SallyCat

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.

@trackbiker , I wish I could be there, but have to work. Have a great time and report back!

Pro tip: Fold the ticket in half before you expose the adhesive. Makes the process less like an I Love Lucy episode. Oh, totally forgot: I turned 50 and competed in a downhill fatbike race in the same week. I just rode my regular bike, though, not a fattie. Bottom line: if you ever get the chance to ride dh in the winter, you should do it; it's a ridiculous blast!

Slow day at work!

Hey PASRs! It's Sally here with a check-in from the Green Mountains! I saw Salty's excellent trip report from CBK and I was inspired to see if I could do a sort of Greatest Hits Report of what's been going on up here, ski-wise. I do genuinely miss skiing at Blue; miss the night-skiing, miss the lot. I even smoke more weed than Doug now. Anyway, here's the haps from up north: I have a lightly-used VT Gold Pass; it’s the catch-22 of working in the ski industry: All the perks you could want and no time to use ‘em. I do ski at Magic whenever I get a chance. Love that place for leaving intermediate trails ungroomed for us mere mortals and plodding intermediates. S6 tends to roll up the carpets early in the season, so when we close, I hope to get out for some spring skiing. Ascutney Outdoors, for whom I was doing a shite-ton of volunteer social media and PR work, has turned out to be full of assholes, and I'm glad their stupid rope tow keeps un-fraying. (The first time it happened, I was still doing PR for them and I had to announce the shut-down. I posted: "Rope Tow this weekend? 'FRAID NOT!" ) Anyhoo, I asked those jerkfaces if I could reduce the number of hours I was volunteering for them. They told me it wasn’t that much work and probably I was lazy and inefficient, then they kicked me off the board. I felt like Fredo in The Godfather II. I didn't get in their fucking rowboat, though. ^Trash. Fuck them.^ Presidents’ week we were booked solid and jammin’ in the ski school. Then a young instructor called out for the day and it screwed up the schedule completely. Then I saw him skiing. I said “Mike, did you seriously call out so you could come ski. HERE!?” He said yes. Because he’s a dumbass. I told our mountain manager, who said, like a really nice-but-angry Jabba The Hut: “BRING HIM TO ME.” I bet Mike felt a lot like Fredo in that moment, too. We haven’t seen him since, come to think of it… Here’s my interaction with every tenth customer: ME: “Do you know how to use the wicket?” CUSTOMER: “Yes, of course. <<eye roll>>.” (Three seconds pass) CUSTOMER: “Can I… uh, have another ticket? <<Shows me a crumpled lift ticket stuck awkwardly to itself and the wicket, but NOT attached to the customer’s jacket.>> I showed up at a night-time snowshoe that takes place every Thursday night. Everyone was on xc skis or snow-trekkers (Altai Hoks or BD Glide Lites). They said it was no problem, they’d wait for me. I was like, I’m not that slow, why would they have to wait for me? Then we got to the top of a big pasture and stood chatting and enjoying the beautiful night sky. When it was time to go down, the skiers/trekkers all said BYE! and shushed off through the fresh powder. I was like “@#$%^&*“ snowshoes!!!”. So now I have me some BD Glide Lite 147s with AT bindings on them. Getting them mounted today; will report back. That's about it. I tried snowboarding and fell a lot and it sucked. And my cat's still a jerk. Hope the spring skiing in PA is awesome! Best wishes to everyone! Sally out!

You're welcome to a futon in Brownsville. 40 min from K-ton and Magic, 30 min from Okemo. On-mountain night-hiking/snowshoeing, skinning. Brownsville Butcher and Pantry has amazing food and beer, including River Roost.

I miss the parking lot. Hope you all are well and gettin' after it! VT is great; fell into a great community here in Brownsville. Amazing people, outstanding beer everywhere, unbelievable mountain biking and skiing when I can steal time from work. Headed to Magic for two days tomorrow!

Wait, is calling Salty "Sally" an insult? Because I feel like it's a least a lateral move if not a slight upgrade for Salty. I mean, one of us has big-girl skis and occasionally eats vegetables... 😁

Oh, lord, it looks like Palmerton outside today: January rain ruining formerly-great snow. And a serious freeze coming behind the rain. The EMS scanner was squawking all night with people sliding off the road into ditches and creeks, and fire truck crews being saying "uh, we can't get to the scene, it's too icy." Our Thursday night beer-league race was canceled. Suicide Six closed early. These are dark days.

Staying overnight in the ski lodge, sleeping on a patrol gurney. We won't get the big accumulation that was initially forecast, but it should still be fun in the am to skin up before work. It's 30 minutes home and 30 minutes back all to do 4 hours of work and then sleep. May as well work here by the fireplace. And the open beer taps.

They totally ignored your comment about bringing your skis into the bathroom. Their social media person missed a lot of opportunities for jokes about length, width, ripping...I mean, the possibilities are vast...

His face, when I told him who I was, was one of my favorite memories of Blue. Definitely play cards with him for money: no poker face. 🙂

Dunno; I work all the time so haven't been down there. They let me transfer my season pass to a friend, which was very awesome of them. But we got a rainstorm last Friday that destroyed what could have been a great base layer; everyone is frantically blowing snow and trying to be marginally skiable for the vacation week.

Part time. Tiny mountain. Should get some good patient-assessment practice, though.

Upgraded my intake system.

Remember when I said something nice about Eaf? That was weird.

It's freezy-raining here now and judging by the scanner, I-91 is basically ejecting cars off the road every five or ten minutes. At least tomorrow will be a quiet day at the mountain.