Avoiding the crowds during ski season

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's own Lincoln Riddle joined the morning show live to give several tips to avoid the crowds during the ski season.

Transcript

00:00Ski season it's rapidly approaching us

00:02Joining us now from northern New York with tips for avoiding crowds on the ski slopes. This winter is Accuweather's

00:10Lincoln Riddle I Lincoln knows a few things about ski. Yeah, just a bit there Lincoln skis nearly every day putting in

00:18136 days on the mountain last year

00:21He also runs never quit skiing comm which is an East Coast ski blog that tracks his adventures on the snow

00:27So Lincoln, how many days have you skied so far this season? And are there any days that really stand out to you?

00:35Yeah, the last time we spoke was in early December I was at 14 days

00:40I skied most days in December 27 out of 31

00:43I didn't ski Christmas in a couple of days there between that and New Year's

00:47But I've been on the slopes a lot 37 days. Well today will be day 37. I'm at 36 currently after work

00:54I'll hit 37 but

00:5637 days currently one day that really sticks out to me was a lake effect snow day

01:02Mid-december I ski at white face ski area most of the time and a lake effect snow band just set up over northern

01:08New York right over white face and it dumped one to two inches per hour for like three to four hours

01:15It was absolutely incredible to experience at its core. I love snow

01:20It's one of my favorite things in the world and you put me in that much snow in that short amount of time

01:26I mean, it was fantastic

01:29For the Northeast and of course most of the places you go you mentioned northern New York State and northern New England

01:34What is the season been like so far?

01:37You know the season got off to an interesting start November was particularly warm

01:43Normally, we see ski areas open the first week of November a couple aside from one in Maine

01:48That did open on Halloween Day for a couple of hours

01:51The real core of the season starting was around November 15th about two weeks late and then

01:57Wasn't really until December, you know the first week of December that we saw a lot of ski areas be open

02:03But from there it really took off December was a pretty good month in the East

02:08We will at least you know, northern New York and New England for skiing

02:12Some ski areas were around Christmas Day 70 80 90 runs open

02:17And that includes trees as you're seeing right now on camera not just you know

02:22Trails that had snow made on them. So it's been an interesting

02:27Season so far. We did have a fall last weekend and early this week

02:30They're really kind of impacted the snow pack

02:32But right now there is snow falling at a lot of resorts and J peak in northern

02:38Vermont has reported 28 inches last 48 hours of snow. So hopefully the recovery is quick from that fall

02:45Gorgeous, by the way pictures

02:46I'm assuming those are all for you Lincoln really pretty to be seeing there on the screen as you answer all of our questions

02:51So a final question here. What tips do you have for people looking to get out and avoid crowds this winter on the slopes?

02:57Yeah, nobody wants to ski a crowded mountain, right? I mean there's lift lines

03:02No one wants to stand in line and of course, you don't want to be skiing busy trails

03:07The thing is sometimes the mountain is just crowded

03:10But there is some stuff you can do to give yourself the best chance at having a less crowded day

03:15For instance, we've got two holiday periods coming up Martin Luther King Day Martin Luther King jr. Day weekend

03:21That's in two weeks and then President's Day weekend in February

03:25Those two weekends are guaranteed

03:28No matter what conditions are to be some of the busiest of the season if you can avoid those weekends and choose a different

03:35Weekend you're likely to see less crowds, although that's not guaranteed

03:39You know every weekend is impacted by how much snow fell at the mountain

03:43Is it a powder day those things have a big impact and because of that?

03:46You also want to try to get to the mountain as early as possible. Most mountains open between 8 and 9 a.m

03:52That's when lifts start spinning get there 30 minutes before the mountain opens get your kids ready

03:56Get yourself ready get out on the snow because conditions typically are best first thing in the morning

04:03You know as soon as the list starts spinning for the next hour or two and then lastly

04:08A lot of mountains tend to have an area that is not as busy

04:13Maybe the lift that services it is slower or it only holds two people, you know

04:19And a lot of times this is an upper mountain lift. So it's servicing higher terrain on the mountain

04:23I like to stick to those trails and those lifts because there's no one there on a busy day

04:29It's the best place to be on the mountain where there's nobody

04:32Taking the road a less traveled accurate. There's Lincoln Riddle

04:35Thank you so much for joining us and you are making this beach lover kind of really interested in skiing and snow and snowboarding

04:41So we appreciate it. Tis the season here. Thanks again for joining us and be safe skiing later on this afternoon

Category

Transcript

Recommended