Endless Turns

A Week of Skiing Adventures Across Five Regions

By Jeremy Davis

Like many of you, I’m a diehard skier. I try to get out on the slopes as much as I can during the winter. It’s one of the best ways to get exercise, fresh air, and spend time with friends and family outdoors during the season.

To facilitate my goal to ski as much as possible while minimizing costs, I purchase two seasons passes. The Ski3 pass – includes the NYS owned mountains of Gore, Whiteface, and Belleayre, $669 for previous season ticket holders that renew early. Visit: nyski3.com. The Indy Pass – which is good for two tickets at 230 downhill and cross-country ski areas around the world, $289 also for early renewals – how can you beat that? Go to: indyskipass.com.

The combination of these two tickets providers skiers the best of both worlds – reliable and big mountain skiing closer to home at areas like Gore and Whiteface for many readers of Adirondack Sports, and the chance to roam around to explore many of the independent ski areas that are unique and so much fun to ski on the Indy Pass. Locally and within a few hours, the Indy Pass covers two tickets at West, Greek Peak, Maple Ski Ridge, Snow Ridge, Titus, Hickory, Catamount, Berkshire East, Magic, and many more – plus cross-country areas including Garnet Hill, Cascade and others.

In the middle of January, I planned a regional ski trip, with a few goals in mind – to ski eight days in a row, visit five different ski regions – Adirondacks, Berkshires, Catskills, Green Mountains, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec – try out a new mountain, and spend time with friends and family. I wanted to share my experience during this week, in the hopes that it may inspire you to plan a similar trip.

Day 1: January 11, Gore Mountain, NY, Ski 3 Pass – Kicking off the upcoming ski week, I hit Gore and made some morning runs with one of my friends and his son. Gore has become my home mountain over the last few years, and there’s almost always a friend to ski with or that I bump into on the mountain. One of my favorite trails, Hullaballoo, a short but steep and narrow expert run off the High Peaks Quad, had recently opened and was skiing well. It’s a trail to ski down early in the day, before it becomes scraped off. Many of the Northwoods cruisers were also skiing well, like Twister and Quicksilver. Visit: goremountain.com.

Day 2: January 12, Bousquet Mountain, MA, Indy Pass – Taking advantage of a bluebird day, we drove the 90 minutes over to Bousquet in the Berkshires. Bousquet was sold several years ago and has since invested in a relocated triple chairlift to the summit (the twin of West Mountain’s West Express – both lifts were installed in the same year at Haystack/The Hermitage in Vermont). A new lodge replaced an outdated one, and the snowmaking system has been greatly enhanced.

All these improvements translated to a perfect ski day on the mountain. Most of the main snowmaking trails were open, lift lines were short, and lunch at Drifters provided a spacious view of the slopes. It’s a great family-friendly mountain too, as all trails end in front of the base lodge. Go to: bousquetmountain.com.

Day 3: January 13, Belleayre Mountain, NY Ski 3 Pass – At just over two hours away from home, Belleayre is right on the edge of a day trip distance mountain. Due to the distance, I usually ski Gore and Whiteface and not Belleayre, but I heard great things this year about their snowmaking, grooming, and recent lift upgrades. Belleayre did not disappoint – nearly the entire mountain was open, there were no lift lines to speak of, and conditions were groomed packed powder.

Belleayre has a unique, somewhat disjointed layout that has become more knitted together in recent years with the installation of a gondola and the new Overlook Quad. The upper 300-400 feet of vertical is quite steep, with mainly fall line trails descending off the long ridge that acts as the summit. There are several switchback and perimeter trails that avoid the steepest pitches if you are so inclined. Below that top section, trails continue to mellow out, with long beginner complex at the base. Dot Nebel, a steep trail often used for racing, and Cathedral Brook, a nearly deserted expert run on the far eastern edge of the area, were the runs of the day. Visit: belleayre.com

Day 4: January 14, Gore Mountain, NY, Ski 3 Pass – The midpoint of the ski week took me back to Gore, where I had the chance to show the mountain to my friend Dave who has never skied in the Adirondacks. The trails were dusted with a bit of fresh snow, and overall, conditions were decent, though only a few natural snow trails were open (fortunately, Gore many areas received more natural snow in late January and early February). Midweek is one of the best times to ski at Gore, as there were no lift lines to speak of and plenty of space in all the lodges. 

Day 5: January 15, Saskadena Six, VT, Indy Pass – Leaving our home near Saratoga Springs to stay with family in Vermont, we decided to visit our perennial favorite, Saskadena Six enroute to family in the northern part of the state. One of the first ski areas in the state, opening in 1936, Saskadena Six (formerly Suicide Six) features a 650-foot vertical drop and 28 trails. While only five routes were available from the summit on the day of our visit, the snow was well groomed, and, being a Wednesday, was nearly empty until midday when local students arrived for lessons and skiing. With a lift ride of under five minutes, we made plenty of runs in the short time we were there. The Face, a steep black diamond straight down the front of the mountain was the run of the day. Go to: saskadenasix.com

Day 6: January 16, Mont Orford, Quebec, Discounted Online Ticket – Staying with family just south of the Canadian border made for a convenient location for a jaunt to Mont Orford, one of several Eastern Townships ski areas, and the last one I have not skied. The international border crossing on Interstate 91 was simple and fast. A Thursday ticket bought online in advance with the current exchange rate came out to an affordable $61, not a bad deal for a 1,700 foot vertical mountain with four distinct faces. Most of the mountain was open and lift lines were minimum.

Some of the best conditions were found on the Mont Alfred-DesRochers side of the mountain, which is served by a relatively new fixed grip quad. Here, a series of mostly intermediate runs intertwine to provide for a varied descent. Excellent cruising was also found on Mont Giroux and Mont Giroux Est, off the Slalom trail. Lunch at the Slalom Pub was tasty, along with a local IPA from the Siboire Brewery, located in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Skiing in Quebec has always been a wonderful experience for us. Lift tickets are affordable, dozens are within a five-hour drive of the Saratoga Springs area, and the food – like classic poutine – is hard to beat! English, at least enough to get by, is spoken at many of these ski areas so if you don’t speak French, you’ll still be able to communicate. Visit: montorford.com

Day 7: January 17, Jay Peak, VT, Indy Pass – Now back in Vermont, Jay Peak was beckoning. The weather at Jay Peak can certainly be challenging – temperatures are often among the coldest in New England, and high winds cause occasional lift shutdowns. But Jay is also well poised to capture bountiful snows, due to the Jay Cloud Effect – the orientation of the mountain is perpendicular to the prevailing northwesterly winds, and when those winds reach the mountain, the air rises, moisture condenses, and snow often results. 

Jay had received nearly daily snow for the first few weeks in January, after a thaw melted a majority of the snowpack by New Year’s. Multiple feet of natural snow, combined with snowmaking, resulted in conditions that were just about as good as they can get. The mountain was 100% open, as were all lifts, which rarely had any lines – except for the Aerial Tram. First chair was scored on the Jet Triple, with a successive series of steep high-speed cruising on that and Haynes. 

Throughout the rest of the day, I aimed to ski as many of my favorite trails and glades as possible-the scenic Beaver Pond glade, weaving down the Kokomo trail with its interesting tree islands, the long and winding Ullr Trail, and cruisers like Northway and Goat Run. I skied to just about last chair, capping off an epic day of skiing. Go to: jaypeakresort.com

Day 8: January 18, Jay Peak VT, Indy Pass – Returning for a half day at Jay Peak for the start of the Martin Luther King long weekend, we expected the mountain to be more crowded, due to the decent weather and near perfect conditions. This turned out to be the case, and after a long week of skiing, we decided to take it relatively easy. Sticking to mostly the lower chairlifts, we skied some of the lower angle cruisers, slopes, and glades – “filling the map” for trails that were missed the previous day.

Trip Summary – Did the trip meet expectations? Absolutely, exceeding them in most cases. Had I paid walk up window rates for the entire trip, it would have exceeded the cost the Ski 3 and Indy Pass combined – showing that these passes are an excellent deal.

Taking eight days off in a row to ski in New York and New England can be a risky venture – inevitably, the weather may not cooperate on several days due to high winds, extreme cold, or rain. We lucked out, and in the end, I skied eight days in a row, 150 miles of trails, 147 runs, and nearly 135,000 feet of vertical in five different regions. What a great way to spend a week in midwinter!

Jeremy Davis (nelsap@yahoo.com) is the author of Lost Ski Areas of the Southern Adirondacks, Lost Ski Areas of the Northern Adirondacks, and three other books. He is a director of the New England Ski Museum and founder of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project: nelsap.org.