Eastern Canada Blue Mountain Canada?

[murphysf]

Hi

What is Blue Mountain like? Is it the home mountain for anyone here?

I tried to do a bit of research online but didn't find much, just that they have 364 acres of skiable terrain and average snowfall is 100 ", this seems low, is this right?

 

[JoeSchmoe]

It snows a lot there. Especially December and January before Georgian Bay freezes over. It's not a huge mountain so there is no orographic lift like other places with 2000-3000ft vertical. The snow at base level would be comparable to any other "snowy" spot in the east. Also, I would say they under report their snow. Having been a regular at Blue and Holiday Valley in Ellicottville NY, I would say the snowfall is comparable even though HV reports 180". The snow making is also second to none.

One word of caution- it gets busy. REAL busy. I won't ski there weekends because waiting in line for 10 minutes for a 1 or 2 minute run is not my idea of fun. With Covid, it could get worse.

 

[scott43]

Yeah been there done that. It's one of the biggest hills in Ontario with about 650' vertical. Gets very busy on good weekends. Can get good lake effect snow but also can get melts from time to time. Snow making covers the entire hill I believe. Can be expensive as it's the most popular hill for Toronto residents.

 

[François Pugh]

Not my home hill, but I've skied there many times. Unfortunately it is the biggest hill around in terms of vertical and maximum speed attainable. It's not very high in terms of vertical or length of runs, but it is pretty wide with a lot of runs and several lifts spread across a ridge that runs north to south. Although they may boast some double black diamonds, that is relative to the other runs on the hill; there is nothing really challenging to be found. What you will find is a lot of hard snow and some of it icy at times. It's a nice hill for a pair of GS skis; most of the hills in Ontario are more suited to SL skis. In any event you will likely not need anything wider than race skis, except for maybe one or two (in a good year) storm days per year. It is the kind of hill that makes people become obsessed with carving clean turns.

There's a pretty good range of beginner and intermediate terrain. The steeper runs are at the north end, and the easier runs tend to be at the south end. When a lift line gets crowded it is often advantageous to to switch areas (from the middle to the north or vice-versa). There are two runs that cross each other to accomplish that migration and it is always interesting avoiding collisions on those runs.

Nearby Mt. St. Louise - Moonstone typically has better and more snow, but if you like speed it will only get you about 15 mph less of it.

 

[scott43]

I prefer mt st Louis personally. Ice yes. Typically we get a melt then an ice box. Can get boilerplate. If it's a legit cold winter you get a nice groomer experience.

 

[Jilly]

So you're falling off the Niagara Escarpement. Lots of horizontal space, not much vertical. I drive 1 1/2 hrs more for more than tripletriple the vertical. And busy. GTA crowd.

 

[scott43]

Where are you coming from Murph and what are you looking for? Blue is a big resort so lots of hotels and stuff to do.

 

[GregK]

Been a member at Moonstone and at Blue Mountain for a few years now and even though Moonstone is smaller, I vastly prefer it. Moonstone receives twice as much snow, has the best snowmaking coverage and grooming of any place in North America, the best terrain parks, insanely bright night skiing and it’s never busy.

Moonstone is always putting more money into the resort and it’s $2 mil rental area and cafeteria expansion this year will give lots of space for being indoors during Covid. Last year got $6 mil in upgrades there.

Blue is more challenging with more vertical and variety but their grooming is mediocre(done the night before in North section so frozen solid the next morning), it’s insane busy on Friday’s-Sunday’s and they constantly run snow making on open runs.
So busy that any soft snow days are a test for how good your skis are in crud after noon.

Holiday Valley another option if your closer to that with similar height and good variety like Blue Mountain but like Blue they sometimes get rain rather than snow with the Lake effect. Their grooming and snowmaking practices there make a Blue Mountain look good with large snow making mounds left on open runs for weeks at a time.

In summary, drive to Toronto and fly West and go where the real snow and mountains are. Lol

 

[oldschoolskier]

One of the biggest draw backs of Blue is one run which ties North and South together called Happy Valley Unfortunately you must cross this run, and it is likely the biggest cause of injuries as a result of collisions. This is not because of difficult terrain more the lack of as it attracts the Wanna Be’s that have no respect for anyone else on the hill.

Blues blue runs far exceed the difficulty of any run at Holiday Valley. Height wise I would say HV is about 2/3 the size. Run wise Blue has a ton of runs.

One final major draw back is cost, stupid expensive.

Finally Blue starts making snow as soon as the temps remain below 0 (32f) for a couple of days. Snow in the last couple 10 years or so has been lacking so the snow making is likely among the best in the world. Grooming, twice a day in force with 3-4 groomers on the slope 2-4 highs speed passes per run. About 1/2 resort nIght skiing. They maximize the short season.

 

[oldschoolskier]

One othter section is Snow Valley in Barrie, Rob Buttler is a part owner. A 200 ft Vertical, safe family skiing. The year you turn 50, you seasons ski anytime pass is $5.00. Best ski deal I every spent 6 years ago and likely got the most runs in ever for myself. Funny I’ve track my vertical at Blue and Snow Valley and it matches. Between easier terrain or dealing with nuts, Snow Valley is a good choice.

Have yet to ski Moonstone.

 

[graham418]

I ski at Blue on weekdays or Sundays. Its pretty much a given that any snow will be completely scraped off by 10:00. The skiers and terrain get better from South to North. There is a lot of variety although not much challenge. A good place to work on technique.
You might be thinking of Blue Mountain PA.

 

[Jilly]

Hey..I learned at Snow Valley!! I skied Moonstone for 1 day and that was enough. But if you want a 1/2 pipe...

 

[Nathanvg]

So you're falling off the Niagara Escarpement. Lots of horizontal space, not much vertical. I drive 1 1/2 hrs more for more than tripletriple the vertical. And busy. GTA crowd.

What ski area is 1.5 hours farther with 2k vert?

 

[scott43]

Tremblant. She lives in Eastern Ontario.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

One of the biggest draw backs of Blue is one run which ties North and South together called Happy Valley Unfortunately you must cross this run, and it is likely the biggest cause of injuries as a result of collisions. This is not because of difficult terrain more the lack of as it attracts the Wanna Be’s that have no respect for anyone else on the hill.

Blues blue runs far exceed the difficulty of any run at Holiday Valley. Height wise I would say HV is about 2/3 the size. Run wise Blue has a ton of runs.

One final major draw back is cost, stupid expensive.

Finally Blue starts making snow as soon as the temps remain below 0 (32f) for a couple of days. Snow in the last couple 10 years or so has been lacking so the snow making is likely among the best in the world. Grooming, twice a day in force with 3-4 groomers on the slope 2-4 highs speed passes per run. About 1/2 resort nIght skiing. They maximize the short season.

I've been a pass holder at both resorts, and this is not true. The Wall at HV is the steepest run between both resorts. Also, the Yodeller, Chute, and Eagle pods at HV offer much steeper terrain than Blue, save for a few runs off the North chair which would be comparable.

HV has much better variety, and better glades skiing. The average run at Blue is a bit longer, but given they are all kind of the same given they all run down the same long ridge. HV is made up of mini mountains with multiple faces and fall lines.

For good long cruiser runs in the Southern Ontario / Western NY area, I prefer Bristol Mountain. It's about 40min further from the border than HV, but skis like a Blue Mountain, if you chopped it in half, and put the one half on top of the other half.

 

[cantunamunch]

So...why does someone from SF do research on Ontario/Quebec ski hills?

 

[scott43]

So...why does someone from SF do research on Ontario/Quebec ski hills?

Poutine fetish?? Because Canada???

 

[graham418]

So...why does someone from SF do research on Ontario/Quebec ski hills?

It must be the snow....Ontario Hardpack is like no other in the world!!

 

[GregK]

So...why does someone from SF do research on Ontario/Quebec ski hills?

I think they just don’t want to buy new Powder skis for out West and looking for a places to ski their narrow skis in the morning at! Lol

 

[JoeSchmoe]

It must be the snow....Ontario Hardpack is like no other in the world!!

As a former mid-week regular at Blue Mountain, the snow is quite good. It's only bad on the weekend when the high-speed 6-packs are going full out and the masses are packing the snow. Blue's weekend skier per acre count is higher than any other resort I've ever been to... Probably close to double the worst I've seen elsewhere.