Connecticut Ski Area Guide -- Very Complete

• Mohawk Mountain, Cornwall • 107 skiable acres on 650' vertical
  Specs: Summit elevation: 1600'; Base elevation: 950'. 5 Lifts: 1 Triple, 4 doubles. Uphill Capacity: 7400/hr. Terrain Mix: 20-60-20. Longest Run: 6,600'. Season: usually mid November through late March/early April. Night Skiing: Mon-Sat. Annual Snowfall: 92". Snowmaking: 98%.
  The SKInny: An oldie but goodie; probably the best overall in the state. Lots of history here; Ski Hall of Famer Walt Schoenknecht built Mohawk prior to Mount Snow. Snowmaking (his invention) debuted here. Beyond the history, the skiing is decent, the lifts are seldom crowded, the pace is nice. Hotshots will find a few trails of interest, but wanderers will run out of steam. Ideal for families and skiers looking for a challenge without the stress of a monster resort. Mohawk has a "mid-mountain" lodge, which is one of the best things any ski area can do, so we give it top grades for skiing ambiance based on that alone. Size dictates that it be listed as a "small" ski area, but it's certainly at the top of that heap.
  Signature Trail: Mohawk.



• Powder Ridge, OPERATIONS CURRENTLY SUSPENDED -- update -- see below! HUZZAH!! Middlefield • 75 skiable acres on 500' vertical
  Specs: Summit elevation: 525'; Base elevation: 100'. 7 Lifts: 1 Triple, 2 doubles, 4 surface lifts. Uphill Capacity: 6254/hr. Terrain Mix: 33-34-33. Longest Run: 2,000'. Season: usually December through mid March. Night Skiing. Annual Snowfall: 50". Snowmaking: 100%.
  The SKInny: Good small suburban ski area, great for newbies and family skiing.




SkierNet.com Newswire April 11, 2007: For the past two days, the eyes of the skiing world have been on...Middlefield, Connecticut. You see, Middlefield's modest Powder Ridge Ski Area, a local fixture for almost half a century, did not open this past season. The owner, Whitewater Mountain Resorts Inc., faces a foreclosure auction Saturday. Would Powder Ridge be just another of the hundreds of New England ski areas that succumbed to development?

Not so fast. The question was put to voters:

"Shall the Town of Middlefield purchase up to approximately 294 acres of a combination of land and development rights in land constituting the Powder Ridge Ski and surrounding area in order to preserve the area as ski, recreation and open space land, and appropriate and authorize the issuance of up to $2,850,000 general obligation bonds of the Town to finance the purchase and related expenses, pursuant to the resolution approved by the Boards of Finance and Selectmen on March 7, 2007?"

Previous efforts by the Board of Selectmen got bottled up in the process, never reaching the citizens for a vote. But this time, the Board of Finance was (sorry about this) on board and it appeared as if an agreement could be reached with Whitewater to prevent foreclosure and sell to the town...pending a vote.

Yes -- 1097

No -- 151

CONGRATULATIONS to the people of Middlefield for having the foresight to preserve this priceless local recreation outlet. The benefits are indeed enormous vs. the small tax burden it will place on residents. I urge everyone in New England who is able, to make a stop in Middlefield next season to ski Powder Ridge and support this effort.

• Mount Southington, Southington • 50 skiable acres on 425' vertical
  Specs: Summit elevation: 525'; Base elevation: 100'. 7 Lifts: 1 Triple, 2 doubles, 4 surface lifts. Uphill Capacity: 6254/hr. Terrain Mix: 33-34-33. Longest Run: 2,000'. Season: usually December through mid March. Night Skiing. Annual Snowfall: 50". Snowmaking: 100%.
  The SKInny: Good small suburban ski area, great for newbies and family skiing.



• Ski Sundown, New Hartford • 65 skiable acres on 625' vertical
  Specs: Summit elevation: 1075'; Base elevation: 450'. 5 Lifts: 3 Triples, 1 double, 1 surface lift. Uphill Capacity: 6600/hr. Terrain Mix: 35-45-20. Longest Run: 5,288'. Season: usually December through mid March. Night Skiing. Annual Snowfall: 60". Snowmaking: 100%.
  The SKInny: Probably the most challenging terrain in Connecticut, although none of it is beyond the scope of a strong blue. Conditions are generally decent, lines are short, trails are scenic and pleasant. Hotshots can get a bit of a thrill, wanderers will say that it feels like a much bigger ski area than it really is. The only downside to Sundown is that it doesn't have much at all for the absolute newbie. It's positively great for the already-skiing novice.
  Signature Trail: Gunbarrel.



• Woodbury, Woodbury • 100 (?!) skiable acres on 300' vertical
  Specs: Summit elevation: 850'; Base elevation: 500'. 3 Lifts: 1 double, 2 surface lifts. Uphill Capacity: 2544/hr. Terrain Mix: 33-34-33. Longest Run: 2,640'. Season: usually November through March/April, occasionally opens in October. Night Skiing. Annual Snowfall: 64". Snowmaking: 100%.
  The SKInny: We saved the best for last. Not necessarily the best skiing in CT, but certainly the best ski area, if only for having the audacity to scoop Killington and Sunday River by being the first area open in 2002! Like David against Goliath, this is a small ski area with spunk. Wrings absolutely everything out of this hill, but we're not sure about the 100 acres claim. Rod Taylor blows snow chaotically, opens when he wants to, lifts are creaky...the whole operation ignores convention. Draws squigggly lines on a map of a wide open slope and claims each is a different "trail." You gotta love it, but in all honesty you'll head for bigger/better when time permits.

Additional Connecticut Ski Information

• Current Connecticut Snow Totals Map of snowfall during the past 24 hours, as well as a map of actual current natural snow cover.

Key

Hotshots are skiers who can ski anywhere, anytime, in any conditions, and generally enjoy showing off those skills. Wanderers are skiers who like to go exploring, to essentially get "lost" and move from face to face, seldom skiing the same trail twice. Newbies are the girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband who has never skied before, but gamely insists on going along. Obviously, Blues represents intermediate skiers, while Blacks refers to experts.

A Signature Trail Is mostly subjective. Whether it's history, reputation, the view, or degree of difficulty...it's the run you have to do, even if it isn't necessarily the best the resort has to offer.

Finally, a note about ski area statistics: Although it's hard to believe, some ski areas are (gasp!) less than truthful with their numbers. Like the guy who lies about his, uh, shoe size, some ski areas believe that inflated numbers make their resort sound more appealling. When these numbers are obviously questionable, we put a note: (?!) and will attempt to verify the legitimacy of the claim.

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