NYC Mags?

[Gman]

Having just spent the last season living out in Eagle county and recently relocated to manhattan. I'm eagerly awaiting a season that is most likely not going to be nearly as good as the one I just had. That being said I'm looking to see how many NYC area maggots there are and potentially arranging some group trips up to vermont and maybe some other areas. A buddy of mine from college, his family has a house up in rutland, VT that we use to use for weekend trips and the occasional beer in the city. chime in and let me know who's where and what your go to mtn is on the east coast.

[Skis]

I live in NY. With no car, I usually find that I do day trips up to Hunter (sucks) or fly West. That said, I have way more time to ski this year and I'd be interested in chippign in gas/beer/food money for trips up to VT. I've been wanting to check out Jay Peak.

[Gman]

My ride up to VT consists of a friend who lives in hoboken but keeps his truck at his family's house in northern NJ. Would love to check out jay but its another two hours north from where we usually go. When it gets closer to the season starting I'm sure more people will start to chime in.

[Helldawg]

I'm always up for someone to share the gas on a mission, but I usually roll pretty spontaneously with the storms.

Keep in touch tho, maybe we can do a day trip to the mighty Catskills this season.

[bklyn]

JFK... LGA... EWR...

[inqueens-->tobc]

i've been ski bussing it at 4am to Hunter and Okemo and while it's cheap as hell it ain't too pleasant... sometimes i do it after staying out all night partying... this year trying to make some ski friends, none of my buddies in NY have spent any significant time on two planks... more than happy to foot gas, tolls etc.... .... The last two years i've gone up to Killington around opening day so I'm planning on figuring something out around then to kick off the season right...

[snowsnake]

Having just spent the last season living out in Eagle county and recently relocated to manhattan. I'm eagerly awaiting a season that is most likely not going to be nearly as good as the one I just had. That being said I'm looking to see how many NYC area maggots there are and potentially arranging some group trips up to vermont and maybe some other areas. A buddy of mine from college, his family has a house up in rutland, VT that we use to use for weekend trips and the occasional beer in the city. chime in and let me know who's where and what your go to mtn is on the east coast.

funny...i'm in the same boat as you. spent last season bumming in jackson after finishing school, and just moved to manhattan in july. needless to say i'm down go in on some weekend trips...

anybody going to the msp or tgr showings coming up? i think msp is this thursday...

[CUBUCK]

JFK... LGA... EWR...

This can't be stressed enough.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I live in Brooklyn. I seldom ski East Coast ski areas, but if the snow is good and anybody is going to Stowe, Jay or MRG I'll chip in for gas and anything else. I might have a connection for a free place to stay in Stowe.

More importantly, I'd like to do several Mount Washington trips next spring and summer. I have an aunt in Conway, NH with a floor that can be slept on.

There are early morning flights to Salt Lake City that can get you on a mountain before 1 p.m. You can stay in one of the Alta dorms with meals included for about $120. If you take Friday off before a long weekend, and take the red-eye back to New York you can ski 3.5 days.

[bklyn]

3.5 days? Man, that's the hook up fo sho!

[inqueens-->tobc]

yeah, if you don't feel guilty about burning up the atmosphere, and making snow extinct, you can fly SLC for the weekend...

ADVICE TO RECENT TRANSPLANTS TO NYC:

1) Blow ALL of your vacation on one epic trip back to where you're from or love to ski. Buy the plane ticket NOW so that you have to go and can't bullshit and put this off, which is a dangerous possibility because this city is distracting. Try to go for 3 weeks in mid winter.

2) Pay close attention to the weather, especially weekdays. If it snows call in sick and take day trips to places nearby like Hunter or Okemo on the ski bus. People are down on these places, but they have bus service and have steep parts and if there is a lot of snow and it's a weekday, it will be better than any bigger Vermont mountain on a weekend. You should know the weather in NYC seems to have zero correlation to whats going on up in the mountains, it's always way way warmer here.

3) Plan those weekend trips with buddies to Vt etc...

4) The rest of your year will be miserable paying it all off, making it up to your boss, etc.


Also, to really have fun here I think you have to be ready to ski all day in some real East Coast conditions, which are pouring rain, on ice. Even better if you have to do that with fat powder skis. When you finally get back West you will probably bust one.

[Helldawg]

Mmm, yeah. I think we all agree that we'd all rather be skiing UT or somewhere similar.

But that's really not the spirit of this thread.

I do a nice long weekend loop that involves leaving out in the evening, and overnighting in Brattleboro. Boogie up to MRG or the Bush for a full day, then overnight up near Waterbury. Ski Bolton the next day. If there's one more day of skiing, I'll either do Bolton again and boogie for home at like 2-2:30, or ski somewhere further south on the way home. Tiring as fuck, but I hit some really nice pow days on that loop last year.

Plattekill powderdaize are a nice fix when they happen (not often...).

One thing I simply don't do though is Hunter. Not unless there's a free ticket involved. And then only on a weekday.

[4th&shlong]

There's also a JetBlue flight out of JFK to DEN that gets you out after work on Friday with the redeye getting you back in time for Monday morning. (Frontier has a similar flight out of LGA). Find a place to crash in Summit and you're only really looking at a flight and grabbing someone's buddy pass to get you discounted tickets. (If you'll go a few times, you may just want to buy the Colorado pass for $459) It is a little less convenient that SLC because of the drive...but less time off work. (4 days skiing instead of 3.5...)

You should also look into local ski clubs that take bus trips. There are quite a few that leave from CT..saves you on gas, lift tickets and you dont have to drive.

[inqueens-->tobc]

trying to figure out Killington for the Weekend of November 15th if anybody is interested. Should be the first open ski weekend of the year. Nothing special but it's skiing in November so...

This year i really hope to ski here on the east in order of priority:

Jay Peak, Vt
Cannon Mountain, NH
Stowe, Vt
Whiteface, NY
Tuckerman's Ravine (hike access off Mt Washinton), NH


but the point I was trying to make is:

a) in my opinion its not worth it flying out West for anything less than a week, weather could screw you, it will be a big hassle, your gear might not arrive, not to mention its a big waste of jet fuel.

b) i think taking a day trip to a shittier mountain when it snows is better than going on a weekend trip to a better one with uncertain snow conditions and bigger crowds. in my opinion.

[bklyn]

I've got passes or ticket packs to Vail, BC, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper, Winter Park, Steamboat, Aspen/Snowmass/Highlands and Snowbird for about the same price as a lousy Killington Pass.

You can keep the scramble to drive up Friday after work - to get to that lousy overpriced claptrap seasonal rental - then going to ski with all the crowds - and looking at your watch at 1pm on Sunday cutting the day short to get home. My way is less expensive, cheaper, and conservative in fossil fuels wasted.

But you can convince yourself that your way is best.... unless good friends are involved, shitty skiing is... well... shitty.

[CUBUCK]

There's also a JetBlue flight out of JFK to DEN that gets you out after work on Friday with the redeye getting you back in time for Monday morning. (Frontier has a similar flight out of LGA). Find a place to crash in Summit and you're only really looking at a flight and grabbing someone's buddy pass to get you discounted tickets. (If you'll go a few times, you may just want to buy the Colorado pass for $459) It is a little less convenient that SLC because of the drive...but less time off work. (4 days skiing instead of 3.5...)

You should also look into local ski clubs that take bus trips. There are quite a few that leave from CT..saves you on gas, lift tickets and you dont have to drive.

Just a heads up Frontier no longer runs the redeye from DEN to LGA. Continental has one into EWR which works out well if you live and work in the city. Think it lands around 5:30ish and will get you into midtown by 6:45-7 on NJ transit

[BeanDip4All]

We had some really fun daytrips to Plattekill and Belleayre last season. I was pleasantly surprised at Plattekill- it's like the little mountain that could. Not a bad drive, either.

That rat race up to VT for weekends isn't bad, but the drive HOME on Sunday nights all traffic coming back just blows. I suppose a nice thing about bus trips is that you could zonk out and not stress the drive.

[inqueens-->tobc]

the funniest part about the bus trips is taking the subway to the pickup spot with all of your gear on, and it's 3am, and everybody else is coming back from the bars wasted looking at you funny.

[Dexter Rutecki]

We had some really fun daytrips to Plattekill and Belleayre last season. I was pleasantly surprised at Plattekill- it's like the little mountain that could. Not a bad drive, either.

That rat race up to VT for weekends isn't bad, but the drive HOME on Sunday nights all traffic coming back just blows. I suppose a nice thing about bus trips is that you could zonk out and not stress the drive.

Having made the drive several hundred times (masochist), I'd just say that it's completely unpredictable--or it is predictable, until it's not. If you leave Friday between 3:30 (maybe 4, if you're lucky) and 6:30 traffic will be hell. It ALWAYS is. Coming back on Sunday it really varies with weather, football games, luck, and general asshattery on the part of fellow drivers.

And Plattekill is definitely a good call, just sucks that it's farther than Huntah.

As for BKLYN's advice to forget going local, I'd disagree--especially if you're in the position of having to buy four sets of plane tix for the family. It's a relief to get west, but I'd save it for times when you can go for more than a weekend. EC skiing can be OK, from time to time.

[ts01]

If you have a friend at Rutland -- obviously Killington is right at hand but Mad River and Sugarbush are must-ski and close enough.

It's not all in VT. NY options: Plattekill = awesome, but ONLY if there's good cover. Gore and Whiteface also are worth the trip, If you are carless I bet you can find a bus connection to Lake Placid for Whiteface.

Flying is a whole separate story, just two points to add:
1 - For weekend trips, at least SLC and further west if possible gets you more sleep on a redeye return trip. Sacramento, PDX, Seattle ...
2 - By the time you even board a flight at JFK you can have a good chunk of the drive done to VT or upstate NY and you are not at the mercy of air traffic control etc.

[inqueens-->tobc]

I'm working in Midtown around 57th and Madison. If anybody also works in the area wants to get lunch or after work beers someday and plot some trips I'd be happy to meet up.

I've been here for about 7 years, all the good skiers I've know are too broke to ski anymore...

[Helldawg]

Word, bklyn's advice is pretty bogus, unless you happen to be single, retired, and rolling in dough (read: not most of us).

The whole airline thing is a no-go when you have to fly out the fam. And like someone pointed out, between delays, extra bag fees, reduced service, and TSA douchebaggery, flying basically blows.

I fly on Delta employee passes, and I'm even pretty sick of it. I can do SLC on standby for about $170, usually in first class. I'm just getting tired of it.

Not to mention, how do you get tuned up for that UT/CO/wherever trip? A few days on East coast ice will get those legs primed nicely.

I also had a powder day last December @ MRG that rivaled many days in LCC. Just gotta watch that weather.

[MRG_girlwonder]

Day trips to the Adirondacks or Berkshires are fine if you go with the positive attitude that any day outside skiing is better than not. As for weekends, MRG and Jay are a haul, but worth it (yes, biased to my home mtns). Few others merit the trip when you compare the price/time expense for VT versus flying to SLC, except maybe Stowe. However, that was last year when Delta didn't charge a fortune for checked baggage and had more flights to SLC.

[bklyn]

Word, bklyn's advice is pretty bogus, unless you happen to be single, retired, and rolling in dough (read: not most of us)...

I don't believe that my approach would work for parents of small children. Also, retired or rolling in dough are not requirements. YMMV. I have done the math for myself, and it turns out to be less expensive for me to ski out West than to get the same amount of days locally.

[NorthernSpotted...]

I've got passes or ticket packs to Vail, BC, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper, Winter Park, Steamboat, Aspen/Snowmass/Highlands and Snowbird for about the same price as a lousy Killington Pass.

You can keep the scramble to drive up Friday after work - to get to that lousy overpriced claptrap seasonal rental - then going to ski with all the crowds - and looking at your watch at 1pm on Sunday cutting the day short to get home. My way is less expensive, cheaper, and conservative in fossil fuels wasted.

But you can convince yourself that your way is best.... unless good friends are involved, shitty skiing is... well... shitty.

bklyn, I've been doing the whole K-mart season pass, share house, and drive from the NYC area nearly every skiable weekend for the last 4 years. In addition, I generally get 5-10 days in out west. If you can honestly tell me you get anywhere in the neighborhood of 35 days/season out west, you've sunk my battleship and I'm ready to become your disciple...