"Home" Resort ski day counts?

EMSC

EMSC

Well-known member
As a bit of a numbers guy (way less than Tony though :lol: ), I was looking over some of my ski day counts which I have by area -or estimated by area through about Jr High before I really kept track. Given the different types of folks who do or don't wander much out there, I wondered who and how many have 'volume' ski days at individual resorts. Say, list out any you've got more than 100 ski days at lifetime. (or maybe it should be 50 for more participation?).

For me this would be:

Greek Peak - 400
Eldora - 268
Heavenly - 116

With nothing else over the mid-60's

Anyone else?

Edit: While not perfect (I do have some years of intelligent estimation pre-High School); Comparable to Tony's total days number below: I show 1,321 lift served days, 1 cat day and unknown # of x-c days (I used to get in ~8-10 of those per yr back through about college, but stopped for quite a while now).
 
Well over 100:
  • Jay Peak, VT
  • Alta, UT

Definitely more than 50, probably near 100:
  • Snowbird, UT
  • Willard Mountain, NY
 
Top 10 in days, vert:
Mammoth 247 5,292.5
Mt. Baldy 62 1,201.1
Snowbird 59.5 1,280.9
Snow Summit 40.5 743.6
Mountain High 27 450.3
Alta 22.5 386.5
Whistler/Blackcomb 19 432.3
Heavenly Valley 18 366.1
Mt. Bachelor 17 448.7
Squaw Valley 16 304.2

Half days mean I skied 2 areas in the same day. 914 total days.
 
EMSC":1jnlegmf said:
Say, list out any you've got more than 100 ski days at lifetime. (or maybe it should be 50 for more participation?).
Click to expand...

LIFETIME?????!!!!??? :shock: :shock:
ARE YOU NUCKING FUTS????
I'm lucky to remember last Tuesday. I didn't even start tracking days till maybe a couple of years before moving - so maybe the last 10 years, at most, if I can find the spreadsheets?
I dunno.....
lots and lots at Alta - the only one I can definitely say is over 100
more than a lot at Snowbird
bunches of lots at Sugarbush
some lots at Sugarloaf. Probably 50...or not.

Why do so many skiers recollect the past instead of looking toward the future?
 
EMSC":3dp9dzue said:
Say, list out any you've got more than 100 ski days at lifetime. (or maybe it should be 50 for more participation?).
Click to expand...

I don't have definite numbers from 1968-1981... :roll: However from the time I reached 16 and got my driver's license...here are the counts, Top 10 and a bit:

1 Tremblant LAUR: 102 (maybe 150-200 lifetime). I know the previous season to my stat keeping, I skied 18 days here and mostly skied at Tremblant from 1973 or 74 to 1980-81. The rest are total guessitmates.

2 Edelweiss OUT: 59 - going to shootup, I got a season pass last Saturday and Morgane is registered in the race program.
3 Fortune OUT: 53
4 Chanteclerc LAUR: 47 - mostly university training grounds.
5 Killington VT: 46
6 St-Sauveur LAUR: 40 (maybe 60 lifetime???)
7 Whiteface NY: 36 (37 lifetime with 1980 visit)
8 Mad River Glen VT: 36
9 Gray Rocks LAUR: 35 (40-45???)
10 Cascades OUT: 34
11 Jay Peak VT: 32 (maybe 40-45???)
12 Vorlage OUT: 29
13 Gabriel LAUR: 27 (40-45???)
14 Mt-Blanc LAUR: 20 (25???)
15 Ste-Anne QC: 18
16 Smugglers' VT: 13 (15-20???)
17 Sutton ET: 12 (25???) - #1 spot before family got cottage up North.
18 Sunday River ME: 12
19 Garceau LAN: 12
20 MT. Washington NH: 12
21 Mammoth CA: 11 :shock:

all the way to 112, maybe 120 lifetime.
938 ski days (175 nights) since 1981-82. I guess you can see, I'm not very One ski area type of skier. :mrgreen:
 
Patrick":3kixi22d said:
I don't have definite numbers from 1968-1981... :roll: However from the time I reached 16 and got my driver's license...here are the counts
Click to expand...
You really tracked your day counts since you were 16? Really? And you could look up that info??? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
You guys (how come it's never girls?) are just waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too anal. You really do need some other hobbies.

Mind you, I'm not suggesting this is right or wrong for you (I find it unimaginable, but that's just me), I'm just truly surprised to stumble upon that level of personal historical tracking. It represents a new domain that I never really thought about.
 
I guess you can see, I'm not very One ski area type of skier.
Click to expand...
Patrick's distribution is probably more dispersed than nearly anyone with that many ski days. Only 11% at the #1 area I suspect is rare.
 
Marc_C":1m3ik9oz said:
You really tracked your day counts since you were 16? Really? And you could look up that info??? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Click to expand...

While you grabbed Patrick's comment to point out your surprise, Yep. I have. In fact probably since ~14. I even have logs of the conditions, weather and what I trained and worked on on a particular day. Just one part of the whole 'aspiring ski racer' thing which morphed into keeping track of much less data, but still logging my ski days/locations.

Patrick":1m3ik9oz said:
938 ski days (175 nights) since 1981-82
Click to expand...

So is that ~1,100 total? or is the 175 within the 938?

My night ski number is 'only' 130 (embedded in my total above), probably partially because of so few opportunities to do so in the West compared to back East.
 
Howelson Hill in Steamboat, and Eldora has the race training trail lit (though infrequently)... Which actually is my only night skiing out here - the 'beer league' nights. Though even that I have not been able to pop out of work to pull that off in a couple of years.

I'm not sure if Vail has a beginner run or two lit up at 'adventure ridge' area.
 
Marc_C":2z1yvvm0 said:
You really tracked your day counts since you were 16? Really? And you could look up that info??? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Click to expand...

A lot easy since I got a computer 18 years ago. Excel and Access can do wonderful things with data. Very useful with Tony. :mrgreen:

EMSC":2z1yvvm0 said:
Yep. I have. In fact probably since ~14.
Click to expand...

I started because one of my high school ski buddy was going for maybe 1-2 years, however his skiing is how exclusively at Sutton. My log has varried over the years, but the only constant has been dates, where and with whom. I added which skis at one point. I had the temps and conditions in the early year, never ready incorporated vertical data.

I also keep track of concerts I've seen since Day 1, Kiss in 1977. :mrgreen: But that is it... [-X

EMSC":2z1yvvm0 said:
Patrick":2z1yvvm0 said:
938 ski days (175 nights) since 1981-82
Click to expand...

is the 175 within the 938?
Click to expand...

Within.

EMSC":2z1yvvm0 said:
My night ski number is 'only' 130 (embedded in my total above), probably partially because of so few opportunities to do so in the West compared to back East.
Click to expand...

A few years (not all) while on the University ski team years (86-92), we trained 2 nights/week from Jan-March. I started Masters racing in Winter 2002 and we race on Wednesday night a week. All the Ottawa Masters races are between 15-35km from downtown.
 
EMSC":khyfhmka said:
Eldora has the race training trail lit (though infrequently)... Which actually is my only night skiing out here - the 'beer league' nights.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised that Eldora -- given its proximity to a huge Front Range population, and the local hill size/vibe (compared to other ski areas in the region) -- hasn't tried to expand the night skiing. I know that out west, night skiing is viewed by many as one step above wearing a sundress, but it's better than sitting home and watching TV on a weeknight.
 
jamesdeluxe":3mmlqttv said:
I'm surprised that Eldora -- -- hasn't tried to expand the night skiing.
Click to expand...

Like this.
eldora_overview_1.jpg


Almost all the night lighting infrastructure is now toast. Supposedly they quit because it was only pass holders showing up so they didn't make any extra money, just spent more on costs. All I really know is that they stopped sometime before I got out here, and a number of lights still sit on random trees, etc... (they never really bothered to take stuff down or clean the hill up).
 
Thanks, asked and answered.

So why is night skiing in the east so popular, especially among non-passholders? In addition to giving people something to do after work, it's a cheaper deal per hour (of course, less terrain is skiable). Is it the sundress metaphor?
 
So why is night skiing in the east so popular, especially among non-passholders? In addition to giving people something to do after work, it's a cheaper deal per hour (of course, less terrain is skiable). Is it the sundress metaphor?
Click to expand...
It's spoiled skiers with higher standards of terrain/snow/challenge. I don't see a lot of night skiing in Vermont either. What I see is metro areas with few if any "real mountains" within easy daytrip distance. So the local molehills within one hour drive (half an hour like Patrick's situation is better) can attract people with good race programs and/or terrain parks. The latter bring the challenge to people who might otherwise be more focused on terrain/powder etc. if they lived in SLC, Denver or Vermont. Look at all the racers that come out of places like Minnesota. Thus it's a mystery to me that night skiing does well in Seattle. But Snoqualmie is 45 freeway minutes from the city while the big places are more like 2 hours. Snow Summit and Mt. High have night skiing, haven't done it at either for 20+ years.
 
Tony Crocker":1kv896io said:
So why is night skiing in the east so popular, especially among non-passholders?
Click to expand...
It's spoiled skiers with higher standards of terrain/snow/challenge. I don't see a lot of night skiing in Vermont either. What I see is metro areas with few if any "real mountains" within easy daytrip distance. So the local molehills within one hour drive (half an hour like Patrick's situation is better) can attract people with good race programs and/or terrain parks.
Click to expand...

Don't flatter yourself, that bold statement has very little to do with it. I did what I think was an original and excellent paper while I was in Academia. The one and only factor is population and huge market. I did this paper based about 20 years on the ski area distribution in Quebec when they were 110 ski areas in the province.

Although I touched many factor, I mentioned ski areas that offered night skiing.

You need to be close by a big metro area and hill has to be easy to get to. In Quebec, most of the ski areas that offer night skiing are directly on the Autoroute or very easily accessible from Montreal, Quebec City or Ottawa-Gatineau. Mont St-Sauveur Valley is 30-35 miles from the island of Montreal (city) and maybe 25 miles once you leave suburbia of Laval and the North shore. Why St-Sauveur, because it's the start of the Laurentians, before that they isn't any hills and the St.Lawrence Valley. In the St-Sauveur immediate area there is MSS, Avila, Habitant, Morin Heights, Olympia and Gabriel. Move to to Ste-Adèle and you'll find Chanteclerc.

On the other ski of the island toward the Eastern Townships, there is only Bromont that offers night skiing. I'm not counting the tiny hill near Sherbrooke. This Bromont is the closest at 45 miles from the island. The two hills within the metro area offers night skiing (St-Bruno and Rigaud).

So Montreal metro is 3.5 million, Quebec City is around 700k. The 3 closest areas offer night skiing (Mont Ste-Anne, Stoneham and Le Relais) + a tiny sliding hill I believe. You already know the case in Ottawa, 1.2million with the 5 closest areas offering night skiing all within 10-30 miles from downtown Ottawa. A few(?) ski areas outside Trois-Rivières and other regional cities offer night skiing, but if the distance is greater than 30 minutes, night skiing in Quebec non-existent. As I'm looking outside with a fresh 20cm of snow you might understand why some people would just like to spend an evening and ski. Once you leave these areas

Tony Crocker":1kv896io said:
It's spoiled skiers with higher standards of terrain/snow/challenge.
Click to expand...

So I've explain the case in Quebec. Mont Ste-Anne and people from Quebec City have easy access to the best skiing in Quebec, however there is still night skiing.

Tony Crocker":1kv896io said:
I don't see a lot of night skiing in Vermont either.
Click to expand...
What is the entire population of Vermont? It's less than Quebec City and cover a much bigger area than a metro area. Stowe has introduced night skiing a few years ago, but that is might be related more to the tourist than the locals. A bit like Las Lenas or Norquay's night skiing.

Tony Crocker":1kv896io said:
What I see is metro areas with few if any "real mountains" within easy daytrip distance.
Click to expand...
Calgary, Vancouver and you mentioned Seattle have night skiing and you would agree that they are "real mountains" within easy daytrip distance.
 
Patrick covered several of the points I was planning to make. Tony's response had a supercilious tone that didn't agree with me either. As mentioned, the point of night skiing isn't to replace the "real mountain" experience, but to be out on the snow after work. I've had some great powder evenings at molehill joints like Greek Peak, Camelback, and Bretton Woods -- obviously not even close to top-tier terrain, but who cares? I've only been to Bromont once, which has the largest night-skiing operation in North America. Their famous "Nuits Blanches" (open until 3 am, I believe) allow you to ski in the trees in the early-morning hours... very cool.
 
jamesdeluxe":38yanol9 said:
As mentioned, the point of night skiing isn't to replace the "real mountain" experience, but to be out on the snow after work.
Click to expand...

Yep, pretty much. That's the whole point of mountain creek. I can ski after work. I don't have to go for more than a few hours, but just to get turns in is fine. My only qualm is that the price is a it steep at mountain creek, and it feels more like a mall than a mountain.

When I visit my uncle in East Chatham, often I arrive late afternoon. So, we just hit Jiminy at night. Is it as fun as Alta? No... but duh! I have fun getting in my turns, getting my exercise in a form that is preferable to all others. Sometimes, the conditions are pretty good, and you really enjoy it. Plus then you go home, drink tea, and hit the hay. It's not so bad.
 
Doesn't MC have some sort of internet deal for $25 each if you buy three tickets?

That said, I still wouldn't pay that to go to Mountain Creek. If I want to ski a 850-vert hill, I'll go to Camelback.
 
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