Mt Snow Trip Reports 2019-2020

newpylong

...

It's a mute (sic, moot) point anyway, because the access road is blocked off and I'm sure it would be considered trespassing in that part of Killington if caught by the police.
Most of original Killington is leased forest service land. Are the police actually there arresting people?
I'm hearing on Kzone about the police issuing people that are parked with tickets. I would think the access road is state or private property.

Town property.

yardsale

Walked a different route today. Nice day today. We drove to Timbercreek, where the XC ski center is directly across from the North Access Rd and parked there. Some serious hills in there including a newer prvt Peaks development. Grabbed a pic on Peaks Rd. It has stayed fairly cool in Dover the past weeks, unlike the end of March where there was a lot of rain. April, has been cool with light snow sprinkled in over many days.

Without any skier traffic, Snow undoubtedly looks to be in great shape. As of today, based on what I see, there is plenty of coverage on all the core trails.

From left to right in the photo of the main face - Ridge, Coopers Jct (lower Sundance), Southbowl, Ego, Upper Ex/Lodge, Middle Ex/Lower Ex, I assume cascade, Canyon, Snowdance. From other views, the Carinthia area looks well covered as well. Basically, the snow making trails all look completely ski-able. If only....

I would think, Snow would have ended full time lift service if not for CV-19 last Sunday. Perhaps they would have considered re-opening this weekend. Lack of skier traffic maybe making things look better than they would have been.

Photo on 4/19/2020 (I have been in the valley since 3/14).

EDIT - I truly didn't notice that the prior pic was taken on Peak Rd. I guess that is a really good spot to take a pic. Apologies to all for duplication.

ski_it

Unfortunately Leon didn't pull through and passed away 6 days after his twin brother Cleon, back on April 9th.
https://vtdigger.org/2020/04/16/twin-brothers-felled-by-covid-19-made-a-quiet-yet-big-mark/

yardsale

Unfortunately, yes Leon did pass away. There are a lot of Boyd Strong signs along 100.

ski_it

MAY 23RD
CANCELLED - PEACE PIPE RAIL JAM
Under the guidance of local, state/provincial and federal health agencies; and in cooperation with our local communities and partners, this event has been cancelled.

jgreco

NY Times ran an obituary for the Boyd twins.

ski_it

Mt Snow has graciously extended my locker rental until the fall.
You can get into your locker the next two weekends & sometimes in the fall. IF you follow all their protocols.

yardsale

my Mass county went green on the VT covid map on 7/2. We came up on 7/3 for the first time since we left at the end of April.

Using the condo parking lot / license plate estimates - tons of out of staters here for the 4th weekend. I thought it might be more crowded than usual but was surprised by the sheer number of cars.

The "Vail" summer mountain experience is lame. Just lift rides. Nothing else. And the grab and go food thing is useless. It is just at the bullwheel - nothing at the base - and crappy options with no "fun" involved. When considering an all or nothing strategy for summer ops, I would have rather they just chose nothing. Seriously, how hard would it have been to serve burgers and dogs with drinks/beers at the vast outside base like every other restaurant has been doing or dying to do. Let Valley View use the base to serve food. Get a band. Do something - require masks, social distance, but do something. Their outside base area lends perfectly to spreading folks out and the weather Sat & Sun was spectacular.

While I initially felt Vail would be a boost to property values here, the operation they have running here is junior varsity right now. The place feels dirty, misplaced. They have removed most anywhere to sit at the base. Instead of just spreading things out, they just removed all the chairs and benches. My interaction with a vail employee on Friday afternoon was blah at best. I would think they would be thrilled to see people come up. They seem annoyed. I get it, hard environment, they can't exactly advertise they have the best summer set up and have people flock, but man was it a weak showing. Perhaps be ready to do something impromptu. Or like I said, just do nothing - that may be better.

The good news is, there is plenty to do other than Mt. Snow stuff. Local lake, biking, horseback riding, hiking. On the 4th, we did the West River thing in Dummerston/Brattleboro and had a blast. Haystack/Hermitage golf is open to the public and looked inviting.

sugarloaf

What's the West River thing?

jgreco

@yardsale the crowds never really died down here, as far as I can tell. At least, there was never an off-season lull. There was still snow on Somerset Rd in early May and lines of out of state cars were cruising through the mud. I would think mountain biking would offer better social distancing than other activities, but I guess that opens the door for injuries and having to deal with that. It'll be a weird year. Lame about lack of food offerings.

yardsale

What's the West River thing?

The is really hundreds of spots along the West River on both sides in Brattleboro/Dummerston along Rt 30 near Maple Valley. Some with sandy beaches (but crowds) and other spots with no one but you with nice swimming holes. We opted for the no one but you spot - but then a few others showed up - but still not crowded at all.

sugarloaf

What's the West River thing?
The is really hundreds of spots along the West River on both sides in Brattleboro/Dummerston along Rt 30 near Maple Valley. Some with sandy beaches (but crowds) and other spots with no one but you with nice swimming holes. We opted for the no one but you spot - but then a few others showed up - but still not crowded at all.

Okay, yes I like the swimming hole just above the covered bridge. I tubed it two years ago from the Route 30 bridge down to the covered bridge.

yardsale

wacky weather day in Dover today 7/14. Vivid rainbow was nice during the "happy" hour period. In Maine, heard plows came out to push aside the hail.

rickbolger

nice shot!

bmwskier

Went to Mt Snow for the first time this past weekend. Rode the chair, signed the waiver, wore my mask getting on and getting off. Hardly any employees around. Didn't see any safety type people so I guess If I got hurt hiking I'd be in trouble. Ambled down skier's right to Long John and skipped back and forth. A nice day hike down.

Afterwards I headed to Brattleboro and climbed Wantastiquet across the Connecticut River. It's the mountain that overlooks the town. A nice, 45-50 minute steady climb with good views west, including Mt Snow and Stratton. Harris Hill is also visible.

I'll try the gondola ride at Killington next.

ski_it

Didn't see this already posted so..
As predicted by other SJers about Vail R...
They removed all real estate links from their MS site except for short term stays at the Grand Summit & Mount Snow Condominiums (which is several "villages"). They also state the Vermont travel restrictions will be enforced. No exceptions will be permitted to these requirements.

If you've been around MS in the last several years you undoubtable saw their real estate offices and vid screens in each lodge & Grand Summit pushing the Trailsedge Townhouses & the new area above Seasons, etc... Looks like possibly skihomerealty.com and/or sovtrealtygroup.com are now handling these properties.

Mount Snow Realty Facebook site.
"Sept. 1st
After careful consideration, we made the decision to permanently close Mount Snow Realty. At this time, Mount Snow will continue to place its focus on the upcoming ski and snowboard season and are looking forward to welcoming guests back to Mount Snow this winter.

We'd like to thank all of our great clients, who our agents have worked with over the years to "own where you play." While the office is closing, our agents will continue to work in and around our valley and are ready to help you find your very own part of the Deerfield Valley.

For continued service with all your real estate needs, the agents can be reached at:"

DrJeff

Didn't see this already posted so..
As predicted by other SJers about Vail R...
They removed all real estate links from their MS site except for short term stays at the Grand Summit & Mount Snow Condominiums (which is several "villages"). They also state the Vermont travel restrictions will be enforced. No exceptions will be permitted to these requirements.

If you've been around MS in the last several years you undoubtable saw their real estate offices and vid screens in each lodge & Grand Summit pushing the Trailsedge Townhouses & the new area above Seasons, etc... Looks like possibly skihomerealty.com and/or sovtrealtygroup.com are now handling these properties.

Mount Snow Realty Facebook site.
"Sept. 1st
After careful consideration, we made the decision to permanently close Mount Snow Realty. At this time, Mount Snow will continue to place its focus on the upcoming ski and snowboard season and are looking forward to welcoming guests back to Mount Snow this winter.

We'd like to thank all of our great clients, who our agents have worked with over the years to "own where you play." While the office is closing, our agents will continue to work in and around our valley and are ready to help you find your very own part of the Deerfield Valley.

For continued service with all your real estate needs, the agents can be reached at:"

That might explain why over the last couple of weeks my mailbox has seen a definite uptick in solicitation adds from local real estate groups asking if we needed help listing our condo for rentals or sales opportunities....

ski_it

There's just about zero inventory at this point for seasonal rentals in that area. Looks similar at other S. VT resorts as well, unless you can pay like $40k+.
My guess is that a lot fewer have been put on the market this year but I haven't talked to any agents.

DrJeff

There's just about zero inventory at this point for seasonal rentals in that area. Looks similar at other S. VT resorts as well, unless you can pay like $40k+.
My guess is that a lot fewer have been put on the market this year but I haven't talked to any agents.

The market sure is active right now! Just within my own circle of friends, we've had 3 upgrades over the last year, and another who just bought the condo next to his current condo down the street from my unit, and received approval from our association board to connect the 2 units into one large (roughly 4200 sq ft when done) unit. Another friend who owns in Trail's Edge (just below the runout from Snowdance back to the base area) who is ready to put his unit on the market as soon as him and his wife find the large acreage farmhouse situation they're looking for right now. I also have neighbors 2 doors down from me who keep putting their condo on the market (often 50-75k above comparable units, although I will say that they have done a PHENOMENAL job renovating their unit over the last few years) and then have called off the deal twice now to my knowledge, because they either never thought they'd get the asking price and/or actually don't want to buy a place in Utah like they have told my wife and I they're thinking of doing (They're a retired couple from NYC who have done a 2-3 months seasonal rental in Utah the last 3 or 4 years now).

Just looking at the listings now, pretty sure for the 1st time that my wife and I bought our place that we could get above what we paid for it (We bought maybe 6 months past the housing peak in '06, and before the crash in in late '07/08) and at one point based on listings were probably close to 100k underwater off of asking price is we wanted to sell, so can't say that we're too upset about what is going on real estate wise up there right now, even though we have no intentions of selling ours any time soon!

rickbolger

Started shopping in mid March, right when the plague hit. Figured it was my opportunity to buy when everyone was hunkered down. Wow was I wrong!!

Maine and NH resort area real estate started popping in late April/early May, and by early June the listings of any quality or value were lasting 2-3 days and the bidding wars were on. at that time I noticed that the Wilmington/West Dover area still had quite a few bargains....thinking the VT "don't visit us" tourism message probably caused the delay.

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