Cold Sunday - More Shelter at Jay or Burke?

admafw

admafw

New member
The annual road trip from the flatlands of central Ontario starts Sunday. This year it's 5 days skiing with Woodwards @ Lincoln, NH as a base but I always try and hit an area on my way down. Departure time will depend in part on the weather forecast (current forecast is sunny but highs in the single digits F.) and in part on advice from the forum members.

Alternatives are:

1) leave at 2 am and arrive at Jay 9 am. It's just my wife and I so no glades - sticking to groomed terrain on day 1. I've been to Jay a number of times where the tram has been on wind hold. In single digit weather the Green Mountain Freezer is not an option. I'm used to 300' of vertical so I'm more than happy with what's available on Stateside, but I remember the runs as being pretty open. Any shelter from the wind?

2) Sleep in somewhat, leave at 5 am and arrive at Burke for the afternoon ski deal. I've only skied Burke once before and it was an incredible powder day. My youngest daughter and I spent the morning skiing fresh lines in the glades with my poor wife skiing by herself. This means all the groomers on Burke will be 1st time runs for me. Is there better chance at shelter from the prevailing winds?

3) Realize that I like all my extremities attached where they are, sleep in till 7am, leave at 8 am and make a leisurely drive to NH. Hope for a warm bluebird day/incredible powder day on the Friday home and ski either Jay or else Bolton (got a 2 for 1 at the Toronto Ski show) on the way home.

Thanks,

Adam
 
Driving from Toronto ? or points east and trying to ski the same day in VT sounds brutal but this is from someone who drives about 45 minutes to ski and 2 hour drives call for a overnight stay .( this is with 3 kids in which the logistical organization to get out the door rivals a Himalayan Expedition :) ) . On to the topic , if you feel like skiing you should probably try Burke as it is off the Interstate and more on a direct route to your NH location. Remember that Burke is about 3 hours from Montreal so lots of driving. Just my 2 cents worth but Jay is all about the glades , the groomers are pounded by the constant winds and are usually blown down to their artificial base. If you don't like skiing the trees don't see the point of going to Jay . Burke will probably offer more of what you are looking for.
 
Anthony:

Thanks for the sympathy and information. The drive starts in Oshawa - unfortunately a location that's 5 1/2 hrs from anything over 700' vertical. For the past 8 years it's been a family tradition for dad to drive through the night while mom & daughter sleep. Sometimes the worst drive makes for the best trip. March 9, 2003 - driving up the 401 with snow so deep and no tire tracks to follow, heading for the Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge at Jay using the rumble strips to find the raod.. Skiied the day at Jay, then drove dwon for 4 days at Stowe with my cousin & his family. Ended up doing a detour to Killington for a morning ski on the way home Friday because ASC had a $1 day at all their resorts. Still the favorite & most talked about family trip. Created commemorative t-shirts using a picture of my daughter & her cousin in their ski gear, dead to the world in the back seat heading from Stowe to Killington. (we'll see if my first attempt at uploading a picture works.)

samtshirt.jpg



For this years trip I think your advice sounds pretty good. They're now calling for the cold to stay on through Monday so a half-day at Burke is probably enough warm-up (pardon the pun) for what will be a cold Monday at either Cannon or Waterville.

Think warm thoughts!
 
Burke owns Jay on groomers. Better trails and better conditions. Less traffic so good groomed conditions last longer into the day. Burke is much more sheltered from the wind than Jay and less prone to wind hold. Even when the summit quad goes down, you still have surface lift that gets you to almost all of the mountain save a few upper trails. If you aren't skiing trails and are only skiing groomers and are concerned about the wind, Burke seems like a no brainer, IMO.
 
The man! The legend! ^^^

I figured that the JP post would smoke you out. Were you THAT bothered by the new forum format, or did one of Tony's many EC half-truths push you over the edge?
 
jamesdeluxe":1zszbmts said:
The man! The legend! ^^^

I figured that the JP post would smoke you out. Were you THAT bothered by the new forum format, or did one of Tony's many EC half-truths push you over the edge?
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:lol:

Riverc0il, you are missed around here. :o

Holy crap James, you have just passed your 1000 post on FTO. That's like 10,000 on TGR, not sure if you want to pull a Splat 10000 post. :wink: Defintely NSFW, but ski related.


To admafw:

I agree with Riverc0il. I'm personally not a huge fan of Jay groomers, Burke is probably better (haven't been since 89 or so). If you want to cut your drive by one-hour or two, you can stop along the way at Sutton, Orford (a few km along the way) or Owl's Head.
 
did one of Tony's many EC half-truths push you over the edge?
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Recall that I was one of the first to lament Riverc0il's disappearance from the FTO forums. Welcome back I hope!!!
 
jamesdeluxe":3gl0ddwv said:
Were you THAT bothered by the new forum format, or did one of Tony's many EC half-truths push you over the edge?
Click to expand...
I find Tony's PST Quarterbacking of the East interesting even if not always completely on target. You gotta hand it to Tony though... very few West Coasters are as knowledgable about the East as Tony, even for actually skiing the East only a few times.

No, it isn't Tony but rather the new format really does hurt my eyes. I check in here a few times a week. Nothing personal. I have voiced my concerns about the change in forum usability and aesthetics. I tried to give it a go for a few months, but it is visually the worst forum I have seen in a phpBB platform.

My reports are still posted on my site. 9 pow days out of 11 total days this season so far. Things are starting to get ripping around here and my two best days of the season so far have been far far away from Jay.
 
Thanks to all for the info.

Patrick - I've actually skied Sutton, Orford and Owls Head & Bromont - I just figure that Burke or Jay gets most of the driving and the border crossing behind me. That way I can ski, and then head directly to the motel. In fact, the glades at Burke really remind me of Sutton a lot - mostly hardwood with losts of visibility.

The current plan is a 4:30am departure to make it to Burke for just before noon Sunday to take advantage of their lift ticket discount. I checked the terrain map and there are a number of smaller glades I can loop through while my wife skis the nearest groomer. I'm really looking forward to skiing New Hampshire in decent snow conditions. Last family trip there (March 2004 - Wildcat, Cannon (x2), Waterville & Loon) we skied about a week after a rain event so everything was boiler plate underneath, with some new snow on top - except for most of Loon where I must say I did appreciate the grooming after a couple of icy days elsewhere.

I'll try and post some pictures when I get back.

Thanks again to all for the advice!!! (And betweeen trips I'll continue to live vicariously through all the great posts on this board while I ski the 300' hills around home.)

Adam
Oshawa
 
admafw":2o33pjo9 said:
I've actually skied Sutton, Orford and Owls Head & Bromont - I just figure that Burke or Jay gets most of the driving and the border crossing behind me.
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Hi Adam,

I was just trying to cut some of your long drive. :mrgreen: If you can do Oshawa-Burke in one shot without the other passengers killing each other, the more power to you.

This info might be a bit late, but if your kids are in grade 5 (in NH), they can ski for free. We took advantage of it last year at Spring Break. Between the midweek deal at certain areas and this coupon passport for my oldest, we saved a fortune. I've recently updated the TRs our 5 days in NH last March (Wildcat, Cannon, Black, Cranmore, Balsam Wilderness), so they wouldn't be to far to find.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5778

admafw":2o33pjo9 said:
I'll try and post some pictures when I get back.
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Looking forward to it. Have a good trip.
 
RivercOil, some beauty TRs on your site... especially Magic and Black.

What happened to the exterior of the Magic base lodge other than the paint job? Is that walk-through section (that takes you past the ticket windows) still there? Haven't been in a couple years, obviously.
 
Patrick:

Thanks for the money savings tips for the kids - but my youngest is now in her 2nd year at university. (She's teaching skiing on weekends.) We did take advantage of the Ontario Grade 5 pass program for the very first year we started "family" trips - back in 2000. Over the years I've also made much use of the air miles reward program for free lift tickets throughout Quebec and at Jay. (I was crushed when the petro points program stopped letting me cash in for free nights at Ramada hotels - the one in Sherbooke has a great family restaurant on one side and an alternating his & hers peeler bar which I never did check out on the other!) Unfortunately my daughters' university reading week coincides with the US Presidents Week and there's no such thing as a deal for skiing and since dad is paying for school away from home, money is a bit tight. As for the drive, over the years I've gotten somewhat used to it. Travelling to US, especially New Hampshire, also has the advantage of tax free shopping. Then there's the difference in gas prices once you cross the border. I remember talking to some locals at Stowe and they were amazed that our Ontario gas prices can change on a daily basis - seems in Vt the gas companies need to seek approval for a price change - and yet the free market doesn't collapse - what a concept!

Like your trip last year I also plan to take advantage of the midweek discounts in certain ski areas in New Hampshire. My wife & I plan to ski 2 for 1 every day midweek and just hop from area to area. I love the fact that places like Cannon & Wildcat still have those classic, winding New England trails. Actually, planning for this trip started with trying to fit Roll Back the Clock day at MRG with discount Wednesdays at Whiteface (need to check out the new terrain), but when I crunched the total cost numbers it was impossible to beat the value of skiing New Hampshire. It's a bit of personal pride thing for me - skiing 20+ days a year without paying full price once! (I have the same mantra for golf!) I'm sure things would be different if I lived close enough to real mountains to take advantage of sudden powder days.

Anyway, thanks again.

Adam - Oshawa
 
Left Oshawa 4:45am - made the mid-Burke chalet just after noon. Cold, but not insanely so. My wife & I both agree that we were way more sheltered than at Jay. Great start to the week!
meburke.jpg
 
admafw":2z7poie8 said:
Ontario gas prices can change on a daily basis - seems in Vt the gas companies need to seek approval for a price change
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Never ever heard of that, but I don't live in VT. U.S. gas prices change almost daily too.
 
admafw":2qxv1duz said:
Left Oshawa 4:45am - made the mid-Burke chalet just after noon. Cold, but not insanely so. My wife & I both agree that we were way more sheltered than at Jay. Great start to the week!
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I wish I would have checked htis forum last week. I could have shown you around Burke Sunday afternoon. Instead, I was shovelling my parent's roof :roll:
 
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