Super Value Throwdown: Jay Peak vs. Smuggs!

Snowblind! has a great big soft spot in his hardpack heart for the two resorts we'll look at today, Smugglers Notch and Jay Peak. It was at the former that I learned the subtle art of snowboarding (while simultaneously reenacting the ABC Wide World of Sports "Agony of Defeat" segment) and grew to accept the magnetic attraction of riding in the trees. Jay Peak, the northernmost resort in Vermont, seems to have its own microclimate up there and as a result, just plain gets more snow (Jay Peak averages over 100 inches more per season). And that's just plain great.

Pass-wise, these two also offer a substantial discount over our two previous entries (Stowe & Sugarbush):

Jay Peak: $599

Smuggs: $489 (buy before 9/7)

$539 (buy before 10/31)

$599 (thereafter)

Seriously, these two are making a definite play for my season pass dollars.

Season Pass Prices: Stowe and Sugarbush

There comes a time in a young man's summer when his thoughts turn to... Winter.

And with those thoughts, deeply philosophical questions begin to emerge in the young man's head, such as: "Can I eke one more season out of this board that's a core shot away from becoming deck furniture?"; "What's the Old Farmer's Almanac predict about the snowfall amounts this winter?"; "Is it perhaps time to replace these capilene longjohns with a new set that's less, shall we say, 'stinky?' "

(Yes, the young man really does ponder these questions and the voice in his head sounds disturbingly like Daniel Stern's voiceover in The Wonder Years.)

But eventually, the Ultimate Question arises from the murky depths of the collective wintery unconscious: Where am I getting a pass this winter?

Today, we look at the 2009/10 season pass prices for two northern Vermont favorites, Stowe and Sugarbush. After a little digging online, I found the following prices for restriction-free season passes (i.e., you're allowed to celebrate the Great Emancipator on the slopes) at both resorts.

Stowe: $1452.00

Sugarbush: 1149.00

At a glance, these prices reflect the historic disparity between Stowe and Sugarbush: Stowe's somewhat more expensive. Note that these prices are for passes purchased prior to 10/30/09 (Stowe) and 9/17/09 (Sugarbush) – so you've got an extra month and a half to make that $300 extra bucks you need for the Stowe pass.

Now, Snowblind! is not about to get into a subjective discussion of the relative merits of either resort. I've held passes at both (though not at the same time) and I like them both. A lot. Both Stowe and Sugarbush offer a passel of perks (discounts on lessons, services, stores, etc.) some of which might appeal to you, or might not. The Sugarbush Adult All Mountain-7 pass does include a season's pass for one child under the age of 12 – Stowe has a separate pass that does this for an additional $405 (though it's for kids ages 18 and under). As you can see, when you get into the details it starts getting confusing.

Next up: Jay Peak and Smugglers Notch

Warren Miller's "Dynasty"

As much as I enjoy daydreaming about the frosty spray of fresh powder in my face, it just doesn't have quite the immediacy in mid-August as it does in, say, November – when the winter season is right around the corner. In the midst, however, of one of my recent midsummer flights-o-fancy, I remembered a ski country event that, not coincidentally, occurs just at that mid-November stokepoint (yes, stokepoint is a word... now):

Warren Miller's annual cinematic celebration of snow!

If you haven't seen a Warren Miller film before, it's two hours of pure exhilaration, featuring world class skiers and riders flying down steep couloirs, floating through neck-deep powder, and performing ridiculously stupid aerial acrobatics at high speed. In a word, you can't walk out of the theater and not be primed for the upcoming season. Dates for the Flynn Theater shows in Burlington are tentatively scheduled for November 21 and 22, so mark your calendar and dust off those slopeside reveries. Trust me, no one will be the wiser.

Burton Annual Summer Sale, Day 1

The Sale's Big, okay?

Big enough to camp out overnight for, huge enough to warrant a bank of portos (Snowblind! will resist the urge to speculate on the conditions thereof), and massive enough to draw somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-10,000 people this weekend.

The Burlington Free Press has a story in today's edition. Here's an excerpt I found interesting:

Josh Rhoades, 17, eager to have first pick at merchandise, was among the crowd that camped out overnight. He arrived at 9 p.m., he said, but it was worth it to be one of the first people through the doors. “I got in at 7:15,” he said. “Not bad.”

An hour later, Rhoades had already snagged a bag full of gear and two snowboards for $50 each, he said. Deals such as this keep him coming back each year. “I’ve been every year since I was, like, 8,” he said.

AHEM. FIFTY. DOLLARS. EACH.

'Nuff said.

ALERT! Burton Summer Sale This Weekend

I know, I know, this is incredibly short notice, but if a.) you're in Vermont *right now*, b.) you've got some disposable income burning a hole in your pocket, and c.) you're actually reading this blog here in its infancy, you might consider checking out the Burton's Annual Summer Sale sometime over the next three days.

The tent's open from 7 am to 7 pm, Friday and Saturday (8/7-8), and Sunday 9 to 5 at their international headquarters on Industrial Parkway in Burlington. Lots of excellent Burton-quality stuff for the gearhead in all of us.

If you find yourself outside of normal driving distance of the Burton Factory -- what's that? six? seven hours in the car? -- you can also get some sweet deals on last year's gear via the Shred Sale on the Burton website.

Now you see, it's not so crazy to be thinking snow in August!

A Proper Introduction

Since this is the first of what I hope will be many posts here on the Snowblind! blog, I feel it's best if we get off on the right foot and get to know each other. Actually, I don't anticipate getting to know much about you, dear reader, unless you post a comment, but don't feel compelled to do so just to spare my feelings. It's no biggie and as you'll soon discover, I do enjoy talking about myself.

My history with Vermont, both in terms of skiing/riding and otherwise, is rich and varied. I grew up in the greatest bedroom community in the world -- South Burlington, Vermont -- where I quickly mastered the intricacies of suburban life: knowing whose moms had the best junk food, weaseling out of mowing the lawn, and calculating the dimensions of a perfect wiffleball field. These lessons continue to serve me well.

It was also during these formative years that my love for sliding down steep hills with planks strapped to my feet was born. My first skiing experience was at age 7, at the legendary Stowe Mountain Resort. In the ensuing years I stem christied, garlanded, and jump-turned my way down the venerable slopes of Bolton Valley, Smugglers' Notch, Sugarbush, Jay Peak, and the tiny hill in my friend Danny's backyard. From that very first day, I loved everything about skiing...

... until about 15 years ago, when two of my best friends said to me, "Hey man, why don't you try snowboarding?" They even offered to teach me, which really meant "take the lift up with us and we'll abandon you to your own devices at the top." But I took them up on it, and that was fine, sink or swim (or tumble, as it were), and after recognizing I was actually goofy and not regular (which took several weeks), I got the hang of it -- and I've been riding ever since.

As far as this blog goes, I'll be posting about pretty much everything that captures my attention in the world of skiing and snowboarding. It'll also be fairly Vermont-o-centric (Snowblind! doesn't get out of the state much in the winter.) Finally, if you can't believe anyone would be thinking about winter in the freeking middle of summer, well what can I say?

But hey, you've read this far, I know you're with me.