Recomendations for skiing around christmas

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woodi2259

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My family's trying to decide where we want to go this winter for our christmas ski vacation. Past 2 years have been spent out west at breck/vail/keystone and sunshine village/lake louise but we don't really have the funds or time to ski out west this year so were trying to decide where to go in the east. In previous years we've been to Whiteface and Cannon. Where do you guys think the most dependable snow will be around christmas because we've had some real good years and real bad years. My mom's considering mt. sainte anne. She skiied there many years ago and thinks it will be pretty good. As far as mt. sainte anne goes is there any good stash's to be found in the trees there or off the beaten path because after skiing outwest in the trees i'm addicted. Find myself looking at ski areas in a whole new light not looking at trails but looking at the spaces between them for the real fun. Thanks
 
i spent 4 days up at tremblant after christmas last year with my family. pretty decent mountain, cold as shit, big crowds, but lift lines seemed to move efficiently. however it was very affordable, and easy to get to. canadian beer should be enough motivation to go on its own.
 
Any place that has extensive snowmaking. Although, some years the east does get plenty of natural by Xmas. Last year we went to Okemo the day after and enjoyed the 26" that dropped on 12/25. Everywhere is crowded though.
 
It really depends upon how much snow the ski areas have, Last few years we have skied at Burke, Cannon, Orford, Jay, Sutton, Owl's Head, Saint Saveur, Tremblant during the christmas season and they have all had good snow. But it depends on the year. I know burke was not very crowded during the christmas week, however tremblant was extremely crowded. We normally wait till 2 or 3 weeks before christmas to decide where to go. <BR>porter
 
thanks for the input, like i've said i've skiied at whiteface and cannon at christmas and i know it really just depends on the year. Was just wondering what mountains had really good snowmaking and would almost guarantee good skiing. Personally i'd prefer to ski natural (wouldn't everyone) but it's just not always the case in the east. I would wait til a few weeks before but my mom really likes to know whats happening atleast a month ahead of time because we wanna make sure we can get rooms for 4 of us etc. Thanks
 
http://www.jaypeakresort.com gets far and above more snow than ANY place in the east and more than most western resorts as well.Jay also has the best and most tree skiing in the country.To compliment thier absurd snowfall they also have a good snowmaking system.Jay Peak's biggest drawback is that there isnt much to do after the lifts close.If you want snow and trees then Jay is a no brainer.Check out http://www.lodgetheory.com for some vids of Jay's signiture glades. <BR>Sugarbush is another tree skiers mountain but it is also known as a superb family mountain as well.Drawback is it's very pricey. <BR>Stowe is another option with lots of snow and trees.Stowe has the nightlife in northern Vermont too(Foggy Goggle).Drawback is $$$$. <BR>((* <BR>*))NHPH
 
if you're looking for powder around xmas time, jay is probably your best bet. burke usually gets good snow up there too. any where else... it really depends where the snow has fallen as most resorts don't get near 100% open till the new year from what i've noticed.
 
Yeah, agree with Jay Peak in particular, at christmas there, there is often more snow fallen than it falls in the whole season in some of the QC ski areas. <BR> <BR>Tremblant can be interesting... but you will have a problem : the crowd... or the cold <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> (last year I skied it at -10F (without counting windchill), on friday, on late january, and there was about 1 minute of waiting in general at the lifts (surely way more on the heated gondi, but I just took it once). So I just can't imagine on weekend when it's in the 20s, with nice sun... forget this, you will do 5 runs by day !
 
Woodi, Listen to your Mom. <BR>IMO the best bet of finding snow at Christmas time on a bad snow year would be Ste.Anne. I skiied Ste.Anne mid-December a few years ago when most of the East had very limited stuff opened. <BR> <BR>And if it is a good and early snow year, Ste.Anne has added a few long steep glades this year (Forêt Noire Area on the South Side).
 
Jay definitely has very, very good snow, and very good tree skiing. It probably has consistantly the best natural snow east of the Mississippi. However, last year, there was a large snow storm on X-Mas, and Killington & points south got 25-30 inches, where Jay got 8-ish. For what it's worth, Killington was 100% open the day after X-mas last year (I skied there on the 26th-30th.). GREAT skiing with all that new fresh. <BR> <BR>Hopefully this year will have good enough snow (early, late & mid season) that it won't matter WHERE you go.
 
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