Ratio of time at LP to ME

[Ride Delaware ?]

I've noticed in the favorite trail thread that LP gets a lot more love than ME. I understand that LP has always been the more advertised mountain and has all the fancy development, but I personally drive to ME the majority of the time, and my townhouse is at LP. I would say my ski days are 25% to 75% LP to ME once ME is open. Do you think most people stay at LP because of the base area improvements, the close proximity of housing, or because they perceive the terrain to be that much "better"?

[cdskier]

When Slide Brook is running, my usual routine on a Saturday would be to take a few runs at LP until 10am, then hop on Slide Brook and go over to ME to avoid any crowds at LP. Sundays I'll stay at LP just because it takes too much time to get over to ME and I usually try to leave the mountain by around noon. Other days it depends on the conditions, but I probably tend to ski more on those days at LP. LP has more variety than ME I'd say (and more terrain overall). Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the terrain at ME quite a bit and always say I should ski more there, but when the shuttle buses are running, my day always starts at LP since then I don't need to get in my car from my condo. I will hop in my car and drive over to ME on opening day though. This year opening day was extra sweet with it being 100% open on opening day.

Overall I'd say about 30% ME to 70% LP for me.

[ManyTurns]

This year I spent 22 days predominantly at Lincoln peak, and 4 days at Mount Ellen. Of the 22 days at Lincoln peak, on a few days I did just a few runs at Mount Ellen.
I never took the Slidebrook Express. Instead, I skied the Slidebrook basin and took the bus to either mountain.

The reason I ski predominantly at Lincoln peak is that I prefer the terrain around Castlerock and Heaven's Gate. I will concede that Mount Ellen may have better snow at times, due to less traffic. Some of the woods there are amazing. I'm still able to find plenty of snow in the woods, at LP, however.

Of course, there's another mountain in the Valley, Mad River Glen. I skied there just one Friday. If I could be up there during the week when the lift line is short, I'd ski there a whole bunch more.

[Hawk]

Ever since the North Ridge starting having major issues the last couple of years I spend little to no time there. Last year I spent portions of maybe 5 days there out of about 44 days at the Bush. Most of them were Saturdays when we had lift or crowd issues at LP.

I think that there is good terrain at Ellen but it is limited in size and scope and the top elevation areas are limited. It's Black Diamond, FIS or the woods from the 4,000 foot point. The higher elevations of the HG lift and Castlerock areas offer much more. I can't speak for other people but I ski there because I live there, I like the layout and most everybody I ski with starts from there. The best part for me is that I can ski down through the woods to my door, pop off my boots and have a Vodka Tonic waiting for me at the end of the day. ;-)

I actually skied more hours at MRG than at Ellen this year. I love that place. The true treasure of the MRV.

[Brew Ski]

I agree with Hawk about the limited expert terrain at the top of MEllen. Black diamond is great but very short. FIS, same. In New England, the highest elevation tends to be where the best snow is until we get some serious dumps and LP has much more terrain at elevation.

Spending the day on blue cruisers like Elbow is fun for a few runs but then I get bored without some technical challenge.

I find the biggest negatives, for me, is that MEllen has lots more intermediate and beginner skiers all over the mountain with several green or blues crossing blue and black trails (fault American ski company for the Killington model). As such I spend more time watching out for others, avoiding traversing skiers, and trying to safely navigate around mixed experienced families than enjoying free turns. At Castlerock and Heaven's gate I can ski at my own pace knowing it is all expert level with long runs and few or no beginner trail crossings. So safety, challenge and freedom i guess, makes a big difference for me.

Of course as a Dad of a three year old who is starting to ski, I'm about to start spending more time at MEllen for those reasons. The grooming at MEllen has always been better. Wide open groomers like Elbow are great because it instills confidence in beginner skiers and gives them the views and taste of bigger mountain skiing while still offering advanced skiers enough terrain to enjoy slower turns.

If you have kids in the ski programs, most parents are dropping kids off at LP. So you need to be close if there are any issues and MEllen is a long ways away if your child gets hurt or gets sick and the coach calls you. I think this is the primary reason more people sweat out the crowds at LP a large percentage of the time. A few thousand parents are "tied" to LP simple due to the blazer programs. I personally wouldn't forgive myself if I was enjoying free ski at MEllen, and my son got hurt an needed to get to a hospital quickly, but he had to wait until his guardian took 45 minutes on a busy holiday weekend to get back to LP to sign off on treatment or such.

MRG is a true treasure. If I could get MRG access mid-week with my adult season pass (even for a $100 extra), I would spend at least 10 days each winter over there. Right now i get 1 or 2.

[WWF-VT]

I agree with Hawk about the limited expert terrain at the top of MEllen. Black diamond is great but very short. FIS, same. In New England, the highest elevation tends to be where the best snow is until we get some serious dumps and LP has much more terrain at elevation.

Spending the day on blue cruisers like Elbow is fun for a few runs but then I get bored without some technical challenge.

I find the biggest negatives, for me, is that MEllen has lots more intermediate and beginner skiers all over the mountain with several green or blues crossing blue and black trails (fault American ski company for the Killington model). As such I spend more time watching out for others, avoiding traversing skiers, and trying to safely navigate around mixed experienced families than enjoying free turns. At Castlerock and Heaven's gate I can ski at my own pace knowing it is all expert level with long runs and few or no beginner trail crossings. So safety, challenge and freedom i guess, makes a big difference for me.

Of course as a Dad of a three year old who is starting to ski, I'm about to start spending more time at MEllen for those reasons. The grooming at MEllen has always been better. Wide open groomers like Elbow are great because it instills confidence in beginner skiers and gives them the views and taste of bigger mountain skiing while still offering advanced skiers enough terrain to enjoy slower turns.

If you have kids in the ski programs, most parents are dropping kids off at LP. So you need to be close if there are any issues and MEllen is a long ways away if your child gets hurt or gets sick and the coach calls you. I think this is the primary reason more people sweat out the crowds at LP a large percentage of the time. A few thousand parents are "tied" to LP simple due to the blazer programs. I personally wouldn't forgive myself if I was enjoying free ski at MEllen, and my son got hurt an needed to get to a hospital quickly, but he had to wait until his guardian took 45 minutes on a busy holiday weekend to get back to LP to sign off on treatment or such.

MRG is a true treasure. If I could get MRG access mid-week with my adult season pass (even for a $100 extra), I would spend at least 10 days each winter over there. Right now i get 1 or 2.

I spend about 80% of my time at Mt Ellen vs Lincoln Peak when Mt Ellen is open. I ski mostly on weekends and hate wasting time in lift lines at LP.

- If you think Mt Ellen lacks technical challenge then you haven't skied Exterminator, Bravo, Cliffs, Encore , Tumbler and Hammerhead which are all accessible via the North Ridge high speed quad. If you want to be on trails without many other people there are Lower FIS, Semi Tough, Walt's and Brambles. There are also a lot of woods at Mt Ellen that are untracked days longer than LP after a good snow storm.
- My observation is that there is a higher skill level of skiers and riders on the majority of the terrain at Mt Ellen compared to LP. There are many more locals and people that want to avoid the masses at LP.
- American Skiing Company didn't cut the trails at Mt Ellen - there is just ugly one choke point / intersection above the North Ridge chair that gets too much mixed traffic.

Overall I think Lincoln Peak gets the majority of skier visits because of the all of the condo development, ski school and seasonal programs, and the higher trail count and trail pod options.