Made it up to Haystack in Vermont for the Massachusetts Day $29 deal. Haystack is the often overlooked little sister of Mount Snow and the Bastard Child of American Skiing Company. Despite Haystack being less crowded, having no lift lines, and decent terrain, the mountain has not been as successful as neighboring Mount Snow. Instead of increasing advertising and awareness, ASC simply turned Haystack into a weekend only operation to reduce friendly fire on Mount Snow.

The loss of everyone else becomes my gain! Despite the $29 deal for Massachusetts residents, the mountain remained rather uncrowded. Most lifts were ski on with an occasional one to two minute wait on the POMA Brand Barnstormer servicing the summit and the Hayfever Triple accessing two-thirds of the mountain. The CTEC Brand Witches Triple, servicing Haystack’s expert terrain, closed shortly after the mountain opened due to high winds. This lift would later re-open and was always ski-on. The base lodge was roomy and had adequate seating with a perfect window view of the mountain face.

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