The Backyard Effect

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The most I waited for a lift at Platty today was two minutes. What you're describing is not unique to Mountain Creek, it happens in the Poconos after a big storm too. Even this morning on my drive to the mountain- I was stuck behind 5 cars on Route 28, and 4 of them turned into Bellayre. Just another reason to bypass the NJ/PA ski areas...it's worth driving a little further to not have to wait. And I'm saying this as a lifelong resident of the Garden State.

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If your options are to wait in line for hours to ski a 1000 vert at the creek or Huntah bowling might quickly become a better option.  There is more to skiing than skiing with the literal unwashed masses.  Seek a better option grasshopper it's out there.  

A few quick options that come to mind
Go xc skiing
Hike up the closed hidden valley right around the corner
Get in the car and drive north but avoid Huntah.  Plattskill is about the same distance and the time you wasted in the lift lines is probably more than the drive time.

Every mountain deals with this.  Just try to get your skis tuned after the first large storm of the season... you usually can't get them turned around in less the a few days.  One of our friends was buying an old set of my wife's skis off of us.  Since mid November we have been trying to get them to pick the skis up.  Even though all the mountains in the area had been open for weeks they did not call to pick them up until we had snow in Saratoga.  Mountains try to combat this, but most people don't think about it until they look out their window and see snow.  

And forget mountain creek... life and winter is too short to wait in lift lines like that.

Footer wrote

 

And forget mountain creek... life and winter is too short to wait in lift lines like that.

+1
organizing a sock draw is a better option..

and don't forget about the chaos on the slopes and the lodge..

Whatever happened to a bad day skiing is better then an <insert option here>.

In the flatlands, unfortunately, xc isn't even always an option.

Downhill ski areas make snow so you can have fun even when there isn't natural snow.

I've been to Mountain Creek and had a good time.

I wish I could get tickets for people that say X mountain isn't a good time, or whatever. Here's the secret to skiing at any mountain.

Let's declare Hunter = X.

Go very early and get on first chair. If it's a snow day and you don't want to deal with the lineup nonsense, aim for second chair.

Ski till 11 and then break and half some food. At 11 the lines are usually very bad. You will still have been skiing to the chair for almost an hour, and waiting a bit for another hour. at 10:15 you might have to get sneaky or aim for the singles line. This is all assuming the 6 pack, although on West there were never lines.

At 11:45, go back out. At this point you should have scouted a lift pod that sees less action (West), aim for that one.

By 2 the crowds will disappear anyway.

There you just skied all day long and lines weren't a problem. You racked up crazy very and laid turns in perfect cord early, and then tested the legs on Westway and Claires which are as steep as anything in the state.

This formula works at ANY mountain on any day.

I think Snoloco gets this stuff.

ml242 wrote

Whatever happened to a bad day skiing is better then an <insert option here>.

In the flatlands, unfortunately, xc isn't even always an option.

Downhill ski areas make snow so you can have fun even when there isn't natural snow.

I've been to Mountain Creek and had a good time.

I wish I could get tickets for people that say X mountain isn't a good time, or whatever. Here's the secret to skiing at any mountain.

Let's declare Hunter = X.

Go very early and get on first chair. If it's a snow day and you don't want to deal with the lineup nonsense, aim for second chair.

Ski till 11 and then break and half some food. At 11 the lines are usually very bad. You will still have been skiing to the chair for almost an hour, and waiting a bit for another hour. at 10:15 you might have to get sneaky or aim for the singles line. This is all assuming the 6 pack, although on West there were never lines.

At 11:45, go back out. At this point you should have scouted a lift pod that sees less action (West), aim for that one.

By 2 the crowds will disappear anyway.

There you just skied all day long and lines weren't a problem. You racked up crazy very and laid turns in perfect cord early, and then tested the legs on Westway and Claires which are as steep as anything in the state.

This formula works at ANY mountain on any day.

I think Snoloco gets this stuff.

I get all this stuff and I structure my day just like you described at any and every mountain I go to.  Great minds.  

Yea what the heck, look at all the ski days Sno has logged already. If he can only get to mt creek some days, so what ? Beats the hell out of bowling. Besides if he drove to the ski areas north all the time, it would cost a him a ton more and maybe he can't afford that or doesn't want to spend that much.

He's having fun so it's his decision.

25 days, the kid is crushing me!

I hate to burst the kids bubble but there is no way he has as many runs as he thinks if he is waiting in those long lift lines. You have to like his will to ski - 25 days is pretty stout for where he lives.

Snoloco - not sure how old you are but you should try to get hired for the ski school there.  That was where I started my ski instructor career (if you can call it that) 25 year ago. You would be an asset for any ski school and the training you will get can not really be replicated at any cost and will make you a much better skier.  You certainly have the deadication that it takes to do it.

ml242 wrote

25 days, the kid is crushing me!

 quality over quantity

Coach Z wrote

Snoloco - not sure how old you are but you should try to get hired for the ski school there.  That was where I started my ski instructor career (if you can call it that) 25 year ago. You would be an asset for any ski school and the training you will get can not really be replicated at any cost and will make you a much better skier.  You certainly have the deadication that it takes to do it.

I have looked into it, but they won't hire me till I'm 18.  I'm 14, soon to be 15 now.  The only problem with being an instructor at a young age is that you spend most of your time on the bunny hill with little kids, so it is pretty much babysitting.  I first learned this at Windham a few years ago.  All of their instructors that I saw taking runs in the early AM in uniform were middle aged men and women.  While Windham opens at 8am, there are no lessons till 9am, so they take lots of laps in the AM.  For some reason, I needed to go down the bunny hill to the lower level of the lodge in order to avoid taking the stairs in ski boots.  When I did this, I saw that all of the instructors down there were teenagers or in their 20's.  I think that most mountains do it the same way.  I would rather ski on my own than be stuck on the bunny hill.

snoloco wrote

.  I would rather ski on my own than be stuck on the bunny hill.

i agree totally,  but when the cost of skiing ;lift tickets,equipment,travel,is your own coin not your dad's things may be different

All new instructors no matter their age start out by paying their dues so that may mean a little less free skiing to start.

I'm suprised MC requires you to be 18. At Whiteface we have apprentices at 14 and paid instructors can be 16.

If you can teach and get certified by PSIA even as a level one it is a great addition to your college admissions applications. It's also a relatively high paying job for a high school or college kid and sure beats flipping burgers.