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kitchener

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The last time I skied Montage it wasn't that crowded, but, it was also below zero, lol. But I do think that Blue Mountain, followed by Camelback, draw off the Philly drivers headed north, since Montage is further still.

VRBO has a large place at Snowshoe that states it's a 15 second walk to the lifts. But it ain't cheap -- whacked six ways, which has tended to be our average, still leaves us at $483 per (I ran a 3-night calculation). Lotta bunks though, so more Pugski/DCSki members might fit given the lack of need for beds for the kids, but, we never seem to push past six parties (eg. kitchener, crgildart, dbostedo, wd65, ddanks, etc.). Lurkers please decloak if staying 3 nights at Snowshoe for a Pugski Mid-Atlantic Gathering seems appealing, before we remove it from consideration. Of course, you all know me. $483 per is just a jumping off point for negotiations, but the fact there is really only one (1) property with our kinds of sleeping arrangements doesn't put us in the best leverage position. The only dumb question is the one that isn't asked, so if there's enough interest, we can at least try. Probably two bedrooms for couples the rest are bunks etc. Whacked eight ways it drops to $362. Plus lifts. Looks like it’d sleep a lot more than that so I guess it comes down to who wants to stay three nights in Snowshoe late Jan, early Feb.

https://www.vrbo.com/780136

For WD65 and myself, our reply would be “too soon to say.” That straight shot up the NY State Thruway to Gore sure looked tempting last season when T-line had no snow lol
 
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SKI-3PO

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Montage does no...zero...nada marketing. And you have to drive past most other mountains in the area (except Elk) to get there. That's good for crowd reduction.
 

crgildart

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Montage looks like 9 hours for us, probably 10 for Old Boot. Doable but takes Sunday off the menu for ski days.. i.e. probably have to leave around noon Sunday to get home at a reasonable time.
 

crgildart

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For WD65 and myself, our reply would be “too soon to say.” That straight shot up the NY State Thruway to Gore sure looked tempting last season when T-line had no snow lol

+1.. Price is definitely market going rate.. Hotels right near there go for $150 plus per night so $375 for two or three nights on the mountain is not absurd for most heading there.. Sending $250 in a couple weeks is a whole more painless than sending $375-$475 in a couple weeks when stuff could change, get injured, get laid off, or worse... no snow!. For $500 per family we could have two non Snowshoe places reserved and pick the best one last minute. Gore ain't happening for us though hahaha. That would require air fare!
 

johnnyvw

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I've not been to whitetail, but i have heard it gets pretty bad there. if you thought bear creek was nuts on a weekend, then you wouldn't like blue mtn or camelback either. we prefer to hit up jack frost and montage on the weekends b/c less crowded and generally more variety of terrain when compared to other eastern PA hills.

I skied Blue starting about 25 years ago. I no longer ski there due to the crowded slopes, thanks to the 6 pack lift. Camelback I get first chair and I am done by noonish.
 

SKI-3PO

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As much as I think there are some advantages of Montage over other areas for skiing out of the Philly area, there is no way I would drive 9-10 hours to ski there as a destination.
 

johnnyvw

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Blue Knob lacks novelty due to many previous trips, TL lacks reliability even be under foreclosure by the time our dates arrive but would be super affordable otherwise. Other options lack adequate housing.. Still open to SnowShoe if we can find something under around 1500ish for the group. Sugar Mountian, NC would be OK but already looks pretty booked up for the dates under consideration.. also not all that user friendly to determine what's walk to condos versus on the mountain houses. They have some cool looking ones similar to Tranquility at BK that would require booking the upper and lower sections together or two half houses would be OK too.

Maybe we should just book BK again and call it hahahahaha..

I would definitely like to check out Snowshoe, having never been there. Maybe one larger place and a few smaller places would be workable.
 

crgildart

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I would definitely like to check out Snowshoe, having never been there. Maybe one larger place and a few smaller places would be workable.
I think kithcner has a place on the radar big enough, but we need 8 paying adults to get the cost down under $400 per adult. Being that we've also never been and it isn't farther than the other options I could probably go in at around $350 give or take. $450's beyond my threshold though especially since the other costs are also more spendy there than the other places under consideration. I don't mind paying $50 for a ski ticket my daughter only uses for an hour and a half. Paying around $100 would kinda bother me though. Would probably only get her a ticket for Saturday there. Ya, I'm 90% in a house solidly under $400 with everything else in mind.
 
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dbostedo

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So circling back around, this is what things look like to me if we're going to hold this...

Dates : either January 18-21, or January 25-28

MLK day is January 15th. And it could also be early February, but if folks settle on that, I'm out due to other travel.

Locations/Housing options :

As I see it, Wisp is out, Poconos are out (not central enough/slopeside lodging), Seven Springs is out (expense for slopeside), Timberline is out (snowmaking/closing fear). So for ski-in/out lodging, central-ish location, and reasonable expense, that leaves Blue Knob, Snowshoe, and Whitetail.

Blue Knob
Two places available that make sense...

1) The house that we rented two seasons ago : https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17192149 ... total cost for 3 nights would be ~$2250
2) One across the resort : https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p4644334 ... total cost would be ~$2450

The first one is a bit run down but works out fine. The other seems nicer and would be my preference. Blue Knob is a little less snow sure than the others I think, but cheaper and seemed to work well two seasons ago.

Snowshoe
Lots of places available, but not houses of the T'line or Blue Knob type (unless you want to drive to the slopes)... they're a lot more condos and townhomes, so we might be crowded, or need two places. It will be more expensive than Blue Knob or T'line - and we might need to rent two places depending on who all is in. Biggest resort though and snow-sure. I'd like to do this one too.

Options look like a place like this for ~$1400 : https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p776563vb
Or this one for ~$1375 : https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p79783vb
Or maybe this larger one for ~$2450 : https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20166263

Whitetail
Could work out OK, price is good, but would be more crowded than Blue Knob... not a lot of slopeside lodging though, so seems tough to find a place... the only places I see among VRBO, AirBnB are these two... maybe we could rent both? That would be ~$2600 total, though the larger place doesn't really look like a place to pile a bunch of kids into....

https://www.vrbo.com/51398
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9753241

.
.
.
So given all of that, my vote right now is the January 18th-21st, at the second Blue Knob house above. (My second choice would be Snowshoe.)

 

BC.

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As much as I think there are some advantages of Montage over other areas for skiing out of the Philly area, there is no way I would drive 9-10 hours to ski there as a destination.

As a NEPA local.... I can tell you that you made the right decision to nix Montage as your destination. I did not want to chime in and be negative, so I’m glad you guys figured it out yourselves.

I get a free season pass at Montage, and I might only go 1-3 times a winter.... which are usually snow days when Rt. 81 is too bad to get to Elk, or dawn patrols on Sat. mornings before I head to the shop.

It is a nice local place for the people of the area......but really not a place you should be driving multiple hours for.;)

Good decision boys.......do Snowshoe.

Hope we all have a great winter!
 

crgildart

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Looks like BK rates went up significantly. Definitely pushes the ball closer to SnowShoe's court.
 

johnnyvw

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I just checked the drive to the "finalists". Oof, I didn't realize Snowshoe is even further than most Vermont resorts for me. Well, I'm going to leave the decision making to the crowd here. They all have their pluses and minuses of cost, crowds, available lodging etc.
 
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dbostedo

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One quick additional possibility for Snowshoe... this property : https://www.vrbo.com/643061 is one road away from the resort so not really a walk to the slopes... BUT the description mentions a free shuttle. If Snowshoe runs shuttles to the non-slopeside places, that might open things up more and allow people to come and go even when not staying slopeside.

Anyone know how well that works? It's certainly cheaper just off the resort.
 

johnnyvw

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I just remembered I have a wedding to attend on Jan. 27, so that weekend is out for me.
 

crgildart

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One quick additional possibility for Snowshoe... this property : https://www.vrbo.com/643061 is one road away from the resort so not really a walk to the slopes... BUT the description mentions a free shuttle. If Snowshoe runs shuttles to the non-slopeside places, that might open things up more and allow people to come and go even when not staying slopeside.

Anyone know how well that works? It's certainly cheaper just off the resort.

If it's not even true walk to/easy to find from the ski trails that pretty much blows the ability of day trippers to drop in for lunch or hang out après ski for awhile.
 

JohnL

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The crew from the last few Mid A Gatherings is now the main crew for this event - the original Jim K., John L., Jimmy, LHC, etc. crew have been tied up with other trips/life in general.

Having met the group last year, based on cost, accessibility to the slopes, lack of crowds, you only have one option: Blue Knob.

While Blue Knob is not the greatest and some may be a bit tired of it, every other option discussed has major, major problems (cost, crowds, accessibility, etc.)
 

crgildart

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I would avoid Snowshoe shuttles at all cost. It would be as convenient as taking Metro downtown while wearing your ski boots.

Several resorts around here require satellite parking and shuttle buses to the lodge on busy days if you arrive after about 10:30 am when the upper lots are already full.

Sucks, but not skiing sucks worse.. I agree that paying for on the mountain lodging is pointless if it requires a shuttle. I could see doing that at Vail, but not at our venues..
 

JohnL

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Also,

Snowshoe is extremely crowded on weekends - there are some strategies for avoiding the crowds, but a large multi-skill group would not be able to use them.

Snowshoe's main client base is not from the DC area; it is more NC, SC, GA, TN, KY, OH. With due deference to the puggers who live in those states, those state are not exactly the center of ski culture and ski slope etiquette.
 

SallyCat

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Just chiming in with very little context, not having attended a Gathering. Would Plattekill and/or Bellayre count as mid-Atlantic? Or are they too far from where everyone lives?

I know neither has on-slope housing, but they seem like more interesting mountains than anything in PA.

Bellayre is on the MAX pass, and I just picked up a Saturday Plattekill ticket on Liftopia for $26.
 

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