Getting Outside In New England This Fall

So skiers and snowboarders are chomping at the bit to get into the mountains. Living or visiting New England in September and October means the best back country hiking and camping of the year. The bugs are dieing the crowds have subsided on the trails and your ready to get outside and train for the up coming season.

My personal favorite trails are in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I call Lincoln NH my hiking base camp. You can basically access the hole WMNF from Lincoln. Once you are in the National Forest the choices abound.

Great day hikes are lonesome Lake or The Old Bridle Path. Both starting in Franconia Notch. Their are so many to choose from it is highly recommended you have access to good maps.

Access thousands of hiking trails and unlimited topo maps. Try it free! Topo maps are the best. They not only show you ware you are going but also help you determine the difficulty level of your hike. Hiking in the WMNF can be dangerous if you are not prepared. Even a day hike. Snow is not unheard of in August. The first thing anyone hiking the WMNF should do is pick up a copy of the Appalachian Mountain Clubs White Mountain Guide

After arming yourself with information and decide what type of hikes you will want to take you will need gear. The type of equipment varies with each type and difficulty of a hike. A day, a over night or a multi day hike.
For a day hike with a good weather forecast you can get away with a Daypack , preferably a Filtering Water Bottle or a couple quarts of bottled water per person, a couple Power Bars or candy bars a Compass and a good rain coat. Potable water is very hard to find in National Forest or State Parks.



For a over night or a multi day trips you will need a large backpack all the above plus a Sleeping Bag , Tent , Light Weight Stove and Freeze Dried Food . You can find a complete list in the White Mountain Guide Book .

Getting out on the trail will get the skiing legs in shape. Do some research and get out their.


Don't forget to check the links for season pass deadlines

Getting Ready for 2007-2008 Ski Season and Bode Miller Interview

Thanks for checking in on the North East Ski Zone Blog.

September is here school has started and the ski resort Emails start poring in from the ski resorts. Offers of reduced season tickets lodging deals abound. My favorite deal of the season is college week at Sunday River in Maine starting New Years. Not sure what this season costs, but past seasons have been $55.00 for lift tickets and lodging per person per night. Awesome deal. I have been going with basically the same group for the last five seasons and will be going again this season.

The Ski Magazine 2008 buyer guide has also arrived in the week. As usually it is filled with latest and greatest gear for the 2007 / 2008 ski season.

What cought my eye first was the new Fischer Watea 84 ski. " The Absolute Weapon" with carbon fiber I-Beam construction this ski is on the cutting edge of technology. Basically a all mountain ski but shaped in a way to descend bumps, hard pack or deep powder aggressively.

Another article called RoomKey focuses on Okemo Mt Vermont's new Jackson Gore. Okemo has a special place in my heart seeing I have family that work and live their. The Mueller Family is truly the future of family owned ski resorts And probably one of the last. These people basically took failing ski hill and turned into a high end resort. They also have begun working their magic at Crested Butte in Colorado and Mt Sunapee in New Hampshire.

It's amazing what Okemo has done at Jackson Gore. After they built the first building which includes all the services you could want they started adding more and more. The most recent is two more Condo buildings and a health club. Even a skating rink. So now they have two outdoor pools and a indoor pool with plenty of hot tubs, Steam Rooms and saunas. It's like a completely different resort. As a matter of fact last time I was their I only saw the old base area once in 6 days of skiing. Simply the best.

Funny last season I was hanging around the lobby bar waiting for someone and a waitress walked by with a HIBACHI GRILL PU PU PLATTER PARTY TRAY with all the fixings for smores. That's a first.

In other stories from across the area. Bode Miller appeared on NECN talking about his home town Franconia NH and the Turtle Ridge Foundation. The foundation has events Like a golf tournament and so on to raise money. With all the controversy around Bode Miller he truly is a grounded person and it shows in the NECN video interview. He also talks about being a independent ski racer and Bode Fest

Last but not least we are proud to announce the The North East Ski Zone Discount Gear Store.

Take this chance to check it out. Pre-season pricing and last years close outs by the 10s of 1000s. Pick up a pair of Oakley goggles for under $50.00. Check it out and bookmark it. Best deals on the Internet

2007 Cape Cod Air Show Featuring the USAF Thunderbirds

So as I'm sitting in my lazy summer home on Cape Cod trying to think up my next blog and reading 10's of Emails the resorts started sending and the F15 and F16's started buzzing my house. So I crank up The Grateful Dead show from Foxboro. 1991 (eyes estimated) to drowned them out. Just like that, theirs my topic right their. The Otis Air Show is this Weekend. The last couple years the air show hasn't been that great, but with the weather report for one of the last big weekends of summer is good for the Cape. So this year should be awesome. It is a free event and you can walk through the big transports and sit in a F15. http://www.capecodairshow2007.org/ Getting to Cape Cod for this event can be easy if you come over the Bourne bridge. You will avoid that traffic everyone hates so much. It's truly one one of the coolest things to do on the Cape. Sitting on the beach or the bars frying can get old fast. Check it out. See your tax dollars at work.

Summer In New England

When most people think of summer in New England they think of the Sea Shore or the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Well some like to get away from the crowded beaches of Cape Cod and hit the woods. Camping and Hiking can be more enjoyable when you have the right gear. Long over night or multi night Camping and Hiking trip require much different equipment.
For a one night Camping and Hiking trips you can get away with just the basic Camping and Hiking gear like a tent. sleeping bag, water, and non perishable food. For multi-day Camping and Hiking you will need to gear up with a Camping and Hiking stove, more food and a water purification system of some sort. Above all you need a good map and compass, as well as knowing how to use them. Get away from the crowds and grab a friend and do some back country Camping and Hiking . http://outdoors.org/ is a great place to start for planning a Camping and Hiking trip in New England or for that matter any ware on the East Coast of the US. And don't forget the map and compass. And when your on the coast you can find many good day hikes. Yes even on Cape Cod. Check out the Mashpee Woodlands in Mashpee MA.

American Skiing Company is out of Business for Good

ASC sells last of it's resorts lets employee's go. RSN.com reports.

"ASC is done
American Skiing Co. said Monday it was selling its last ski area and going out of business.
ASC, which owned 10 ski areas as recently as 2001, said it would sell its flagship The Canyons, a 3,700-acre resort in Park City, for $100 million to an affiliate of Toronto-based Talisker Corp., a luxury resort club operator that has invested heavily in lodging at Deer Valley, another Park City resort.
Talisker became owner of land and mineral rights at Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort, which are operated by separate companies, when it bought United Park City Mines in 2003.
American Skiing began operating The Canyons in 1997, taking over a tiny ski area called Wolf Mountain. Over the years it invested heavily in mountain and base lodge amenities, adding terrain and lifts as recently as last winter.
It previously announced the sale of Maine's two largest ski areas - Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA - leaving The Canyons as its last resort.
Common stockholders will get nothing as American Skiing dissolves and lets corporate employees go. "
So you have the summer time skiing blues. If you can't make it to Chili you can get ready with some great deals on EBay. Check it out