Stowe President's Day Questions

Will be skiing Stowe for the first time 2/14-2/16.  Plan is to drive up early Saturday morning and arrive late morning.  We were thinking we would park at the Toll House Base Area since that would have closer parking than the main base.  Is this possible?  Also, if we couldn't find good parking, is there a premium lot we could splurge for?  What lifts usually have the longest lines and how long do they get?  Are there any sections to go to or avoid at certain times?  Really looking forward to skiing there.  It looks really awesome.  Any answers to these questions would be great.

It should be right up your alley since you are used to waiting in line.

Sno, you'll have a great time at Stowe.  The snow, the trees, the terrain will open your eyes.  Get there early, park in the main lot.  They start running the Forerunner Quad at 7:30 (I think, check their website obviously).  Get the Stowe Bypass Card so your tix are $89, not $108.  You're going to have great conditions there this weekend, PLEASE ski some of the trees.  There's tons of great glades everywhere, but one nice stretch that you should try is on skier's right of lower Nosedive.  And you owe it to yourself to at least sample some of the Front Four.  They should be in great condition right now.  My recommendations are Starr and Goat.  They are tough and gnarly, try those and let us know what you think :)

re-think your ETD, as much as I love stowe one of the reasons I haven't gone there more and never did a trip there with the kids (besides the $ factor) is the looong haul from the metro area. pack up, get dad a 5 hour energy and leave at 2 am! I haven't done it for a few years but that's how we used to roll...

Crowds will not be a issue..Temps will be arctic cold..that said, conditions should be great!!!

Good for you Sno. Looking forward to your TR> Have fun.

gorgonzola wrote

as much as I love stowe one of the reasons I haven't gone there more and never did a trip there with the kids (besides the $ factor) is the looong haul from the metro area.

Agreed. I'm going up there mid-March for a long weekend and got a surprisingly cheap flight from Newark which allows me to be on the hill by noon on arrival day and until closing bell on departure day.

We'll be at Stowe St. Paddy's week, sunday thru thursday ^^^

Didn't think I was going to be able to go due to my roomy recently crushing his tibia. Turns out he was easily replaced

You'll have a great time Sno. Stowe is the best of the best in everything on the east coast imo. Don't worry about the crowds, it's a big hill with many places to hide.

Snowballs wrote

Good for you Sno. Looking forward to your TR> Have fun.

It's gonna be lengthy and detailed with many many pictures.

JasonWx wrote

Crowds will not be a issue..Temps will be arctic cold..that said, conditions should be great!!!

Unless something changes in a hurry, I wont be skiing this PDW in Vermont for the first time in years.   At this point, I'm hoping the Catskills stay in the "tolerable" zone or I wont be skiing at all.  I don't think many folks understand the sort of wind chill figures the models are spitting out at elevation.  Might just ski Saturday and skip Sunday.

Wowzers!  Just looked at the high peaks forecast for Whiteface for Sunday at 4,800ft.  Temp of -20, 40 mph winds, wind chill of -54.  Those kinds of winds linger into Monday, with wind chills pushing -40.  Saturday doesn't look quite as extreme, with lighter winds and wind chills around -20.  Things not as extreme at 1,600ft with less wind, but still in the -40 wind chill range Sunday.

Mansfield at 4,300ft is about the same, but a few degrees colder on Sun, wind chills in the -60s.

Be careful out there and cover up.  I had a bone bruise I was dealing with that got infected, so the ER doc said no skiing for me this weekend.  Not the worst weekend to have to pass on skiing, but we are going to be in Placid anyway and the conditions are soooo good.......we'll see.  Maybe Saturday.

The highest lift served area at Stowe is 3,600 feet.  I can assure all of you that I will not be going any higher than where the lift takes me.  As long as the lifts are running, I'm fine.

You should hike to the peak.

snoloco wrote

The highest lift served area at Stowe is 3,600 feet.  I can assure all of you that I will not be going any higher than where the lift takes me.  As long as the lifts are running, I'm fine.

Not sure if this means you aren't worried about the cold at 3600. If so, don't kid yourself it will be cold.

My family just audibled.  No skiing for the women this weekend. Looks like I'll have to go it alone.

I'm not saying I'm not worried about the cold.  I'm gonna dress really warm.  I am just saying wind chills won't be quite as bad at 3,600 as they are at 4,300.  As long as the lifts are running, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.

I have been at Stowe in those conditions. Any exposed skin will burn and ski boots are brutal! Good luck.

Make sure your boots and socks are very dry and warm when you put them on.

IDK if I'll even be able to take pics for my lengthy detailed trip report with those temps.

A few years ago I was at the Bush with those conditions..They decided not to open. If a lift stops for more then 10 mins . People could be in real trouble..

JasonWx wrote

A few years ago I was at the Bush with those conditions..They decided not to open. If a lift stops for more then 10 mins . People could be in real trouble..

Then they need to man up.  Skiing is a winter sport and it should be able to take place in winter conditions.  If Stowe does this, my parents and I will be saying "We want our money back!"

I hope all mountains operate, so people who wanna be out there can be.  I bet wind holds will be the order of the day Sun/Mon.

Obviously mountains do make decisions not to operate in extreme conditions.  It's not about manning up.  Get stuck in a -40 (or below) wind chill for an extended period of time and anyone could be at risk of frostbite or worse, no matter how manly a man they are.  A kid, you could be looking at hypothermia!

While mountains make no guarantees, if they close and you squawk loud enough I'm sure they will do something for you, though probably not a full refund.