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.
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