Bromont (QC), Canada - I’ve gone on record many times to practically anyone who will listen that one of the most interesting winter vacation regions in the Northeast is Québec’s Eastern Townships. While the majority of skiers from this part of the continent – even those living a very short drive away in Vermont or…
Lake Placid, NY - Ah, yes — the much maligned best-of list. It’s 2010 and by now you’ve read a few of them from the end of last year, and this year’s will be arriving shortly. Always a fun way to pass time while waiting at the airport or the doctor’s office, amazingly effective in…
Highmount, NY - While the formation of a citizen’s group to help save a local ski area in danger of closing isn’t unheard-of, the longevity, enthusiasm, and organizational powers of the Coalition To Save Belleayre Mountain are. Formed in the early 1980s when New York State threatened to shutter this government-owned and -operated ski operation…
How I Came To View North Carolina As A Legitimate Ski Destination A ski and snowboard vacation in the mountains of the Kitty Hawk state can be summed up in a variation on one simple phrase: “We’re in North Carolina.” It can be used as an proclamation of surprise, the result of finding the type…
Windham, NY - Is there a ski area within easy driving distance of where you live that you never got around to – either because you heard that it’s too expensive, or crowded, or that the terrain wasn’t that interesting, or you didn’t like the crowd that hung out there, or some other reason that…
Highmount, NY - When you go back to visit your childhood neighborhood or a town where you spent part of your earlier life, things are rarely the same as before. Change or “progress” has occurred. The family-owned dairy that made and sold its ice cream on-premises has been razed and replaced by a Chili’s. The…
North Creek, NY - I first visited Gore Mountain during graduate school in the mid 1980s. The southern Adirondack ski and snowboard area felt like an intermediate local hill just north of the ever-growing Capital District surrounding Albany, with lots of crowds, long lift lines, and a lack of challenging terrain. For most of the…
Sutton (QC), Canada – The region of Québec that borders Vermont is known by two names: The Eastern Townships in English, or l’Estrie in French. The area is a patchwork land of French and English, the latter towns first settled by British loyalists escaping the American Revolution more than 200 years ago. To this day,…
Hancock, VT – Vermont is a state of wonderfully diverse ski and snowboard experiences. At one end of the spectrum, luxury resorts such as Stratton and Stowe offer every plush amenity that a visitor could desire. At the other end of the spectrum are down-home, old-fashioned family ski areas like Middlebury College Snow Bowl. A…
Ludlow, VT (November 2004) – Jackson Gore is the newest addition to Okemo’s already expansive mountain facilities. It includes the Jackson Gore Inn, the Jackson Gore Base Area and Jackson Gore Peak – a fifth mountain area, adding 14 trails and a learning area to this central Vermont resort. Jackson Gore caters to families and…
