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View Full Version : Question#2 of 2- Do you visit in Non-Winter



noski
01-30-2006, 09:56 AM
For those who live outside the Valley, do you visit here in non winter? Why or why not?

smootharc
01-30-2006, 10:21 AM
...visit year round. Outdoor amenities galore....in a darn pretty place....with nice people....and no big box blight....well, that about does it for us. Avoid mud and bug season, but they total a small % of year.

ski_resort_observer
01-30-2006, 10:41 AM
In the summer I come to relax, no traffic lights, no big shopping mecca's, the swimming holes, the mellow vibe. Isn't that in the brochure? :wink:

The fall colors, of course, I KNOW that's in your brochure. Not everyone agrees, however, like the fella I talked to one time in early Oct., said he was from Scarsdale, NY. "Let me get this straight, your telling me that the valley is booked up cause people come there to watch the leaves turn color and fall to the ground". Apparently he was coming for a business conference. I did explain that the falling to the ground was not as near important as the leaves turning color. I think he ended the conversation with "this is unreal" and hungup. :lol:

Tin Woodsman
01-30-2006, 04:08 PM
Yes, but I wish there was another golf option in the Valley.

smootharc
01-30-2006, 04:33 PM
Yes, but I wish there was another golf option in the Valley.

I am assuming you wish the additional option due to greens fees at SB course. Not cheap in one sense, yet it's a bona fide New England mountain course masterwork. Absolutely, and known in golf circles as such.

Lower greens fees of some years back were matched by scrufty maintenance and the old girl "showing her age". This has been radically turned around with major infrastructure improvements, with still more on the way (tee box replacements next, as I understand it), and an ace maintenance director. Those things cost $$$, but make for a spiffy new suit on those great old bones.

In the overall scheme of the golf course fees, SB is up there, but still way below lots and lots of the more elite/prestigious places....where things have gotten positively ridiculous. Lesser fees....I'd be all for it. I think they need to sell a 10 pack or something, at say 25% off. But remember....chasing the round white devil ball at SB is doing so at very hallowed ground. Just be thankful Intrawest hasn't gotten a hold of it...you'd need a second mortgage to tee it up.

Perhaps, though, you want another course because SB reduces grown men, this one included, to tears due to it's unrelentless demand for precision. It's a humbling round for this guy. I leave my driver in my car to beat myself with at the end of the flaggelation.... :lol:

noski
01-30-2006, 04:43 PM
Smootharc is right- the course is outstanding, beautiful and a real gem in the Sugarbush crown. Here's a suggestion- skiMRV.com should get a foursome together, enter a foursome into the 8th MRV Chamber Tournament, split the cost of $270 and get cart, range balls, prizes, on course food and bbq at end, liquid refreshments on course, and all the fun you want to have. Shotgun Scramble 1:30pm on Sunday June 25. Then you can play the course with buds and have a TON of fun!

ski_resort_observer
01-30-2006, 04:48 PM
I bet alot of people call or stop by wondering where the campgrounds in the valley are. It seems unusual the valley has no nice private campground. A US Forest Serve or State Campground would be nice. The closest option, the Duxbury General Store campground isn't all that nice although that huge sprawling miniture golf course is just up the road. :wink:

If ya think the SB golf course is expensive check out the prices at the Vermont National just north of Waterbury or the Country Club of Vermont in South Burlington. The SB course being designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr isn't bad either.

Another course was in the works in Moretown a few years back. A farmer wasn't making any money at farming so he thought building a fancy golf course might bring in the bucks. If I remember he faced alot of local opposition about traffic and problems with Act 250. My circle of friends favor the course over by Brandon and the Lake Morey course over by Fairlee. Abit of a drive for sure.

Tin Woodsman
01-30-2006, 06:41 PM
Truth be told, the greens fee didn't bother me in and of itself. I just really didn't like the course, no matter who designed it. With a few exceptions (the holes across West Hill Rd.), I found it next to impossible to get a flat lie on my drives. I hated all of the blind shots. It just seemed like a "gimicky" course to me. But that's just one man's opinion.

Truth be told, I'd rather spend the extra dollars for a round at VT National or CCV as they are more enjoyable to me. Granted, this impression is from playing the SB course just once two summers ago, so perhaps I should give it another shot. Still, I'm a pretty decent golfer (10-15ish handicap depending on time of year) and I don't really enjoy losing 6 balls in a single round.

Schusseur
01-30-2006, 09:00 PM
I definitely visit in the non ski season. In my opinion, one of the best things about the valley is the whole Mad River Path concept. I just love the accessability and beauty of biking/running/fishing all along the path. The Mad Dash is great fun, and something I look forward to every year.

When out there on a warm weekend morning, I run into lots of familiar faces and it's nice to see just how many people are really using it.

The more the path can be connected between the valley towns, the more compelling it becomes as a resource. Connecting people to the Mad River is one of the best ideas I see going. I hope one day soon we'll see it entirely linked up.

Also, I think they've done a really nice job of turning the Lareau swimming hole into a nice, green 'beach'(for lack of a better word).

smootharc
01-31-2006, 07:46 AM
I just really didn't like the course, no matter who designed it. With a few exceptions (the holes across West Hill Rd.), I found it next to impossible to get a flat lie on my drives. I hated all of the blind shots. It just seemed like a "gimicky" course to me. But that's just one man's opinion.

Granted, this impression is from playing the SB course just once two summers ago, so perhaps I should give it another shot.

Do give it another shot, Tin. Target golf it is....blind shots there are....and that, coupled with undulating terrain (and some spiffin views) add up to, in mountain course circles, a classic. Golf Digest rates it a top 5 public course in VT. And a buddy of mine for years worked for a golf trade magazine, closely with the editor and owner (a true golf hound), and when I mentioned we were getting a place in the valley he told me he'd call right back and hung up. 10 minutes later he called back and said his buddy had raved about the course, played there many times, and loved it.

Perhaps the terrain is MRG like - thin, twisty, tough, and you're gonna be humbled by it. But the alternative is the boulevard-ish, ultra-polished, K-mart like courses designed to go easy on the paying customer. Nike is coming out with a GPS enabled ball locator, so, my friend, you've lost your last ball. Me too, though it won't keep me from losing my marbles..... :lol:

The uneven tee boxes, a bona fide gripe and unfair "penalty", are to be replaced as I understand it.

P.S. I told a fib above...Nike doesn't have any GPS enabled ball locator. Sorry.

skibum1321
01-31-2006, 07:58 AM
I visit year-round. I love the hiking in the summer and the swimming holes are always a good time. App Gap to Lincoln Gap is a great day hike that will leave your feet burning. As for biking, I've never been in the valley - the closest I've been to are the trails in Waterbury.
I never have actually stayed over in the valley, though. It's always a day trip when I'm up in Burlington for the weekend.

l21logan99
02-28-2006, 09:34 PM
This place is dull in summer, other then foliage in the winter youmight as well visit the middle of the atlantic then MRV

Plowboy
03-01-2006, 06:53 AM
This place is dull in summer, other then foliage in the winter youmight as well visit the middle of the atlantic then MRV

Go for it dude. Don't forget to write us and let us know how it was.

skibum1321
03-01-2006, 07:36 AM
This place is dull in summer, other then foliage in the winter youmight as well visit the middle of the atlantic then MRV
You're absolutely right - the valley has no good biking or hiking. And there are most certainly no good swimming holes to go to. Have a good time in the Mid-A.

noski
03-01-2006, 08:51 AM
This place is dull in summer, other then foliage in the winter youmight as well visit the middle of the atlantic then MRV
I am wondering if l21logan99 is teen who lives here....? That is a possibility. There are local, and long-time concerns over the lack of organized, supervised, safe activities for local teens. The rural/remote nature of our geography makes it hard to move kids around and keep them on "the right track".

Lostone
03-01-2006, 11:16 AM
This place is dull in summer, other then foliage in the winter youmight as well visit the middle of the atlantic then MRV

I'm having a flashback! :shock:

I grew up (OK, spent my childhood. ) (Well, the years that were supposed to contain the childhood? :roll: ) in a very small town. How small? This area is like a metropolis. :?

We had a maximum winter population of 115, 13 of which was our family. In the summer, there were people who would come up from NYC and NJ, to spend the summer.

It was a constant thing to hear the kids who were "stuck" there asking how we could live in such a boring place. We did a lot of things. We were used to the fact that we were responsible for making our own entertainment.

After I got out of the air force, I moved to the Boston area, and I was out partying every night. But as time goes on, the job takes most of that time and I found that all my time was working, eating, sleeping, ... rinse, lather repeat. :roll: :?

I moved up here to get away from that life. And I have so much to do that I wonder how I ever found the time (and inclination) to work. :wink:

But to your statement about the place being dull and boring... I'd change that to relaxing.

But as for there being nothing to do, my question would be the same as it was back then. What do you want to do? And then, what are you doing to work toward that goal?

Last summer, I hiked, biked, swam and explored. I filled every moment. Quiet moments I read or (Big surprise here... :roll: I played with my computers. There are tons of things to do. You just have to either do the things that are waiting to be done, or use the time to prepare to go to the places were other things are more easily doable.

The hard part is to decide. :wink:

Fourwide
03-01-2006, 03:20 PM
In my opinion, the SB course is way overrated. Too many blind tee shots (2 and 9), awkward doglegs (3--ugh, 14--double ugh) and boring holes (1 and 18, for instance). It's not a terrible course, just overrated. Just not a great piece of property to work with.

I haven't played the Stowe course--any input?

We come up only a few times in the spring/summer/fall--golf at home.

Plowboy
03-01-2006, 10:57 PM
This place is dull in summer, other then foliage in the winter youmight as well visit the middle of the atlantic then MRV
I am wondering if l21logan99 is teen who lives here....? That is a possibility. There are local, and long-time concerns over the lack of organized, supervised, safe activities for local teens. The rural/remote nature of our geography makes it hard to move kids around and keep them on "the right track".

Being the father of 2 soon to be teens this issue comes up 24/7. I do not think that it is a "rural/remote" problem, it is a national problem. Our impact is felt because we are a small close knit town. It's been a tough week, and hopefully some will see it is not worth it. But, there ARE things to do with your teens, if you WANT. The best thing you can do is be part of it, but that doesn't always work in the real or OUR perfect world.

Plowboy

Strat
03-02-2006, 03:45 PM
This place is dull in summer, other then foliage in the winter youmight as well visit the middle of the atlantic then MRV
I am wondering if l21logan99 is teen who lives here....? That is a possibility. There are local, and long-time concerns over the lack of organized, supervised, safe activities for local teens. The rural/remote nature of our geography makes it hard to move kids around and keep them on "the right track".
Hit the nail on the head... no tourist kid would complain about lack of things to do in the summer; if they're coming up here, their parents will definitely have lots of things for them to do.

It's true that there is fairly little "to do" in the summer, but in reality there isn't that much "to do" anywhere. Most of the time, especially with teens, it's not so much what you're doing, it's who you're doing it with. A teen with a good group of friends is going to have just as much fun swimming in the river and mountain biking as one with the same friends who goes to movie theaters and restaurants in NYC... just my $.02, being a Valley teen...

Oh, and as for organized, supervised, safe activities for teens in the Valley - sorry noski, but keep dreaming; the day that teens will want to participate in supervised, "safe" summer activities will be the day that the Mad River dries up...

noski
03-02-2006, 03:53 PM
Oh, and as for organized, supervised, safe activities for teens in the Valley - sorry noski, but keep dreaming; the day that teens will want to participate in supervised, "safe" summer activities will be the day that the Mad River dries up...
Ah, kid, you're breakin' this mom's heart!

Strat
03-02-2006, 06:29 PM
Oh, and as for organized, supervised, safe activities for teens in the Valley - sorry noski, but keep dreaming; the day that teens will want to participate in supervised, "safe" summer activities will be the day that the Mad River dries up...
Ah, kid, you're breakin' this mom's heart!
Haha... it's true though... teens (especially the ones who might be involved in some, ahem, *unsafe* activities) resent authority to the max and would hate to have to be supervised and herded... they have enough of that at school already, the summer's the break from that...

I, of course, am not one of these *unsafe* teens (haha, that makes me chuckle), but I'm gone for quite a bit of most every summer, so maybe I'm not one to speak for the aforementioned category of kids - but I do come into contact with them pretty much daily in the academic setting, so I think I know what I'm talking about...

KingM
03-02-2006, 07:36 PM
I remember being in Conway, Wales several years ago, sitting in an absolutely gorgeous medieval walled city with a fabulous castle looming overhead. I was eating my fish and chips and listening to a Welsh music/dance group as the sun went down and feeling the thrill of being in a magical place at a magical moment. Three local teenage girls were hanging out a few feet away and one of them said, "This has to be the most boring place in the whole world." The others nodded grimly.

The here and now is always boring for a teenager. They'd rather be older and somewhere else.

smootharc
03-06-2006, 06:39 AM
I remember being in Conway, Wales several years ago, sitting in an absolutely gorgeous medieval walled city with a fabulous castle looming overhead. I was eating my fish and chips and listening to a Welsh music/dance group as the sun went down and feeling the thrill of being in a magical place at a magical moment. Three local teenage girls were hanging out a few feet away and one of them said, "This has to be the most boring place in the whole world." The others nodded grimly.

The here and now is always boring for a teenager. They'd rather be older and somewhere else.

...and if they only knew a bit more about being "older and somewhere else".....well, who made that famous quote that youth is wasted on the young ?