bellayre
Whiteface
Catamount
Okemo
Sugarloaf
ABasin
Copper
Loveland
Steamboat
Jackson
Targhee
Big Sky
Bridger Bowl
Snowbasin
Alta
Brighton

It’s crazy how many ski areas you have back east that are within a day visits driving distance. Thats not really a thing out here.

I did manage two trips to the San Juans. Those areas are only 5 or 6 hours away.

Overall it wasn’t much of a season in the south west. I only squeezed out 26 days and that was mostly due to the fact that I was going to spend time with my daughter. Luckily im still feeling satisfied from last year where I got around 85 days in and tons of powder skiing.

One thought on those multi resort passes or being a day tripper that likes to go to lots of different places is that you might be missing out on one of the most enjoyable aspects of skiing imo and that would be community. Having a season pass to your home hill can be a really special experience where life long friendships develop, its like family or walking into Cheers where everybody knows your name. Im not trying to take away anything from you guys or this thread, its just a random thought.

i get that AZ. most of my days are plattekill , gore or magic. sprinkle in a few back country days. whoever has the best conditions. all have a good vibe and usually you can find someone to take some laps with

raisingarizona wrote

One thought on those multi resort passes or being a day tripper that likes to go to lots of different places is that you might be missing out on one of the most enjoyable aspects of skiing imo and that would be community. Having a season pass to your home hill can be a really special experience where life long friendships develop, its like family or walking into Cheers where everybody knows your name. Im not trying to take away anything from you guys or this thread, its just a random thought.

This strikes a cord with me. I don't see myself buying a mega-pass in the next 5 years, at least.

Harvey wrote

raisingarizona wrote

... Having a season pass to your home hill can be a really special experience where life long friendships develop, its like family or walking into Cheers where everybody knows your name....

This strikes a cord with me....

+1 I bought max passes this year but we've had season passes at our local feeder hill in the past so I think I'm speaking with some authority

I'm developing a multiple home hill approach. Allows for community and storm chasing. I chose K this weekend over WF because I found friends to ski with there.

Some people have their social unit "built in" like Adk Jeff or SkiRay.  Where ever they ski they are with their community.  I head to the mountains alone and have to plan ahead if I want partners. Plattekill is small enough and I know enough people there so I am willing to wing it at times. Magic, Gore McCauley, Killington or Whiteface, I plan in advance.

I didn't keep track. I will next year. didn't get a lot of mountains either, but it was still a great season for me. I don't need a lot of mountains, just a lot of snow, and a couple good mountains.

Plattekill - a lot of days
Gore - 4 days
Belleayre - 3 days
Woodstream - clock on the rope tow reads about 130 hours this season. Do the math

Belleayre - 10 days

March 1st - April 8th. Certainly not diverse but made some damn good use of my 2018/2019 non holiday season pass coming back from a health related layoff. Mother nature was extremely kind to me and all of us this year

38 ish days at Gore  10 ish days at Whiteface  One of my more vanilla seasons but I'm sure there will be a day or two Kmart Superstar days left and still maybe a Tucks or Gore Hike if it hangs on (Gore not Tucks...Tucks still has a ton of snow)  Would have been to Whiteface Saturday if i could have...despite those few bitching, It would have been a day of lift served skiing and I am all for that on May 5 in NY.  Kudos to WF
Summer Sucks!

Brownski wrote

Harvey wrote

raisingarizona wrote

... Having a season pass to your home hill can be a really special experience where life long friendships develop, its like family or walking into Cheers where everybody knows your name....

This strikes a cord with me....

+1 I bought max passes this year but we've had season passes at our local feeder hill in the past so I think I'm speaking with some authority

The big advantage of owning one or two of these multi hill passes is flexibility for chasing conditions. This season, the East was actually better than most of the west early, so, I was in no rush to head west at first, with plenty  of days up here and even Treblant if I stayed in the East. Then we had that extreme January of cold then warm then cold then warm.........second warmup, I said, screw it, I'm heading west. But, really, only the nothernish Rockies were good in early Feb., so I headed to Montana, but, low and behold, Utah turns from nothing to storms while I'm up there, so, cool, hit SLC, and then Colorado after a little snow there. Best skiing all season was that March two ft. snow in the east, and I got lucky with that one at Sugarloaf and Killington.

Best multi mountain pass for Easterners right now is the Epic local, which gets you a holiday restricted season pass at Stowe and a ton of skiing out west for about 600. Hard to beat.

I do see your point Benny. I think we’re at different stages in life so you’re in a better position to use all those western options whereas I’m more interested in what I can do in a day, leaving from the NY metro area. How do you get around when you’re out west, if you don’t mind my asking? Are you flying everywhere or do you drive out? Camping or hotels?

This was my first season using lift served areas since high school. I was a snowboarder then and switched to telemark this year.   I spent the last decade cross country skiing based on my college budget but wanted to do more XCD style stuff and some backcountry trips.  I got into a couple dicey situations trying to descend while off-trail on XC skis and thought learning the telemark turn would help me to feel more confident.  I picked up some skis from a friend and dug in.  I spent the beginning of the season mostly learning at the local areas near Buffalo and did a couple of trips after learning the ropes.

I got to check out some great areas and a met a lot of really fun people.  I had some really great days at Gore, a fantastic weekend ski bumming Plattekill and Belleayre and had one fantastic day at Whiteface.  I also had a bunch of really fun days in Western New York skiing with fun groups of friends and my dad.  I finished with 49 days total.  It was a great learning experience and I really enjoyed all of the time I was able to get in skiing.  It was the best winter I've had in a while. I was disappointed that it ended but I'm excited for next winter.

Also, this website was a great tool for me to figure out the lay of the land for ski areas in the North East.  It was super useful to be able to read discussions on conditions, trip reports, and real-time weather updates.  Thanks!

Gore - 4
Whiteface - 2
McCauley - 2
Plattekill - 1
Belleayre - 1
Snow Ridge - 1
Mount Snow - 1
Holiday Valley - 20 ish
Kissing Bridge - 15 ish
Holimont - 1

Brownski wrote

I do see your point Benny. I think we’re at different stages in life so you’re in a better position to use all those western options whereas I’m more interested in what I can do in a day, leaving from the NY metro area. How do you get around when you’re out west, if you don’t mind my asking? Are you flying everywhere or do you drive out? Camping or hotels?

I drive all the way out and back. That sucks, before getting to Denver and after Denver coming back. Lots of wear and tear on the car, but, I have all my stuff, including four pair of skis.
Booking.com for hotels. That's the expensive part. If you go cheap, always read reviews, especially on Tripadvisor. A fair amount of awful reviews is a sign to stay away.

Thanks for answering. I’ve done that drive a couple times when I was in my twenties. I know it’s no picnic, especially east of the Mississippi. My retirement dream is to do those sorts of trips frequently with a truck camper (maybe a hotel once a week or so).

And my season was pretty diverse. Seven different max pass resorts, Plattekill, Mt Peter, one long closed area and some XC days.

Brownski wrote

Thanks for answering. I’ve done that drive a couple times when I was in my twenties. I know it’s no picnic, especially east of the Mississippi. My retirement dream is to do those sorts of trips frequently with a truck camper (maybe a hotel once a week or so).

The most interesting drive is the southern route, I40. Unfortunately, a half day to a day longer, but, more scenic than I70 and I80. From here, down through the Shenandoah valley in Virginia, and then across Tennessee. Nashville and Memphis are definitely worth a stop for a day or two, and I hear that Knoxville is ok, too, for a day. Oklahoma City is worth a stop just to see the memorial for the bombing victims, something that most Americans will never see, and should.