Articles

Skiing on the Cheap: 2010-2011 Edition

The skiing industry is somewhat bizarre in its pricing structure. The most absurd pricing practice is setting extremely high premium prices only to then offer deep discounts. Often times, discounts can be found for more than half of the walk up rate. Two customers at the same ticket window on the same day are often paying vastly different rates. The only difference between those two customers is that one customer did their homework and the other did not.

My benchmark for cheap skiing is $40.00 per day (excluding season passes which lock you into a specific mountain but allow for a substantially lower average daily cost). With a little work, a seasonal average of $40 per day or better is easily attainable, especially when you factor in early and late season reduced pricing. Many great deals fall into this $40 price point. Here are my favorite discount offerings that any skier or rider could take advantage of if they so choose:

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Big Jay Coverage

The Big Jay Cut Revisited

It has been just over three years since two men were arrested for the Big Jay cut. TheSnowWay.com documented news coverage and provided commentary on this issue from the time of the cut up until the Vermont Life article regarding illegal cutting was published last year. The Vermont Life article generated some discussion. But since then, the issue has quietly faded from prominence.

There was talk about skiers and riders organizing for political involvement. Perhaps such an organization could take a page from the regional mountain biking organizations that sought to protect and create riding trails. But as many had predicted, powder hounds and backcountry skiers and riders do not have mentalities geared towards organization. They would rather protect their secrets and stashes than make them public and open to scrutiny, invasion of the masses, or perhaps even forced closure. Despite a few scattered forum postings proposing various ideas, no leaders stepped forward.

So, life goes on. And, so does illegal cutting. As I asked last year in my rebuttal to the Vermont Life article, I will ask again: Is there a problem? It is widely agreed upon by nearly everyone that the Big Jay cut went too far and is not what thinning out tree runs is all about. Was this issue really about illegal thinning? Or was it about two idiots who cut a full blown ski trail rather than thinning out some pucker brush? I say the real story and issue was the latter.

It’s now birdwatching season. And even if you are sitting on the sidelines, if you ski illegally cut woods come winter and praise the locals who cut them, you are culpable too and have taken a moral position (even if unspoken) that illegal cutting is acceptable. If you do not think illegal cutting is acceptable, you would not be being intellectually honest with others nor yourself if you skied those illegally cut lines despite your opinion that illegal cutting is wrong.

Random

Goal Setting

Seasonal goals can be helpful in expanding horizons. In general, I find goals troubling. Much like the infamous New Year’s Resolution, most goals are whimsically made and lack planning. Goals made without planning are rarely reached, stretch goals even less. So I hesitate to make goals without making plans.

Even without planning, however, goals can be helpful in fleshing out exciting new adventures for an upcoming season. During the 2009-2010 season, I completed several goals including finally getting to Smuggs, skiing off the Chin via Hourglass to Hellbrook, skiing Mount Abram, skiing off the summit of Mount Washington, skiing the western side of Washington, more fully exploring Killington and Mount Ellen, and finally returning to Sugarloaf after half a life time.

Considering that my opinion of the 2009-2010 season was marginal, that is quite an impressive list of accomplished goals for a sub-par 33 day season. With the understanding that I can not accomplish all of my goals in one season, here are some of the things that I am planning for the 2010-2011 season and beyond:

  • Ski in the Eastern Townships of Quebec (Sutton, Orford, Owl’s Head)
  • Ski New York (Whiteface and Gore, perhaps some ADK backcountry)
  • Ski the Chic Chocs
  • Ski The Balsams
  • Over 50 days total
  • Over 15 days earning turns
  • Ski more personal firsts at mid-sized mountains such as Dartmouth, Whaleback, Black (ME), Middlebury, and Suicide Six

Perhaps my most important goal this season is regaining technique and trying to rekindle some joy for skiing in marginal conditions. For years, I pounded hard packed bumps from open to close before discovering the powdery joys of Northern Vermont. My technique over the past four years has slowly but steadily degraded because I hand pick the best days and only ski until I can not find high quality snow. My efforts to ski new areas works in conjunction with rebuilding my technique by skiing more days that are less than ideal. It gives me something to look forward to even when conditions are sub-par.

Take the AlpineZone Summit at Sugarloaf last year. A two day event that saw most people bummed about the hard pack groomer only conditions. Me? I was just super stoked to be back at the Loaf. My only previous experience at the Loaf was half a lifetime ago as a kid on a family vacation. Returning to the Loaf and reliving those memories was better than some powder days despite conditions being limited to hard packed groomers. I may have enjoyed the conditions more than anyone else at the Summit. Because for me, that weekend was not about the skiing itself but rather the rediscovery of a mountain buried in memory.

Perhaps instead of specific goals detailing places I want to ski and things I want to do, I should rather set a general goal of discovery, rediscovery, and adventure. That this season might be remembered not for the epic conditions but rather for the epic adventures and new explorations. And for the people I shared those adventures with instead of skiing solo so often. A season in which I never wake up and think that I might go skiing if not for the less than perfect conditions. But rather, that less than perfect conditions open up possibilities of exploration that I might not have otherwise considered.

Announcements

Clearing off the Cobwebs: An Update on an Update

TheSnowWay.com has been upgraded to WordPress 3.0.1. The software has been fully upgraded behind the scenes. This is important as the software was substantially behind in releases. Look for some new enhancements to the site this coming winter. Ideas for some articles to post during the fall are already brewing.

With a new camera in hand, new shells in the closet courtesy of a Backcountry.com sale, and new gear being readied, I am anxiously awaiting the start of the season. I am also looking forward to providing more content on TheSnowWay.com than last season. Here is hoping for some “snoliage” again to start this season off next month.

Cycling

Blazing Saddles Metric Century: Ride Report

As detailed previously, I have rediscovered cycling in a big way. Taking the activity far more seriously than I ever had before, I have been training for my first century ride, which is scheduled for September 25th. In preparation for that event, I decided to ride in a metric century to gauge my current fitness level and sample what a century ride is all about.

Enter the Blazing Saddles Century put on by the North Shore Cyclists of northeastern Massachusetts this past Sunday. This ride has three routes including a half century, metric century, and full century. With registration allowed on the morning of the event, I was able to decide if I would do the ride depending upon the weather. The registration fee on the morning of the ride was only $25.00. At only ten dollars more than the pre-registration fee, it was a worth while gamble to bet with the weather and against the race. As it turned out, the day was picture perfect with partly cloudy skies, a cool morning, little wind, and temperatures in the low eighties at their highest.

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