I received the following question by email this morning.
Nice post on Whiteface mountain opening. What do you consider to be the best ski areas near Huletts Landing?
Well, I guess that all depends on what you’re looking for but I’ll give you my two cents about the four areas I have skied at within driving distance from Huletts. (The bold titles link to the actual websites.)
Whiteface mountain is located in Lake Placid and is the farthest of the four from Huletts. You can get directions here, but I would estimate it’s about two hours from Huletts if you go north through Ticonderoga. There’s really no place like Lake Placid in the winter and the Whiteface website says this about the mountain:
No ski mountain in the east reaches higher than ours. Around you, dozens of Adirondack peaks jut into the horizon. And below you lie trails that have led Olympic athletes to glory. American Phil Mahre won silver here in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Andrew Weibrecht, a Lake Placid local who grew up skiing at Whiteface, competed in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and brought home the bronze medal in the Super G.
When I’ve been at Whiteface in the winter, I’ve stayed in Lake Placid and taken in the whole town. I especially enjoy going to the ice rink in the evenings. Here is the page with Whiteface’s webcams.
Do I need to say more? Killington is actually six mountains, 140 trails and over 70 miles of terrain. It’s probably the best known ski area in the east. Google calculates the trip from Huletts at about 1 hour and 20 minutes. While I’ve always liked Killington, the days that I’ve been there it’s always been crowded. It attracts people from all over the world and on big weekends, it shows.
The Killington website says this:
An extensive lift network featuring two high-speed gondolas that service everything from groomed cruisers to classic New England tree runs to parks, pipes, bumps and steeps.
Here is the page with Killington’s webcams. (See more on the left sidebar.)
Pico Peak is my personal favorite of the nearby skiing areas. The driving directions are here, but Google says it’s about 1 hour and 6 minutes from Huletts. We would go here a lot as kids, because my parents liked it for a number of reasons. To begin, it’s close. Secondly, it doesn’t have the crowds that Killington sometimes gets. Thirdly, the trails are good. It doesn’t open as early as some of the other mountains but it has some nice trails.
Here is how Pico’s website tells it:
Pico is like no other mountain. Only here can you experience the thrill of a large mountain with the personal touch of a small ski area.
The benefit of West Mountain is that it is within an hour of Huletts, making it the closest of the four. West Mountain is good skiing at a affordable price. Typically it opens the 2nd or 3rd week of December with the tubing park opening around Christmas week.
Here is West Mountain’s photo gallery.
Once again, these are the skiing areas that I have been to myself. They are by no means, the only mountains within driving distance of Huletts. If you have other personal favorites, I’d appreciate hearing from you. If you go to any of the four listed above this winter, send me a picture and let me know what you thought.