Help Plan a Vermont VT Ski Trip - December
December 12, 2016 7:00 AM Subscribe
Need your help to plan a four day ski trip to Vermont with some friends.
What are the cool - affordable ski areas, is it better to spend in one place or to try couple of different resorts?
Any suggestions on cabins that we can book, site, locations etc?
Really thankful for your suggestions and informations
What are you looking for in a trip? Are you all day skiers or do you put a couple of hours in and head to the bar? Budget?
I find that driving around to a bunch of different mountains eats up time. Killington may be a good choice if you plan to put in a lot of skiing because (if the snow is good), they have tons of trails to explore. Even if the snow is only mediocre, they are monster snow makers and usually get a decent number of trails skiable. We were there two weekends ago, and the conditions were surprisingly good considering how little snow there was. There is also a new lodge at the top of the mountain with fancy beers and food. The town is fine, but to be honest, none of the ski towns in VT are amazing.
Stowe is more low-key than Killington, but also have very nice skiing.
We've also booked houses on VRBO, AirBnB, Homeaway, etc. and have had very positive experiences. You can find ski-in, ski-out houses in both locations depending on your budget.
Have fun!
posted by defreckled at 9:32 AM on December 12, 2016
I find that driving around to a bunch of different mountains eats up time. Killington may be a good choice if you plan to put in a lot of skiing because (if the snow is good), they have tons of trails to explore. Even if the snow is only mediocre, they are monster snow makers and usually get a decent number of trails skiable. We were there two weekends ago, and the conditions were surprisingly good considering how little snow there was. There is also a new lodge at the top of the mountain with fancy beers and food. The town is fine, but to be honest, none of the ski towns in VT are amazing.
Stowe is more low-key than Killington, but also have very nice skiing.
We've also booked houses on VRBO, AirBnB, Homeaway, etc. and have had very positive experiences. You can find ski-in, ski-out houses in both locations depending on your budget.
Have fun!
posted by defreckled at 9:32 AM on December 12, 2016
For a four-day trip I would visit one large mountain rather than sampling multiple mountains. The aforementioned Killington and Stowe have four days worth of skiing for most skiers; I think Mount Snow, Okemo, and Stratton (further south, so less-reliable in terms of December snow, but they might be OK this year) could also fit the bill. The bigger mountains are generally more expensive than the smaller ones, though.
Oh the other benefit to skiing the same mountain for the whole trip is that a three- or four-day pass is generally less expensive than three or four one-day passes.
posted by mskyle at 11:57 AM on December 12, 2016
Oh the other benefit to skiing the same mountain for the whole trip is that a three- or four-day pass is generally less expensive than three or four one-day passes.
posted by mskyle at 11:57 AM on December 12, 2016
As far as affordable goes Smugglers notch is really good. Tickets are significantly less than killington and sugarbush and I'm not sure if it is still running but I think you can still ski at stowe with a smuggs ticket. It is quite a large resort with lots of other things to do as well.
One major thing to know is that the mountain pass (which looks like a fun road to drive and it is in the summer) is closed completely in the winter. It will look like the most obvious way to get to the resort, but once you get to the place where it is closed you'll have to backtrack and it will add about an hour on to your journey. There aren't many roads like that still left in Vermont but it is where the infamous "You can't get there from here" saying came from.
posted by koolkat at 1:21 AM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
One major thing to know is that the mountain pass (which looks like a fun road to drive and it is in the summer) is closed completely in the winter. It will look like the most obvious way to get to the resort, but once you get to the place where it is closed you'll have to backtrack and it will add about an hour on to your journey. There aren't many roads like that still left in Vermont but it is where the infamous "You can't get there from here" saying came from.
posted by koolkat at 1:21 AM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I hear this a lot from people who are coming up from NYC. You can ski at Killington and not actually stay on the mountain but somewhere in the Rutland area and take a cheap shuttle to the mountain and then be staying somewhere cheaply. Suicide Six in Woodstock has much cheaper lift tickets (and less spectacular skiing).
That sid, now that I am browsing AirBnB it looks like options such as this one may be your best best if you've got fewer than six people. You can take the train from NY to Rutland, shuttle up to the place, and then you're basically on the mountain.
I'm not a skier but I'm familiar with that area, happy to pass on more info about local options, someone else will have to speak to the skiing.
posted by jessamyn at 7:09 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]