Overrated Underrated Mountains

What are the most overrated and most underrated mountains in your opinion.  Here are mine.


Overrated:

Okemo:  Talk about all show and no go.  The only things going for it are the two bubble lifts.  The trails all ski the same and it's hard to tell a green from a black in some cases.  They also build these annoying whoop de doo's on the trails to slow people down.  I guess they want everyone skiing slow to be "family friendly".  I just call it dumbing down your terrain.  They say they have great snowmaking and grooming, but so does Mount Snow, Stratton, Bromley, etc, and with way better terrain.  One could even make a case that Hunter or Jiminy Peak was a step up in terms of terrain.  If you must have a bubble lift, just go to Mount Snow.  I know, it doesn't have a heated seat, but the terrain not homogenized, and the parking lots don't require a bus if you're not staying on-mountain or willing to pay for parking.  Okemo claims to have the best of everything, but all they have are two bubble lifts, overpriced lift tickets/lodging, and an outdoor DMV on weekends.  The good news is that the tri-state upper middle class seems to love it, and it keeps them away from the better mountains.


Underrated:

Gore:  Aside from issues with snowmaking and a couple lifts, Gore is a great ski experience, but often overlooked.  It is usually much less crowded than the Vermont ski areas.  They provide terrain of all types, and plenty of it.  You never see it in the Ski Magazine ratings, not even the last few spots, and it doesn't even make the "under the radar" list.  As long as you look at the website and make sure that everything is open before you go, you'll have one of the best skiing experiences on the ec.

You're on point this time.  I'd agree with you.

Wow - never been to okemo but that is quite the indictment.  

Re underrated, please add Belleayre.  Yes many top trails ski the same but it has such an anti hunter vibe, family friendly, and a cool yesterday year ski vibe.  And the apparent quality and price of the kids program seems great.  I realize gore and wf are in another league but belle is probably my favorite all around mountain in the cats ( I have a 5 yo and 2 yo).

Oh and add in Platty to underrated.  Not underrated here but most folks in my neck have never heard of it.  

My description of Okemo is completely true.  It was only a mild letdown when I went on a weekday at the end of March.  I thought about going President's Weekend the year before, but they were charging $685 a night for a regular hotel room.  Stayed at that same hotel when I actually went for 180 a night.  The room was tiny, one of the smallest hotel rooms I had ever stayed in.  My dad and I talked about how much of how poorly that hotel was run while on the lift.  We planned to start skiing at 9, when the lifts opened.  The lines for everything (breakfast, lift tickets, ski check) were so long, that we didn't board the lift till 9:20.  We said that had we stayed off-mountain, we probably would have been able to get up early enough to get on the lift at 9.  However, I don't think there was any Hilton, IHG, or Marriott chain hotel anywhere nearby, which is what we usually try to stay in.  If you don't stay on-mountain, all of their parking lots require a bus, which I hate.

I would only go there for free.  Mount Snow is way better, closer, and cheaper, especially with my Hunter season pass discount.

As for Plattekill, I'd like to have more reason to ski there, but I have a Hunter pass, so I tend to stick to there for my Catskill ski days.  Since many members here love it so much, I've suggested doing a mountain rental in the past.  I think that would be a great idea.  Maybe do it to raise money to upgrade the forum to be mobile-friendly.

Since Jeff tore the scab off I have add Park City as all world over rated.  Whitefish Montana, and anything in Southern Vt

Most under rated I have skied are Gore, Pico, Grand Targhee, and Fernie

snoloco wrote

Gore:  Aside from issues with snowmaking and a couple lifts, Gore is a great ski experience, but often overlooked.

In my opinion the first two are related to the second two.  Not the only factors, but related.

Also IMO there is a difference between underrated and undiscovered.  Plattekill is rated pretty well by people who have skied there.

DomB wrote

Wow - never been to okemo but that is quite the indictment.  

Re underrated, please add Belleayre.  Yes many top trails ski the same but it has such an anti hunter vibe, family friendly, and a cool yesterday year ski vibe.  And the apparent quality and price of the kids program seems great.  I realize gore and wf are in another league but belle is probably my favorite all around mountain in the cats ( I have a 5 yo and 2 yo).

I agree, I love belleayre and hate hunter too. I can just never get myself to drive another half hour to plattekill. Maybe I'll give it another try if we get some natural snow, those bike trails through the trees look fun and I appreciate that they maintain the tree runs there.

IMHO, Platty is in a different league than Belle. As much as Belle evokes a yesteryear vibe...Platty is yesteryear with modern snowmaking and two kickass, neverdie, workhorse Hall chairlifts.  What more do you need??  

Overrated, Vail, of course. Underrated, the Aspen mountains. And Loveland.

Benny Profane wrote

Underrated, the Aspen mountains.

If you take out a second mortgage to afford to ski there.  Most overpriced lodging anywhere.

Not if you stay in Glenwood Springs. Marriot product there, too. Bit of a drive, but, the Springs are nice.

DomB wrote

Re underrated, please add Belleayre.  Yes many top trails ski the same but it has such an anti hunter vibe, family friendly, and a cool yesterday year ski vibe.  And the apparent quality and price of the kids program seems great.  I realize gore and wf are in another league but belle is probably my favorite all around mountain in the cats ( I have a 5 yo and 2 yo).

Agree re Belleayre.  We did a year there between our stints with Catamount and Gore.  If I had been a skier before deciding my kids needed to learn, I suppose I'd have known about Belleayre and never gone to Catamount (they are about equidistant from our home).  I feel the girls really progressed at Belleayre due to the trail width on the upper mountain blues and the overall layout.

Petronio

Benny Profane wrote

Overrated, Vail, of course. Underrated, the Aspen mountains. And Loveland.

I get the Vail reference, but Aspen underrated? It is a great place and properly rated.

snoloco wrote

If you take out a second mortgage to afford to ski there.  Most overpriced lodging anywhere.

Are season passes to MC and Hunter and trips to Steamboat all free now?

This thread is as idiotic as one of those Ski Mag polls

skimore wrote

This thread is as idiotic as one of those Ski Mag polls

I disagree, when I was taking up snowboarding again, I pored over mountain reviews and trail maps like there was going to be a test. Reading many different opinions lets you get a great overview of things. The things that one person dislikes about a mountain are often the things that I like, so even negative reviews helped me. Reading about the great trees at Gore has me wanting to go there more than Vermont.

skunkape wrote

skimore wrote

This thread is as idiotic as one of those Ski Mag polls

 Reading about the great trees at Gore has me wanting to go there more than Vermont.

And you garnered that info from this thread?

skimore wrote

skunkape wrote

skimore wrote

This thread is as idiotic as one of those Ski Mag polls

 Reading about the great trees at Gore has me wanting to go there more than Vermont.

And you garnered that info from this thread?

What are you talking about SM ? He CLEARLY stated he reads multi reviews.

Snowballs wrote

skimore wrote

skunkape wrote

skimore wrote

This thread is as idiotic as one of those Ski Mag polls

 Reading about the great trees at Gore has me wanting to go there more than Vermont.

And you garnered that info from this thread?

What are you talking about SM ? He CLEARLY stated he reads multi reviews.

Back to my point of this thread being useless

Oh yeah, you can reach out to someone else for your SM desires too