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Burke Mountain beta?



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 9th 03, 06:33 PM
Hugh
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Default Burke Mountain beta?

Hi,

My family and I are relocating from the Tetons (Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee
country)
to the Boston area and we're looking for a new ski hill to call home.

We have a house to stay in on the weekends located in Concord, Vermont which
is
close - just about 20 minutes - to Burke Mountain. A family season pass
there is
reasonably priced so it seems to make sense. I'm just not so sure about the
mountain
itself. The area looks small and doesn't seem to offer too much in the way
of expert
runs. But sometimes the trail maps don't tell the whole story. For instance,
how's the
tree skiing? Typical snowfall? Out of bounds skiing? Crowds?

I'm also interested in good alternatives. Stowe is 45 minutes from our ski
house which
is sorta' OK but their family season pass is almost $3K. Ouch!

TIA
Hugh


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  #2  
Old August 12th 03, 12:43 AM
BJohansson
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Default Burke Mountain beta?

I haven't skied Burke since the verrry early 80's but it is a great "little"
ski area. By New England standards, It's probably a medium-sized resort. The
terrain is excellent and the trail ratings are more honest than most, so the
expert trails that they have probably really are. As far as the tree skiing
goes, it was decent 20 years ago, I've heard it has gotten way better with
locals doing a little clearing here and there. Another great thing about Burke
is the crowds...there aren't any. You'll be tired because you don't get any
breaks in the lift lines. Lastly, they have great snow up there. We used to
always go to Burke when the snow was iffy at Stowe or even Jay and were never
disappointed. They've had some fiscal problems in the recent past, but if it's
open this year, I'd strongly recommend it. You can try Stowe to see if you
like it better and then weigh the value of the season's pass. The terrain is
definitely better at Stowe, but the bang for the buck factor has to go to Burke
IMO.
  #3  
Old August 12th 03, 01:17 PM
Brad Anderson
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Default Burke Mountain beta?

Hugh,

I've heard good things about Burke though I've not skied it.
Generally go to Southern NH areas due to proximity. Don't know
specifically where Concord is, but you should be relatively close to
several ski areas. I think Jay peak is not too far from Burke, it's
generally considered one of the snowiest NE mountains and lots of
folks really like it. FWIW, it's not that far from Boston to a bunch
of areas. Ragged, Sunapee, Gunstock, Pats Peak, and Crotched should
all be within 60-90 minutes. Loon, Cannon, Bretton Woods, Wildcat
would be 2-3 hours. If you e-mail me (with your real e-mail), I can
share a couple of resources that you may find useful.
  #4  
Old August 12th 03, 01:36 PM
Walt
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Default Burke Mountain beta?

Brad Anderson wrote:

Hugh,

I've heard good things about Burke though I've not skied it.
Generally go to Southern NH areas due to proximity. Don't know
specifically where Concord is, but you should be relatively close to
several ski areas. I think Jay peak is not too far from Burke, it's
generally considered one of the snowiest NE mountains and lots of
folks really like it. FWIW, it's not that far from Boston to a bunch
of areas. Ragged, Sunapee, Gunstock, Pats Peak, and Crotched should
all be within 60-90 minutes. Loon, Cannon, Bretton Woods, Wildcat
would be 2-3 hours. If you e-mail me (with your real e-mail), I can
share a couple of resources that you may find useful.


My limited experience with Southern NH is that it's crazy crowded on the
weekends, and you can actually come out ahead by driving an extra hour
to the less crowded areas in the north. It took me over an hour and a
half to get from the parking lot to the slope at Sunapee one Saturday.
YMMV.

I'd say pick out a half a dozen or so candidate resorts, spend this
season visiting each one, and then figure out which one you like best.


--
//-Walt
// Seerch-a zee veb:
// http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=xx-bork
  #5  
Old August 12th 03, 07:41 PM
Brad Anderson
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Default Burke Mountain beta?

Walt wrote in message ...

My limited experience with Southern NH is that it's crazy crowded on the
weekends, and you can actually come out ahead by driving an extra hour
to the less crowded areas in the north. It took me over an hour and a
half to get from the parking lot to the slope at Sunapee one Saturday.
YMMV.

I'd say pick out a half a dozen or so candidate resorts, spend this
season visiting each one, and then figure out which one you like best.


1.5 hours, ouch! It's never taken us more than 15-20 minutes to get
from the lot to the slopes at Sunapee; were you renting skis? I've
heard ski rental there can take some time on busy days. But I agree
the Southern areas in both NH and Vermont can become too crowded on
weekends -- especially Saturdays. We tend to do day trips on Sundays
which I think are generally less crowded. I think your last bit of
advice is wise.
  #6  
Old August 12th 03, 07:56 PM
Walt
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Default Burke Mountain beta?

Brad Anderson wrote:
Walt wrote

My limited experience with Southern NH is that it's crazy crowded on the
weekends, and you can actually come out ahead by driving an extra hour
to the less crowded areas in the north. It took me over an hour and a
half to get from the parking lot to the slope at Sunapee one Saturday.
YMMV.


1.5 hours, ouch! It's never taken us more than 15-20 minutes to get
from the lot to the slopes at Sunapee; were you renting skis?


Nope. We pulled into the parking lot at 10am, waited for a shuttle to
take us to the lodge, waited in line for a basket rental ($8!!) , waited
in line for the bathroom, waited in line for the lift. My first run
commenced at 11:30. Ninety minutes from parking lot to skiing. (I'd
probably be able to shave 30 minutes off that if I had to do it again
now that I have some idea of the drill, but still...)

I've
heard ski rental there can take some time on busy days. But I agree
the Southern areas in both NH and Vermont can become too crowded on
weekends -- especially Saturdays. We tend to do day trips on Sundays
which I think are generally less crowded.


I'd say pick out a half a dozen or so candidate resorts, spend this
season visiting each one, and then figure out which one you like best.


I think your last bit of advice is wise.


Worth every penny you paid for it. (c:


--
//-Walt
// Seerch-a zee veb:
// http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=xx-bork
  #7  
Old August 13th 03, 12:32 PM
BJohansson
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Default Burke Mountain beta?

I think you missed the gist of his request. He has a house near Burke. I
lived in Northern Mass in the late 70's and have skied at all of the areas you
mentioned. Lousy snow, lousy terrain, lousy crowds...need I go on? From the
northern 'burbs of Boston to Concord, VT should only be about 3 hours (straight
up I-93, through Franconia Notch, and on into St. J.)

Also, Concord is not that close to Jay. My mapping program says 1 hour 15
minutes, but that's optimistic in the winter. Of course, it's probably more
like 2+ hours to Stowe (the mapping program says 1+30, but that doesn't account
for the semi trucks on Rte 2 or getting through Barre-Montpelier).
 




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