Although skiing originated in the frigid mountains of Scandinavia thousands of years ago as a form of both travel and hunting, it is today almost entirely associated with yuppies. Every winter, suburbanites flock from their homes to the mountains where they don expensive jackets and gear to slide down snow covered hillsides. By its very nature, skiing is a sport which attracts the upper crust of society. The expensive clothes, lodges, and lift tickets exclude all riff raff deemed unfit for the mountain.

Skiing yuppie couple….

I love to ski and I have been doing it my whole life, however I am very much against the snobby culture which goes along with it. Arrogant members of the upper middle class have changed the sport into a display of wealth and style. That is why I am writing this blog entry, in defense of east coast skiing and of the super-8-motel-sleeping diehards who live for the sport.

While there is a lot of premier skiing in the Rocky mountains of the west, you don’t have to go far or spend a lot of money to enjoy top quality skiing.

The east coast has a long skiing tradition. It is worth pointing out that in the U.S., downhill skiing had its start in New England. The first ski club outside of Europe was formed by Norwegian immigrants in the 1880’s in New Hampshire.  Also, the first ski race in the U.S. was held by the Dartmouth Outing Club on Mount Moosilauke in 1927. Some of the earliest ski resorts were built on the east coast as well. 1934 saw the first ski tow-rope, powered by a Ford Model T engine in Woodstock, VT.

First tow-rope in Woodstock VT

The major ski mountains of the Northeast are located in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Quebec. While these mountains may be lower in elevation than their western cousins, their vertical prominence is not too shabby. Vertical prominence is the measure of a mountain from its lowest point to its summit. In the case of ski resorts, it is the measure from the top of the highest trail to the bottom of the mountain. The ski resort with the most vertical drop in the east is Whiteface Lake Placid, New York, with 3,216 feet of drop, not including several hundred vertical feet of hike-accessible glades called “the slides” on the summit. This is more than many western resorts, including Vail, Colorado, Mt Hood, Oregon, and Park City, Utah. Many of the large ski resorts in New England have impressive vertical drops, such as Killington and Sugarbush of Vermont and Sugarloaf in Maine, all of which have over 2,500 vertical feet of drop.

Vermont offers some of the best skiing in the East. Jay Peak, near the Canada border, receives more snow than any other location in the east (over 300 inches a year on average!) It is also a long drive from major U.S. cities, so it is less crowded than many larger resorts like Killington. It also has incredible backcountry skiing. Killington, while crowded at times, has more skiable terrain than any ski resort in the east. It also is renowned for its nightlife. Sugarbush, like Jay is further north and quieter, but is home to some great backcountry skiing. This year, I skied Okemo for the first time. Okemo is an easy drive from New York or Philadelphia, and makes a lot of snow, meaning it stays open for more of the year than most Vermont resorts.

Okemo ski lift, complete with bubble!

I love to ski and I believe you don’t have to go far to experience great skiing. The mountains of the northeast provide spectacular weekend skiing. When the conditions are right, and the crowds aren’t there, there’s nothing like it.