• There is a ski resort in Ontario that’s taller than Blue Mountain and big enough to host an FIS-sanctioned Giant Slalom Race: The Georgian Peaks Ski Club. With a vertical of 820 feet, Georgian Peaks is Ontario’s highest and longest hill. The catch? Membership is $30k. Looks like I won’t be hitting that hill any time soon.
• According to Wikipedia, Blue Mountain actually owned Georgian Peas for a while in the 1980s.
• Also according to Wikipedia, Blue Mountain is Canada’s third-busiest ski resort after Whistler-Blackcomb and Mont Tremblant. Having spent a fair bit of time there over the past couple of years, I can honestly say I think that hill is at full capacity. They better look at opening The Orchard soon, or re-investigating a deal with Georgian Peaks; otherwise, the hills will soon become impossible to navigate.

Fast forward to the 2007-2008 winter season, though, and things picked up significantly. It started snowing early and often; so much, in fact, that most folks around here are grumbling that this winter was too long. (Truth be told, it probably just felt long because last winter was so easy.)

Anyway, I caught a pleasant note on Blue Mountain’s website pertaining to this year’s season that I thought I would share:

“Join us Saturday, April 12th for our 135th day on snow marking the highest number of days in operation throughout any ski and snowboard season in the mountain’s history.

Our amazing team of snowmakers, groomers and the rest of our operations team worked diligently this season to cover the hills with more than enough snow to provide excellent skiable terrain extending the 2007 / 08 season beyond our typical closing date.”

Sounds like Blue made a nice recovery this weekend. I can only assume other local hills like Moonstone had similar experiences. According to this article from last month, sounds like they did.

The location

Given the proximity to Toronto, I don’t know why people bother with Blue Mountain. Holiday Valley is a little over three hours by car via the Peace Bridge if the lines at the border are short (which they were both ways). If you’re familiar with Ontario or Western New York highways, the route looks something like this: 401 > QEW > Border > I-90 > 219. It’s a pretty easy drive (though we missed our hotel on the way in and had to double-back through town more than once).

The conditions

As I mentioned yesterday, day one featured warm temperatures and soft, slushy snow. Since it was mid-March, this was to be expected. We still had a great time, as our crew was just happy to be riding in March, and we were happy to pull off a last-minute trip.

On day two, things cooled down a bit, turned slightly icy, and some snow moved in. It made for a much speedier day than day one, but also meant we couldn’t pop into treed areas (of which there are many in Holiday Valley) because everything in the woods was frozen.

All in all, the conditions were good and the snow base was stable.

The resort

Holiday Valley features 750 feet or so of vertical rise, meaning it’s just a wee bit taller than some of the larger hills here in Ontario. Holiday Valley has places like Blue Mountain (and other resorts in Ontario) beat, though, in many many areas.

• Variety of runs: There are more than 50 runs at Holiday Valley, ranging from easy greens to truly double diamond (”The Wall” is a serious sheet of ice that is not to be taken lightly). There are few Ontario results with 50+ runs, if any. Moreover, there are several areas of the mountain that feel completely separate from the others, and each run ends at a relatively speedy lift. Bonus: no. lift. lines. at. all. There’s nothing like coming down a run at Blue Mountain to see a HUGE, 15-20 minute lineup for a lousy 700 feet. Never happened once this weekend.
• Ability to “wander”: As if 50+ runs wasn’t enough, most areas are separated by trees which are easy to explore. There are many glade runs as well.
• Excellent on-mountain facilities: There are plenty of areas to get food and beer, and the lodges have a warm, welcoming feeling (as opposed to the cafeterias that are predominant in major Ontario resorts).
• Five terrain parks: Need I say more?

Food and accommodations

We stayed at the local Wingate By Wyndham in Ellicottville which was reasonably priced, featured spacious rooms and were very clean. The staff can get a little ornery if you’re too loud at 2:30 in the morning, but we won’t get into that. While there is no bar or restaurant to speak of in the hotel, the location is great and the hotel offers a free hot breakfast every morning. The breakfast runs until 10am, and it’s outstanding.

The town of Ellicottville itself serves as an excellent ski resort village. There are several local bars and restaurants; we went to at least four. The Ellicottville Brewing Company has an excellent selection of beer and food, though it gets packed quick - go early. I recommend the Double Diamond for after-dinner/late-night drinking. I must say, I was extremely impressed with the Double Diamond, which apparently is a new-ish bar in the neighbourhood. When I walked in, there was a cool duo playing guitar and bongos while singing popular songs. In the back, a bunch of shredders had set up a rail and a box, carted in some snow, and were throwing themselves off a mini-ramp. Hopefully I’ll get some photos up of that experience.

Short but sweet

Okay, although I’m fawning over this place, the reality is that Holiday Valley features a mere 750 feet of vertical. As a result, the runs are still quick and you spend a lot of time on lifts. But for a resort in the east that’s nowhere near a real mountain, Holiday Valley is pretty darn good. In fact, check out their 2007 Ski Magazine rankings:

• Lifts - 2nd in the East, 9th in the Nation
• Dining - 4th in the East
• Grooming - 9th in the East
• Terrain Parks - 12th in the East

Not bad for 750 feet! I’m definitely going back.

Highlights so far:

• Shredders throwing down in the back room of the Double Diamond bar;
• Getting my ass kicked on what appeared to be a really low, wide box but discovering it was actually ridged and difficult;
• Taking on a halfpipe, and the halfpipe winning (I’m not very good at this terrain park thing just yet);
•  Stomping some awesome landings on a run called Moonshadow, which is just lip after lip. It’s a run intentionally designed to throw skiers and riders of huge lips, and it’s completely awesome.

Despite the slushy conditions, I’m having a great time. It is so worth the three-hour drive; it’s only a little farther than Blue Mountain time-wise, and the space, runs and facilities are totally superior to anything I have seen in Ontario.

More when I’m back.

Being so close to the border, it’s not out of the ordinary to take a day trip to a Target, Sabres game, or MRI clinic. Tomorrow I’m taking advantage of this proximity with some friends to hit Holiday Valley, a popular ski resort in western New York, for the weekend.

The vertical rise of Holiday Valley is only 750 feet, making it not much larger than Blue Mountain here in Ontario. But from what I understand, Holiday Valley has a couple of distinct advantages:

• There are 56 runs, compared to Blue’s 34;
• Many runs cross the mountain, making them seem longer (judging by a trail map, anyway).

Of course, going to Blue means you stay in the province, so there’s no border line-ups or currency exchanges to worry about.

More on Holiday Valley over the weekend, or shortly thereafter. Hopefully I’ll get a post or two in while I’m there.

(Interestingly, Holiday Valley actually had a small avalanche of sorts this winter [or at least that's what they're calling it].)

They’re only half operational, though, thanks to lousy road conditions.

Rare epic Ontario powder day: ruined!

(Moonstone is reporting 60 centimetres, and appears to be entirely open. If you can ditch work, you might want to head there.)

A little background on Jay Peak

Jay Peak is nestled just inside the Quebec/Vermont border, about eight hours from Toronto and a couple from Montreal. It’s so close, in fact, that it practically is Canada. The hill is packed with Francophones. Canadian money is accepted at par. Hockey Night in Canada can be found Saturday night on channel 6. If you didn’t have to cross a border, you wouldn’t think you had left the country.

Jay Peak likes to boast about its powder, its vibe, its aerial tram, its glades, and its mountain in general. But having been there three times now, I’ve come to a few unfortunate conclusions:

• You can’t trust the weather. Despite all the snow Jay gets, it’s still subject to wacky east coast mountain weather. This means it can snow, rain and freeze all in the same weekend. Unlike Whistler, which is big enough to almost guarantee decent weather somewhere on the mountain, the lower altitudes of the east coast mean the weather can often be unpredictable.
• The apres scene does not exist. If you’re looking for it, you’re at the wrong place. The bar closes early. The pub closes at nine. The one general store on the hill closes early, too.
• There’s no easy way to get to Jay from Toronto.
• There aren’t too many lifts, meaning if one or two are closed, there isn’t much to do.

Of course, there are some positives as well:

• No apres means no attitude. The locals are friendly, everyone is at the hill for the same reason, and style is not a concern for most.
• When it does snow, the powder is amazing.
• There are so many enjoyable glades and woods to explore I usually don’t know where to start.

Anyway, on to the actual trip.

Friday: Day 1

We arrived at about 8:30 in the morning, and it was just starting to snow. It hadn’t snowed in several days and it was windy, so the conditions weren’t the best. The tram and The Flyer were closed, which sucked, because a good deal of excellent terrain was served by these two lifts. So we were stuck on one side of the mountain for the entire day.

We tried to hit every glade we could find, which led to a mixture of experiences. The green ones that were open were generally fun, as were the closed ones that we poached (grin). The black ones were a mixture of cut-up ice and fresh snow, so it led to some good hits. It also led to some very tough runs. The snow didn’t continue, and instead turned into freezing rain; the conditions therefore got worse as the day went on.

I find glades tend to be a good test of one’s snowboarding skills. Skiing between trees in a forest requires tight turns, frequent jumps and split-second decision making. I had a few run-ins with trees, and one run-in with someone else I was riding with, but otherwise did pretty well in the glades. Conclusion: icy in spots, but a fair bit of fun.

Saturday: Day 2

This day was a complete write-off. It rained Friday night, before freezing up. The result? Tons of ice, awful wind, and a fair bit of fog. Once again, the gondola and the Flyer lift were closed, leaving us with limited terrain to explore.Groomers were so icy that they were treacherous to ride. We got a couple of hours in on the same glades we hit the day before, but ultimately called it early. Icy terrain and crowded lift lines = no fun. Conclusion: a waste of a day. Thank goodness for beer.

Sunday: Day 3

It was snowing when we woke up; it turned out it had been snowing most of the night. This, combined with the fact the entire mountain was open, led to a phenomenal day. Jay has a top-to-bottom glade run named Everglade that was absolutely phenomenal, as it hadn’t been touched all weekend (it was serviced by the closed lift and tram). We ended up hitting this glade all day long, over and over. Each time was a different experience with untouched snow. It was phenomenal! I don’t think we did a groomed run the entire day.

It seems like every time I visit an east coast resort like Jay Peak or Mont Tremblant, the weather wreaks havoc with the conditions. This weekend was no exception. But the last day, which was simply full of powder, made up for it. My knee held up fine, and I practiced stomping a lot of jumps off small booters and some of the smaller terrain park jumps. I wish I had a few more months to keep practicing as my knee gets stronger, but the season is quickly coming to a close here in the east. Here’s hoping I can get one more trip in.

I think I almost injured myself more today than I have all season. The reason? It’s very difficult to stay on groomed runs at Jay Peak. There are phenomenal glades everywhere, so we keep jumping off the runs and into the woods, where things become a little more difficult. Today, I was very glad to have a helmet.

Conditions are ice mixed with deep snow, depending on how it has been blown around. We’re starting to get a piece of that big northeast storm, and the forecast calls for freezing rain tonight, followed by a good deal of snow. Here’s hoping we get some snow!

In the meantime, here’s a trailer featuring a lot of eastern resorts and action.

Here’s what Jay Peak has to say about this weekend’s weather:

“Weather this week will be a bit funky. Looks like a bit of everything tomorrow: high winds, some rain (in the morning) and snow (later in the day). Then sunny skies for Thursday with snow moving our way for the end of the week. Earlier reports were calling for a mixed bag on Friday but several of our forecasters are now saying that it’ll be all snow for us in these here northern parts. So, while tomorrow will be a bit iffy, things will sort themselves out for the end of the week and we should be skiing/riding some (maybe a lot of) fresh this weekend”

I keep going back for two reasons: for one, weather in the east is always difficult to predict; it’s not a problem specific to Jay. Second, this place has potential. All it takes is one good powder day, and I know the place will be bananas.

I hope to make a post or two while I’m out there, but it totally depends on wifi availability. In the meantime, you can check out our other entries on Jay peak here.