The Indy Pass

The skiers in WA are the winners with this pass..

2 maybe 3 NE areas worth visiting , the rest, feh at best..

JasonWx wrote

The skiers in WA are the winners with this pass..

2 maybe 3 NE areas worth visiting , the rest, feh at best..

Somehow you don't seem to fit the target market for Indy: beginners or families who ski less than 10 days a season.

Indy is the first multi-regional pass to include any place south of NYC/PA.  Folks in the Mid-Atlantic have been wondering why for a while.  You might be surprised how many times someone from SkiSE has posted about a ski safari out west that didn't include any MPC/Ikon or Epic locations.  Snowshoe is on Ikon and VR just added PA locations.  But I think Indy can find a market in DC, Pittsburgh, and Richmond as well as in NC, SC, GA.

Magic is on Indy and the Freedom Pass, while at the same time limits the number of day tickets.  With Indy, no commitment besides spending $199.  Have to pick somewhere to pay for a season pass to get the Freedom days.  I think it's smart for Magic to offer both options.  Just as the independent destination resorts can be accessed by spending under $500 for the MCP or more like $1000 for an Ikon pass.

marznc wrote

Somehow you don't seem to fit the target market for Indy: beginners or families who ski less than 10 days a season, Harv and maybe Brownski.

FIFY

Greek says they’re on Freedom Pass also don’t they? I’m probably not their exact target but I’m probably gonna buy a couple anyway. Can’t beat the price. Two days each at Greek, Catamount, Magic an Berkshire East gets me to $25 a day. And I would love to try Suicide Six and Bolton Valley also. I guess I can burn a couple days in CT or PA. What else is within driving distance of metro NY?

Brownski wrote

Greek says they’re on Freedom Pass also don’t they? I’m probably not their exact target but I’m probably gonna buy a couple anyway. Can’t beat the price. Two days each at Greek, Catamount, Magic an Berkshire East gets me to $25 a day. And I would love to try Suicide Six and Bolton Valley also. I guess I can burn a couple days in CT or PA. What else is within driving distance of metro NY?

Technically Blue Knob is the same driving time as Bolton from NYC.  But can't say it's worth the effort.  BK depends on natural snow but given where it's located, it's rare that the off-piste terrain is open.  It is a fun place to stay slopeside for a weekend, with the option of going out the door for night skiing after dinner.

There are quite a few videos from Shawnee on YouTube.  Just make sure you're looking at PA, not Maine.

Shawnee cruising 2017
https://youtu.be/wBlk6pvhcTA

Under lights 2015
https://youtu.be/CZsgzvD__5Q

OpenSnow is working on getting all the new Indy Pass locations added.

https://opensnow.com/pass/indypass

Can get an interactive map for any Season Pass on OpenSnow.  The list of Season Passes that are easy to check is pretty impressive.  Not just Epic, Ikon, MCP.  Freedom, Powder Alliance, Indy, and more all included.

marznc wrote

https://opensnow.com/pass/indypass

That is cool.

I looked at the Blue Knob map and I admit it looks like a cool place. Pretty far though, as you say. Maybe if it looks like they’re getting a storm...

marznc wrote

Brownski wrote

Greek says they’re on Freedom Pass also don’t they? I’m probably not their exact target but I’m probably gonna buy a couple anyway. Can’t beat the price. Two days each at Greek, Catamount, Magic an Berkshire East gets me to $25 a day. And I would love to try Suicide Six and Bolton Valley also. I guess I can burn a couple days in CT or PA. What else is within driving distance of metro NY?

Technically Blue Knob is the same driving time as Bolton from NYC.  But can't say it's worth the effort.  BK depends on natural snow but given where it's located, it's rare that the off-piste terrain is open.  It is a fun place to stay slopeside for a weekend, with the option of going out the door for night skiing after dinner.

Come on now - Blue Knob is a little less than 5 hours from me in NNJ. While I agree it is a cool place, it is not worth driving there vs everything in VT from MRG south, WF, Gore and everything south of Gore in NY. Stowe and Burke are 5.5 and I am not even going to mention specific Mass or SNH ski areas. Blue Knob conditions are erratic at best and they need a ton of updating. There was a meet up at Blue Knob from another ski site, but I just could not justify the drive for marginal skiing. It is one of those places that I will always be curious about but will never visit.

For the Indy Pass - go to Berkshire East, Magic, Catamount, Mohawk, Suicide Six or Greek Peak. Skip Shawnee - Home of the Backwards Snowplow

x10003q wrote

For the Indy Pass - go to Berkshire East, Magic, Catamount, Mohawk, Suicide Six or Greek Peak. Skip Shawnee - Home of the Backwards Snowplow

Agree with that list driving from NYC.

For a weekend that includes Berkshire East, consider skiing Jiminy Peak during the night session that starts at 3:00.  Can get in a lot of laps between 3:00 and 10:00.

Based on my explorations of NH skiing the last few winters, if I still lived in NYC, I'd be more inclined to drive 5-6 hours to NH than western PA for skiing.  Cannon, Waterville Valley, Loon, Tenney Mountain, Bretton Woods, Wildcat, and even Attitash beat any place in central and eastern PA.  Note that in the northeast I tend to ski groomers much more than trees or bumps.  Only venture off the groomed on the rare occasion when I'm skiing the day after or during a powder storm.  That's happened during one trip to VT (Pico, Sugarbush, MRG), Jiminy Peak, and Tenney.  Too spoiled by trips out west.

I've skied Blue Knob twice. Both times I wrapped it into a business trip to the Pittsburg area and hit it after a morning meeting on the way back. Both weekdays. It's definitely worth checking out if you're in the area but at 3:45 from my house i wouldn't make a special trip. I still think Elk is the best mountain in PA. I would hit Greek Peak at 3:00 hrs before I drove 3:45 to Blue Knob.
No Boundaries is having a free ski day at Magic the day after the Super Bowl. No idea how crowded it would be. I don't know if they still limit the number of tickets on a "Rent the Mountain" day.
No Boundaries Free Day at Magic

Blue knob is about five hours of driving. As Marz pointed out, that’s about the same as Bolton which means that you could get to Killington, sugarbush or WF with less driving. Of course I wouldn’t be exploring something new or supporting a small independent at those hills and the tickets would cost a lot more. I also noticed that Blue Knob is more or less on the way to Mount Bohemia...

Brownski wrote

Blue knob is about five hours of driving. As Marz pointed out, that’s about the same as Bolton which means that you could get to Killington, sugarbush or WF with less driving. Of course I wouldn’t be exploring something new or supporting a small independent at those hills and the tickets would cost a lot more. I also noticed that Blue Knob is more or less on the way to Mount Bohemia...

Less - about 16 hour to Bohemia from Blue Knob. You might as well drive 14 hours from NNJ and visit the Chic Chocs in Quebec.

Brownski wrote

Blue knob is about five hours of driving. As Marz pointed out, that’s about the same as Bolton which means that you could get to Killington, sugarbush or WF with less driving. Of course I wouldn’t be exploring something new or supporting a small independent at those hills and the tickets would cost a lot more. I also noticed that Blue Knob is more or less on the way to Mount Bohemia...

If you haven't been there before, Montage is more or less on the way from NYC to Blue Knob.  Has a short double-black that requires a winch cat.

For a ski safari on the way to Bohemia, several places to check out on Indy in Michigan. :-)

I have a feeling more locations could get added in the next month or two.  The initial goal was 25 for the first season and 50 by the second season.

Did a little reading about Doug Fish, the man behind Indy.  Quite a cool story.  He recently retired from the day-to-day job of being President of Fish Marketing in order to have more time for Indy and Snowvana (2-day ski show in Oregon).  When he started the company, one of his first clients was Mt. Bachelor.  The initial idea for the ad agency was to focus on snow-related companies.  Worked with Snowbasin in 2015.

Dec 2014
http://www.shredhood.org/news/business/642-fish-marketing-subaru-campaign
"Doug Fish has been skiing Mount Hood for 50 years.

“I broke my leg skiing the red chair at Multorpor in 1964,” he remembers with a smile.

That chair is still there, and Fish still loves it. He has been a regular on the mountain since a childhood friend invited him up to the family cabin and gave him the opportunity to be the first person in his family to ski.

"I've always felt a connection with the mountains, and with Mount Hood in particular," he says.

He has climbed to the summit of Mount Hood and skied its terrain with family and friends through good snow years and bad. He met his wife Michelle DeCourcy at Mt. Hood Meadows in 1997.

His daughter Graeson was one of the top 10 high school racers in Oregon last season, and he is the parent rep of the Lake Oswego High School Ski Team.

He is also the founder and president of Fish Marketing, one of Portland’s fastest growing companies.

When Fish first launched his company in 2003 he called it Snowfish, and his plan was to focus on the snow sports industry. Since then he and his team have diversified into all sorts of new areas, as the economy boomed, crashed and finally began to recover.
. . ."

Feb 2015
https://www.twosherpas.com/blog/2015/2/18/snowbasin-tv-ads

Spring 2019
https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Focus-on-Ski-Mountain-Travel-Indy-slopes

Harvey wrote

Harvey wrote

If you are thinking about an Indy Pass, do ol' Harv a favor and click this link or the ad on the home page to buy.  We are doing a promo with Indy and we'd love to get credit for the sale. No money for us, but a happy promo partner.

We're going to interview the guy who dreamed up the Indy Pass.

Any help with questions is appreciated.

A couple more questions . . .

Has he ever skied east of Denver?

In the 2014 article about the Subaru campaign starting up around DC, Wisp was mentioned as the "nearest resort."  Has he ever visited the other ski resorts within a 4-hour drive of DC and northern VA?

trackbiker wrote

I've skied Blue Knob twice. Both times I wrapped it into a business trip to the Pittsburg area and hit it after a morning meeting on the way back. Both weekdays. It's definitely worth checking out if you're in the area but at 3:45 from my house i wouldn't make a special trip. I still think Elk is the best mountain in PA. I would hit Greek Peak at 3:00 hrs before I drove 3:45 to Blue Knob.
No Boundaries is having a free ski day at Magic the day after the Super Bowl. No idea how crowded it would be. I don't know if they still limit the number of tickets on a "Rent the Mountain" day.
No Boundaries Free Day at Magic

Cool idea for Magic!

Have you skied at Montage?  The black trails aren't visible from the highway because they are on the lower mountain, below the mid-mountain base.  For someone who has a shorter drive to Montage than Elk, worth stopping sooner I think.  Friends in Philly get a season pass at Montage for weekend skiing.

Hmm . . . Montage on Indy.  That would be a good addition. :-)

I've skied at Montage many times. They used to have a morning ticket that was very reasonable. It was good for getting there at opening on a weekend morning and skiing until noon or 1:00 pm. It is a good option for uncrowded slopes on a weekend. Montage has some decent expert trails but they are short. If I'm planning on skiing all day I would drive the extra half hour to Elk.

Had a fun day at Montage two years ago:
https://nyskiblog.com/magazine/eastern-us/montage-mountain-pa/