OT: Southern New England skiing advice

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

I see Ski Butternut has a beginner package (rentals, lift, group lesson) for $45/person if you buy before 12/20.

Wassachusetts it looks like $95/person

I think butternut is hard to beat on price. It's an easy two hr drive.

Good recommendations^
Butternut is a great spot to get started because inexpensive, convenient and not crowded. These should be the beginner's priorities.
Wachusett does get crowded.
Maybe Sunapee (NH) too.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by vav

Thanks all. Keep them coming.
Roughly how much should I budget for 4 people? Lesson, lift and equipment rental? Am i missing anything?

Well, you may have hit on something that will turn into a not too pleasant revelation down the road. Skiing is expensive. If I had all the money I've spent on the activity over 35 years, with returns of just 4%, I be doing really well, financially. Vail just announced 215 dollar lift tickets at the window over the holidays. A decent pair of skis and bindings are going to set you back at least 700, probably a thousand when you get picky. And, you'll probably have two or three pair for different conditions. I just dropped 900 dollars total on new boots and fitting. You'll need layers of good, warm clothes, of course, a helmet and goggles, good gloves. A solid, roomy vehicle that can reliably be driven into snow country while, of course, it's snowing, after all, is not something to be trifled with, especially the tires. Either snow tires or very fresh all weather's on AWD. Then there's lodging and food. My big regret right now is that I didn't buy a ski condo somewhere and treat that purchase as retirement savings, because I would sure be saving a ton right now if I had one, especially if I had a nice kitchen. You'll find most ski town food to be overpriced junk.
So, not trying to discourage you with all this, but, be prepared. This is not a cheap activity. And, once you experience the Rocky mountains, which you should, or even Europe (which isn't that much more expensive, just harder to get to), you'll never look at the East the same. So much better.

Don't try to do this without lessons. Trust me on this. Skiing is also a contact sport, and injuries are common. Get some basics down. Either way, you're going to experience some pain, especially the first few days on a snowboard. That, I would not advise for anybody over 50. Brutal. But, snowboarding is easier, overall, than skiing, and once you get by the beginning stage, which is about five days, you'll get it. Then you can look at six feet of powder and smile.

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by verbs4us

Who was better--Vermont skiers or Colorado skiers?

we ski differently, not better or worse.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by verbs4us

Mount Southington in Connecticut is probably under 2 hours from PVD. Not bad for beginners. I had a boss once who grew up in Vermont and married a guy from Colorado. The endless marital debate was: Who was better--Vermont skiers or Colorado skiers? I sided with her. Anyone can ski in 6 feet of powder. It takes real skill to ski on ice, gravel, mud and grass.

I grew up skiing at Mt. Southington and at Powder Ditch (the only ski area I know of that you drive down to get to). My recommendation is that you skip them, unless you want to go night skiing for an hour or so. They are not worth a longish drive and certainly are not destination ski areas.

If you need to stay in southern New England, I’d suggest Jiminy Peak, which still is smallish, but far bigger and nicer than anything in CT. But it’s in northwestern Mass, and VT really isn’t much further. There are a number of good ski areas in southern VT. There also are a number of decent ski areas in the Catskills of NY. Maybe Hunter, Windham or Plattekill would be worth looking into?

[mod6]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Anybody can ski in six feet of powder??

Ahem. Really.

Snowbird/Alta/Squaw/JH sure plenty of pitch.. Snorkels are optional.

New England is just hard to find terrain steep enough for more then a couple feet.

Find a nice day in late Feb early March when the pack is deep and the sun is warm. Weather can make a huge impact on the experience a first time skier has. That learn to ski Pkg from Butternut is a great deal and I would seriously look into it. Rentals at some resorts could run you 45 dollars.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by mod6

Snowbird/Alta/Squaw/JH sure plenty of pitch.. Snorkels are optional.

New England is just hard to find terrain steep enough for more then a couple feet.

I just don't know what to say.

[tele]

Go to WaWa (Wachusett) and get lessons. They have a great setup for beginners. Snowmaking there is unbelievable and they groom twice a day. Lodge is big enough for the crowds and food/beer is reasonably priced.

My kids school goes there during the winter and I raced in the beer league for 8 years there. Cant go wrong for what it is.

[Hardlyrob]

Another vote for Wa Wa Wachusett - great for beginners, still very much a family friendly atmosphere. Beautifully groomed, and not so big that you can get lost. By all means start with an X day learn to ski package - and go after the Christmas / New Years rush.

Getting over the initial hump of quickly learning basic turns and stopping will lead to a much more enjoyable experience. That said, the first few days on skis or a board just suck. You really can't teach yourself the basics.

Cheers!

Rob

[Ken Robb]

I loved skiing for 50 years and tried to get my daughter interested but one kiddy lesson was all she wanted. She was in a class at Buttermilk in Aspen with Kate Hudson who seemed to enjoy a lot more. Her parents were sitting behind me in the lodge overlooking the bunny slope.

I agree with the comments about how expensive it will be if everyone wants to ski every year so consider if you can afford to start down this "slippery slope". (I couldn't resist that crack!)

I appreciate the comment about renting gear at home saving time at the resort but then you are stuck with gear that you can't swap if it's not really right for you when you get on the slopes. I gave up buying my own gear after 20 years or so because renting at the resort eliminated the hassle of schlepping/maintaining my own gear and let me choose different skis for different conditions. I was a high-intermediate skier so I paid extra for "demo" skis/boots which could be top-of-the-line gear. Since the shop is hoping renters will buy the gear they demoed they were happy to swap gear as often as I wanted during my rental period. Obviously you can't do that if you rent from a shop 200 miles away. Since ski/boot packages that I wanted to use could easily cost $1000-1500 and then be obsolete in a few years I thought it was almost cheaper to rent than own. OTOH I was only skiing for 1-2 weeks at a time. Had I lived in Aspen and skied 2-3 times a week all season the cost of renting would have been prohibitive.

In any event it's a wonderful family activity and if a person can ski a lot some resorts offer season passes that are real bargains. My sister's family (husband and 6 of their kids) get season passes at Northstar because they have a vacation home in Tahoe-Donner and spend many days on the slopes.

[AngryScientist]

man, i fondly remember the college days of filling two flasks, jack daniels in one, goldschlager in the other and running over to wachusett for night snowboarding. conditions almost always were icy, crusty junk, but man did we have fun.

gear - ha! rented boots, borrowed board, some firefighter pants and a regular jacket. no one wore helmets back then.

what a hoot.

had at least one mild concussion after a particularly funny night. amazed i survived that phase of my life relatively in tact.

have fun!

[peanutgallery]

For any of the vail or ikon pass places, walk up lift tickets are going to be pricey. The independent ones will be cheaper, many also have dynamic pricing if you're willing to purchase in advance. They usually have learning packages too

East coast conditions? If it's cold at night and the ground is frozen, there's great snow in the discovery area. It gets first dibs when it comes to snowmaking. That place is full of folks buying a daily pass, renting equipment and guzzling $14 beer

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

man, i fondly remember the college days of filling two flasks, jack daniels in one, goldschlager in the other and running over to wachusett for night snowboarding. conditions almost always were icy, crusty junk, but man did we have fun.

gear - ha! rented boots, borrowed board, some firefighter pants and a regular jacket. no one wore helmets back then.

what a hoot.

had at least one mild concussion after a particularly funny night. amazed i survived that phase of my life relatively in tact.

have fun!

"in tact" is better than in traction!

[mulp]

I agree, Wachusett and Nashoba worked well for me. Blue Hill in Boston is suppperr small but gets the job done if your kids are skiing for the first or second time.

[alancw3]

when I was in college back in the mid60's we use to go to Mt. Tom on week nights to ski. not as challeging as killington or stowe but a lot of weeknight fun. years later I lived in Vermont for a couple of years and loved skiing at Okemo. mid size mountain, friendly staff and a great time.

[peanutgallery]

That would pretty much nail the Tuesday night beer league on the slalom course of our local hill

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

man, i fondly remember the college days of filling two flasks, jack daniels in one, goldschlager in the other and running over to wachusett for night snowboarding. conditions almost always were icy, crusty junk, but man did we have fun.

gear - ha! rented boots, borrowed board, some firefighter pants and a regular jacket. no one wore helmets back then.

what a hoot.

had at least one mild concussion after a particularly funny night. amazed i survived that phase of my life relatively in tact.

have fun!