Skiing in late April and early May was not something I expected to do in New England very often. Not good skiing anyway. But this epic winter, while not the snowiest, had maintained its snow pack, making for serious Spring ski fun at several hills.
We started at Killington, where 12 bumpy runs turned our legs to tofurkey by 1pm. There was literally not a single flat turn to be had.
Then we avoided a multitude of moose on the drive to Maine, where the broad shoulders of Sugarloaf held deep snow and deserted runs. Excellent vertical, great early ‘ice cream’ groomers and with about 40 opens runs (some traversing needed), lots of fun to be had all day. A wet suit would’ve been appropriate for the 100m run out to the lift by noon, but apart from puddles there was little slowness and no glue. Sugarloaf for the second straight year offered west-coast standard Spring skiing.
We finished our road trip at Jay Peak’s closing weekend. Encroaching warm temps were doing some damage to the snow pack, but there was still a lot of terrain to play on. By late morning it was a corn-a-thon, with super quality bumps everywhere. There were even a few tree shots available to provide reminders of the real adventure that Jay Peak hides in it boney, bare, steep woods.
And on Sunday afternoon, that was it. The end of a fantastic New England ski season, during which Sugarbush and Jay especially offered up some amazing skiing. With our return west imminent, it’s not likely we’ll be out this way for a while. Exploring New England has been a totally enriching experience, opening our eyes to some of the tightest, steepest woods and bumps that we’ve seen anywhere. I hope we make it back out here one day. Ideally a deep powdery one with a firm base and mid week crowds. With New England terrain, that’s a recipe for a great ski day.
Killington 8000m
Sugarloaf 12,000m, 9200m
Jay Peak 11,400m, 6200m
Season totals: 56 days, 453,900m vert, 12 powder days
Pacific Northwest Ski blog (and a few other places!) 
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