Mess

I went to JF today with the family. We brought my 3 1/2 year old to ski for the first time. My wife and son went for a few runs while I was putting her in the snow monster program. It did not start off well at all. When I was checking her in she started crying and saying she wanted her mommy and did't want to ski. I finally got her to go with her instructor and when i saw her on snowmonster alley she was crying and yelling I want my mommy. After about an hour talking to my wife she started to work with an instructor named Mike. He did a great job and by the time she finished her lesson she was using the magic carpet and laughing as she skied down the hill. My wife spent most of the time watching Abigail ski while I skied with my son. We started off on Lehigh which was real fast since it was groomed ice. Next run we went down Demattes Demise. Since skiing Cannonball at Montage he is obsessed with skiing Black Diamonds so our next run was on Thunderbolt. He did great on that so we moved on to challenge. It was a fun trail. We had the trail to ourselves. He handled the headwall pretty easy so I thought I would let him check out East Mountain from the lift. On the way up I said he could ski Rivershot next year. He said"come on dad just let me do it" so we went down Rivershot. He did real well and handled the last drop pretty well. He was turning well but then he went into a straight-line for the bottom third. He stopped on the runout to the lift. I asked why he stopped turning and he that snow kicked up in his eyes(he didn't want to wear the goggles) so he went straight because he didn't want to fall. We did a few more runs on Thunder and Exhibition. We met up with my wife and daughter, put the harness on my daughter and did 2 runs on snowflake before calling it quits. Lodge was empty, I got to see how it feels to ski on a weekday. We went to the White Haven Diner for breakfast. Our total bill for 4 was $15.85. Food is good, portions are huge and coffee is included with every meal. It is a great way to end the day.

Turn of the river is awesome. Been there twice. Have a great time

It is always a bummer when injury ruins a season. I missed an entire season with an ACL rupture and I was depressed. Hopefully you heal quickly but if not it sounds like you had a great season. Get well

Had a great morning session at Montage today with my father and son. I was expecting spring conditions but was surprised to see some flurries and fast frozen cord. We arrived at the Mountain at 8:30. We were a little tired waking up at 5:30 but it was worth it to have the mountain to ourselves. We got out 9-1 ticket for $29. Great Deal. We started off on Hardball and Mainline to warm up our legs. My son was feeling smooth so we worked our way across the blue terrain. We did a run on Switch that was fun especially since they were not racing on it today. Then we took a run on Upper Fast track. It is a fun wide trail for beginners and the connector was a little challenging since it was fast and icy. We did a run on upper runway next and I was really impressed with my sons turns and ability to stop using a hybrid wedge/hockey stop so I had my Father take another run with him while I checked out the conditions on the lower mountain to se if he was ready for a black diamond. I first checked out lower runway. The conditions were pretty tough especially on the headwalls. There were some real icy spots and it felt like i was skiing on golf ball sized ice balls. Next I took a run on Cannonball and the conditions were a little better. There were a few thin spots but I found better snow especially along the tree lines. I had a nice conversation with a guy who was ski patrol at Jack Frost on the lift and then another guy who said he had been on White Lightning twice the day before since it was totally groomed with no bumps. I decided to take a run on Smoke. Once again the trail had a bunch of ice balls that were making it difficult but it was manageable. I almost had my first fall of the year when a bunch of ice balls slid from under me on a steep section. I knew that I needed to take a run on White Lightning. As I have said many times I am not comfortable on the bumps especially on a trail as steep as WL. The run was fun I was a little surprised that there was not a steep headwall at the top of the trail but a gradual drop. It was the steepest trail that I have been on in Pa. I tried to stay on the left side along the tree line hoping for better snow. There were a few icy spots where other skiers had pushed the snow so I tried to stay away from those spots. It was a lot of fun but I was very controlled going down especially with the challenging conditions. Later in the day I talked to a guy that said it had really softened up after the sun hit it and the conditions were great. I went on another run on Switch and Upper Runway with my son. He was doing great so I asked if he wanted to try a black diamond and he said he did. I took him to Cannonball. I was a little nervous since he does't turn 7 until April. It is a weird feeling being excited for him but also worrying that he is ready and doesn't lose control and get hurt. He basically followed my tracks for the first two headwalls. On the third headwall I told him to wait for me to get to a safe spot and for him to control himself and stop where i was. I watched him start with a nice turn and then he decides to straight line the rest of the hill and he flies in towards me and stops about three inches from me. I said why didn't you turn on your way down and he said "I wanted to go fast, you kept making me stop." After that run we took 1 more run on Upper Runway than 1 more on Switch to Mainline so we could get to the lodge. We stopped at the Waffle House on E. Davis street and headed home. Skiing with my Dad and son is so much fun. What a great family day.

How do the Catskills compare to a place like Mount Snow? We are looking to take a trip next year but trying to stay a little closer to home. How do you rank the catskill resorts? Thanks

They are pictures from the first day. Second day was more of a Bluebird day

I can not figure out how to attach my pictures. Where is the attachment icon? Thanks

Drove up on Wednesday after work. Took about 7 hours. Smooth ride until we got into the Green Mountain National Forrest after Bennington. I was cruising aound 50 mph going down a steep decline and realized I was on snow. It was a little scary navigating the curves with snow on the road. Arrived at the Austrian Haus Lodge at 11:30. 2/27 We woke up early on Thursday had a continental breakfast and headed to Mount Snow(4 miles from lodge). It was cold but not unbearable. The weather conditons varied throughout the day. It was cloudy and cold, then a snow squaw put a fresh inch on the mountain, it cleared up for a while and then got real cloudy and cold. We used the Bluebird express for our first few runs. First run was Ridge. It is a really fun trail. I was the only person on the trail and had great views of the surrounding mountains. I convinced my 63 year old dad that he could handle the trail and he loved it on the next run. Next we went to the Canyon quad and took two runs on snowdance. Another fun trail that was perfectly groomed. My dad took a break and then I took a run on Exhibition. It has two steep headwalls but is a fairly nice groomer run. We took a coffee break and went back out for another run on Ridge but my fathers leg was starting to hurt so he stayed on Long John trail. I could see he was struggling so he called it a day. I decided to head to the North Face. I took the Canyon quad to River Run and then Jumped on the North Face lift. My first run was on Fallen Timbers and then I took a run on Chute. They were the only groomed Black Diamonds. Both trails are fun but there is not a steep headwall at the top. Kind of remind me of cliffhanger at Camelback but abut 4 times longer. They are real fun trails with great views. It was fun to watch people skiing the moguls on free fall. It made the long lift ride up bearable. We went to cuzzins for lunch. It has a pretty cool atmosphere and the food was good and fairly priced. After Lunch I took a run on Uncles to ridge. Uncles was a natural trail. It was a little bumpy and crunchy but a real fun trail and a challenge. I took a run on exhibition to Ego alley and 1 run down south bowl then went back for another run on fallen timbers. My last run of the day was cascade to canyon. What an awesome day. My quads were starting to die and I new it was time to relax. We went back to the Austrian Haus and got in the heated pool to relax the muscles. Took a nap then headed out to dinner at The Last Chair. Food was good and drank some Long Trail with a salad and pizza. Our ride home was crazy. It was snowing and the winds were whipping. It was a total whiteout for about 40 seconds. 2/28 It was freezing when we woke up. The temp was 4 degrees with a windchill of -14. We Went to Dot's of Dover for breakfast and got a short stack of mixed berry pancakes. Unfortunately my dad could not ski since his knee was swollen. I got on the Bluebird express and took my first run down Exhibition. I took the bluebird express up and for my second run I decided to head to the sunbrook area. I took a great run down Thanks Walt. I took the beartrap double to Carinthia. Carinthia is a huge park area but I went on Fools Gold which is labeled as a natural park. It was fresh powder and I was the second person to go down the trail. It is strange skiing powder when you are not used to it. It is so much fun but a harder workout. I took the quad to the top of carinthia and the took Milky way back to bear trap. From bear trap I took Long John to ridge where I attempted to navigate the moguls on the right of the trail. By this point my toes were freezing. I went back to the lodge, took off my boots and but my feet in front of the fire. It took a good half hour to thaw my feet and get ready to go back out. The blubird lift lines were ridiculous as ever wanted to use the bubble chairs to fight the win so I headed to the Canyon lift that reminded me of Montage since I never waited in line. I took a run down Canyon first. Then I went down the overbrook trail. Overbrook was an ungroomed natural trail with soft moguls spread throughout the trail. It was alot of fun but a real quad burner. The next run was One More Time and it was also an ungroomed natural trail. The trail had alot of varying terrain and was pretty narrow with nice turns throughout. I saw a group head into the trees to the left but I was not comfortable following. Towards the end of the trail was a small mogul field that was very icy. I stayed along the treeline to avoid the ice. I went back to North Face for one more run on Fallen Timbers. I think it is my favorite trail at Mount Snow but Ridge is a close second. Ridge reminds me of a steeper/longer version of Pocono Raceway where you can pick up great speed but is so wide so you can carve awesome curves. My last run was Drifter to canyon. A great run to end my time at mount Snow. I enjoyed my trip to Mount Snow but plan on trying Okemo next time I go to Vermont. I will post pictures soon.

Is anyone interested in buying a Mount Snow Voucher that is valid until March 2? I am heading up to Vermont on February 12th. We have 3 vouchers that we got last year when we got sick on our trip. We want to ski Mount snow one day and then maybe try okemo or Stratton but do not want to waste a voucher. If I we can't get rid of one of the vouchers we will stay at Mount snow both days. I paid $56 so looking to get my money back

It was fun and steep but a little too short.

Arrived at the lot at 7:40 and was surprised at how many cars were already there. It was 4 degrees and the wind made it feel much cooler. When we arrived in the lodge saw that the cars were there because of Race day. Our first few runs were on Powder and snowflake which were empty so it was good to work on turning and stopping with my son. We then moved to Easy Rider. The snow was great on the beginner trails so we made a few runs from snow flake to Easy rider. My son did a great job but fell a few times when other people got close to him. One of our only problems was getting my son on the D-Lift. He has a hard time skating forward to get in position to get on the lift. I have not bought him poles( Should a 6 year old have Poles?). The workers were nice enough to slow the lift down when I asked. I could see the workers getting annoyed so one time I did not ask and he almost got knocked over by the lift. The rest of the day I asked for them to slow it down. At one point one of the workers got annoyed and said, "Why don't you bring him to E and F lift?" I told her we only had one more run. It was pretty cold out there. My dad offered to watch my son in the lodge so I could take a few runs. I took a nice run down Lehigh and planned to head to East Mountain but got on the Lift near Thunderbolt. By the time I got off the lift my fingers were freezing so I headed for the Lodge. After the break we alternated between Easy Rider and Ridge runner and there were a lot more people on the trails. I was impressed with my sons ability to avoid other people and he really finished the day off strong. When he got cold again I took a run down thunderbolt. It was firm packed and fast. I then went to East Mountain and went down River shot which was also fast and fun. I saw some people lose their edge on floyds and slide down. It was icy in the middle where people were plowing down but the snow on skiers left was pretty nice and powdery. I was tempted to try the elevator as it did not looked very bumped up but changed my mind. I might have to hook up with some PASR's to coach me down my first time. Overall we had a great day at Jack Frost. I thought that there would be more coverage in the glades but they looked a little thin.

I had a great time today at Montage.I was a little tired in the morning since my son woke me up at 2:40 because he thought it was 5:40 and time to get ready. Left Aston at 6:15 and arrived on the mountain at 8:07. Bought a $29 morning session ticket. I thought renovated lodge looked very clean and the workers were very friendly. Started the day with the slopes to ourselves. Spent most of the day on highball and mainline with my son. He was doing well for a 6 year old but he still needs to learn to turn and slow down at times, He was straight lining and it was funny watching my father trying to keep up with him. When the others decided to take a break I went for a run on whistler to lower runway. I was surprised that Long haul was not running but there were so few people on the mountain I guess it was not cost effective( I think they started running long haul around 11:00). My legs were burning since it was my first day out but after resting on the phoebe lift I figured I would take a run on smoke. When I made it to the second headwall I got an unpleasant surprise. The rest of the trail was bumped up. I am not comfortable on moguls but was shit out of luck. I worked my way down the trail but was not very graceful. After that run I took a break in the lodge. I took one more run on whistler with my wife and then finished the day on the green terrain with my boy. I never waited in line today and that made it worth driving and extra 30 minutes to get to Montage. This is a great mountain for beginners and anyone who has young kids should make the trip. The new ownership has added a terrain park. I would also think that Boomer, Smoke and White lightening would make for a fun day for more advanced skiers. They seem like legitimate Double black diamonds now. A few things that I would change: There is a sign near the phoebe lift that warns that expert skiers only should go past this sign. I feel that it would be a good idea to have a sign that says ungroomed trail or a moguls sign. I have been on these trails many times and they usually have one side bumped and the other groomed. It would also be nice if they had a part of the trail groomed for an "Out" If someone wanted to get away from the bumps. I also think there should be better signage between the Intermediate and advanced trails. As I went down Whistler there was a very small orange sign with an arrow pointing left. I would imagine skiers could get themselves in trouble if they do not belong on steeper trails. I highly recommend a trip to Montage although I love the small lift lines I want the place to be a success and make some money so it his here for years to come.

I will be up for a morning session. Probably start on the green trails early with my son then work my way over to boomer and smoke when he goes into the lodge

Great Breakfast at Sugar and Spice on the way to Killington. Worth the ride back towards rutland. Make their own syrup. The killington Deli before you turn on the access road is pretty nice.

Killington is a good time but gets crazy on weekends. You can always start early at Killington and then switch to Pico if lines get long. Killington lift tickets are valid at Pico. Upper KA and Upper Pike are fun trails.

I like Pico Mountain. It is more laid back then Killington especially when Killington is crowded.

On sale for next 9 days on cbs local offers Philadelphia.

That is weekend. Weekday is $20 and $15 for kids

Nice job Montage. $29 dollars from 9am-1pm. I will be making a few trips up. Great place for the family with kids tickets for $24.

I am scheduling an apointment with Greg at Wicks for wednesday. Would like an idea of how much I should be spending? What is the average cost for new boots? Thanks

Has anyone ever been to Eagle Rock? Was thinking about trying it out with my 6 year old son. Looks pretty small but could be perfect for a beginner. The website says 14 trails but looks more like 5 with a bunch of connectors.

Thanks I am going to call Wick's

I went to the Ski Bum and the sales associate had reccomended the Atomic live Fit 90. I am not sure if they have any boot fitters close to my my area. Anyone in the Delco area have any suggestions for a better place to get boots? Thanks

I am looking to buy new ski boots. I have wide feet and a flat arch. Anyone know which boots are best for wide feet? Thanks

Got to mountain at 9. Started off on ridge the went up bluebird express for a great run down cascade into snowdance. Snow was great 14 inches last 2 days. Nice packed powder. We did thanks Walt then I hit the north face. I did Fallen timbers and plummet. Most of the north face was bumped up so I stayed on the groomed trails. Took a picture of rip cord that I will try to post