New England New England Recommendations

[S.H.]

You’ve also got Sugarbush Farm, over 500 acres, more cheese and maple syrup.

Sugarbush Farm | Woodstock, VT | Cheese & Maple Syrup Farm

Sugarbush Farm Maple and Cheese Farm

sugarbushfarm.com

I'm a huge fan of Sugarbush Farm's cheese. Now that we've moved away from New England, we get it mailed in. Used to stop by every other weekend or so during winter, maybe monthly throughout the rest of the year.

 

[James]

I'm a huge fan of Sugarbush Farm's cheese. Now that we've moved away from New England, we get it mailed in. Used to stop by every other weekend or so during winter, maybe monthly throughout the rest of the year.

Which type?

 

[Wilhelmson]

Inevitable counterpoint:

The whole Woodstock / Quechee complex has always struck me as someone's idea of a New England village, pulled out of a Hallmark box to put on your sideboard at Christmas time, complete with twinkly white lights and cotton batting underneath. It's short on underlying reality. I have never smelled manure tea on the fields there, which probably makes it the only town in Vermont I can say that about. (Even Burlington at least has the Intervale, with actual agrarian activities going on.) Rural New England has a gritty side that puts the tannin in the wine, so to speak. I'm sure it would be very pleasant to stay at the Woodstock Inn. I just wouldn't want someone to go back home with the idea that they'd properly been to Vermont.

Stayed there once. Nice rooms very clean linens. Reasonable drive to Killington. But there is absolutely nothing to do after 9 pm with kids in the room.

 

[S.H.]

Which type?

really like the horseradish cheddar. it's great for snacking.

also a fan of the jack and smoked as well as the standard aged cheddar varieties. I'm usually good with the 3-year, but sometimes you want the older stuff just for fun.

 

[jcjpdx]

Almost a year ago I was asking for advice about visiting New England for a ski trip and got some good pointers through this forum. Just last Saturday we returned from that trip.

We had multiple goals for this adventure. My wife doesn’t ski so we needed a location that she could enjoy. Our daughter lives in Brooklyn, NY, and we wanted to both visit her in NYC and get her out of the city for some skiing. We are looking at an extended stay in NY next year and wanted to tour some likely neighborhoods. We wanted to take the train and not need a car if possible. We wanted to ski in New England, which we have never done before. We wanted to see some prototypical New England scenery. We were able to accomplish all of that remarkably well!

We flew to Newark Liberty Airport, took the Northeast Connector to Penn Station, and then schlepped our gear to the New Yorker Hotel, where we stayed for three nights. During our stay we were able to visit several New York neighborhoods and get ideas for our future rental. We had a nice dinner at Biricchino, near Madison Square Garden. We also visited Fabrique Bakery in the West Village for Swedish cardamom rolls. Delicious!

On a Sunday afternoon, the three of us caught the Amtrak Ethan Allen Express at Penn Station Moynihan train hall and had a lovely ride along the Hudson River to Rutland, Vermont. Five and a half hours of mostly rural upstate New York scenery. We then took a short but very cold walk to the Rutland transit center to catch the free Killington shuttle bus. We were staying in the Trail Creek condos, a short walk from the Killington Grand Resort Hotel, which is the last stop on the shuttle route, except the bus driver took pity on us and drove the extra distance to our condo and dropped us off there. Try that in NYC!

Did I say it was cold? For the next few mornings it was near or below zero degrees Fahrenheit, and in the teens or low twenties durning the day. It snowed a few inches our first night, excellent quality snow with the cold, and the next two days skiing were excellent. My daughter and I rented skis at Black Dog Sports, skied on Green and Blue runs mostly, and stayed off the summit due to the cold, blustery weather. Nonetheless we found plenty of great runs on Snowshed, Skyeship Gondola, Skye Peak Express, and Northbrook Quad. We had a wonderful lunch at Jerk Jamaican Grill at the Northbrook quad base. We did take the K-1 Gondola on Tuesday, our second ski day but clouds were coming in and so the view wasn’t expansive. Locals described the skiing as “New England NIcy” (as opposed to NE Icy,) and it was truly great. The grooming at Killington is excellent, as good as I have seen anywhere.

Wednesday early am it snowed, then cleared and warmed up to the high 20’s. On the recommendation of LiquidFeet, we rented a car and drove into Woodstock, Vt for a tour of the NE countryside and to see a quintessential NE town. This was an excellent idea, and we had a lovely afternoon. We had lunch at the Soulfood Cafe, and walked around the quaint town. Definitely a worthwhile side trip.

Thursday early am it snowed again, and then the real cold returned. My daughter had to return to NYC for work. This was a shame, because with 4-6” of new snow and single digit temps, that ski day was truly one of my best days ever. I was able to tour the entire huge resort and I think I took every lift that was running. I joke that skiers want Camelot-perfect groom, then 4” of perfect snow, then a perfect, sunny windless day. This day was exactly that, except it snowed lightly throughout the day.

The next day we reversed our route back to Rutland, Amtrak and NYC for another night at our hotel. Saturday, a little more touring of NYC neighborhoods, then back to Newark airport for out return flight to PDX. Overall the trip really could not have gone better, and I certainly look forward to a return trip to see more of New England skiing.


My daughter on Skye Peak


At the Jerk Jamaican Grill


Woodstock, Vermont


The Empire State Building lit up in solidarity with the Ukraine

 

[Marker]

Almost a year ago I was asking for advice about visiting New England for a ski trip and got some good pointers through this forum. Just last Saturday we returned from that trip.

We had multiple goals for this adventure. My wife doesn’t ski so we needed a location that she could enjoy. Our daughter lives in Brooklyn, NY, and we wanted to both visit her in NYC and get her out of the city for some skiing. We are looking at an extended stay in NY next year and wanted to tour some likely neighborhoods. We wanted to take the train and not need a car if possible. We wanted to ski in New England, which we have never done before. We wanted to see some prototypical New England scenery. We were able to accomplish all of that remarkably well!

We flew to Newark Liberty Airport, took the Northeast Connector to Penn Station, and then schlepped our gear to the New Yorker Hotel, where we stayed for three nights. During our stay we were able to visit several New York neighborhoods and get ideas for our future rental. We had a nice dinner at Biricchino, near Madison Square Garden. We also visited Fabrique Bakery in the West Village for Swedish cardamom rolls. Delicious!

On a Sunday afternoon, the three of us caught the Amtrak Ethan Allen Express at Penn Station Moynihan train hall and had a lovely ride along the Hudson River to Rutland, Vermont. Five and a half hours of mostly rural upstate New York scenery. We then took a short but very cold walk to the Rutland transit center to catch the free Killington shuttle bus. We were staying in the Trail Creek condos, a short walk from the Killington Grand Resort Hotel, which is the last stop on the shuttle route, except the bus driver took pity on us and drove the extra distance to our condo and dropped us off there. Try that in NYC!

Did I say it was cold? For the next few mornings it was near or below zero degrees Fahrenheit, and in the teens or low twenties durning the day. It snowed a few inches our first night, excellent quality snow with the cold, and the next two days skiing were excellent. My daughter and I rented skis at Black Dog Sports, skied on Green and Blue runs mostly, and stayed off the summit due to the cold, blustery weather. Nonetheless we found plenty of great runs on Snowshed, Skyeship Gondola, Skye Peak Express, and Northbrook Quad. We had a wonderful lunch at Jerk Jamaican Grill at the Northbrook quad base. We did take the K-1 Gondola on Tuesday, our second ski day but clouds were coming in and so the view wasn’t expansive. Locals described the skiing as “New England NIcy” (as opposed to NE Icy,) and it was truly great. The grooming at Killington is excellent, as good as I have seen anywhere.

Wednesday early am it snowed, then cleared and warmed up to the high 20’s. On the recommendation of LiquidFeet, we rented a car and drove into Woodstock, Vt for a tour of the NE countryside and to see a quintessential NE town. This was an excellent idea, and we had a lovely afternoon. We had lunch at the Soulfood Cafe, and walked around the quaint town. Definitely a worthwhile side trip.

Thursday early am it snowed again, and then the real cold returned. My daughter had to return to NYC for work. This was a shame, because with 4-6” of new snow and single digit temps, that ski day was truly one of my best days ever. I was able to tour the entire huge resort and I think I took every lift that was running. I joke that skiers want Camelot-perfect groom, then 4” of perfect snow, then a perfect, sunny windless day. This day was exactly that, except it snowed lightly throughout the day.

The next day we reversed our route back to Rutland, Amtrak and NYC for another night at our hotel. Saturday, a little more touring of NYC neighborhoods, then back to Newark airport for out return flight to PDX. Overall the trip really could not have gone better, and I certainly look forward to a return trip to see more of New England skiing.

View attachment 162201
My daughter on Skye Peak

View attachment 162202
At the Jerk Jamaican Grill

View attachment 162203
Woodstock, Vermont

View attachment 162204
The Empire State Building lit up in solidarity with the Ukraine

Sounds like you picked the right week given Killington's variable weather this year. The Jerk Shack is one of our favorites on a spring Friday afternoon with eating and a little drinking to polish off the week!

Next time you can try some of the other great NE resorts mentioned above.

 

[jcjpdx]

This year I have skied the PNW, Steamboat Springs Colorado, and now Killington. It has been a strange, variable snow year everywhere. The best conditions I’ve had were at Killington. Fortunate, indeed. And I look forward to trying some other NE resorts next time.

 

[James]

Almost a year ago I was asking for advice about visiting New England for a ski trip and got some good pointers through this forum. Just last Saturday we returned from that trip.

We had multiple goals for this adventure. My wife doesn’t ski so we needed a location that she could enjoy. Our daughter lives in Brooklyn, NY, and we wanted to both visit her in NYC and get her out of the city for some skiing. We are looking at an extended stay in NY next year and wanted to tour some likely neighborhoods. We wanted to take the train and not need a car if possible. We wanted to ski in New England, which we have never done before. We wanted to see some prototypical New England scenery. We were able to accomplish all of that remarkably well!

We flew to Newark Liberty Airport, took the Northeast Connector to Penn Station, and then schlepped our gear to the New Yorker Hotel, where we stayed for three nights. During our stay we were able to visit several New York neighborhoods and get ideas for our future rental. We had a nice dinner at Biricchino, near Madison Square Garden. We also visited Fabrique Bakery in the West Village for Swedish cardamom rolls. Delicious!

On a Sunday afternoon, the three of us caught the Amtrak Ethan Allen Express at Penn Station Moynihan train hall and had a lovely ride along the Hudson River to Rutland, Vermont. Five and a half hours of mostly rural upstate New York scenery. We then took a short but very cold walk to the Rutland transit center to catch the free Killington shuttle bus. We were staying in the Trail Creek condos, a short walk from the Killington Grand Resort Hotel, which is the last stop on the shuttle route, except the bus driver took pity on us and drove the extra distance to our condo and dropped us off there. Try that in NYC!

Did I say it was cold? For the next few mornings it was near or below zero degrees Fahrenheit, and in the teens or low twenties durning the day. It snowed a few inches our first night, excellent quality snow with the cold, and the next two days skiing were excellent. My daughter and I rented skis at Black Dog Sports, skied on Green and Blue runs mostly, and stayed off the summit due to the cold, blustery weather. Nonetheless we found plenty of great runs on Snowshed, Skyeship Gondola, Skye Peak Express, and Northbrook Quad. We had a wonderful lunch at Jerk Jamaican Grill at the Northbrook quad base. We did take the K-1 Gondola on Tuesday, our second ski day but clouds were coming in and so the view wasn’t expansive. Locals described the skiing as “New England NIcy” (as opposed to NE Icy,) and it was truly great. The grooming at Killington is excellent, as good as I have seen anywhere.

Wednesday early am it snowed, then cleared and warmed up to the high 20’s. On the recommendation of LiquidFeet, we rented a car and drove into Woodstock, Vt for a tour of the NE countryside and to see a quintessential NE town. This was an excellent idea, and we had a lovely afternoon. We had lunch at the Soulfood Cafe, and walked around the quaint town. Definitely a worthwhile side trip.

Thursday early am it snowed again, and then the real cold returned. My daughter had to return to NYC for work. This was a shame, because with 4-6” of new snow and single digit temps, that ski day was truly one of my best days ever. I was able to tour the entire huge resort and I think I took every lift that was running. I joke that skiers want Camelot-perfect groom, then 4” of perfect snow, then a perfect, sunny windless day. This day was exactly that, except it snowed lightly throughout the day.

The next day we reversed our route back to Rutland, Amtrak and NYC for another night at our hotel. Saturday, a little more touring of NYC neighborhoods, then back to Newark airport for out return flight to PDX. Overall the trip really could not have gone better, and I certainly look forward to a return trip to see more of New England skiing.

View attachment 162201
My daughter on Skye Peak

View attachment 162202
At the Jerk Jamaican Grill

View attachment 162203
Woodstock, Vermont

View attachment 162204
The Empire State Building lit up in solidarity with the Ukraine

Wow, nicely done!
You’ve made one of the rare trips skiing in New England by train. And flying from the west coast to boot! Plus getting someone out of NYC is not easy.
I take it you got to see the new Penn Station?
I used to work up a ways from the New Yorker on 37th. 20 yrs ago the neighborhood wasn’t great, but kind of more interesting.
You can also get a bus from Port Authority near 42nd st. Since the bus gets right into the tunnel, it’s quick.

I’ve done the Amtrak to to Newark airport. Easy, but the train is very unreliable and there’s only like two choices. Backup was always metro north train to grand central then shuttle van to Newark. Except covid killed the shared vans.

You can do JFK to Penn. I just did it last week, then going to Grand Central.
The problem is the Penn station side is the old one, so you schlep upstairs with luggage. Before that it’s Air Train at airport -> Jamaica. Schlep on flat, to Jamaica station train to Penn Station (LIRR). Hopefully, the elevator works to the platform. Cost is roughly $8 Air Train, $6 train off peak.

 

[PinnacleJim]

Nice to hear someone from the left coast praise the grooming at Killington (we sometimes forget how good these guys are). And better conditions than the Cascades or Steamboat! Luckily you weren't here this week.

 

[tch]

Congratulations! It sounds like you experienced the East in the best possible way!
It's not always so perfect...but I'm glad you had that.

 

[4aprice]

Good good timing. Northern New England skiing can be wonderful and as exciting as anywhere else when its on. It's biggest draw back is it usually doesn't stay that way for long. Stick around a little while and you will find it has all sorts of personalities and they like to show up on different weekends.

 

[jcjpdx]

Yes we took Amtrak via the new Moynihan Train Hall and it is beautiful. The New Yorker Hotel is a bit long in the tooth but was perfectly situated for our venture.

And yes, I was more than pleasantly surprised by the snow conditions. Several of my PNW friends could not believe I would fly over the Rockies to ski in NE, but I wanted the new and different experience and won the lottery with the weather. Fortunately I knew it would be cold so had adequate warm gear.

Thanks again for all the input. I am looking forward to the next visit back East. Maybe I’ll get to ski some boilerplate yet.

 

[jcjpdx]

My wife reminds me that the original inspiration for taking the train to Vermont was the movie "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen. We did go to the club car and sing "Snow", quietly because none of us are good singers. We were ignored by the conductors, but they've likely seen silly people like us in the past.

 

[newboots]

Little Thunder Ridge in Patterson, NY, is the stop for the "ski train," from NYC. Not as romantic as "White Christmas," it's a day trip. Pretty sweet, though.

You are being redirected...

 

[James]

My wife reminds me that the original inspiration for taking the train to Vermont was the movie "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen. We did go to the club car and sing "Snow", quietly because none of us are good singers. We were ignored by the conductors, but they've likely seen silly people like us in the past.

Next you’re going to the Empire State Building?

 

[jcjpdx]

Being compared to a young Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks is a compliment! Plus, my wife and I are both from Seattle. However, we can’t do the Empire State Building, my wife is afraid of heights. We are going to Timberline Lodge on Friday, so maybe we can act out some scenes from “The Shining.” “Heeeeeeere’s Johnny!”

 

[jcjpdx]

Little Thunder Ridge in Patterson, NY, is the stop for the "ski train," from NYC. Not as romantic as "White Christmas," it's a day trip. Pretty sweet, though.

You are being redirected...

Sorry newboots, I took a few days to look at this but it's a great idea! I will forward the info to my daughter. She lives in Brooklyn and can use an occasional trip of out the city. She's also a decent skier and I hope she keeps her skills up.