By Jacob Becker
Get ready for an awesome winter! The snow is going to start to come down soon, and that means some awesome skiing is coming our way!
Here’s my handpicked list of ski resorts, which will help you choose the perfect resort for your day trips and even overnights this year. I will be going over everything from distance to cost to average snowfall.
I personally have been to many of these resorts, have spoken to many locals, and received students' input as well. This means that I have knowledge of all the local ski resorts and which one is perfect for you.
What kind of skier are you? Of the sixty people I interviewed, 46.7% said that they don’t ski or have never gone skiing before. If you are new to skiing, you may want to stick to a smaller, more local resort, where there will be no hassle getting there and where it will be less crowded for you to learn.
I personally learned how to ski at Mount Peter, a small ski area in Orange County, New York (only forty five minutes away from Teaneck). This is a perfect place for a beginner to learn how to ski. If you’re more advanced, it’s also a great place for some chill runs down the gentle slopes.
The smallness of the resort causes fewer people to come on the weekends, making it a lot more convenient for a beginner to learn. Although fewer people do tend to come, there may be times when a lot of beginners show up. If this happens, don’t be frustrated; just take it easy and enjoy the day.
The prices for Mount Peter are around seventy dollars for an adult lift ticket, forty dollars for skis/snowboard, boots, and poles, and fifteen dollars for a helmet, which is very average for any ski resort.
(Going forward, I won’t mention how much the rentals cost at a resort. The best advice I can give is to just rent skis for the entire season. I also recommend that you always buy your lift ticket in advance, as it will save you from waiting on line once you arrive.)
Other resorts that are great for beginners are Campgaw, Thunder Ridge, Shawnee, Mountain Creek, Alpine Mountain, Jack Frost, Camelback, Big Boulder, and Montage Mountain.
The closest and smallest of these resorts is Campgaw, being only twenty five minutes from Teaneck. It has fifty dollar lift tickets, while Mountain Creek, a more average-sized ski resort for New Jersey, is a little under an hour away, with the tickets being a hundred dollars.
The other resorts, such as Shawnee (sixty dollar lift ticket), Alpine Mountain, Montage (eighty dollar lift ticket), Jack Frost Big Boulder (sixty four dollar lift ticket), and Camelback (ninety five dollar lift ticket) are a bit over an hour away, but are all around the same size.
For the beginners (or those who have never skied before, which included 68.3% of those interviewed), I personally recommend learning at Campgaw, as it will be very convenient for you, since it is only twenty-five minutes away.
However, for those who do know how to ski but just haven’t tapped their full potential, I think that either Mountain Creek, Camelback, or Montage Mountain will bring out the best in you. While Montage is a bit farther away (a bit above an hour-and-a-half drive), the runs are longer and the resort has some tougher greens and blues that you can push yourself on.
Camelback is a bit on the farther side as well, but it’s great for a family vacation. Camelback also has many trails that aren’t very advanced to perfect your craft on. Mountain Creek, on the other hand, is closer and has challenging greens and blues, but it tends to attract big crowds on the weekends.
But what will the snow be like at your chosen resort? The snowfall at Mountain Creek averages 65 inches per year, beating out Montage, which is at 60 inches per year, and Camelback at 50 inches per year.
This, however, should not be the deciding factor for where you plan to go, as many resorts make snow and are open for the same amount of time. I can tell you this from my own personal experience, either from skiing at these resorts or from talking to locals who have skied at several places.
For those intermediate skiers among you, there are many options to choose from. However, most of the resorts that will really push you tend to be a two-hour drive away or even further. These resorts include Bellayre, Hunter, Windham, Plattekill, and Holiday Valley.
These resorts offer larger vertical drops (how far it is from top to bottom), more terrain, courses, lifts, and even gladed terrain (where you are skiing in the woods). When it comes to vertical drops, they are all above 1100 feet (except Holiday Valley).
Hunter is known as the resort with the toughest terrain - it’s the closest you can get to Vermont-style skiing. Bellayre, Wyndham, Plattekill, and Holiday Valley may not have the same reputation, but they have some good terrain as well. Due to the fact that they are not as well-known, they aren’t as crowded.
Be aware that Hunter has the reputation of being very crowded on the weekends (something I can confirm from personal experience). Although Hunter may have the best reputation of these resorts, there are still some awesome trails to try at the other resorts I’ve mentioned.
For example, Holiday Valley is notorious for its steepest run - The Wall - with a pitch of 40 degrees. Though not as known for one specific trail, Plattekill has Blockbuster, Plunge, Freefall, and Northface, which are all great quality runs to really push yourself.
Bellayre has Yahoo, a run with tons of moguls, and Wyndam has Wedel, which is packed with bumps as well. Although Hunter may be the most crowded, there are many alternatives only two hours away that may fit your expectations.
Lastly, for the 6.7% of interviewees who said they can ski anything, any of the five resorts stated above would be good for a day trip. However, should you be willing to go for an overnight, you might consider driving four plus hours to get to an amazing resort which will provide you with enough terrain for multiple challenging days.
The resorts in this range are Mount Snow, Gore, Whiteface, Killington, Stowe, and Smuggler’s Notch.
Known as the “Beast of the East,” Killington has so much terrain to offer for all types of skiers. In addition, there are also many glades for those who would like to challenge themselves.
These include Outer Limits, one of the toughest runs on all of the east coast. Outer Limits combines tons of moguls with crazy steepness, making it quite the run.
Mount Snow, being only three-and-a-half hours away, is a bit closer and great for a day trip. The backside of the resort offers tons of challenging terrain for experts and intermediates.
Gore Mountain is also on the closer side as well, being a bit under four hours away. Gore offers the longest glades on the east coast and tends to be a lot less crowded, as it is more remote and not based in a ski town.
Whiteface, being four-and-a-half hours away, is pretty far, but it is right near the historic town of Lake Placid, which is a beautiful place to stay. In addition, Whiteface has the greatest vertical drop along the east coast - 3,430 feet!
Whiteface is also known for The Slides, a series of runs which has been compared to a western-style bowl. In addition, the Olympics were once held on Whiteface, and it also has some historic trails that are quite the challenge.
Stowe and Smuggler’s Notch are further away than others on this list, being a bit over five and a half hours each. However, they don’t tend to be as crowded, and they each offer very challenging terrain.
Stowe is notorious for its front four of Goat, National, Star, and Liftline. All four are steep, long, agonizing trails. It’s most notorious run, Goat, got its name after someone saw it and thought it was so steep that only a mountain goat could climb it!
Lastly, Smugglers Notch is home to Black Hole, the only double black on the east coast!
To conclude, all of these resorts have something for you. I have just laid out some details for each resort and I hope you found it helpful. I only gave my opinion based on what I know. Use the information I provided to see which resort appeals to what is best for YOU.
All of these intermediate and expert resorts have notorious trails and features like no other. They are all great resorts, but you just have to find something that is great for you. Have an amazing time on the slopes!