skiing/snowboarding (downhill)

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
If you want a place in VT that’s never ever ever ever ever ever crowded and offers a decent amount of varied terrain... from steeps to cruisers to trees, you owe it to yourself to try Pico, which is in the shadow of Killington. Low key vibe but great skiing and riding. This pic is me and my son during Christmas week, about 9:00 am. Zero wait, tons of terrain to ourselves. I’m telling you it’s the best secret in central VT. (Yep he’s the skier and I’m the boarder. We get curious questions all the time :)
51D74AD0-C418-4F88-B2DF-87F841F1E66D.jpeg
 

Gnick

Active Member
If you want a place in VT that’s never ever ever ever ever ever crowded and offers a decent amount of varied terrain... from steeps to cruisers to trees, you owe it to yourself to try Pico, which is in the shadow of Killington. Low key vibe but great skiing and riding. This pic is me and my son during Christmas week, about 9:00 am. Zero wait, tons of terrain to ourselves. I’m telling you it’s the best secret in central VT. (Yep he’s the skier and I’m the boarder. We get curious questions all the time :)
View attachment 61520
i've heard a lot about pico but have never been. maybe i can make it this year.

on another note - not too many people riding a big mountain board with a forward stance like that these days. i wouldn't be able to turn that monster. are those old school clickr bindings too?
 

Gnick

Active Member
@Gnick I do have a season pass. I'm usually there 2-3 days a week during school hours.

As for day trips, yeah usually solo because nobody in my group wants to wake up at 3am to get there early.
you gotta do what you gotta do to get first tracks - where do you leave from?
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
i've heard a lot about pico but have never been. maybe i can make it this year.

on another note - not too many people riding a big mountain board with a forward stance like that these days. i wouldn't be able to turn that monster. are those old school clickr bindings too?
I ride snowboard hardboots actually (made by Deeluxe, which used to be Raichle), with a focus on carving. The bindings are Bomber TD (trench digger) Sidewinder 3’s. You place the nose of the boot into a front bail, then step down onto your heel to click in. To release, there’s a cable with a T-handle that you pull to get out. Hard boots really help hold a solid edge when carving and provide a lot of support to your legs so you don’t get tired as much. However if you’re into jibbing, pipes, etc they can be restrictive. Definitely give Pico a try!
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
i'm going friday - Blue or Hunter. haven't made the call yet.
(i don't want to drive 2:45 to hunter.)
 

don

Well-Known Member
After being in Stowe between Christmas and New Years and seeing how great the foundation was I was hoping this past MLK weekend was going to be good. But that rain event melted things up and it was going to drop in temps so we headed out to Pittsburgh to ride Wheelmill instead. (btw Wheelmill was sooo much fun!)

We are going to Park City next week for a long weekend but it isn't look so great either. Figures...it's my first time to UT and it's been a long time since I've been on a trip out of the east. Maybe February it will get better - hoping for at least a couple of trips to Stowe (I got an Epic pass this year).
 

Zaskar

Well-Known Member
Sugarbush was a bust last weekend as well. Drove up Friday after school which wasn't bad until Albany when the rain picked up. Then there was the fog, it was like horror movie fog. Made one stop in Fort Ann and then more fog and rain and more fog. Arrived by 9:30 which isn't bad considering and proceeded to drink and eat pizza while watching the temp plummet. It went from 58 on Friday afternoon to -1 when I woke up on Saturday. Lift holds due to icing and late grooming made our decision easy and we ended up hanging at the house all day. I think they lost 50 trails….Got out on Sunday for several hours and it was pretty much bullet proof. Bonus was Steins was groomed so we did a few laps on that and called it a day. Planning another weekend up there since we bought Quad packs and we have a free place to stay.

20180114_125122.jpg

IMG_20180113_233801_302.jpg
Going to Creek this weekend....friend has a condo at Black Creek so we'll go up Saturday afternoon. Planning to ski Sunday morning and possibly Saturday night because the kids love skiing with the lights.
 
Last edited:

Monkey Soup

Angry Wanker
After being in Stowe between Christmas and New Years and seeing how great the foundation was I was hoping this past MLK weekend was going to be good. But that rain event melted things up and it was going to drop in temps so we headed out to Pittsburgh to ride Wheelmill instead. (btw Wheelmill was sooo much fun!)

We are going to Park City next week for a long weekend but it isn't look so great either. Figures...it's my first time to UT and it's been a long time since I've been on a trip out of the east. Maybe February it will get better - hoping for at least a couple of trips to Stowe (I got an Epic pass this year).

I'm kind of luke-warm on the whole Vail Resorts take-over. Epic pass seems the only way to go, or else you get jacked with the daily rate. Need to ski at least 8 days to make it worth the while, which I can probably do. Those fuckers also took away the Waffle Cabin's. Maybe they can cut some DH trails on the mountain also in the summer, but not holding my breath.
 
  • Like
Reactions: don

don

Well-Known Member
I'm kind of luke-warm on the whole Vail Resorts take-over. Epic pass seems the only way to go, or else you get jacked with the daily rate. Need to ski at least 8 days to make it worth the while, which I can probably do. Those fuckers also took away the Waffle Cabin's. Maybe they can cut some DH trails on the mountain also in the summer, but not holding my breath.

My thoughts exactly. I already have 5 days (usually try for 20 but get high teens) so the Epic pass will pay for itself.

The Waffle Cabin was a big WTF?!?! Not sure the reasoning on that.

At Stowe I liked how they made some more parking between the Gondola and the Mid-way lodge as that was dead space anyways. I felt like there was more signage for getting in trouble for skiing out of bounds /closed trails which I'm wondering if they are going to crack down on more.

I've been wanting Stowe to do some lift assisted biking for years. There is an amazing XC network in town so I'm not sure how the locals would feel about it but the closest freeride/DH stuff is at Sugarbush which is close to an hour drive. I know Stowe has been adding summer revenue items like zip-line and ropes-course. Would be nice to have something like this in Stowe: https://www.pinkbike.com/video/474876/
 

Piston Honda

Well-Known Member
Speaking of epic pass, I think MC or Camelback (can't remember) said on their social media they had "epic" news to reveal. Did anything ever come of this?
 

Gnick

Active Member
you're a luc
Sugarbush was a bust last weekend as well. Drove up Friday after school which wasn't bad until Albany when the rain picked up. Then there was the fog, it was like horror movie fog. Made one stop in Fort Ann and then more fog and rain and more fog. Arrived by 9:30 which isn't bad considering and proceeded to drink and eat pizza while watching the temp plummet. It went from 58 on Friday afternoon to -1 when I woke up on Saturday. Lift holds due to icing and late grooming made our decision easy and we ended up hanging at the house all day. I think they lost 50 trails….Got out on Sunday for several hours and it was pretty much bullet proof. Bonus was Steins was groomed so we did a few laps on that and called it a day. Planning another weekend up there since we bought Quad packs and we have a free place to stay.

View attachment 62157

View attachment 62158
Going to Creek this weekend....friend has a condo at Black Creek so we'll go up Saturday afternoon. Planning to ski Sunday morning and possibly Saturday night because the kids love skiing with the lights.
you're a lucky man having those free places to stay. thats awesome.

ive been to sugarbush when its been really icy like that before. not fun
 

Monkey Soup

Angry Wanker
My thoughts exactly. I already have 5 days (usually try for 20 but get high teens) so the Epic pass will pay for itself.

The Waffle Cabin was a big WTF?!?! Not sure the reasoning on that.

At Stowe I liked how they made some more parking between the Gondola and the Mid-way lodge as that was dead space anyways. I felt like there was more signage for getting in trouble for skiing out of bounds /closed trails which I'm wondering if they are going to crack down on more.

I've been wanting Stowe to do some lift assisted biking for years. There is an amazing XC network in town so I'm not sure how the locals would feel about it but the closest freeride/DH stuff is at Sugarbush which is close to an hour drive. I know Stowe has been adding summer revenue items like zip-line and ropes-course. Would be nice to have something like this in Stowe: https://www.pinkbike.com/video/474876/

I don't think that they'll crack down on the off-piste terrain, most of it is so well known at this point. The additional parking is good, but its still a bit a of a shit show. Only reason Christmas wasn't bad was because the temps kept most people off of the mountain. And its a good thing I know how to make those waffles, they're just labor intensive.

Between the local trails in Stowe, and Perry Hill in Waterbury, the riding is pretty good. Cady Hill is toast right now though because of the wind storm in November, they're not sure yet whether it will open in the spring or not, they're in the process of clearing all of the trees, once thats done, they'll need to rebuild the trails after the spring thaw. Prior to the whole Vail deal, they obtained the permits from the state to build some DH trails on the mountain, however once the deal started taking shape, that was all put on hold. Haven't heard anything new about trails being built under the Vail deal, but they have those permits so..... Most of the locals I ride with go to Killington for their DH needs, however Knight Ide built a pretty sweet flow-track down in Little River State Park, that I think is helping to ease the DH bug a little.
 
  • Like
Reactions: don

Bike N Gear

Shop: Bike N Gear
Shop Keep
wow - that looks great for PA. was it powdery or heavy stuff?

Totally light fluffy powder. So light that some idiot who attempted to ski down under the six-pack almost killed himself scraping rock as he went down.

I spent most of the day on 15' of the trail's edge where all the snow was pushed.
 

don

Well-Known Member
I don't think that they'll crack down on the off-piste terrain, most of it is so well known at this point. The additional parking is good, but its still a bit a of a shit show. Only reason Christmas wasn't bad was because the temps kept most people off of the mountain. And its a good thing I know how to make those waffles, they're just labor intensive.

Between the local trails in Stowe, and Perry Hill in Waterbury, the riding is pretty good. Cady Hill is toast right now though because of the wind storm in November, they're not sure yet whether it will open in the spring or not, they're in the process of clearing all of the trees, once thats done, they'll need to rebuild the trails after the spring thaw. Prior to the whole Vail deal, they obtained the permits from the state to build some DH trails on the mountain, however once the deal started taking shape, that was all put on hold. Haven't heard anything new about trails being built under the Vail deal, but they have those permits so..... Most of the locals I ride with go to Killington for their DH needs, however Knight Ide built a pretty sweet flow-track down in Little River State Park, that I think is helping to ease the DH bug a little.

Yeah, so true about low temps during Christmas keeping people away. Still was bad getting down a couple nights (I think the parents picking up their frozen kids after ski school ::rolleyes: )

My wife heard something about Vail purchasing Smugg's and linking the 2 resorts. Might be kinda cool if it's just linked from the top of Big Spruce (like it used to be) but if they put some big obnoxious lift to link them then that will suck.

I noticed the terrain parks were setup a little differently this season. It seemed they are setting them up to be served just from the triple - the one under the double on Lord was all rails this year where in years past it's been the mid-size with all types of features. Not that I'm a big park rider but a tree/groomer/park all in one run is pretty fun to me. Maybe Vail will finally swap out that ratty old triple (I've been riding that thing for 30 years!) for something smoother and quicker.

I didn't know Knight Ide made something at Little River - I'll certainly have to check that out! I did a TM with this past summer at Sterling Valley so I'm anxious to see how that rides as well. I was bummed to hear about Cady Hill - I've ridden that area for ever and it's been great to see how well it's progressed over the years. Re: DH - my guess is Vail will develop DH trails if they have the permits. I'm sure they can set up the rental/tickets/gear infrastructure quickly and easily with the DH at their other resorts and it will be a money maker for them.
 

Piston Honda

Well-Known Member
A lot of that pow disappeared today at blue. It wasn't pure ice, but really hard compact snow in a lot of sections.
 
Top Bottom