Jay Peak, VT: 03/18/07 (Best day of the Season)

I live in MASH (washington DC) and am a college student. still, i have made it for every major (or almost every) storm this season since mid-late january.

the key to getting a similar experience to local VT skiers:

1. disregard for job (or school) when a dump's coming
2. listening to powderfreak's forecasts- and going out on a limb sometimes
3. money becomes inconsequential (for me it means eating rice and beans for a weak straight isn't so bad once you learn how to cook 'em right )
4. ability to travel via greyhound, amtrak late nights/all nights, then take a car ride through a blizzard.
5. having friends who will do the same.
6. blind optimism and staying positive.
 
I have pretty much the same approach as Ono. I've skied 30 days this year and also haven't missed the major storms. Probably 20 of those days were GREAT.

One thing I do is watch the long term (10 day and beyond) weather. I'm constantly putting in for time off and sometimes coming in to work anyway, if the weather craps out. I hear " I thought you were out today" a lot.

It has really helped this year that my wife is out of work, with our baby, so we don't have to coordinate with her work schedule. It hasn't helped us PAY for skiing, but to us skiing is a necessity like food and electric.

She's always asking me....soooo are we going or not? Now she even knows...vaguely...that "it depends on what powderfreak says..."

Scott - thanks for all you do. Especially including the Adirondacks in the specifics of the forecasts as not all eastern sking is in Vermont.

Mark
 
ono":1cpcra4m said:
I live in MASH (washington DC) and am a college student. still, i have made it for every major (or almost every) storm this season since mid-late january.

the key to getting a similar experience to local VT skiers:

1. disregard for job (or school) when a dump's coming
2. listening to powderfreak's forecasts- and going out on a limb sometimes
3. money becomes inconsequential (for me it means eating rice and beans for a weak straight isn't so bad once you learn how to cook 'em right )
4. ability to travel via greyhound, amtrak late nights/all nights, then take a car ride through a blizzard.
5. having friends who will do the same.
6. blind optimism and staying positive.
Click to expand...

Like Harvey already mentioned, this applies to powderhounds in any state in the U.S.

I know I've had a great March this season because I keep waiting to get fired.
 
i got in 11 days of skiing this year- with 8 true powder days, 10 were freshie days (within a day of a snow at least) with minimal class missed. anyone notice how the major snows all seemed to come on thursday nights and fridays? came back 4 times over the season (excluding official school breaks) to ski. damn, does that kill the college budget.


well, after sunday, i'm broke but happy. sucks to be a twenty-something in a city with no money- leaves ya kinda high and dry on the social life- the city sucks anyway, though. rather spend my cash getting north and skiing in the north country :D

waiting to get back north- you learn to appreciate the north country when you're so far from it.
 
My original comment on this thread was based upon Riverc0il's observation that Jay was not crowded on a Sunday with epic conditions. I take my hat off to those who try to get at it from inconvenient locations. But Riverc0il's comments do show that it's a dedicated and fanatical minority, to which most of us here on FTO belong.

On second thought, it has to be a bit masochistic to be a ski fanatic and live in D.C. If skiing is that important to you, get out of there while you're young and don't have children, real estate and tenured job commitments keeping you there. You CAN find gainful employment and a decent all around lifestyle in places like Seattle, Reno, SLC, Denver. Like admin did, and he was 39, I think. And if you're single, I'll bet your chances of finding a mate who shares your passion for skiing (and outdoor activities in general) is a whole lot better in western cities like those I mention than in the Boston-Washington corridor.

I too am very impressed by powderfreak's forecasts. He always provides photographic evidence of how accurate they are. He should have a bright future in meteorology, and I have recommended that he touch base with Larry Schick in Seattle for ideas.

SF Bay Area to Tahoe is at the outer limit of short notice daytrips IMHO. ChrisC showed us how that was done at Kirkwood on Feb. 23. I will concede that L.A. to Mammoth is beyond that distance, at least for me. I do expect that when I'm retired I will start timing 2-3 day midweek Mammoth trips based upon short term forecasts.

I'll admit I'm opinionated, but most of my impressions of eastern skiing, both positive and negative, are formed by what I read here.
 
Tony Crocker":1hguxdvt said:
On second thought, it has to be a bit masochistic to be a ski fanatic and live in D.C. If skiing is that important to you, get out of there while you're young and don't have children, real estate and tenured job commitments keeping you there.
Click to expand...

Well, sometimes life circumstances (in jono's case, graduate school) dictate otherwise.

Tony Crocker":1hguxdvt said:
Like admin did, and he was 39, I think.
Click to expand...

Ouch.
 
Obviously, each individual's personal circumstances are none of my business. But when someone is done with college or grad school is a logical time to make the move.

I've also concluded that the Vermonters definitely get more cheap powder days than I do. I'd still prefer to be here because of the much longer season and the considerably better quality of the non-powder days, but I can see how the focused powderhound might feel otherwise.
 
On second thought, it has to be a bit masochistic to be a ski fanatic and live in D.C. If skiing is that important to you, get out of there while you're young and don't have children, real estate and tenured job commitments keeping you there. You CAN find gainful employment and a decent all around lifestyle in places like Seattle, Reno, SLC, Denver. Like admin did, and he was 39, I think. And if you're single, I'll bet your chances of finding a mate who shares your passion for skiing (and outdoor activities in general) is a whole lot better in western cities like those I mention than in the Boston-Washington corridor.
Click to expand...
I think Tony is right on the money with this, if you are single and finished with your education. Go west young man or woman.. With a wife, house, job and kids that are about to enter high school i am here to the end.. Don't get me wrong i love my life :wink: I am still kicking myself in my pants for not at least trying to experience life out west..
Well back to begging my wife to :( let me go back to Utah next year...
 
yeah- it's a painful experience. hopefully not too long.

i'm an undergrad in DC, actually, and i can't take it anymore. i've put in for a transfer to UVM for the fall... yeah, i'm getting old for college (24 years old here, but i started when i was 21)...

i figure burlington is a nice place to live, work and go to school. hopefully meet a nice girl to spend some time with or whatever.

definitely more affordable (and plentiful) skiing to be had if all goes as planned...
 
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