Bill board in Northampton Mass.

[vonski]

I was on I-91 going up to Greenfield for work yesterday when I noticed that Sugarbush has a bill board. In the past I have seen Stowe and Okemo with the bill boards, but never the Bush. It was a be Better Here Logo. More Marketing I guess. NOt a bad thing, unless you are one who hates bill boards.

[win]

We hate Billboards in Vermont. This is just South of the Border. Glad to saw it. It is a summer image and we will to a winter image later this fall.

[vonski]

I thought it was a summer theme, but when zipping through the corner I caught it at the last minute. I go through there all the time and that was the first time I noticed it. Good to see it though. Thanks again. and as always Thinking Snow!!!

[summitchallenger]

We hate Billboards in Vermont. This is just South of the Border. Glad to saw it. It is a summer image and we will to a winter image later this fall.

I saw it in July and I really liked it. It was nice to see it as I headed home...made me feel much happier in fact!

[shadyjay]

"Be Better Here... All Year"

Saw it as I rounded the last NB corner in Northampton, with a big mountain bike pic on it, right after the Basketville billboard.

Since I've been coming up to Vermont (1991), that board has advertised Stowe. "Billboard Row" in Hartford (CT) (just after I-84 heading north) has always advertised southern areas (Mt Snow, Okemo) ... never seen a Bush billboard before.

[win]

Shady, my friend, check your prescription! It was a kid on the zip line. Glad you saw it, though. The key were the words you saw and the association with Sugarbush. The lifts await you!

[shadyjay]

My mistake, Win... always forget that zipline!

[notorious]

We flatlanders like billboards, particularly when they have images of eden. The creator made Vermont so he/she would have a place to go for vacations. Why not Sugarbush when all our competitor's have billboard's? We have to fight the enemies on their turf. We are a big league mountain. We have to play big league ball. More customers will pay for the the various improvements that we all desire. ...and for a working stiff caught in the flatlands, a billboard on a highway is a reminder of his real/fantasy life as a ski bum. Besides, good billboard
s are pop art in it's most effective medium. Think of all the classic billboard
s that you can't get out of your head. You sell the sizzle, not the steak.
Beside's it is axiomatic that you cannot underestimate the taste of the American public...that's why our politics are as they are.

[thinksnow]

Can anyone get a picture of the billboard on here?

[007]

We flatlanders like billboards, particularly when they have images of eden. The creator made Vermont so he/she would have a place to go for vacations. Why not Sugarbush when all our competitor's have billboard's? We have to fight the enemies on their turf. We are a big league mountain. We have to play big league ball. More customers will pay for the the various improvements that we all desire. ...and for a working stiff caught in the flatlands, a billboard on a highway is a reminder of his real/fantasy life as a ski bum. Besides, good billboard
s are pop art in it's most effective medium. Think of all the classic billboard
s that you can't get out of your head. You sell the sizzle, not the steak.
Beside's it is axiomatic that you cannot underestimate the taste of the American public...that's why our politics are as they are.

From one protagonist (in my own world anyway...) to another much more notorious than I, axiomatic is a fantastic word to use here, (also refers to a 1995 collection of short science fiction stories by Greg Egan nevertheless unrelated with exception to the last name of another protagonist in the proximity).

Speaking aphorismatically, billboards; thoughts in our heads; memories from 165 days ago; photographs, whatever flavor of mental image any of us can conjure up or command from our minds will never trump the true experience of "being" there, very very soon......., which some of us wish was today!

Demonstrably, see you opening day on the first (public) chair sir?

[Hawk]

We flatlanders like billboards, particularly when they have images of eden. The creator made Vermont so he/she would have a place to go for vacations. Why not Sugarbush when all our competitor's have billboard's? We have to fight the enemies on their turf. We are a big league mountain. We have to play big league ball. More customers will pay for the the various improvements that we all desire. ...and for a working stiff caught in the flatlands, a billboard on a highway is a reminder of his real/fantasy life as a ski bum. Besides, good billboard
s are pop art in it's most effective medium. Think of all the classic billboard
s that you can't get out of your head. You sell the sizzle, not the steak.
Beside's it is axiomatic that you cannot underestimate the taste of the American public...that's why our politics are as they are.

From one protagonist (in my own world anyway...) to another much more notorious than I, axiomatic is a fantastic word to use here, (also refers to a 1995 collection of short science fiction stories by Greg Egan nevertheless unrelated with exception to the last name of another protagonist in the proximity).

Speaking aphorismatically, billboards; thoughts in our heads; memories from 165 days ago; photographs, whatever flavor of mental image any of us can conjure up or command from our minds will never trump the true experience of "being" there, very very soon......., which some of us wish was today!

Demonstrably, see you opening day on the first (public) chair sir?
Wow, I see you found the online verson of Merriam-Webster 007. :wink: .....but instead of using all those 25 cent words you could have bought me a beer at Castlerock. 8)

[vonski]

I did not know that I was going to get a vocab. lesson off a post about a bill board. :lol:

[shadyjay]

Not the best shot... I was the only one in the truck and someone from Florida was driving 50 mph... nevertheless here it is in case you haven't seen it yet...

http://shadyjay.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/billboard91.jpg

[vonski]

Okay, I was finally back up in the Northampton area and actually got off the highway to take a picture of the Billboard. My camera is a piece of junk as it is for work but here are a couple. You can't read the bottom corner from the highway as the print is too small. But it says 2.5 hours north only. That is definitely moving on the highway or should I say Zipping.
http://s1.postimage.org/tF6tJ.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/)
http://s1.postimage.org/tFnWJ.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/)

[007]

The new logo "looks better here".

[shadyjay]

Now that I see the "Only 2 1/2 Hours North" addition.... that definetly is ZIPPING! Let's "break it down"...
If you go the way that is advertised in literature and web, you're going to go I-91 to I-89 to Exit 9, then 100B to 100. From the MASS/VT state line to I-89, you're looking at some 72 miles. From there, another 55 to Exit 9. I average a 2 hour distance to cover this stretch, though I usually start my timing at the welcome center which is some 7 miles in. From I-89 to Sugarbush its some 16 miles or so. Sure you can get up to speed between towns, but if you don't slow down when coming into Moretown or Waitsfield, then you're gonna get more than you bargained for. So lets say the advertised "30 minutes". Good, we're up to 2 1/2 hours (non stop) between Brattleboro and Sugarbush.

But wait... you still have to get through Massachusetts, and Northampton isn't even halfway through the state yet. It's about 40 miles or so from the 'board up to Brattleboro. So tack on another 30 minutes AT LEAST.

Now if you take into consideration the fact that you can get off the interstate sooner and go "over the mtn", then yeah, maybe 2 1/2 hours Northampton-Bush... but those alternative routes can get dicey, whether it be what's falling from above, or what the road surface is... or both.

If you want to set the cruise at 80 or 90... go nuts. I've seen WAY TOO MANY cops in the u-turns and hiding elsewhere along I-89 and I-91 (and 100 and 100B too). I usually set it (& not forget it) at 70... gone by cruisers and nothing. To tell you the truth, I did not even see the 2 1/2 hours wording from I-91... maybe that's a good thing for the reasons I've discussed above.


Wow... I went off on a ramble there. Let me keep it simple....


THAT PIC IS A LOT BETTER THAN MINE!

[win]

I have always made it in 2.5 hours taking Exit 4 and going over the Roxbury Gap (sometimes even less) and that is will a brief stop at the Deerfield gas station.

[Yard Sale]

I have always made it in 2.5 hours taking Exit 4 and going over the Roxbury Gap (sometimes even less) and that is will a brief stop at the Deerfield gas station.

You don't find exit 5 to the Gap a wee bit quicker?

[shadyjay]

I have always made it in 2.5 hours taking Exit 4 and going over the Roxbury Gap (sometimes even less) and that is will a brief stop at the Deerfield gas station.


Since I've never gone that way, Win, I had no idea on the timing. Personally I prefer interstate driving as you can usually just "set it and forget it".... yes I'm a Ron Popeill fan... but that's me. Since so many people have GPS these days (not to mention other gadgets in their cars - TVs, DVDs and such), noone seems to need directions and will plug a destination in and the computer will do the rest. Then there's my uncle, who insists on taking Route 5, pretending I-91 was never built.

[vonski]

It is 215 miles from G-bury CT just outside Hartford CT to Warren via exit 5 and Roxbury gap. I have done the whole trip in about 3 hrs but generally it is just over 3.5. So, 2.5 is still zipping and in good road conditions minimal traffic running with those Autoban type cars. I actually plugged in Warren and Waitsfield on the GPS when at the Billboard. Waitsfield was 3:07 from there and Warren 3:17 according to my lady Mrs. Tom Tom. But I usually beat her time by a 1/2 hour on that long a trip. :D Baby got up could sleep is why I am up so late. :roll:

[win]

I have done both 4 and 5 and I think they are approximately the same, but five could be a wee bit faster if you get behind a slow car on 12-A

[notorious]

Having measured and timed both routes, I believe that 4 is 8 miles and 5 minutes faster than 5, if, as the boss says, you don't get stuck behind slow traffic on 12A. I prefer Exit 4, not for the distance and time saved, but because it is more bucolic. There is also a scenic option off 12A just out of Randolph on Braintree Hill Rd which runs along a ridgeline with one of the most panoramic views in the state and an astonishing granite sculpture of a catamount, then returns via scenic switchbacks to 12A. Also, Randolph has an itinerant ribs wagon that sets up across from the RR station which makes for great, although messy, road food. Watch out for the Randolph police radar traps at the junction near the little league field, and near the golf course east of the 5-way stop signs. Also for those using 5, watch for the Northfield police radar trap on 12A near Lovers Lane. One more thing, the Washington County Sheriffs have been setting traps near the East Warren four corners with increasing frequency which means that those using either 4 or 5 need to be alert no matter which route they choose.

[jwt]

Notorious speaks truth - been bagged in two of those three places over the last 20 or so years.

Once at the nice gentlemans farm on the right headed home up the hill - 2 pM on a sunny Sunday afternoon!

Ballpark cop grabs you whether you take the short cut up the hill or go around on 12A - he sits at the intersection - nice guy though.

The Four Corners was the worst - raging snow storm at 10 PM - he comes up from the airport in a white? Ford Exploxer, with one headlamp pointed to the sky - watches me coast thru the intersection so as to not loose speed in that little dip as I turned right to head towards Waitsfield, then turns on the lights -' you didn't come to a complete stop at the Stop Sign'.

Sure I had a Saab with snows, but there is almost a foot of snow on the road and I'm stuck if I stopped.


1994-5 or so. I'm sure his family misses him.

[shadyjay]

On the final trip up north....

the billboard in Northampton is in "winter mode"... a big picture of the Lincoln Limo with folks getting out, and the title says "Cabin Fever" or something of that nature. Sorry - no pics, and I don't plan on heading south again until Christmas for a couple days with the fam in CT.


And on this trip north, I decided to get off Exit 3 and take 107->Blackmer Blvd->100. Drive time from the exit to LP base was about 40-45 minutes (going no more than 5 over the limit, except in villages). Zero traffic on 100... noone in front or in back of me until I got into Warren. A very nice drive indeed... a lot easier pace (and flatter too) than I-89 to Exit 9.
Had I stayed on I-89, it would've been 40 minutes just to Exit 9, not including the drive south to the Valley.

[vonski]

I saw the new bill board on Thursday on the way up. I looked last minute but I think it said Cat in the first part. It was putting the word out on the cat skiing. Win I took exit 4 and came up 12A to Roxbury. Definitely, could be fun with dry roads and a in a well handling car. I would need to drive it a few more times to really move along on it. :o Doing my snow dance.

[win]

It says "Cat Lover?" The Cat Lover is in Red and Sugarbush is in Green. The point was to be different and catch the eye, so people see recognize Sugarbush and think of us and go to the web for more. Driving by at 65 MPH+ doesn't allow for much more.