New England Quick weekend ski from Long Island

[TonyC]

I've never been to the coast .... and not caught a single wave.

At my terminal intermediate level I certainly have. Sometimes after storms the sand gets scoured so there's a steep dropoff and the waves all break in close as a shore pound. I can't really do anything with that. The really mellow days under 2 feet I'll not use the boogie board and just bodysurf.

 

[crgildart]

Well, relevant to the "quick weekend from Long Island: vibe and logistics.. The true die hard ski/surf enthusiasts take the window life gives them and drive/fly to wherever they can hope to ski/surf some as the goal. The destination seekers are happy to wait for a longer window and plan to optimize best possible conditions and biggest terrain as the goal.

 

[KingGrump]

Prior to this thread devolving into a "mine is bigger than yours" contest with a Beach Boy/California dreaming theme. I believe the initial thread was more along the line "Making the best of a bad situation."

In the age of internet and cable TV, we all consume way too much porn. Be it porn of the original flavor, ski, food, or whatever flavor of the week that floats your boat. All that porn just get us to fantasize being/doing/having the biggest/bad-est/whatever-est on a perpetual basis. We will not settle for middling - ever.

Unfortunate, reality is we all live within a tangled web of constraints. Simple constraints like time, relationships, family, location, work, money, health, etc. Most of the constraints are rather flexible when taken alone. With time, they get weaved into a very rigid interlaced web. Literally a Gordian knot. Not many are capable of/want/need Alexander’s f*** it all attitude when it comes to dealing with their own personal knot.

Hey, guys. Try this while you are watch your favorite porn of the original flavor. Turn to your SO and say “Honey, why don’t you look like the babe on the screen?” I can guarantee the result will be along the line of her reaching over and executing a quick Gibb slap to the back of your head and a retort “Well, you don’t look anything like the dude on the screen either!” In the end, you ain’t getting any. So much for fantasies.

“If you can't be with the one you love. Love the one you're with.” Stephen Stills.

“My favorite ski area? The one I am skiing today.” Warren Miller.

When it comes to skiing, it is not the numbers, the hype, the talk, the location, the dream, the fantasy, etc. that matters. It’s about getting your a$$ out there and let it slide down the hills. Everything else is BS. For me, give me 1,200/1,500 vertical, a lift and some slippery stuff and I’m happy as a pig in s**t. I really don’t care whether the slippery stuff is soft, powder, crud, slush, hard or boiler plate.

If the condition runs towards firm. Very likely in the NE. Give me a pair of race ski or a good pair of front side carver and I’ll have a ball. You want the truth? Most skiers fantasized about powder/soft snow days because they can’t handle hard pack or boiler plates. Sounds like Jack from A Few Good Men. The short comings are largely due to technical and equipment issues.

So cut all the over thinking and BS. Just go out there and get some skiing done. Wherever you are.

As a wise man once said, “No matter what, bad s** is still better than no s**.”

 

[Tricia]

Prior to this thread devolving into a "mine is bigger than yours" contest with a Beach Boy/California dreaming theme. I believe the initial thread was more along the line "Making the best of a bad situation."

 

[river-z]

Prior to this thread devolving into a "mine is bigger than yours" contest with a Beach Boy/California dreaming theme. I believe the initial thread was more along the line "Making the best of a bad situation."

KingGrump with some good grump. I like it.

 

[crgildart]

And that's why he's Da King! I was trying to just use innuendo to convey a similar message.

 

[TonyC]

Unfortunate, reality is we all live within a tangled web of constraints. Simple constraints like time, relationships, family, location, work, money, health, etc. Most of the constraints are rather flexible when taken alone. With time, they get weaved into a very rigid interlaced web.

Yes indeed. My view is that when that rigid interlaced web constrains you to 20-25 days per ski season, I'm going to be diligent about trying to maximize the quality of a scarce resource. That's the way it was for me until my mid-40's and why I set that high bar for expending any vacation time on the SoCal local areas. When I finally had more than a week vacation and some more $$ available for skiing in 1997, that's when I started the week long trips to Canada.

Nonetheless skiing is by nature unpredictable no matter how carefully you plan. So I'm in 100% agreement with making the best of it regardless of conditions once you're committed.

 

[Itinerant skier]

.....................

“My favorite ski area? The one I am skiing today.” Warren Miller.

When it comes to skiing, it is not the numbers, the hype, the talk, the location, the dream, the fantasy, etc. that matters. It’s about getting your a$$ out there and let it slide down the hills. Everything else is BS. For me, give me 1,200/1,500 vertical, a lift and some slippery stuff and I’m happy as a pig in s**t. I really don’t care whether the slippery stuff is soft, powder, crud, slush, hard or boiler plate.........

Pretty much spot on.Though Hunter on the weekend might be an exception. A day on the mountain is better than a day not on the mountain. At least LI and the outer borough folks don't have to backtrack to ski. When I'm in Hoboken, I often take day trip buses from Manhattan. That means schlepping the ski gear on PATH or NJT bus into the city, then getting on the ski bus which promptly goes right back under the Hudson and runs through New Jersey enroute to the Catskills or Southern VT.

 

[crgildart]

Yep, unless you have to get up SUPER early to catch it, the ski resort tour bus is the best of both worlds... You avoid the hassle of airports, security, delays, etc but get the convenience of not having to drive, can relax on the way there and back.. AND, don't have to schlep your gear across a mile of parking lots to and from the base lodge from your car.

 

[karlo]

I can drive 3 hours, ski for 4-5 then drive 3 hours home and sleep in my own bed.

I'm putting my name down to beta this


https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/3/14149988/chrysler-portal-minivan-concept-electric-self-driving

We'll have dinner with friends, or see a show. Then hop into our van, configured with bed, coffee maker. We'll have an interior ski rack, allowing us to easily access our quiver. We'll sleep the 6-7 hour drive, wakeup, get breakfast, and hit the trails. Sunday, we'll get showered after a not-long enough day, have dinner, maybe see a movie, then hit the road and the sack. Be home in time to get to work. Maybe get dropped off at work.

I haven't discussed this with my wife yet. So, I don't know yet if it will be 'we' or 'me'.

 

[mdf]

I can drive 3 hours, ski for 4-5 then drive 3 hours home and sleep in my own bed.

When I was young I could do that. More like 3 and a half, since that was the era of the 55mph limit and I lived closer to the city than I do now.
Then there were about ten years where I could drive up the night before, ski hard all day, and drive home afterwards.
Last year I realized I can't safely do that anymore, so I'll have to stay over and drive home in the morning. It's expensive getting old!

 

[mdf]

Yep, unless you have to get up SUPER early to catch it, the ski resort tour bus is the best of both worlds... You avoid the hassle of airports, security, delays, etc but get the convenience of not having to drive, can relax on the way there and back.. AND, don't have to schlep your gear across a mile of parking lots to and from the base lodge from your car.

There is a bus that picks up at a park-and-ride lot about ten minutes from my house and goes to Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine. Bus plus lift ticket is cheaper than a walk-up lift ticket. It is pretty great.
There are a few downsides though -

• It goes different places each week, and some of the destinations I'm not too interested in.
• You don't arrive till 9:30 or even 10 at some of the more distant places.
• They want to leave at 4pm. Kind of silly when the lifts close at 4. I've found that is largely a bluff though, and you can catch last chair if you hurry getting out of your boots afterwards.
• They sometimes cancel for bad driving weather or lack of customers.
• Once the on-board toilet was frozen and therefore non-functional.

 

[TonyC]

We'll have dinner with friends, or see a show. Then hop into our van, configured with bed, coffee maker. We'll have an interior ski rack, allowing us to easily access our quiver. We'll sleep the 6-7 hour drive, wakeup, get breakfast, and hit the trails. Sunday, we'll get showered after a not-long enough day, have dinner, maybe see a movie, then hit the road and the sack. Be home in time to get to work. Maybe get dropped off at work.

This topic has been raised on the Tesla Forum. It will be awesome for weekend warriors. The example of weekend runs to Salt Lake from L.A. was cited and needless to say I approved.

One big caveat. Bad weather driving is going to be a high bar for self driving cars to clear. But Level 3 self driving even with a good weather requirement will still expand that weekend drive radius most of the time.

 

[Dave Marshak]

Bad weather driving is going to be a high bar for self driving cars to clear.

Once autonomous cars are dominant, bad weather driving will be illegal. Your grandchildren will be incredulous when you tell them stories of driving to the mountains in snowstorms to get first tracks.

dm

 

[crgildart]

Once autonomous cars are dominant, bad weather driving will be illegal. Your grandchildren will be incredulous when you tell them stories of driving to the mountains in snowstorms to get first tracks.

dm

I can see covered roadways and tunnels being commonplace with the adoption of full automation.

As for the bus leaving at 4PM sharp, that makes sense so they can beat the main rush of traffic congestion leaving at 4:30.

 

[karlo]

Your grandchildren will be incredulous when you tell them stories of driving

Like dialing a number? Like turning the channel? We don't need to wait for our grandchildren to get incredulous looks

 

[dbostedo]

Like dialing a number? Like turning the channel? We don't need to wait for our grandchildren to get incredulous looks

I'm not that old I don't think (40) and once found myself explaining to a group of 10 year old why you call it "dialing" when you punch in a phone number on a cell phone.

 

[karlo]

Once autonomous cars are dominant, bad weather driving will be illegal.

A new business opportunity for RFID tags, an endless string of them under the pavement, or just surface-level tabs, like those slightly raised reflectors. Luckily, RFID tags are very low cost.

 

[mdf]

I never really thought about it, but I think you are right. Driving is going to become a specialized skill, and a driver's license will be more like a commercial license is now.

 

[JohnL]

I never really thought about it, but I think you are right. Driving is going to become a specialized skill, and a driver's license will be more like a commercial license is now.

Hmmmmm.

From my observations over several decades, driving in Massachusetts has always been a specialized skill mastered mostly by those with out of state plates,