They're calling it the Best Thanksgiving in Memory

They're calling this the best Thanksgiving in memory. Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have been getting regular snow for the past two weeks. All mountains are reporting 1-7 inches over the last couple of days. Killington is reporting 7, but that's suspect since no one else is reporting that much. But does that mean you should go? I don't think so.

You're still going to find conditions very sketchy. Only the big mountains are open and they only have about 10 percent of their trails open. This means there will be a lot of skiers on a small number of trails, which translates into traffic and thin over-skied snow. All the mountains will be getting some rain today (Thanksgiving) and then the temps will plummet, meaning conditions will ice up. Plus, tickets are discounted, but not by much. You'll still pay $60-$70 for a ticket.

Killington is reporting 29 of 200 trails open. Sunday Riveer 19 of 131, Mount Snow 19/76 and Attitash 10/75.

Your best bet is still Jay, which is reporting 33 inches of snow over the last week. That's almost three feet for those of you who are mathematically impaired. Damn. Half of that came from a 16 inch lake effect dumping a week ago, which no one else got. And Jay is offering a lift ticket and a place to stay for $100/person.

Snow Expo
The Snow Expo last week was crowded and expensive ($10 entry, $12 parking!) The one deal I signed up for was the Mountain Sports Club, which offers lots of discount deals at ski resorts across the US. Membership costs $29/yr, but with a couple of discounted lift tickets it will pay for itself.


Snow Fans
The hot new technology on the mountains this year isn't skis, but snow fans. These modern snow making machines create a very natural snow. Both Attitash and Mt. Snow have installed a bunch. In fact, Mt. Snow used them to beat out Killington in the first-to-open race this year. I'm headed up to Mt. Snow in two weeks to find out more about how they will affect snow conditions this year.

Stratton Family Deal
For those of you with families, you know skiing can be prohibitively expensive, unless you're a hedge fund manager. But check out the Stratton Family Deal. For $300 you can take a family of four overnight, including lift tickets, lessons and rentals (good through 12/20).

Skiing Trivia
The word ski comes from the Norwegian for stick.

Mailing List Growing
The number of Snow Detective fans has been growing. Thanks for your support. Please continue to spread the word. The larger my mailing list the better information and more freebies for you I can ring out of vendors.

Free Lift Tickets
Speaking of which, two free lift tickets to Sunday River are still up for grabs to the first subscriber to send in a snow report.

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving,

Gino Del Guercio
PSIA Ski Instructor