New to the East

[Bluebird Day]

Are you guys sure this site is not a front for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce?

In 36 years of skiing, I've done more trips to NVT than I can remember. I learned to tele from Dickie Hall at MRG. Google and Mapquest are no help in this discussion, because neither factor in the delays one always runs into when driving the NE Corridor.

NYC cost of living: I had a small efficiency near Tribeca (downtown) up until 3 years ago and had a bargain parking spot at $385 per month. Moved my car once a week to go to my home in NJ. Of course, I had to take a cab to my car when it rained. Mid-town and Uptown, $500-750, per month.

I forgot to mention. I hate driving, so that's why I'd rather fly out West. \/

 

[rfarren]

Okay Marc, how long those it take to get to the airport, park the car, check the luggage? At what time do you "really" need to get at the airport to get on the 5:38pm flight? How long to get out of the airport and make it to the slopes? I would say the time between New York home and the slopes at Alta to be probably pretty close to home to Jay.

Jay is about 8/7.5 hours north of NYC. The flight to SLC is 4.5 hours. If my flight leaves at 6:50, I leave my apt at around 5:00. After you arrive (9:45ish SLC time) it takes about 40 minutes to get your car and luggage. I normally fly out with another person, so while one waits for the skis the other picks up the car. SLC is a great airport with a very short lag time to get the luggage to you. In my experience we normally hit Snowbasin, or BCC, by about 11:15ish.

My guess is it takes the same time to get to Jay as it does to get to SLC. The 2 hour difference really works in favor of heading out to SLC for a short ski weekend. For cute towns and maple syrup, and a fun road trip, Jay wins hands down.

 

[Patrick]

Are you guys sure this site is not a front for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce?

I don't know...you'll have to ask Admin. :mrgreen: I always though that it was part of the Utah Chamber of Commerce.

All kidding aside, jumping on a plane wasn't what the initial question was about. Mentioning about getting on a plane so fast and being in SLC being hitting Rutland was a bit of a strench. Although I've never driving from NYC to ski areas in Winter and traffic in Montreal might not be as bad (and it can be bad), I've dealt with flying with ski equipment. Unless you're the pilot and have no luggage, traveling by plane isn't that simple as you showing up 5 minutes before your flights leave.

 

[skimore]

Also review the previous thread on supposedly powderless EC
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7869&p=44232#p44232

 

[Bluebird Day]

That was fun!! pocorn:

 

[Marc_C]

Okay Marc, how long those it take to get to the airport, park the car, check the luggage? At what time do you "really" need to get at the airport to get on the 5:38pm flight? How long to get out of the airport and make it to the slopes? I would say the time between New York home and the slopes at Alta to be probably pretty close to home to Jay.

Uh, to which Marc were you directing this? My cut point for drive vs fly is somewhere around the 6-7 hr mark, depending.

 

[rfarren]

Uh, to which Marc were you directing this? My cut point for drive vs fly is somewhere around the 6-7 hr mark, depending.

If I lived where you live, my cut point would be 40 minutes.

 

[icelanticskier]

Also review the previous thread on supposedly powderless EC
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7869&p=44232#p44232

got to just go where it was good and northern vt is not always the place. some of my pow days/corn days from march goes as follows:

march 2nd, mid coast southernish storm dumps 12 inches of fresh at gunstock resort that hardly dusted parts north or west of rt 89. great ski day.

march 4th, gulf of slides mt washington receives a nice 4 inches over a soft base and the skiing was quite amazing under sunny skies and did not see another soul all day long.

march 9th, 8 inches of fresh at sunapee-yup another southern storm where even killington only got 4 inches and spots north even less. i had 10 completely untracked runs at sunapee 1500 vert per run b4 anyone showed up and then i put skins on and enjoyed more untacked off of the backside which was closed due to lack of business. amazing day.

march 11th, too cold up north to corn? don't go north, stay south. skied perect corn at crotched mt in so nh in the afternoon sun with like 2-3 inches of velvet corn on hardy skied fresh groomed. real feel good skiing. 875 ft of vert never felt so good.

march 17th, 3 ravine tour on mt washington, followed the sun fort perfect corn 1st in east facing gulf of slides, followed by south east facing oakes gulf, followed by south facing tuckermans as an exit. all perfect untracked corn from start to finish. joegm wonders why loon won't soften being lower elevation, well, i can tell ya that most ski resorts face in a northerly direction and it has to be quite a bit warmer to soften than even much higher southerly aspects. oh ya we did finish the day skiing corn at wildcat as it faces west. report below:

http://timefortuckerman.com/forums/show ... hp?t=11272

and for those wondering why i live to ski here, here's all that open alpine terrain that we don't have on the east coast: pics from 3/17th as well:

http://timefortuckerman.com/forums/show ... hp?t=11288

march 24th, pow skiing up to a foot deep at gulf of slides after blow in off of the summit.

march 25th and 26th, epic corn skiing on mt washington with 4300 vert summit to car runs from both the west and east sides of the mountain:

http://timefortuckerman.com/forums/show ... hp?t=11338

not too bad a month i'd say if you know how and can get it while the gettins good. butter and salt with dat popcorn?

rog

 

[Patrick]

Funny this discussion has over 87 posts and Tony didn't participate in it. I suspect that once he is done being in the dark this thread will reach 100 in no time.

pocorn:

 

[riverc0il]

Guys... I'm new to this board, but I don't get it. Here's a guy who is relocating from Mammoth Lakes to the North East and is asking for some advise. I'm not dissing the East Coast experience, I grew up here, but now I ski equal time between the NE and Wyoming / Utah and have skied Mammoth and can tell you that they are two completely different experiences. I never find the need to have anything wider than 100mm wide in my East Coast quiver and every experience I had at Tucks (haven't skied it for 20 yrs) was wind blown boiler plate. Yes, I'm sure that there are some great powder days on Tucks, but I also know that that pitch is a prime example of a major slide area (highly crystalized snow, etc.). Our new West Coast friend will have a great experience on the East, just a different one.

This board has had a "touchy" east versus west mud slinging contingent for a few years now. You will be surprised how many threads break down into petty tit for tat east versus west comments. A lot of the guys that are regulars on the board are former east coasters, though they are not the primary trouble makers I don't think, in most cases. So don't take it personally if your solid inquiry broke down after only a few well thought out posts. I generally bow out once this whole east versus west argument heats up, but I just wanted to say I hope you don't take offense and please share some of your successes this winter!!

 

[Geoff]

Obviously, the Vermonters on this thread have never tried driving from Midtown NYC to Danbury CT... That can take 4 hours alone, not mention the additional 8 to Jay. Rush hour in Burlington, VT is 5-5:15, right. You guys are stubborn Yankees, I'll give you that.

It's $126.00 round trip from Penn Station to Rutland, Vt. A bus to Killington meets the train or it's a $25.00 cab ride you can split with other people on the train. If you get plugged into the share house scene, there are tons of people who drive up from the city and the inner suburbs so you can use the train a "Plan B" if you can't hook yourself up with a ride. It's a 500 mile round trip drive. When you factor in depreciation, gasoline, tolls, city parking, and auto insurance, the train and a taxi looks to be a bargain if you're solo. I'd bet that a most of the time, you could at least get a ride back on Sunday. Tons of people go by train stations in lower Fairfield County and Dirty Jersey, and Lon Gisland that can get you the last 30 miles to the city. With a half share in a house and a blackout season pass, you can ski every other weekend and not break the bank.

 

[Marc_C]

With a half share in a house and a blackout season pass, you can ski every other weekend and not break the bank.

Unfortunately all that skiing is at Killington.

 

[Bluebird Day]

The premise of my time vs. value analysis was of flying out west vs. driving to Northern Vermont (Jay / MRG / Stowe), not Killington; Vermont's version of "Huntuh". I took the train to Vermont once when I was younger, and it took forever to get to Rutland because it stopped at ever town in between. And New Yorkers don't give strangers rides... that's a hippy Vermont thing to do... :dead horse:

 

[icelanticskier]

pocorn:

rog

 

[jamesdeluxe]

This board has had a "touchy" east versus west mud slinging contingent for a few years now. You will be surprised how many threads break down into petty tit for tat east versus west comments. A lot of the guys that are regulars on the board are former east coasters, though they are not the primary trouble makers I don't think, in most cases.

Really? Whom do you consider the main east/west offenders? Man up and give us some names.

New Yorkers don't give strangers rides... that's a hippy Vermont thing to do.

I know that you're trolling, but while I lived in Brooklyn, I used to bring strangers from the Snowjournal board with me to the Catskills every other weekend. No one robbed me.

 

[rfarren]

New Yorkers don't give strangers rides... that's a hippy Vermont thing to do.

I know that you're trolling, but while I lived in Brooklyn, I used to bring strangers from the Snowjournal board with me to the Catskills every other weekend. No one robbed me.

Yeah, you want to move back to brooklyn. I'd be happy to get a free ride up to the catskills, I could even rob you so you don't miss out on that quintessential New York gesture of friendship. :wink:

 

[Geoff]

With a half share in a house and a blackout season pass, you can ski every other weekend and not break the bank.

Unfortunately all that skiing is at Killington.

I suggest people give the place a try now that skier visits are down to around 650,000. The Utards who bought the place managed to chase a big slice of the customers away. I guess it's a Utah thing where you act out of ignorance of local conditions, right M1? Why don't you share with us the last time you skied at Killington?

If you're living in NYC and don't have a car, Killington is as far as you can go unless you hook up with ski club bus trips. There just aren't many that go to Jay, Stowe, or the Mad River Valley from metro-NYC given the travel time.

If you're in a share house, it's pretty easy to hook up with people driving the hour to Sugarbush & Mad River. ...particularly on holiday periods when a lot of the share house people have blacked out season passes.

One of the things the new owners finally managed to get right last year was to offer a reloadable ski club product. You buy the first four days at $50+tax per day and reload it when you burn through the days. It makes Saturday/Holiday skiing at Killington a very good value.

 

[rfarren]

I have a soft spot in my heart for killington. It's a bit pricey, and short on continuos vert, but I still just like the place. I would rather ski there than at Park City.

 

[J.Spin]

Obviously, the Vermonters on this thread have never tried driving from Midtown NYC to Danbury CT... That can take 4 hours alone, not mention the additional 8 to Jay.

I've certainly never tried anything like that, although with such long travel times, one we have to be factoring in some serious traffic and/or weather. This thread certainly has been informative though with regard to the nuances of skiing out of NYC.

We’re more accustomed to Boston trips (~3 hrs from here) but we do occasionally travel in the NYC direction because two of my wife’s sisters settled in Northern New Jersey. The New Jersey trips take us ~5 to 5 ½ hours. We’re generally traveling to New Jersey during good weather, and staying away from the city to avoid dealing with traffic, so the trips never seemed to be a big deal. As this thread has reiterated though, big city traffic is certainly something to be dealt with or worked around. Friends from the Boston area that are coming up to visit/ski with us for the weekend will sometimes finish their day normally on Friday, have dinner etc., and then leave around 7:00 P.M. to avoid whatever traffic that area has to offer. Our friend Dave often takes that approach, and it also gives me time to update him with the latest Friday evening forecasts to confirm that fresh powder is on the way and it’s worth coming up. He’ll usually arrive here in Waterbury around 10:00 P.M., and if I haven’t headed off to bed, we’ll have time to chat for a bit and still get to sleep in plenty of time to catch first tracks in the morning. Another approach Dave (and others in the Boston area) will often take is to forget traveling on Friday altogether (if it’s been a busy week and he just wants to use Friday evening to relax). He’ll leave from Boston early (~5:00 A.M. if we’re thinking first tracks) on Saturday morning and meet us at the mountain. He’ll even sleep in sometimes, and catch up with us on the mountain mid morning via cell phone or radio.

Even though the drive from the NYC area is a bit longer, combining some of these approaches could make trips a little more practical with regard to traffic issues. One could do the 7:00 P.M. departure from NYC to avoid traffic (assuming the traffic slows down there at some point) and travel perhaps 3 hours to a hotel. An early departure from the hotel the next morning could allow the 2 to 3 hours needed to get just about anywhere to catch the start of the ski day. I’m not sure if people have tried this approach, or how well it works, but it sounds feasible. Doesn’t Harvey travel up from the NYC/NJ area to the Gore region many weekends a year? He must have ideas on how to handle it. We haven’t really gotten back into any weekend ski trips in the ~4+ hour range since leaving Montana, but traffic wasn’t an issue at that point and we could just leave whenever we wanted on a Friday afternoon/evening.

Obviously car travel options won’t be very useful for moresnowplease until he can get a car or hook up with others that have them, but hopefully he can get to that stage as soon as possible. From this thread I can see why flying to ski, even with all its associated hassles, can become a pretty attractive option from NYC.

-J

 

[Geoff]

I have tons of friends who drive to Killington every weekend from Long Island, north Jersey, and NYC. Most of them do indeed adopt that late departure strategy but the drive times are far longer than from Boston and the good road ends in Glens Falls on the Northway route. If you can't get out the door by 2:30, you'd might as well wait until 7:00.

When I lived in Boston, I could head out my door at 7:00 and reliably be in the bar at Killington at 9:45 after a quick pit stop to dump my food in the fridge and turn up the heat. It's only 30 miles of secondary roads off the highway and you can do it in that drive time on cruise control at speed limit + 9 on the highway and precisely at the speed limit on the Vermont secondary roads where speeding tickets are a major revenue source. The Mad River Valley is only 15 minutes more if you use the Roxbury Gap road.

From New York, you're lucky to make it to Killington before midnight if you leave at 7:00. The traffic is worse and it's an extra 100 miles with 50 miles of secondary roads. Everybody seems to have a radar detector and drive at max speed whenever possible just to make it into bed early enough to not be a piece of crap the next morning. The extra drive time to the Mad River Valley, Stowe, and Jay Peak is simply out of the question if you're doing it every weekend.