If you haven’t been to Mountain Creek and you live in NYC, you might be surprised by what you are missing. Formerly Vernon Valley Great Gorge resort, Mountain Creek has changed significantly since being purchased by Intrawest, which also owns Stratton Mountain in Vermont and Mont Tremblant in Canada.
In the days of Vernon Valley Great Gorge, this mountain was not unlike some of your sidewalks in NYC after an ice storm. There was a lot of traffic and a lot of skidding across seemingly endless sheets of ice. That’s to say nothing about the many raspberries collected here. These days, Mountain Creek has a lot to offer. And when you think that it is less than 50 miles from Manhattan, you realize that it is a great day trip destination for the NYC resident and many more in the lower tri-state area.
The trip to Mountain Creek is really simple and takes little time. When you arrive you will notice two distinct base areas, Vernon Base and South Base. Most people elect to start out from Vernon, but South base is fast becoming a popular launching point. Vernon has one of the coolest lifts I’ve ridden called the Cabriolet. This is a fast gondola that fits about seven to eight adults. In the early morning you will find that this is one of the rare times of day where there are no lines. It had snowed 12 inches the day before I arrived and I was psyched to get out there and enjoy some pow.
Much to my chagrin I found that the groomers were out in force over night. Thankfully I was able to find a trail, “Independence Pass” off “Great Northern”, that they left ungroomed, so this is where I focused my first hour of the day. IP has at least two great drop-offs where you can get some serious air. With 12 inches of new snow, it felt like you were landing on a cloud. I kicked around here for about seven or eight runs before finally getting a call from my buds that they were in the area.
Because of the Creeks’ proximity to NYC, it can get crowded fast and this day was no exception. This is why you want to be here and ready for the first lift at 8:00. Nobody seems to get out early here in the morning. Perhaps it is because it is a commuter mountain more than anything else. So just make sure you take advantage of this. Be here early and you will be rewarded with as many as ten runs in the first hour. I know that might seem like a lot, but the Creeks’ non-threatening 1,000 feet of vertical can be run in just about two minutes. That said it’s all about the lift lines here and in the morning there are none. At about 9:30 things begin to get busy so after I ride Vernon for a while, I usually head over to Granite Peak. Granite has two black diamond trails where you will find some steeps but they are over quick because of the slight vertical.
After riding Granite for a few runs I finally head over to South Peak and Bear Peak, which are both accessible from the South Base area. Getting to South can be tough for boarders because of the flat nature of the trail that takes you there called “Southern Sojourn”. You need to really focus on keeping your speed up on this trail or you will be walking. The skilled rider can make it all the way without stopping but you need a mix of both skill and good conditions. Once over to South I usually ride the South Peak Express quad. This takes you up to the top of South Peak, which has a higher vertical than Bear. South Peak has all blue or intermediate trails. You can bomb them from top to bottom and tire yourself out after about 10-15 runs. Bear peak has some black diamonds, which provide some decent pitch, but again it doesn’t have much vertical so you don’t get much burn happening in the legs.
After you are through at South, it’s time to climb aboard the Sojourn double, which takes you back to Granite Peak. This double chair is old and long and it traverses the same flat terrain as the trail you may have been walking on earlier, “Southern Sojourn”.
Now that you have explored the mountain, it’s time to check out what makes the Creek so much fun. And that is their terrain parks. The Creek has an awesome mix of half pipes, rails, and jumps that will satisfy any trickster. Working from the Cabriolet, you want to start out on “Great Northern” where you will see a great mix of tabletops and jumps with rails and, for lack of a better description, this very long mailbox-like thing. They also usually put together one or two good half pipes if you like to ride in the pipes. Some people spend their whole days here and with the variety of features I can see why.
Mountain Creek has a number of deals to sweeten the attraction for their visitors. The season pass is only $200 if you find three friends to buy them with you. If you buy a “Creek Card” for $50, it means big savings on every ticket and a free one-day pass after three visits. You will also find savings in the pro shops and lodges with these passes.
If mornings aren’t your thing, Creek is also great for a latter half of the day. A solid lighting system keeps the trails well lit and the riding going into the night. You can also get a cold beer practically while waiting in line for the Cabriolet.
To find out more check out: www.mountaincreek.com.
Until next time, the powder is where you find it.
