While many might not like “spring conditions” which more often than not mean slushy and somewhat sticky snow surfaces, Spring skiing does have some benefits. For one, around this time many ski resorts are ready to wrap it up and thus you can sneak in without a lift ticket, and second, there is plenty of frozen granular snow left for you to enjoy. I never thought that icy conditions would be appealing but hey, I will take them over “soft corn snow”. At least, you can count on sliding as opposed to pushing yourself down a slope with frozen granular and icy snow surfaces.
So in a way, we got blessed with somewhat icy slopes at Stratton and Okemo last weekend. And yeah, we didn’t pay for it, so that was a definite plus. In matter of fact, I firmly believe that if there is no snow, and 1/3 of a mountain is closed there have to be some flexible payment options for skiers and snowboarders. In other words, if you are offered 60 trails instead of 100, why pay full price? My solution? Reduce it by 1/3 or whatever corresponding number, or move early/late season pricing and/or adjust them according to the weather conditions and snowfall levels.
Despite above mentioned factors, some kind of skiing is better than no skiing at all. Armed with such attitude, we braved icy trails at the top of Stratton, and slushy slopes at the bottom of it while also making short breaks to see snowboarders competing at the US Open sponsored by Burton. I should say that it was quiet entertaining and free energy drinks, yep, on the top of “ticketless” skiing, made the whole trip “worth a drive”.
Next day we decided to give ole good Okemo a shot, partially because Okemo and Stratton share season pass system, and also we really wanted to check out Okemo’s loading and unloading lift system. Now, back in September I raved about it in a very positive tone, however upon experiencing it myself, I am not sure how to categorize it. It is not that I disliked it, but it would be fair to say that I wasn’t overwhelmed by it. Maybe I am just not used to it, or perhaps, I don’t really need those rolling carpets to load and unload safely anymore. I personally think, that in order to make the whole lift experience less painful or feared, lifts should take off slowly from a loading area, and unloading platform should have wide and more or less flat slope to get off. On the other hand, when you have a lift that takes off like a Mustang and unloads you in the same manner, some people might have problems sliding down narrow, icy and steep drop off areas.But if it works well for beginners and there aren’t many delays with such system in place, I don’t think that anyone should complain about it. Let it roll…

Spring is here

Okemo
