SayvilleSteve wrote
Epic is better for NYC/NJ/LI (adding myself) because you can do a day trip to Hunter. Stratton is at least 1.5 hours further (and even Mt Snow--on Epic) is slightly closer.
The drop-off from Hunter to Windham is pretty steep so adding W makes no difference. For all of it's bad reputation, Hunter is a much better mountain than Windham for just about everyone,
except maybe families that are intermediate or novices skiers.
marznc wrote
Benny Profane wrote
Yeah, Ikon needs a Hunter.
Would adding Windham to Ikon as a partner make a difference for NYC/NJ folks choosing between Ikon and Epic?
That description of Windham makes it sound like a good fit for Ikon. The idea is to find families who are interested in doing a ski vacation out west during winter or spring break. From what I saw stopping by Windham during the off-season, the type of people who stay on resort are likely to spring for plane tickets for the family. If not every year, at least a few times before the kids get too busy with other activities and school work in middle school and high school.
I know the one season that the ORDA mountains were on the MAX Pass (Intrawest, Boyne, Powdr), there were people in NYC, NJ, and western CT who were happy to check out Belleayre and Gore.
I've skied once at Hunter, on a Saturday during early season It was before the terrain expansion. Plenty of people around to get a sense of where the regulars drove from. Decent terrain variety, with a fairly well separate area for beginners and cautious intermediates. I picked Hunter over Windham because it looked more interesting from a terrain standpoint. And from what I could see from the base of Windham when the lifts weren't running.
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