I would be up if time /finances allow. Tyler is real interested in learning to snow board. I haven't been on my skis in 13 years or so. I used to go a ton, 25-30 times a year all over Maine,VT,NH..then I did a 10 day trip to Lake Louise in Canada and followed that with 5 days at Snowbird/Alta.Those places totally ruined what skiing used to be. Real mountains ,unbelievable conditions. I haven't skied since then, couldn't stand the "Ski here/Dont ski here" attitude of the local mountains. Lost my lift ticket a few times and outran patrol a few more. Horrendous lift lines and general a-hole people ruined skiing for me in New England.

I'm loving this thread!!!! great to see we got some die hards here on SB! Doesn't surprise me. IMO my favorite mountain is the one I'm skiing that particular day. I've ski'd 90% of the mountains mentioned in this thread and have had some great experiences. Here's my East vs West rankings:

West

1. Whistler/Blackcomb, I did a trip in 99' out there and almost didn't come home I liked it so much. Hit Mt. Baker in WA on the drive from Seattle and had an epic day. They broke the world record that year for measurable snowfall at a ski resort.

2. A-Basin
3. Copper
4. Snow Bird
5. Winter Park/Mary Jane
5. Park City
6. Steamboat
7. Park City
8. The Canyons


East

1. Jay Peak
2. Sugarbush
3. Cannon(it's my mountain and should be #1)
4. Wildcat
5. Sugarloaf
6. Sunday River
7. Stowe(should be higher I know but I've only ski'd it twice)
8. Magic(some sick stuff under the lifts if there's snow)

Tuckermans is really number 1 but it's not a resort or lift served so i didn't rank it. I used to do an anual pilgrimage in April/May and have ski'd the lip, left gully, and hillmans each a few times. I wouldn't consider it now unless I get in better shape.

I stay away from the Loons, Cranmor's, Attitash's, Killington's(not Pico),Mt. Snow's, and Bretton Woods of the worlds as there are generally just too many people there who don't know what's going on. Burke is on my to do list. My friend who I stay with in Lincoln went a couple of times last season and really liked it. No crowds and good terrain though he did mention the lifts are less to be desired. Sadly i have never ski'd Mad River and that is just a shame because I know I would love it.

Sounds like we have the makings for a decent crew. We should coordinate something this year. My soon to be 7 year old really made head way last year and we were skiing blue's together which blew me away!

Speaking on the Matterhorn @ Stowe... here is a great family shot taken from Zermatt about 20 yrs ago... me, wife Martha, my BIL Jack, and my sister Betsy.... we had a blast no fresh snow but a week of sun...


And the Pickle Barrel keeps going strong after so many years... classic ski bar

1st pic is me making a double chair look like a single at A-Basin 6 years ago. 2nd is my accomadations at Winter Park! :biglaugh: I always manage to attract the dogs!!!:rotf2: 3rd is the Mary Jane mid mountain lodge! God I have to get back there!!! My friends own a condo out there and live in RI so if anyone wants a great CO rental let me know.

GREAT PICS!!!!!!!!

need to add a few to your Western ski areas:

Beaver Creek (Birds of Prey is amazing)
Vail (incredible variety and the back bowls are huge)
Jackson Hole..(plenty of steep and cool chutes)
Alta similar to Snowbird but like MRG ... no snowboards allowed
Aspen the original ski town... great terrain and even better nightlife

How about a Longest/Coldest lift ride...mines easy. The olympic double chair at Lake Louise in Banff. The absolute coldest half hour ride of my life, but it took us to a great spot where another half hour hike brought you to the top of some nice steep drops.

Oh I'm sure of that! So many I haven't been too. When I was at Park City following the olympic year Brighton was on my to do list but never got checked off. I opted for another day at Snow Bird instead which I don't regret.

Anybody here ever ski in Alaska?

Lake Louise & Sunshine are 2 areas that I want to check out... I went on my (summer) honeymoon to that area and Jasper and it is so beautiful... we did stay one night at the Lake Louise hotel... the mountains ... 30 minute chairlift ride is a friggin long ride... if it was cold and windy I can see that would be wicked ... I bet you were glad to hike to warm up...

I remember some very cold chairlift rides at both Stowe (when they had the single chair and blankets) and Mad River... I miss the chair blankets:fury:

the Zermatt photo looks like an ad for Vuarnet Cateye Sunglasses! Thats an awesome shot.

Love the rankings MarshCappa, I need to see Jackson Hole on that west coast list. But everyone has had experiences at different mountains that make them feel a certain way. I need to get to A-Basin. I've heard Magic is an excellent mountain with a good core group of diehards. I fell in love with Cannon last season. Got up there right after both big NorEasters. Wish they hadnt opened that Mittersill chair. That hike was a piece of cake and you could just lap soft snow and cut out early back to the lifts. Now it seems to get chopped up early and some people shouldnt have access to natural terrain. Also a great call by Bassballer on Bolton, place is way underrated.

I'm way to giddy right now. I'm putting my ski boots on when I get home.

don't do too much skiing anymore, but always do two weekends a season and one is always at Sugarloaf, which is a great mountain. the snowfields are never open, but we got on them this past year for the first time in like 6 years and it was pretty damn cool, but I am just so spoiled by groomed terrain it was a challenge for sure.

I recommend checking out LL and Sunshine Chris. There is a reason why its usually voted #1 in scenery. Absolutely beautiful out there. I never hit the hot springs, as we opted for a night out in Calgary..but we wont talk about that.

Bolton is a lot of fun,great little mountain.
Put Smugs on that list too,Robins Run makes a day,under the ropes for that one.
Saddleback in Maine is also worth the trip,Doc Dempseys is memorable.

I went to Norwich (for a year) and skied Sugarbush and Stowe a lot. Later in life I taught full time at a resort in WV for 3 years (Snowshoe), and then 2 years at Okemo. Blew out my ACL and MCL in 2000, and made a lifestyle change. Don't get out as much as I would like to now, but would love to do a day trip or two.

Been to A-Basin, Breck, Vail, and Copper. Got to get back out west at some point.

Blood terror,spent a few dollars on dimies at the blue tooth back in the day.little jealous of those that can get out west,in 45 years of skiing only skied out west 2 times,both at Squaw .as far as the east i am partial to the MRV,Sugarbush and Mad River.when the kids raced i skied most of the areas in northern Vt and i have to say that conditions are usually better in the Vall;ey than any were else other than Jay.plus i think the layout at Sugarbush and MRG are the most user freindly.i hate to say it but tree skiing as gotten to the point that there are more tracks to be had on the trails than in the woods.skied at Smuggs in 74 and 75 when i was at St Mikes, gets a little crowded for my taste,don't like waiting in lines.that is the great thing about coaching on the weekends,can use the ski school line with no waiting and just no spot burning,seeing people sliding down your line in the woods is as bad as people casting over your line fishing.:)

the Zermatt photo looks like an ad for Vuarnet Cateye Sunglasses! Thats an awesome shot.


My sister Betsy lived in Paris for about 5 yrs in the early 80s back when the Vuarnet's were hot and the exchange rate for the $ vs the Franc was great...

I still have pair of Cateyes... they are wicked good on the water... clouds look great and no glare..

I bought a pair of race grade Rossi (ST650s) for $100 US in Paris went out to lunch at a Vietnamese place and then picked up skis with bindings already mounted .. we took a train from Paris to Zermatt that night... Those were the days when the $ was worth something... but the Swiss/US currency exchange was not as good

Family did a Zermatt christmas in 1971, because my sister was an exchange student in England. Awesome time. Free reign of the mountains all day, clubbing at night, 14 years old and could drink...First memories of being buzzed. I would take off in the morning with lunch in a pack and come ski back into town at dark. Can't believe my parents let me do that.... Lifts there could have you almost ten miles from town. I went everywhere I could find on the maps. Some locals in their late teens or twenties took me to some of their favorite areas. All I could do to keep up, but I thought I was the catsazz... Met a lot of people, none were American. No cars or trucks in town back then. All horse drawn sleighs. Played a game for the local youth hockey team while I was there too. Thanks for posting that pic, Chris. It jarred a lot of forgotten stuff. Some of my best memories of time with my father from that trip. Good times. Simpler times.

Yup. Took the trip to saddleback last year. Top ten riding day I've ever had. Hiked to muleskinner from the top with a foot of fresh. Tough trail lots of rock drops.
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Oh and this thread kicks ass
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Ross- we have some great memories from our spring ski trip to Zermatt... my sister brought her Fox terrier.. in Europe people bring dogs to restaurants all the time... he would get bones brought to him from the wait staff... he left and went bar hopping ... we found him down the street in a bar about an hour later... we would stop at an on mt pub called Otmars on our last run and drink and sing till it was dark.. then you put your skis back on and ski down bobsled like trails into the village laughing the whole way down.. here is a pic of what may be Otmars or a lunch spot on the mt... we also skied over to Cervenia (Italy) for lunch one day

Wow Ross what cool memories of you France trip! Very jealous! Thanks for sharing that. Can you imagine packing your kid off with a lunch and sending them on their way in the mountains?! Amazing experience. I need to go to Europe someday. It's on the bucket list now. It will be goal for when my son gets older.
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Just so you don't get lost..... it's in Switzerland.:rotf2:

So Clammer and I are up for it provided you guys take out life insurance policies on us and name John the beneficiary. This site will never need another fundraiser.:yak5:

I dont know if anybody else on here is a washed up ski racer like I am? But how much fun would an SB dual slalom be?

Poncho... I would be up for that.. I raced for Berkshire school back in the day...

this is a great thread...

Lets keep it going...... here are a couple of YouTube videos of me skiing one on Lynx @ Sunapee and one off the Imperial lift @ Breckenridge


CLG on Lynx trail at Mount Sunapee - YouTube

CG Skiing off imperial lift @ Breck - YouTube

I am going to be in breck in feb. those were some nice turns. I know that mt. watchusett has a wed night race leauge. I wonder if we could have enough people to form a team.

Yep just cuz fishing is over doesn't mean spot burning is allowed:fury:

Im heading home to Lake Tahoe in December for 10 days. Yahooooooo Squaw, Kirkwood, and a token Day at my home mountain Un-Heavenly:jump1:

Very cool stories, brings back many memories of my youth and frankly its a mirracle I survived it. I remember my first trip out west with a bunch of my ski instructor buds out at Bershire East, I think we skied most everything on the lists I've seen and some I was too stoned to even remember. We met a friend of one of the instructors who was local and he was completely nuts, either skiing down a run with his pants around is ankle, or getting ready to lead us site unseen out of bounds and into God knows what. At almost 60, my days of crashing blindly through the woods are done, especially with a bad back now, but I do miss the champaingne powder of the west. Looking forward to a SB ski day, should be fun.

I went to Tremblant 2 years ago and had a blast. If you havent been get there. Best apres scene ive experienced. Crazy bars and good restaurants and the entire village is right at the base of the mtn. As close to european ski scene as you can get.

What do you guys ski/ride on. I feel like geeking out on some gear talk. I bought a ski last year made by Line called the Sir Francis Bacon. It is a beefy ski at 139-115-142 and 182cm, but it has changed the game for me. Its got the reverse camber in the tip and tail with traditional underfoot. It skis really well on the groomed stuff for a ski of that width and makes anything ungroomed a playground. It surfs through powder, chop, trees. There are a few companies out their making skis with similar camber design and its worth a demo at your local mountain. especially if there is some fresh snow.

My gear is old school..but I wont change them . 190CM K2 MSL all mountain skis, M51 titanium bindings and lange banshee boots....maybe its not old school but its definately old. The whole shaped scene was starting when I bought these,but I went with a ski more my type- an agressive ski that could handle whatever stupidity I hurled myself into.

I have Volkl six stars (black ones) and love them... they carve very well and track great at high speed... best skis I have ever owned... 168 cm

i have a little different gear but Ill play anyway:

I ride a ROME Slash 158
ROME targe binding and Vans Fargo boots

The slash is a great all around moutain freestyle thats great in the trees and groomers and nice booting off natural features. Gets a little chattery at high speeds but im not really into bombing anyway.

Also have a Burton Project 161 thats nice on deep Pow days

So when do we start the "Knuckledragger vs. Two Planker" arguments? Lol, kidding of course.:smash: This thread is bringing back some great memories. Ill have to dig through some old pictures if I can find them.

I would be down for a trip as long as there is a beginner's program to learn.
I've always wanted to learn to ski or snowboard.

Everyone makes reverse camber skis these days.
I ride 189 K2 Hellbents 179 K2 Obsetheds and 205 Igneous FFLs

had a few pairs of 210's that had reverse chamber on them .little did i know they would be in vogue 20 years later.:) ski on a pair of Dynastar sultan 94's.waiting on a new pair of Lange rx130's.looking at getting a pair of Liberty double helix's with some marker barons.i am amazed at all the new ski companies that are sprouting up.almost as bad as plug builders:)

Been spoiled....
 

Grew up skiing vt, racing, then patrolling for 10 yrs.....had to move then. Yuch...but now we ski in the Park City, Utah areas for a week every year...Park City, Alta (my favorite), Snow Basin, Solitude...my family is wrecked now...only love the Utah Powder...greatest snow on earth! Get to VT twice a winter. Love the helmet cam shots, gotta get one of those!:rotf2:

Likwid, nice quiver! Hellbents and Obsethed are beauties! Bacons are basically the same ski as the obsetheds.

fish in VT, I just bought a pair of last years double helix's and put a pair or marker dukes on them for touring. its an agressive touring ski, but I want its soft snow prowess for the way down if I'm going to work my a$$ off skinning up.

Bassballer, I've never snowboarded, but the guys that I used to go with when I lived in VT talked about Rome boards lovingly. Used to slap those rome stickers everywhere.

Blond Terror, Those volkls are sick, but I don't care what you ski on after all the pics you have shared with us. You've got enough street cred to be skiing on a pair of rossi cut's from the rental shop. I'd still be interested in what you have to say.