Mad River Glen, VT: 3/15/14

It's amazing what 22" inches of snow can do. The Mt. skied great from top to bottom. The top had soft powdery bumps and the bottom had soft wet bumps. (it don't get much better).  Long lines but it was well worth the wait. If you never skied MRG and you like bumps, put it on your bucket list. If You Can.

We agree, but a major point to make is the lines.  Yesterday at MRG, 20-30 minutes each chair minimum.  Epic conditions for sure, and a blast, but today skied onto every lift at Gore.  We really have a secret treasure here!  On the other hand, I do not appreciate the overly conservative closing of trails, especially glades at Gore.  Everything was still open at 4:05, no ropes anywhere to be seen.

Biggest dump of the season, of course Mad River is going to have long lines. I can't tell you how many powder days I've had there with no lines including ski on lifts later in the day. I can tell you I've had more of those days than waiting in long lines. You gotta pick your days at MRG and realize that there will be long lines for and immediately following big dumps that are on the radar for days. Snipping the early/late season dumps and off the radar micro storms are the way to go. MadPat was at MRG Thursday but I opted for Smuggs (also a shit show in the A.M. but crowds cleared out to nothing after two hours when all lifts were running full loads). FWIW, no lines at Stowe today (Sunday) either despite 4-8" new and knee deep off the ridge. You just gotta pick your days and be ready for crowds when big storms get big publicity... especially following a dry period with sub-par conditions.

agree with River, I slayed it Friday with my dad with no complaints. It was as busy as it gets but we had some luck with the lines and the snow was just so good. Believe it or not, it was still way better than Saturday at the Bush.

evergreen wrote

20-30 minutes each chair minimum.

Wow that is a long time to wait, and this is coming from a Creek passholder.  Let's compare this to other mountains that have a reputation for being crowded and my experiences there.

Creek on one of the busiest days of the year:
 
10-15 minute wait at the Cabriolet easily avoided by using the Vernon Triple.
5 minute wait at the Granite Peak Quad during the mid morning mass migration to South.
15-20 minute wait at the South Peak Express during the busiest time of the day, but under 10 minutes at other times of the day.
5 minute wait at Bear if there is a race.
Maybe a two minute wait at the Sojourn Double during the late afternoon mass migration from South to Vernon.

Hunter on MLK Saturday:

10-15 minutes at the 6 pack.
5 minutes at B-Lift, and F-Lift.
Ski on at D-Lift and West Side.

Killington on President's day Sunday:

5-10 minutes at the Skyeship Gondola base or mid station.
Maybe 2 minutes at the Needle's Eye Express and the Bear Mountain Quad.
10 minutes at the Skye Peak Express, K1, and Ramshead.
Ski on at the Superstar Express, Canyon, North Ridge, and Snowdon.

Stratton with Snow Bowl Quad down for wind and gondola running at reduced speed (and capacity):

8-10 minutes at the URSA Express
2 minutes tops at the American Express and Shooting Star Express
2-5 minutes at the Sunrise Express
Ski on at the Solstice Quad, South American Quad, and Tamarack Triple
It was maybe a 20 minute wait at the gondola, but I didn't ride it.

I would rather go to Pico for an old school ski experience with minimal grooming and lots of powder since that is what I experienced there on President's Day Saturday.  These are the line recaps from that day.

5 minute wait at the Golden Express when the Summit Express Crapped out.
2 minute wait at both Expresses when they were both running.
Ski on at everything else.

I don't see myself going to MRG anytime soon.

You just can't compare any other mountain to Mad.  The lift capacity, parking and lodge space are well suited to the amount of terrain and snowmaking.

What is beyond the range is the demand.  People love Mad.  If you put the Catskill Flyer in place of the Single (GASP and LOL) it would be a total shit show.

I like the single and wouldn't change it, but I suppose you could go to a double, double the number of chairs and slow it down to 1/4 of it's current speed. Then everyone would be sitting in a chair vs standing in line and the trails would still be as enjoyable as they are now.



BTW Duck your avatar is awesome.

Harvey wrote

You just can't compare any other mountain to Mad.  

 especially not mt creek, huntah, kmart, and stratton lol

evergreen wrote

Epic conditions for sure, and a blast, but today skied onto every lift at Gore.  We really have a secret treasure here!  

Shhhhh! Seriously though it was really a PIA skiing with the 30 or so other people at the Ski Bowl on Friday. People kept cutting my lines all morning

The biggest reason that Mad is awesome with the slow chairs is that you get every run to yourself. It's amazing. There are actually runs where I won't see another skier until I'm at the last traverse by the liftline.

Mad is awesome.

snoloco, you are comparing apples and oranges... high speed lifts to a single chair, big resorts to an old school Coop. Most folks that ski MRG will wait half an hour for a lift and like it. That should tell you something. And of course, as I mentioned before, as long as you avoid powder days and busy weekends, lift times are on par with other resorts, usually no more than 10 minutes for the Single max and less if you go mid-week or early/late/off season weekends. If you are judging MRG's lines based on a big storm that brought crowds everywhere (and judging before you have experienced the mountain and its terrain), then you are doing yourself, not MRG, the disservice.

ml242 wrote

The biggest reason that Mad is awesome with the slow chairs is that you get every run to yourself. It's amazing. There are actually runs where I won't see another skier until I'm at the last traverse by the liftline.

Mad is awesome.

The less lift capacity that you have, the more people in line and less on the trails.  You can either go to Stratton and have fast moving lift lines and crowded trails, or go to MRG and have slow long lift lines, but get the trail to yourself.  I don't know of any mountain in the east that has both.  You need to chose one or the other in each catagory.  Maybe I should try and photoshop MRG having one of these just for kicks and giggles.  (Yes, that lift is an 8 seater)

http://www.skiresort.info/typo3temp/pics/3d446e31b5.jpg

Nice! Hopefully MRG's balance sheet will recover after the lousy first half of this season.

I bet the bumps were good.

My friends were at Sugarbush on Friday and MRG on Saturday and then joined us at Gore on Sunday. They said they should have just come with us to Gore. They had much more fun skiing the glades at Gore than waiting 30+ minutes to get on the lift at MRG.

They LOVED Gore, like they never had before...because they were skiing with a group of us who know where to go for the best snow off-piste.

The MRG experience is difficult to describe, and I can understand why you would question why someone would want to ski there on a powder day since there are often lift lines.  My family skied at Gore last Thursday, at MRG Friday and Gore again on Saturday, so I feel that we had a really good back to back comparison.  MRG differs from Gore in that a tree skier will often not be on a trail or see other skiers during the descent, which is a full 2000 feet of vertical.  There is no run out at the bottom to speak of and little to no cat tracks.  Once you traverse the ridge and drop in you are alone with the trees and cliffs and it is a true wilderness experience.  The mountain is very steep and you do have a sense of "exposure," you are definitely not in a place where risks have been mitigated.  It is you against nature without the help of snowmaking, grooming, etc.  As a result, by traversing, hiking and a long, steep, difficult descent, a run often can take 45 minutes (a good thing!).  The lift line can become a welcome respite, a fellowship of likeminded souls.  Returning to Gore on Saturday reminded me of how incredibly different the vibe is at different ski areas, and even within an area (main base vs. Ski Bowl).  I think that you should consider giving MRG a couple of tries.  Like many things in life that can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, they can also be very, very good when the time is right.

Excellent summary, evergreen!

Powderqueen wrote

My friends were at Sugarbush on Friday and MRG on Saturday and then joined us at Gore on Sunday. They said they should have just come with us to Gore. They had much more fun skiing the glades at Gore than waiting 30+ minutes to get on the lift at MRG.

They LOVED Gore, like they never had before...because they were skiing with a group of us who know where to go for the best snow off-piste.

Not that Gore is a terrible ski area but isn't that true for any place? I'm sure lots of tourists go to New York City and have crappy meals even though it has the greatest restaurants in the world. On Sunday at the Bush I was skiing with weekend crowds and skiing deep and untouched woods lines, but it's not like I looked at the map and said "Hey, let's try knee deep frozen waterfall line over here".

snoloco wrote

You can either go to Stratton and have fast moving lift lines and crowded trails, or go to MRG and have slow long lift lines, but get the trail to yourself.

Stratton is much better. Hands down. Don't even bother with MRG. Its not worth it

ml242 wrote

Powderqueen wrote

My friends were at Sugarbush on Friday and MRG on Saturday and then joined us at Gore on Sunday. They said they should have just come with us to Gore. They had much more fun skiing the glades at Gore than waiting 30+ minutes to get on the lift at MRG.

They LOVED Gore, like they never had before...because they were skiing with a group of us who know where to go for the best snow off-piste.

Not that Gore is a terrible ski area but isn't that true for any place? I'm sure lots of tourists go to New York City and have crappy meals even though it has the greatest restaurants in the world. On Sunday at the Bush I was skiing with weekend crowds and skiing deep and untouched woods lines, but it's not like I looked at the map and said "Hey, let's try knee deep frozen waterfall line over here".

So true ML. I skied Gore for 7 years before I started skiing the trees. Now that I know my way around a little and know a few secret stashes, its a completely different place. I also know where to tell people to bomb it to avoid the flats and what trails to never ever take a snowboarder on (ie pipeline). Someone coming to Gore for the first time blind might have a bad experience (or at least sub optimal) if they happened to pick a few wrong paths or maybe try Scareview on their first run after its nice and windblown. A little local knowledge goes a long way.

We were there the same weekend and yes the lines were long as I think there were many people trying to use up their MadCards due to the earlier snow fall issues. However, I have been to all of the above mountains and have waited 20 or more  minutes to get up on good weekends and to have crowded runs.

The glades at MRG are the best in the East, hands down and I would give a 2nd to Bracket Basin up in Sugarloaf. We love Gore and Whiteface too.. Different mountains, different experiences and to really appreciate those places more, you have to hit the woods.

What is your favorite gladed trail at Gore?

Ray

We skiied MRG for the second time this winter, second time in two weeks on 3/27.  This time was not the day after a storm, and there were bluebird skies and true packed powder.  I don't know if it was the fact that there is no snowmaking or low traffic, but multiple times when I leaned on my uphill pole, which I do when I wait for my companion, it sank down about three feet.  The snow had a chalky quality, which I hadn't really experienced before.  If thats how it is without snowmaking, give me another glass of that MRG coolaid!  We had a great day, and skied onto the lifts every time.  The day really had a dreamlike quality, knowing that this was likely the last "midwinter" day (temps below 32 and true packed powder" gave a sense of urgency.  We just caught the single at 3:55 and got back to the car at 4:38.  Hanging out at the base box, having a beer with that single chair hanging in front of the window and chatting with the locals after one of the best days of the year, it just doesn't get better than that.  Like I said in an earlier post about MRG, when its good, its really, really good.