SallyCat

The problem is caused by inversions along the Wasatch front, so everywhere from Provo to Ogden is impacted. I have a good friend who lives in Ogden and says the air pollution is horrendous.

It says that "natural environment" measures the quality of air and water. Utah's cities have Beijing-levels or air pollution.

I thought Northeastmountainsports.com was supposed to be a "better" alternative to AZ. Last I checked it was the same creepy old guys tittering over ass-shots of female ski racers in skin suits.

The Sacklers have some fucking nerve buying into a business in a state that opioid addition has hit like a neutron bomb. Fuck them. Vermont has better places to ski and I hope NJ and NY skiers take their gold chains and exemplary diction to Killington or the Catskills. God damn our fucking craven plutocracy. EDIT: These legal edible gummies are doing nothing for my attitude.

It's definitely bike season.

Killington was horrendous yesterday. We had some near-biblical rain on Monday, which is probably the main culprit I usually love spring skiing, but Holy Jeebus. Except for Superstar, every trail was dirty granular garbage thinly dispersed over ice. I wouldn't pay money to ski there this season unless you want to lap Superstar, and even that was icy and scrapey.

That was solid.

Totally agree: sometimes the days that promise from the forecast to be awful turn out to be really fun and uncrowded. I'm stuck in an airport killing time, so here is some info: Paradise is a green trail and very easy. It's long and wide but not steep. It's easier than Burma because it's not as twisty and the snow doesn't pile up at the turns. Lazy Mile is labeled a blue trail but it is really green as long as you head toward the double chair at the bottom intersection. Again, it's super-wide, not steep. The only downside of LM is that it can get crowded with kids straight-lining their way down it, barely in control. I don't know names for snow types necessarily, just that what you get a Blue is some of everything, but also a lot of hard, firm snow and lots of granular snow over ice, and that stuff (the latter) tends to form sand-dune-like on the sides of the trail. I like to ski the sand dunes instead of the ice. It's uneven and forces you/teaches you to maintain good balance. Don't avoid difficult snow: it shows you a lot about how you're progressing (or not). On the plus side, soft spring snow is great because it allows you to ski harder trails comfortably on account of having so much easy grip. I moved to Vermont last year so am not around Blue these days otherwise I would be very happy to ski with you. Ask the posters here to ski a run or two with you andor to tell you what they see from the lift. That is really valuable feedback. I'm 50 and only started skiing a few years ago. I stagnated for a long while as a low-intermediate plodding skier, which was frustrating. This year I worked on my form a bit more diligently and it made a big difference. Bottom line, I got out of the backseat by shoving my Downstairs Lady Parts forward over my feet (instead of the bent-knee-crouching-thing I'd been doing) and pressured my new downhill edge much sooner. The combo of those two actions got me off my quads, out of the backseat, and skiing a lot faster and more controlled. Fun!). So don't feel as though you can't progress just because you started later in life. Plus the learning is fun; and when it's not fun, there's a bar at the summit, a bar in the valley, and beer and good company in the lot! Good luck! Sally

Welcome! Agree that a season pass will get you on snow more and you'll progress faster. Blue is a great mountain for learning, it's just tricky to avoid the crowds. But night skiing gets you a lot of practice time and Paradise and Lazy Mile are great trails to learn on. Go even when the weather and/or the snow sucks, you'll still have fun and learn a lot. Enjoy!

It's been a good snow year but as others have said, it can get melty fast and we're starting to get some warm days. Still, in Mid-April you'll likely be able to ski Snowdon, Ramshead, and my favorites: the trails next to Superstar (Sylark, Bittersweet, et al.), which get nicely bumped-up and fun throughout the day. The Superstar chairlift and adjacent umbrella bar are where it's at as far as the scene, which is very fun and laid-back. Get there early and you can tailgate in the lot. You should come with low expectations for snow quality and a LOT of warm-weather wax; there will be puddles in the base area and it will get really heavy as the day goes on. I still think it's a blast and really not-bad skiing.

I am excited about being so close to SO MUCH skiing! Still not at all sure what to do, pass-wise. I checked with Magic, and even though I'll be working in NH, I can get a Magic teacher season pass (which is an unlimited season pass that gets me on the Freedom Pass) for $319. That gets me three days each at some small areas in the Whites as well as Bolton. But I'm probably going to AirBnB my Ascutney Condo, so I'm not sure how much I'll be in Brownsville in the winter. (I want to keep it free for summer mountain biking and hanging out with friends; I'm not at all ready to part with my Brownsville residency). So maybe it makes sense to look at the New England Pass, or Cannon? Or what's the one that gets me Stowe and Okemo? That might be a good combo; I'll be 90 minutes from each place! Ah, First World Problems. I'm actually legitimately better at skiing now than I was last year. Looking forward to some sweet spring skiing!

Or else I'm full of shit and don't ski very well.

We got a few inches of VERY heavy, wet snow here in central VT that eventually turned to rain. (Oh, and the rain fills up the potholes so you can't see them, and you end up STANDING on your brakes or swerving at the last second and saying "holy fuck, where did that come from it wasn't here yesterday WHAT IS THIS PLACE!?") I ended up staying in studying for my EMT test, but with this type of slop, I think I'd head for a place that had mega-snowmaking all year rather than a more natural-snow-dependant place like Magic or Plattekill. Last week I bopped from ungoomed to groomed and back and forth and MAN the ungroomed when it's heavy and wet was really unpredictable crazy-glue in places. Something about the grooming process must reduce moisture or something.

Thanks! The job comes with housing, so I can live their when school’s in session and still have the condo for summers and vacays. It’s only about an hour and fifteen from where I live now.

I'm actually considering it, for different reasons. I just accepted a boarding-school teaching gig for next year and it's in New Hampshire just to the east of Mt. Moosilauke and west of I-91. So I'm near a LOT of skiing, but not at all sure what sort of pass arrangement I should make. I'll still have a condo on Ascutney so could do weekends down here. Or focus on skiing in the Whites. Current options afaik: White Mountain Super Pass New England Pass Freedom Pass Peak Pass Epic Pass Or just pick one mountain for the season.