Resorts Opening Throughout the West

From Loveland Ski Area Site

Resorts across the west are beginning to open. The weather patterns are beginning to change in the west as well as the east coast. Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine received snow last week. Start looking for early season skiers hiking to their favorite summits over the next couple weeks. Watch Mad River Glen and killington for these hard core early season skiers. If the predictions are correct, we are in for a record season in New England. Its time to gear up and start training.



From Colorado:
Loveland Ski Area is getting ready to open any day now and Arapahoe Basin Colorado opened October 9, 2007 – "Arapahoe Basin ski area officials announce that its opening day for the 2007-2008 ski season will be Wednesday, October 10, 2007. This marks Arapahoe Basin’s earliest opening in its 61 years of operation. Last year the ski area was the first to open in the nation and this year A-Basin continues that trend.

The Exhibition chair will open to the public at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday. Skiers and riders can look forward to an 18-inch base on the intermediate High Noon run and some features in the High Divide terrain park. The will be no beginner skiing at this time. "(press release)"

It's Fall Fair Season In New England

On top Mount Washington NH/Photo from MWO site

As skiers and snowboarders await the season to start here in New England why not check out some cool Fairs and Fall Foliage.

The The Big E in West Springfield Massachusetts runs from Sept. 14th thru the 30th. The The Big E or The Eastern States Exposition is one of the oldest and biggest fairs in New England. The Big E has grown from a agriculture get together for farmers into a good time for the whole family. Some of the highlights are WebKinz ,and Montgomery and Gentry Sept. 28th.

A hint about parking at The Big E is that the locals turn their land into parking areas. You can save money for the fair itself by using these alternate parking areas. You can take The shuttle and put some cash in the hosts pockets.

Also when your in the area you can also check out the
Basketball Hall of Fame , or Six Flags New England .

While your in the area we recommend checking out White Hut Hotdogs on Memorial Ave. (Same Street as The Big E).Our family has enjoyed White Hut since they opened. The White Hut restaurant has been providing the highest quality hamburgs and hot dogs to the greater Springfield area for 67 years. Throughout those years, its humble 600 square feet of space and twelve stools have served millions with consistency and simplicity. In its third generation of ownership, the business continues to grow offering longtime loyal customers as well as new customers the opportunity to "relish the White Hut experience."

Another Famous restaurant that got it's start in the area is Friendly's Ice Cream the first Friendly's Ice Cream shop opened in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1935, they created a place where family, friends and neighbors could enjoy delicious food and ice cream, friendly service and reasonable prices. My dad put himself through school working at this restaurant. Lots of history in the area.

There is also another fair. The Bolton Fair is Massachusetts' best two-day fair, an old fashioned country fair in a great setting, on 35 acres of woods and fields along the Nashua River on the Lancaster/Bolton line, four miles west of exit 27, Interstate Route 495 on Route 117 in Central Massachusetts.
Fall begins Sunday September 21 st. Keep your eyes on the Killington Web Site for signs of opening day. Killington is a great barometer for opening day even if they are not the first you will find hints of what happening with the upcoming season.

King Richards Faire is another great experience during the fall. King Richard's Faire is a vivid recreation of a 16th century English marketplace at festival time. Actors, dancers, puppeteers, jugglers, minstrels, mimes, magicians and musicians perform each weekend for the favor of his Royal Highness King Richard.

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.