Last snow in Ohio- Boston Mills-picture

While out on the annual Akron Bike Club Think Spring ride- sunny and 70 by the way, I rode past the Boston Mills Ski "Resort". This is what was left- despite 6" of snow last Saturday. I couldn't see any tracks but I wouldn't be surprised if someone had hit it. This area has about 250' of vertical- kids swarm there by the thousands with their ski clubs. Hockey matches can be less dangerous given the skill and density. But it gets them on the slopes!

Thanks for posting that, frontrange. I've always been curious. Is that view really depicting the maximum vertical? I mean, I always knew it was small, but that's even smaller than I thought.

What you see is what you get! There are a couple of slopes you can't see in the picture but thats it for vertical. A sister "resort", Brandywine, is located about 5 miles up the valley. Same vertical- they do have a park and some jumps but you're pretty much skiing laps all day. Our closest good skiing is Holimont or Holiday Valley in Western NY, south of Buffalo, and then Seven Springs and Hidden Valley east of Pittsburgh. The western NY areas do get some exceptional lake effect snow- its not hard to be knee deep in the woods. They also have good variety with many steeper trails. Not bad for a day trip plus the price is pretty good and they do a fair job of spreading out the crowds. I pretty much stay away from Boston Mills / Brandywine unless the kids want to go for a day and prefer the cross country skiing when available. When it comes down to it, you ski what you've got! And search the internet for pictures of deeper snow and steeper slopes.

This is where I learned how to ski. Once you get the basics down here you really do start making the drive to Western NY pretty quickly. Also, as far as close NY resorts go, don't forget Peak and Peak. That was my favorite growing up. My father use to wake up on Saturdays, look outside to see the snow, and then wake my brother and I up to drive to Peak. Ahhhh fond memories.