Fire

Before the ski season even began for 2021/22,  we returned from a long camping trip on the Oregon coast to the Caldor fire.  Within 2 weeks it was knocking on the door of South Lake Tahoe.  On August 29th, the fire burned through one of our favorite local resorts Sierra at Tahoe.  We were evacuated from our South Lake Tahoe home for almost 3 weeks.  Although the fire spared us due to firefighting efforts and prior forest management, this was a pretty emotional experience for us having the fire only 2 miles from our house and burning one of our big reasons for living where we do.

We will miss skiing at Sierra this year but we are hopeful it will be back next year!

Smoke from the Caldor Fire, August 2021

October snow

We had great hope when October brought 10 inches of water falling from the sky.  20″ of snow fell at our house and XC skiing started very early.  However, high pressure and warm weather quickly set in and our early season snow was short lived.

First Snow – October 16th 2021

Dry November

Ironically, November became the 2nd driest month since records were kept.  It was so warm that the resorts couldn’t even make snow to open for Thanksgiving. Boo!

Camping in Death Valley instead of skiing – December 2021

December snow

The snow finally came back on December 9th and the storm door opened.  As of this writing all of the Tahoe resorts are sitting at well over season-to-date averages.  Some are closing in on 50% of their average yearly snowfall!  Our resorts Heavenly and Kirkwood could easily be 100% open if operations allowed for it.

Our ski season started on December 11th.  Although much later than normal, the continuous storms have already given us geat powder skiing at Heavenly just before Christmas. However, great conditions also come with the usual traffic nightmares in and around South Lake Tahoe.

XC Skiing with Sammy – December 2021

Challenging driving in South Lake Tahoe – December 2021

Plans

Due to COVID limiting our options last year, we have some catching up to do for the project. We would like to get a couple of Montana resorts done, visit our last Utah resort, and ski 4 more resorts on the East Coast.  This is somewhat ambitious given the current COVID situation. Hopefully, with some luck we should be able to make some great progress.

In between these trips we will enjoy the well above average conditions in Tahoe, which are some of the best in North America right now.  As we sit here writing this on Christmas Eve, we hear the falling snow hitting the window and strong wind gusts outside, promising more powder on Christmas day!

Storm day powder at Heavenly – December 2021

Heavenly Powder – December 2021

As is our tradition, we wrapped up the season with a camping/skiing trip to Mammoth after our Tahoe resorts closed for the season.  This year ended up with way below normal snowfall at Mammoth, so we had to go in early May instead of June or even July 4th.  Because of that the skiing was actually somewhat better than we are used to.  We timed it just right to get nice temps for camping and no wind, but not too warm.

Skyline at Mammoth, May 2021

Camping is a big part of the fun of these trips.  We typically camp in the woods off the Mammoth Scenic loop road.  That means we have to wait until the snow melts down below but before it melts too much up on the hill.  The lifts open at 7:30AM which is a very early start.  We leave camp and park in the Main Lodge parking lot before 7AM, have a quick breakfast, walk the dog, and then get out on the hill.  Sammy is semi-happy waiting in the trailer while we ski, and we are done by noon or 1PM when it turns to deep slush in the late spring sun.  So we get to ski, camp, and hang out with our dog which is a rare treat!

Sammy the Husky hangs out in the trailer at the Mammoth Main Lodge parking, May 2021

Season Wrap-up

Our last update was March 20th and after that we got another month of skiing in Tahoe, mostly at Sierra-at-Tahoe and Heavenly.  It was almost all spring skiing though, because it snowed only 2 more times before the resorts closed, closing out a dry year with more sunny days.

Beautiful groomer at Heavenly, April 2021

AiRung’s family came up for several days of skiing over the kids’ spring break.  They made good use of their season passes this year and we all renewed our unlimited Sierra passes for next year.  We love that place!

Vicky, AiRung, and Abao spring skiing at Sierra-at-Tahoe, April 2021

Total days were 72 for me, and 40 for AiRung, which is a new record.  I guess we were like everyone else during Covid.  Nothing to do except go outside and ski!

Looking forward…

Our quest for new resorts this season stalled because of COVID. Next year we plan to get as many new resorts done as we can.  We’d really like to make more progress on the project after getting skunked this year!

It’s been a great ski season so far!

Untracked powder at Kirkwood, March 2021

As of March 20th, I have 55 days and AiRung has a respectable 29.  This year in Tahoe has been far below average as far as snowfall, currently sitting at 66% of normal averaging the 3 resorts we usually ski at: Sierra at Tahoe, Heavenly, and Kirkwood.  The snow quality has been higher than average though, with many smaller but cold storms.  We’ve only had one large storm this year vs. the 3 or so we usually get, which is the main thing this season is missing.  That has dragged down the totals.  But honestly those huge storms are a huge pain and it’s hard to even get much skiing in right after a 4-foot dump.  It takes the resorts days to dig out, fix things, and open up terrain sometimes.

Trench touring after the one big storm, January 2021

This will be the first year we actually ski more days at Sierra at Tahoe than Heavenly and Kirkwood.  We have passes to both, but Sierra has been the best option for snow quality and depth most of the season.  Plus it’s close and just really fun.  I plan to update the Sierra review to give it a higher ranking soon.  That place is incredible with great groomers on West Bowl, steeps in Huckleberry Canyon and all over the top of the Grandview chair, and tree skiing everywhere.

Sierra at Tahoe groomer, January 2021

Crowds have been really bad this year on weekends, but now that I’m retired I ski mostly weekdays which are usually only bad on powder days.  Most resorts have reported that visitation is down compared to prior years, but it doesn’t feel that way.  Lines have been long due to reduced lift capacity to allow for social distancing.  This is usually worst right when the lifts open and base area lifts are jammed with people trying to get up the mountain.

Progress on The List?

We made very little progress on the project this year due to Covid.  Our plan was to get some Montana resorts done, but as the date grew closer there were a lot of anti-masker conflicts going on in Idaho and Montana.  Instead, we used our 5 included days on the Epic pass at Vail, Beaver Creek, and Park City, which had fewer mask issues going on.  Beaver Creek was the most fun of the 3, with a powder day and lots of fun revisiting our favorite runs there.

Beaver Creek powder day, February 2021

The only progress we made was revisiting Bear Valley.  We had skied there last 19 years ago, and had no pictures at all.  On our several prior visits the Grizzly chair was never open, which is the main attraction.  We did a day trip in early March and had a great time.  We were able to ski the whole mountain this time, got lots of pictures, and updated the old review.  It definitely deserves a place on the list and we upped our rating to 3 stars.

Bear Valley, March 2021

There has been one change to The List this year.  Everyone feels like Powder Mountain, Utah should be on the list.  I’ve been there and felt like so much flat terrain made “powder days” more like “plow days”.  Still, that was more than 10 years ago and we plan to give it another chance with open minds.  The dropped resort will be Montana Snowbowl.  It looks interesting, but the ancient Riblet center pole lifts, lack of snowmaking, and lack of consistent snowfall means it will be dropped.  We will probably ski it anyway in the next couple of years and if it’s awesome we will reshuffle the list again.

Ridge Run at Heavenly, November 2020

The 19/20 season was brought to a halt due to COVID-19 right as Tahoe got pounded with feet of powder.  With so much snow left on the table last season, we were looking to start the 20/21 season off strong!  Luckily this year we had a good combination of average snowfall and below normal temps.  This gave the Tahoe resorts the ability to open by Thanksgiving with a decent amount of terrain and plenty of precautions for COVID-19.

Sierra at Tahoe groomer, November 2020

Our season opening week brought us to 3 different Tahoe resorts: Heavenly, Mt. Rose, and Sierra at Tahoe.  We have our usual Epic Tahoe Local passes for Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Northstar and this year we topped it off with passes to Sierra at Tahoe so we can ski on holidays.  We are really pleased with the decision to buy Sierra passes because the resort opened one day before Thanksgiving with the best snow of the 3.  Heavenly started out strong but their early opening and popularity turned the open runs without snowmaking into rocky hell in short order. Mt. Rose was a surprised add because it opened for non-passholder skiing on Monday selling half-day tickets. We took advantage of the bargain $50 afternoon tickets and were able to ski some nice open terrain in the front side, although hitting some random rocks. 

Heavenly bump skiing, November 2020

This season we will try to get some of the Northern Rockies resorts in Montana and Idaho done if Covid doesn’t shut us down.  We don’t expect to be able to do more than 4 new resorts, but no matter what happens we will be playing in the snow!

Family XC Skiing at Grass Lake, November 2020

Top of Snowbasin Utah, February 2020

Well everyone on planet Earth will remember how the world changed in March 2020.  The coronavirus ended our season 2 months early this year.  At first Vail said they might reopen Heavenly in May, but it doesn’t look like there is any way ANY ski resorts will open back up before the snow melts.  For me, 36 days isn’t terrible, but compared to last year… ouch!  We got 4 new resorts done: Steamboat, Tamarack, Beaver Mountain, and Sunlight.

Our Big Trip this year started in Tahoe with some really low-tide skiing at Kirkwood and Heavenly in late February.  The last snow had been more than a month before, so that meant skiing on the good ol’ ice skis.  We love our ice skis, but they sure got a workout this year!

We were expecting things to improve dramatically in Utah, but our first day at Snowbasin was … icy.  Luckily, our next day at Beaver Mountain in far northern Utah just a mile from the Idaho border was one of the best of the year.  It was one of those rare all-day powder days when you get fresh tracks all day long.  This place is another one of the great discoveries we have made on the project, and we will definitely be going back there someday.

AiRung at Beaver Mountain Utah, February 2020

Back to Snowbasin the next day, and this is where we got exposed to something.  We were riding the gondola all day and there were a couple of sick people on with us.  Within 2 days we were in bad shape.  At this time (late February) we weren’t even thinking about Coronavirus, but who knows?  A week later it was everywhere.  This made our day at Sunlight in Colorado pretty unpleasant, but we toughed it out so we could do a review.  Now of course the world has changed and if you are sick you self-quarantine, but not then.  Luckily Sunlight has old double chairs so we were never close to anyone else anyway.

Mt. Wilson Colorado, March 2020

Whatever it was, we got over it pretty quickly and by the 2nd day at Telluride we were just fine.  After that one powder day at Beaver Mountain, the rest of the trip was snowless unfortunately, but I did get to at least knock off a bucket list item on that visit to Telluride.  The Gold Hill stairs and Chutes were something I have been looking at for years, but I never got the motivation up to try in previous trips.  It’s steep and exposed up there, and it’s a long hike from the top of the Revelation chair.  What an experience it was though!  Incredible views and some really impressive avalanche chute skiing that very few people ski.

Gold Hill stairs at Telluride, March 2020

Gold Hill Chute #9 at Telluride, March 2020

Around March 14th it FINALLY decided to snow again in Tahoe.  That was a Saturday and that was the last day our local resorts were open.  This was particularly cruel because over the next 4 days it snowed over 60″ at Heavenly and up to twice that on the other side of the lake.  Just at our house at 6450′ we got 53″.  This was followed by a few smaller storms and another big one, turning March into an official “Miracle March”, with over 100″ of snow at most of the resorts.  If only they were open!

60″ of untracked powder on the runs at Heavenly, March 2020

Instead, I did some backcountry skiing, including a day at Waterhouse on Luther Pass and 2 days on the Stagecoach part of Heavenly.  This was actually some of the best powder skiing of the year, but it is a LOT of work climbing up over 1500′ for a single run that is over all too soon.

Climbing up at Heavenly, March 2020

Heavenly Stagecoach run, March 2020

With all that snow the XC skiing around our house was good until the last of it melted in mid-April.  This may be the first year I actually did more XC ski days than downhill!  Sammy enjoyed it at least.

XC skiing near our house April 10th, 2020

Highlights of this year were the days at Tamarack, Idaho and Beaver Mountain, Utah which were both uncrowded powder paradises.  Those are the memories we will hold onto for this season that will have to tide us over until the world gets back to normal again.  We still have 18 more resorts to do, so plenty of adventures yet to come!

Four Corners on the way home, March 2020

After some great Christmas skiing in Tahoe and 3 consecutive powder days in mid-January, we headed out on our second trip of the ski season. We returned to one of our favorites: Sun Valley and hit our 2nd new resort of this ski season: Tamarack.

Heavenly powder in the trees, January 2020

This was the first time we ever flew into Boise and we discovered that it’s a super easy and quick flight from San Jose.  In fact we think Boise is the best airport experience we have ever had.  It took about 5 minutes for us to pick up the keys to our rental car and when we got to the luggage area it was already waiting for us.  Within 20 minutes of landing we were on the road to Hailey.  The drive on highway 20 through southern Idaho is very scenic and empty.  Some day we would like to try Soldier Mountain which is a small resort between Sun Valley and Boise.

Sun Valley Selfie, February 2020

We had 3 days at Sun Valley and the truth is that the conditions weren’t very good.  It had been very warm the week before, and then on the 2nd day of skiing it got really cold and windy.  Although they have great grooming there, you can’t really effectively groom compacted ice.  Still, the overall experience was fun because we got a lot of skiing in with zero lines, and cold sunny weather to enjoy the fantastic views.

Sun Valley wind, February 2020

Tamarack was a welcome change, with 2″ of fresh at the start of the day about about 3″ more by the end.  It warmed up while it was snowing, and conditions were soft and prime.  This was one of the best days of the season so far, and we were super impressed with the resort and would love to return some day.  We figure there were only about 100 people skiing that day and with the size of the resort it felt like our own private playground.

Hero snow at Tamarack, February 2020

Since the last powder day in Tahoe over a month ago, it hasn’t snowed more than 2-4″ so we will have to look forward to our next trip to snowy Utah and Colorado, which are both experiencing above-average snowfall.  We will be visiting 2 more new resorts and a couple of old favorites.  Can’t wait to get on the road again!

Early season at Heavenly

It’s the end of December, and we’ve already been working on the project for about 3 months.  It usually starts in late September when we start getting winter pattern predictions for the upcoming season.  Those don’t become solid until October so we usually hold off on reservations until then, but it’s always a gamble when we are committing to several days at a resort like Telluride or Tamarack where bad seasons can be really bad.  Somehow it almost always works out for us though, so we will stick with our method!

First day of the 19/20 season on Thanksgiving at Jackson Hole

Opening day was at Jackson Hole on Thanksgiving, which is really unusual for us.  This is NOT the time to visit JH, but we needed something to do over Thanksgiving and have been interested in getting property in the Teton Valley, Idaho which is close to both Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee.  So being in the area looking at property, it was a must to ski opening day.  They had 2,200 vertical open, but only on 2 runs that had snowmaking.  Still, it was skiing and tickets were only $50 so it was cheap Thanksgiving entertainment.

Filling in nicely at Heavenly, December 2019

December was really good at our home resorts Heavenly and Kirkwood, so by the end of the month I was up to 17 days skiing already.  Along the way, we met a couple of really interesting people on the lifts.  The first was Bill Killebrew, who owned and ran the resort in 1977 when he was only 23 years old.  He had a ton of stories for us and being good listeners, we ended up skiing with him all morning.  He was on the US Ski Team in the early 70’s, so it was a challenge to keep up with him!

The second was another local who owns 2 wolves (permitted) in South Lake.  After skiing with him all morning, he invited us over to see them.  There is something really soulful about these animals.  We love seeing wolves and this was the first time we were allowed inside the fence with them which was thrilling and something we will remember forever.

Wolf in South Lake Tahoe

In between skiing our local resorts in Tahoe, we knocked off our first trip of the year to Steamboat and Loveland.  Steamboat was a new resort for us, and Loveland was a do-over that we felt we had to do because we didn’t really get to ski much of it the first time.  Our luck held nicely with 130% of normal snowfall at both resorts when we visited.  We spent 3 days at Steamboat to get the full experience and hit Loveland on our way back to Denver.

Our first new resort of 19/20 – Steamboat

So 19/20 is already super memorable for us, but we are already looking forward to our next trip at the beginning of February.  That trip will be a return to Sun Valley and another new resort for us: Tamarack, Idaho.

2018/19 was another great year for us.  I got a record 63 days and AiRung recorded a new high mark of 44 days.  To keep that in perspective, that means that I skied 1 out of every 3 days from November 30th to May 31st.  That’s dedication considering I’m holding down a full-time job! Adobe is a very understanding employer with unlimited vacation days luckily.

A fun day at Kirkwood, March 2019

We got 5 new resorts this year, which is a bit lower than in previous years.  The main reason is that we had the full Epic Pass for Vail resorts this time around, and we wanted to use it the best way.  That meant trips back to some resorts that we already skied at previously like Whistler/Blackcomb, Vail, Telluride, and Park City.  Of the 5 new resorts, 3 were in Vermont though, so we feel like we put in a great effort!

Late March at Heavenly, 2019

After our Big Trip to Colorado which ended in mid March, the snow eased off in Tahoe, with below average snowfall in March and April following the non-stop record-breaking snowfall in February.  Still, there were a few powder days and plenty of great skiing.  Although it wasn’t snowing much, we never really got much spring skiing until May because it was colder than normal.  With the 2nd most snowfall at Heavenly ever and cold temps, they decided to stay open until the end of May.  So of course we took full advantage of that bonus time skiing almost every weekend.

Late March powder run on Firebreak at Heavenly, March 2019

Last day At Heavenly, May 24th, 2019

The other big bonus was that there was cross-country skiing at lake level in our neighborhood until a very late April 19th.  Sammy loved every minute of it!

Sammy in his natural element, late April 2019

Whenever Mammoth stays open until July 4th week we try to get down there for our season wrap and that’s what we did this year.  Again, cold temps had preserved the snow so even though there were about 200″ less snowfall than 16/17, there was actually more terrain open than that year which was the last time we were able to do it.  2100′ of vertical with 6 lifts open was pretty good for June 30th!  We camped in the woods nearby and got up super early to hit the 7:30AM opening.  It’s fun to park the rig at Chair 2 “The Mill” and let Sammy run around on the runs after the lifts shut at 1PM.

Summer skiing at Mammoth, June 30th, 2019

Great parking at the Mill at Mammoth, June 2019

So that’s a wrap for 18/19 and we look forward to next ski season which is only 5 months away!

April at Heavenly, 2019

This year’s Big Trip was VERY BIG.  17 days long and 2600 total driving miles to be exact.  We were not as ambitious as previous years,  and planned to get 2 of the last 4 resorts on the list in Colorado done. We also want to revisit one of our top 2 favorite resorts: Telluride.  And then, last minute, we threw in Park City on the way home.

Top of Paradise Bowl at Crested Butte, March 2019

Planning for this trip started last summer when we upgraded our passes to Vail’s Epic pass, which includes Crested Butte and 5 days at Telluride.  We were banking on the weather patterns favoring southern Colorado this year with the long-term climate forecast models pointing towards El Nino. Although the El Nino never materialized, pretty much every state in the Western US had well above average snow anyway. We hit some of the best conditions of the year everywhere we went.

Revelation Bowl at Telluride, February 2019

Stop #1: Tahoe

We started the trip in our own backyard in Tahoe, Heavenly.  I had the best run of the DECADE on the very first day.  Tahoe had the biggest February for snowfall on record. And it was also very cold with the snow line was all the way down to 2,000 feet or so.  This gave me a once-in-a-decade chance to scratch off another bucket list item:  The “Minden Mile”.  The “Mile” is a 5,200 vertical drop run from the top of Heavenly to the town of Minden in the Nevada desert at 4,800′ elevation.  It’s rare that snow sticks for more than a day or so down there. However, it was deep and cold enough to enjoy powder turns all the way down.  It was incredible to have that kind of a huge vertical drop run outside of Canada or Europe.

Upper part of the Minden Mile at Heavenly, February 2019

Stop #2: Powderhorn and Grand Junction

Next we drove 760 miles to Grand Junction Colorado to ski one of the smaller Colorado resorts: Powderhorn.  We met up with Tom and Nancy Johnson who are friends of one of AiRung’s clients.  They have lived in Junction and skied Powderhorn for the last 2 decades. Tom is a patroller there and we got a great tour of this really fun and unique resort. This resort is another great find that we never would have skied without the project, and one we are certain to return to.  Grand Junction is a pretty great town as well, with a nice walkable downtown with shops and restaurants.

Great grooming at Powderhorn, February 2019

Another thing we liked about Grand Junction and Powderhorn is that the town is at only 4,600′ elevation, so it’s easy to get a good night’s sleep.  This is about 5,000 feet lower than where we stayed later in Telluride and Mt. Crested Butte.  We always have trouble sleeping at those high altitudes, so the option to ski Colorado but stay down low is attractive.

Stop #3: Telluride

We continued on to Telluride after Powderhorn.  As before, we really enjoyed the steep groomers and views. This time we also got 2 powder days out of the 4 dyas we skied to experience the whole package!

This is why we love Telluride, March 2019

Stop #4: Crested Butte

Our next stop was Crested Butte.  I lived in Gunnison and Crested Butte for 8 years, first as a student attending Western State College, then as an employee of the resort. So it was a home-coming for me. I left Crested Butte 26 years ago and had not been back in all that time.  The changes were huge.  But this was AiRung’s first time here and I got to show her around some of my favorite places.

Mt. Crested Butte under the stars, March 2019

We had 3 days there with fresh snow every day.  The skiing was the best I’ve ever seen in Crested Butte, considering I had 8 full seasons of skiing CB as my home resort. In fact, from the last 2 days at Telluride to the day we left Colorado a week later, it never stopped snowing for long. Crested Butte has some of the most impressive steep terrain in North America and every skier who likes steep terrain should give it a try.

Showing AiRung around the North Face at Crested Butte, March 2019

Stop #5: Park City

To break up the long drive back to South Lake Tahoe from Crested Butte, we added  Park City as a “stop” in between.  With only one day to ski, we picked our favorite side of the resort, The Canyons.  We used to go there every year to ski the massive amount of terrain,except last year. So it was time to go back.  This year Vail has upped their grooming game at Park City, claiming the most nightly groomed terrain in North America.  Conditions were great with lightly falling snow all day.

Snowing again at Park City, March 2019

As of this writing in early April, it’s still snowing in Tahoe and Heavenly has extended their season until Memorial day, so we still have almost 8 weeks of skiing left!  With 51 days thus far for me and 38 for AiRung, this will certainly be the most ski days we’ve ever gotten in one season.

Our 3rd trip of the year began to take shape when Vermont got pounded with early season snow in November.  That was looking pretty good from dry, smokey California where we were reading about firestorms and waiting for snow in Tahoe. With our full Epic passes this year, we got “free” skiing at Stowe, VT. So we decided to squeeze in a  trip to knock off 3 of the best Vermont areas:  Stowe, Sugarbush, and Mad River Glen. The only time to do it was early January because of our other commitments. And there were two big risks we were taking: extremely low temperatures and winter air travel with connections.

Mt Mansfield at Stowe, January 2019

Luckily it all worked out, and more.  Our flights were a non-event. And after a month of no snow and lots of rain, Vermont got their biggest snowfalls of the year in the 2 days before we got there. When we were landing in Burlington, we heard a returning local complaining: “I can’t believe how much snow fell while we were gone.  Yuck!”.  We were loving it.

All covered up at Stowe, January 2019

Stowe

Our first day at Stowe featured 8″ of fresh on top of 16″ the day before that.  The only problem was the temperatures and wind.  It was -10F at the Mt. Mansfield weather station and was blowing 50mph, which is a wind chill of -45F.  That is serious danger territory, where skin freezes in 5 minutes.  We had double face masks with absolutely zero exposed skin.  The problem is breathing because you have to breath through the fabric and your goggles get fogged.  Everything becomes difficult at those temps:  Skis don’t slide well, goggles are fogged, fingers frozen so badly that you can’t operate a camera or phone (which are dead anyway because of the cold).  Taking your gloves off for a minute for a picture is a painful experience.  Chemical hand warmers are an absolute necessity.  Every picture on this page was taken at great expense and personal torture!

Nearly untouched groomer at Mad River Glen at 10:30AM, January 2019

Oh, but the skiing was great!  No crowds, everything was open, and soft snow almost exactly the quality we see in Tahoe…pretty much as good as it gets in the East.

By the 2nd day we were more used to it and started to really enjoy ourselves.  We skied about 90% of the named runs at Stowe over 2 days, including the VERY steep front 4 runs: Starr, Goat, National, and Liftline.  I have to give the scary nod to Starr, which was an absolutely smooth slippery slope that you would NOT want to fall on.  I wouldn’t exactly call it ice, but it was as close to ice as is possible to get an edge into.  The lower part was fantastic though, as were the others.  This was a bucket list item for me because we used to ski Stowe regularly when I was a kid growing up in Buffalo, and I always looked at that run as something to aspire to be able to ski.  Mission accomplished 42 years later!

The namesake trees at Sugarbush, January 2019

Sugarbush

After 2 days at Stowe, we moved on to Sugarbush.  Sugarbush is a larger resort spread over 2 distinct ski areas connected by a lift that was NOT running when we were there.  That meant that in order to get the full resort experience we had to get in the car and drive over from the Lincoln Peak side to the Mt. Ellen side.  Both sides of Sugarbush are great with a distinct character and plenty of advanced to expert terrain on both.  We would have liked to have spent more time there.

Single chair at Mad River Glen, January 2019

Mad River Glen

The last day was at Mad River Glen.  The last time I skied there was in the mid 70’s.  It hasn’t changed much.  This is one of North American skiing’s historic places, and it is a truly unique experience.  If you ask people you meet at Stowe or Sugarbush what their favorite Vermont resort is, they might say it’s Mad River Glen. Nobody can really put their finger on why that is exactly.  We think the 1948 single chair is a big part of that, being the only single chair remaining in regular operation in North America.  Mt. Eyak in Alaska still runs a single that was purchased and moved from Sun Valley, built originally in 1939, but it only runs a few days a year.

Mad River Glen features what is often rated as the most difficult run in the East: Paradise.  Although not super steep by Western standards, it’s full of ice falls, rocks, and tight trees and believe me it will be a serious challenge getting down that with intact dignity at the bottom.  There are better runs there though, and we ended up skiing about 75% of this small resort.  There were a total of about 20-30 people skiing that day so we felt like we had the place to ourselves.  It was a surreal experience and I recommend it to every skier that wants to experience what skiing used to be like.

Mt. Ellen at Sugarbush, January 2019

Some changes to the list…

We always learn something new after our ski trips. Because of our really positive experience with this trip,  we gave some more thought to what it is that makes a resort stand out. We decided that, while snow and acreage are important, what really makes a place for us is vertical drop.  So we made some changes to the 100 list. We have added back Whiteface, New York, which has the biggest vertical in the East, and Sunday River, Maine which is a huge, popular resort that everyone keeps telling us must be on the list.  Removed were Eldora and Monarch Colorado which are at the bottom of the list for vertical drop and fell under the 1,400 vertical lower limit.  We also removed Brian Head, Utah which has a real continuously skiable vertical of only 1,100 feet to make room for Tamarack, Idaho. Tamarack was added back because they are re-installing one of the vital lifts that was removed when the resort was foreclosed on 10 years ago. We had previously skied Brian Head so after all this shuffling we are back to 76 resorts completed.

Lots of thought has gone into the list and we think it’s pretty close to final now.  We may make more changes later as we finish the last 24.  There are also 2 new resorts being planned in British Columbia that may need to be added to the list if they are built in time:  Valemount and Garibaldi.  These will be huge resorts and when complete will rival many of the best resorts on the list now.

Maple Syrup bottling in Stowe, January 2019