Project 101: USA Road Trip

[jamesdeluxe]

I agree with Tony/ChrisC: this is not how I would want to conduct a multi-week/month road trip, where it's all about racking up numbers in the most expeditious way possible with no attempt to optimise the likelihood of good conditions, seek out the best ski areas for someone's skills and interests, or get a more complete view of a mountain than can be achieved in 90 minutes.

I agree with Harvey: "We all do crazy stuff because it's what we want to do," whether it's a) essentially limiting yourself to ski areas in one state, b) going on round-the-world trips during shoulder months (that include numerous indoor ski areas) to complete a streak, or c) my preference across 25 years of making dozens of one-day visits to obscure, locals areas that haven't changed much in decades (because I'm a variety junkie).

 

[Tony Crocker]

(because I'm a variety junkie)

Liz and I are certainly in that camp. Patrick too, within his time-of-year constraints.

There are tons of skiers who like Harvey limit themselves to one or a handful of areas within drive distance of home. SoCal's population of Mammoth only skiers is one of the largest subsets of that group. Harvey's radius is just tighter. The advantages of a locally restricted plan like that:
1) Low per ski day costs (season pass, daytrip or cheap lodging)
2) Short notice powder days
3) Minute detail knowledge of the ski area(s), especially valuable on powder days.

 

[Harvey]

I think everyone on this thread would say that. Liz summed it up best:
"How to take the joy out of skiing."

Do you have any direct evidence that he is not having the time of his life?

skiers who like Harvey limit themselves to one or a handful of areas within drive distance of home.

For the record (leaving Bohemia out of it for now) I'll go anywhere in NY or VT. Farthest from me is Peek'n Peak. Farthest from me in VT is Burke.

The advantages of a locally restricted plan like that:
1) Low per ski day costs (season pass, daytrip or cheap lodging)
2) Short notice powder days
3) Minute detail knowledge of the ski area(s), especially valuable on powder days.

Tony I give you credit for being able to see this, when this is so far from your own model of what makes skiing great.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Tony I give you credit for being able to see this, when this is so far from your own model of what makes skiing great.

The one thing 99% of avid skiers with diverse models agree on is the value of powder days. Project101 appears to be the exception. Today he duplicated his Laurentian exercise from 2019, hitting 5 areas:

2026-01-29	Ragged Mountain	New Hampshire
2026-01-29	Pat's Peak	New Hampshire
2026-01-29	Crotched Mountain	New Hampshire
2026-01-29	Mt. Sunapee	New Hampshire
2026-01-29	Whaleback	New Hampshire

Whaleback is sufficiently obscure that neither former admin, James or I ever put it in the Google Earth Worldwide Ski Map. It's in there now, so Project101 has made a small contribution to one of my ski data collecting obsessions. Stuart would approve.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Whaleback is sufficiently obscure that neither former admin, James or I ever put it in the Google Earth Worldwide Ski Map.

I don't know how I missed Whaleback for the FTO map as I've known about it through NEers on the Snowjournal forum going back 25 years.

 

[Skieric]

The one thing 99% of avid skiers with diverse models agree on is the value of powder days. Project101 appears to be the exception. Today he duplicated his Laurentian exercise from 2019, hitting 5 areas:

2026-01-29	Ragged Mountain	New Hampshire
2026-01-29	Pat's Peak	New Hampshire
2026-01-29	Crotched Mountain	New Hampshire
2026-01-29	Mt. Sunapee	New Hampshire
2026-01-29	Whaleback	New Hampshire

Whaleback is sufficiently obscure that neither former admin, James or I ever put it in the Google Earth Worldwide Ski Map. It's in there now, so Project101 has made a small contribution to one of my ski data collecting obsessions. Stuart would approve.

I dont understand the multiple ski areas in 1 day. It seems like taking a run at each place and move to the next. Seems to take the fun out of it. The closest I have gotten to this was the ski Utah Interconnect, but that was about skiing all the resorts including the backcountry routes connecting then. The skis snd boots stayed on the whole day!

 

[Tony Crocker]

It seems like taking a run at each place and move to the next.

Actually it's one run on each lift and move to the next!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Tony I give you credit for being able to see this, when this is so far from your own model of what makes skiing great.

My years of guidance and training are finally starting to pay off.

 

[Harvey]

The advantages of a locally restricted plan like that:
1) Low per ski day costs (season pass, daytrip or cheap lodging)
2) Short notice powder days
3) Minute detail knowledge of the ski area(s), especially valuable on powder days.

To this I would add:

4) NY's family-owned ski areas are generally managed with first hand information, and owners are generally visible, available and approachable.

Example:

Last Saturday was to be the first opening of the Snow Pocket at Snow Ridge, since a significant and sustained lake effect event. For those that don't know, the Snow Pocket is served by a Tbar that accesses lots of trees that remain largely untracked when the Tbar isn't running. Snow Pocket spins weekends and holidays only. If you are motivated —willing to ride the tbar, and walk a bit — you can gets 1000s of feet of untracked vert in 400 foot chunks.

Last Thursday, Robert and I were planning our editorial options. We texted Nick Mir (owner) and he told us, late opening Saturday (due to extreme cold) and no Snow Pocket until Sunday. I love that. And it's the same thing at Titus, Plattekill, Oak, Woods, etc.

Katz never returns my calls about Hunter.

 

[ChrisC]

If worldskitraveller was really good, he would have scheduled 15 minutes at Storrs Hill Ski Area in Lebanon, NH, only 10 minutes away from Whaleback. Lift tickets are free! Only one lift to 'collect'.

It's run by the Lebanon Outing Club, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit.

I taught here a few evenings and weekends over the years while I was in school in the area through the Big Brothers/Sisters program.

Storrs Hill

Established in 1923 and one of the oldest continuously operating lift-served US ski areas, Storrs Hill offers public skiing, night skiing, and ski lessons.

skistorrshill.com

I was never sure why West Leb/Lebanon/Hanover needs almost 3 community ski areas (Whaleback, Storrs, and Dartmouth Skiway), but why not? Whaleback operating very unreliably since it was the only for-profit ski area without large donations (Storrs and Skiway).

 

[ChrisC]

Actually it's one run on each lift and move to the next!

Yes, worldskitraveller is NOT a skier.

Measures the number of Ski Areas and the number of Lifts. (800 ski areas and 6000? lifts)
Who cares about conditions or terrain type?

He never seems to have any specific terrain in mind to pursue, does not like trees, and powder interferes with ski-area collection, so it should be avoided at all costs. Also, natural-snow New England trails are too much work, and cannot be skied fast because they are ungroomed. He skied one at Cannon (Hardscrabble) because he did not realize you needed to traverse/laterally hike 5-10 minutes to Mittersill. Ridiculous! A hike does not count like collecting a ski lift.....

It's like people running around Europe trying to see the Top 10 destinations in each major city, ranked on TripAdvisor or DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides. The site, experience, view, architecture, etc., is worth far less than checking the box.

 

[jasoncapecod]

If worldskitraveller was really good, he would have scheduled 15 minutes at Storrs Hill Ski Area in Lebanon, NH, only 10 minutes away from Whaleback. Lift tickets are free! Only one lift to 'collect'.

It's run by the Lebanon Outing Club, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit.

I taught here a few evenings and weekends over the weekends while I was in school in the area through the Big Brothers/Sisters program.

Storrs Hill

Established in 1923 and one of the oldest continuously operating lift-served US ski areas, Storrs Hill offers public skiing, night skiing, and ski lessons.

skistorrshill.com

I was never sure why West Leb/Lebanon/Hanover needs almost 3 community ski areas (Whaleback, Storrs, and Dartmouth Skiway), but why not? Whaleback operating very unreliably since it was the only for-profit ski area without large donations (Storrs and Skiway).

My daughter went to camp coniston for 10 yrs. Very familiar with those areas. They are cool.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Storrs Hill Ski Area

Another new one for Worldwide Ski Map. In North America former admin's intent was to find every functioning ski area. Cross checking Stuart's database would be the best way to complete that part. James and Patrick have provided a few historical significant defunct areas, which are labelled as such.

Outside North America, I limit to at least 1,000 vertical. In the Alps (mostly supplied by James) it's more like 1,500 vertical.

 

[EMSC]

In North America former admin's intent was to find every functioning ski area.

At this point I would think Peter from Lift Blog would be a great resource as he has claimed to ride or at least visit/walk the line for every functioning lift in at least the US and Canada. That includes some non-ski area lifts too of course (state fairs, wineries, etc...). So i would expect the Liftblog lists by state and province to be pretty compelling/complete as a guide.

 

[ChrisC]

Today's itinerary.

WTF!!! He spent less than one hour at Mad River Glen. I am sure he missed every glade and tree run. And was pissed with super narrow trails, and less grooming. No high-speed runs.

He obviously spends more time on Google Maps and driving distances than on a trail map! Could care less he is skiing on of New England's best mountains on a top 10% (or better) ski day.

Also, this is over 3 hours in the car, plus the time to change! (Dartmouth Skiway had a lift evacuation yesterday; maybe one lift/half the mountain was closed today?)

And I saw his lack of interest in MRG or skiing in general a week ago ...thought it would not be possible.

The only interest is trying to ride as many different lifts in 30-120 minutes at any ski area. I think it's the number of Chairlifts that determines the length of a ski day.

Mad River Glen = 4 lifts. That's one hour - Max!

Yesterday's drive from Plymouth, NH, to Lebanon, VT, took almost 3.5 hours. He at least wasted 2 hours, plus the time spent changing boots/shoes.

What I am surprised at:

• He never bought an Epic Pass - just 6-day passes. I guess he mapped everything before the cutoff dates? LOL
• Only one Indy mountain can be done per day. He gave up some easy 'collectibles' in Tenney and Gunstock (which has great views of Winnipesaukee).

It is a GIANT SHAME he is missing these excellent conditions and spending one-third of the day in the car. The NH snowbanks are in the top 5-10%, nearing some all-time totals (just my recollection from I-93 to the Cannon /Franconia Notch area).


He really deserves to just ski in rain or freezing rain. It would not matter to him. Just check the box.

 

[Tony Crocker]

No high-speed runs

Does MRG have any high speed runs? I recall a couple of narrow twisty groomers and as many mogul runs as I ever ski in a day. The moguls were a workout but fun as it was 60F T-shirt skiing like a Memorial Day at Mammoth. I do not see any commentary from Project101 about today's skiing yet.

 

[ChrisC]

Does MRG have any high speed runs? I recall a couple of narrow twisty groomers and as many mogul runs as I ever ski in a day. The moguls were a workout but fun

Not really.

The Single Chair - Only Upper Antelope, which is very narrow!

Sunnyside Chair - Quacky to Porcupine is the only semi-top-to-bottom groomer. Fox-Bunny are catwalks.

Birldland - Beginner, closed weekdays.

Practice - short open racing slope.

I do not see any commentary from Project101 about today's skiing yet.

I can do his summary from the MRG photos. Again, no moguls, no natural snow terrain, glades, or trees. Only simple groomed runs, the only ones on the mountain. This MRG stop may have taken him 45-60 minutes.

I am starting to doubt his skiing ability: his only ungroomed run was at Cannon Mountain due to a navigation error, and that was a simple, short 5-10-minute horizontal hike to Mittersill that everyone on First Tracks has done. He complained about how exhausting Cannon was: this is the only confirmed out of the groomer comfort zone on this trip!

I understand conserving your energy on these marathon days, but you are not skiing much. And on very easy, homogenous, groomed terrain.

Does he even go off-piste in Europe? Need some confirmation, because he's taken the easy road at Jay, Burke, Sugarloaf (wind/mechanical issues), Wildcat, MRG, Loon, Waterville, and -mostly- Cannon.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I am starting to doubt his skiing ability

I see the logic. How many advanced skiers could resist the powder under current Northeast conditions? Or skip Bohemia with 2 feet new when you're that close?

Mad River Glen celebrates the unconventional, like the outdated ban on snowboarders, the unique, like the historic but renovated single-chairlift, and the undeniable: long runs through the Vermont forests. I'm once again amazed by how much vertical you can ski through the trees here, and how much fun such long runs are.

There are no pics in the trees, but perhaps the above comment suggests he gave them a try. Perhaps James can ask?

 

[Tony Crocker]

2026-01-31	Smugglers' Notch	Vermont
2026-01-31	Stowe	Vermont
2026-01-31	Bolton Valley	Vermont

He's actually repeating Stowe because lift operations were limited by weather on his 2019 visit. Still this was a Saturday with excellent conditions, so I wonder how much time he spent driving in traffic. He skied Stowe on his Epic 6-pack to replace Telluride, which was still on strike when he was in the Southwest.

The long, narrow forest clearings that characterize Sugarbush, Mad River Glen, and Smuggler's Notch are largely absent here; instead, there's more white among the green. And there's a mountain backdrop with rocky outcrops that makes everything quite unique. Nevertheless, Stowe is more of a piste paradise; it lacks the very challenging runs – and that's precisely what makes the area so appealing.

Uhh, never heard of the Front Four? I knew about them from California decades before I ever set foot on Stowe.

Bolton Valley (Vermont, 519 meters elevation).
Yesterday I was already here at 3:45 p.m. because I wasn't sure whether I should visit the area yet (they have night skiing here). But somehow it all felt too cold and too much of a hassle; the parking lot is below the lifts, I was tired, and decided against it, which meant I got to experience Cochran's Lift instead. Today I'm here a bit earlier, 3:30 p.m. to be exact—no more excuses. The resort reminds me of one of those run-down French resorts, Super Sauze or Saint-François Longchamp (I don't know why those in particular come to mind).

The ski area offers numerous easier runs, and after the first two top-notch resorts today, this is somehow... well, after not too long, it's done, and I head off to Bennington. It's a 3-hour drive. Another long drive to the hotel, the last one on this trip.

Now it's JSpin's turn to be offended!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Seriously, what are you two going to do with yourselves after he finishes his tour? While I don't deny most of the points you're making about leaving so much on the table at Stowe, MRG, Cannon, etc., as East Coast Skier notes, I appreciate getting brief overviews and photos of many small northeastern ski mountains and molehills (in good to very good condition) that I'm unlikely to visit. And I underscored "even if the main objective is checking boxes off a list" via a few perfunctory runs.

I am starting to doubt his skiing ability:

Several times over the years while skiing with Euro or Quebec mountain hosts on narrow skis (like this guy at Silvretta Montafon or this one at Mont Edouard), they'd mention not making a habit of skiing offpiste, powder, or trees (sometimes including a variant of "I'm not very good at it"). Then I'd find out that it was humble braggery and they could ski most everything with Patrick-level grace. Not saying that's the case here but I wouldn't necessarily come to that conclusion based on prior experiences.