[kickstand]

1. Women and kids. Huge. I have 2 8 year olds. A wife who races. If there are not blue trails there for them to have fun on what's the point? Go arounds are great for drops and such, but they want jump lines they can clear too.....It's not fun to ride around the whole trail, it's fun to ride a trail that is at your level and will allow you to progress to the bigger lines. B-Line, Crank it Up, A-line. (green, blue, black). Same with tech trails, green doesn't have to be flat and non tech, but it should be considered to build green rock gardens for the kids and beginners.

2. Is the general concensus that Mountain Creek is the whistler of the east coast? I've had fun there, but I feel like the variety of trails at Snowshoe is better....granted I have been to snowshoe more, it's closer to home, and it has more elevation....But I feel like with Skyline, Powerline, the "gnar" the redbull line, and two running lifts it feels a lot more like Whistler did than Mountain creek does.

That said, I LIKE that mountain creek has a better "feel". Mountain Creek seems to "care" more about the riders, where as snowshoe seems arrogant in the fact that they have great trails and we can suck their pee pee regarding anything else.

I haven't been to highland yet. I would like to.

Whistler just flat out wins.....

Windham was fun this weekend, a green, a few blues, a jump line or two, and another black race course and I would consider it a solid option.

 

[kidwoo]

If there are not blue trails there for them to have fun on what's the point?

Alpine slide or quick round of 9 holes of course! Totally interchangeable with mountainbiking doncha know!?

2. Is the general concensus that Mountain Creek is the whistler of the east coast? .

Don't know. How many australians are there? That's the real metric.

 

[jonKranked]

mt creek does have an outdoor bar now.

 

[kickstand]

Don't know. How many australians are there? That's the real metric.

No australians, but I do regularly ride with a few english blokes there.

Mt. Creek has the jersey shore crew, but they don't ride much, they just go to the waterpark, so its kind of a wash.

 

[Electric_City]

Here's my take. I don't know much about Windham, but I do know that it took a S-ton of planning and money to hold the World Cup. I know this was their 4th time holding it in 5 years. That means they've planned to hold a WC there for at least the last 7-8 years. They're planners. I see Windham doing what Creek did by starting off with what they have, but knowing it will take more than that to get people in and expanding over the years. I also see them being very accommodating since they're putting the entire town into it. I think they'll know... I think they ALREADY know that it's a long investment and that up front for the first few years their moneymaker might just be the WC. We're on here throwing around advice, but nobody ever ran a ski hill. They have, and they want to bring in more ways for me to have fun!
Maybe, just maybe nobody wants to be "the east coast Whistler" but rather have their own identity. "This is Windham" or "Killington, killing it all year long". Remember too that it's not the 5,000 vert that makes Whistler, Whistler. It's the trail design that makes Whistler what it is. They started off with only the lower half (2,600'?) and built legendary trails like Dirt Merchant and A-line that got them world wide recognition. Windham has a clean slate to work with.

I wish them the best of luck with their investment in trails for you and me to rip on! EC

 

[Sandwich]

Sounds very familiar. From the mountains I've seen on the other coast, when this approach is used, all it does is compromise the potential of bike trails. Mountains hire lifties already on the payroll from winter to save money, whether they know what they're doing with dirt or not, because, hey we need money for that zipline course too!

Biking gets thrown on the list of 'stuff to do at XXXXX mountain resort during your vacation' and not a dedicated outlet for what's a very committed and reliable customer base (IE people who already ride bikes a ton).

The places that do this on the east coast have a very mediocre commitment to biking. Downhilling doesn't go hand in hand with golf and mountain coasters, as much as it maybe theoretically should. Hell, I have a kid, I like biking, but I still know I won't be able to dump the wife and kid on the ropes course at Jiminy while I ride bikes all day. It just doesn't work like that.

 

[Jim Mac]

The places that do this on the east coast have a very mediocre commitment to biking. Downhilling doesn't go hand in hand with golf and mountain coasters, as much as it maybe theoretically should. Hell, I have a kid, I like biking, but I still know I won't be able to dump the wife and kid on the ropes course at Jiminy while I ride bikes all day. It just doesn't work like that.

C'mon...there is way more kiddie stuff than ropes at Jiminy. mountain coaster, slide, bungees stuff below, etc and so on. Places like that take the shotgun approach to summer business.

 

[Sandwich]

Yeah, but if I'm dragging the kid to jiminy I'm going to hang with the wife and kid, not ride my bike. Same with attitash.

If windham has the investment capital to really put together a "we own this town" approach to a destination resort, then I could see it, but I still see more potential at someplace like Killington, which is more "elevation + money = riders" than "fun for the whole family".

 

[kickstand]

The places that do this on the east coast have a very mediocre commitment to biking. Downhilling doesn't go hand in hand with golf and mountain coasters, as much as it maybe theoretically should. Hell, I have a kid, I like biking, but I still know I won't be able to dump the wife and kid on the ropes course at Jiminy while I ride bikes all day. It just doesn't work like that.

Sounds like you need to get your wife and kid on a bike

This is where I believe Snowshoe has done a pretty good job, I've never really checked out some of the other activities available at Mountain Creek, so I can't compare.

But you have:
Golf
Shavers Lake (Beach, paddleboards, kayaks, paddleboats, hiking tours, etc)
Shooting clays (Near by)
Segway tours
ATV tours
Zipline
Shopping
kid stuff in village (bouncy things, rock climb wall)
Kid day camps
Spa for the wife


The truth is, bikes are an add on for dad for summer fun, just like the spa, and shopping is a summer add on for mom. These resorts do make most of their summer money on Golf (around us and even whistler at one point) bikes are not their main attraction, but in a seminar I attended with one of our local mountains there were supporting figures to show that whistler has changed that, bikes beat out golf at some point, and the local resort really perked up when they heard that, and then they never built any new trails other than the 3 weak trails they already had.

 

[jonKranked]

Yeah, but if I'm dragging the kid to jiminy I'm going to hang with the wife and kid, not ride my bike. Same with attitash.

then you're doing it wrong

 

[kidwoo]

The disconnect between ski and bike season in the minds of literally the same people running mountains still astounds me. All the spas, sushi joints, and bars showed up at ski areas AFTER there was a well established infrastructure of chairlifts and skiing (speaking historically here). Even if not at a specific mountain, the precedent had been set of providing a venue for a dedicated population of the sport.

Golf is about the same as biking in that people are really into doing it multiple times a season, but no one considers themselves a dedicated alpine slider. The whole idea of a summer destination resort where you try the zip lining one day, the mountain biking another day, and then pay for a tour on a quad, is a one-off proposition. People coming every single weekend, buying lunch, beers, and season passes may not be as big of a single plug of cash in 3 days but it's reliable and repeating. Do it well enough and people start traveling JUST for that one activity. Quad tours ain't that.

Whistler did that with bikes. I mean how many 'blue' or 'green' trails were there 10 years ago when they started blowing up? It got well known because they catered to an established population early on and then grew from there. No one else seems to get that.

I have no idea what windam has planned but that's just my general gripe about how all these mountains never see a return on biking investment. And I see it repeated ad nauseam over and over and over again.

 

[kickstand]

I agree with you.

Build it, Build it good, build it for all skill levels, and then build a **** ton more black diamond trails, and then keep building and they will come.

Oh, yeah....and keep it cheap, real cheap because I drive really far.

 

[kickstand]

then you're doing it wrong

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to jonKranked again.

 

[DHJUNKIE]

What?! He lives! How's the CPC Patriot?

hahahaha,,, far in my past as a 14-15 year old kid... glad to see people have been here as long as I have. Im still riding downhill every chance, on a glory now.

 

[nh dude]

Sugar Bush is def steping up their game. Put 2 or 3 new machined bermy sections in eden woods needs some tweeking but still good. and have been keeping erosion under control on the "grand stand" side. race track is still rugged. open slope is pretty fast ( rare feature on east coast ) it has long runs, good jumps in the woods if you can eye them up. quick lift 7 days a week. 6 pm friday and sat. not sure about fall hours.. In fact I haven't gone to Killington for a while now, Bush requires no pedaling no traversing. Hopefully they keep putting in work. little partial due to the location

Warren Waitsfield has all that wifey shat and BVT is about 45 mins away. Stowe is the same travel time as well for more artsy fartsy fack stick activities