VERMONT

“Slopeside is where it's at...Okemo”
 

 

As seen in Okemo Magazine 2007

By Heather Burke

As we cram the SUV with bulging ski bags, tons of gear, plus a frozen lasagna, I think to myself “this is supposed to be a vacation!” Packing the family up for a ski trip is no small undertaking. Then I remind myself of last year’s beautiful condominium overlooking the groomed slopes of Okemo, and I remember that it is all worth it.

I have one word of advice for you skiing parents – slopeside. Anything else is far less convenient, and therefore less enjoyable for the packer, planner (aka: Sherpa) of the ski family.

Okemo was the first Vermont resort to provide families with on-mountain lodging back in 1961. While many other resorts have followed this resort trend by offering some sort of ski-in, ski-out lodging, Okemo has expanded its Real Estate realm from the A-frame village of 45-years ago. Accommodations range in size from studios to palatial five-bedroom condominiums, and a full-service slopeside hotel, The Jackson Gore Inn, designed in the style of a classic New England clapboard farmhouse.

The joys of the on-mountain experience start well before you click into your bindings and slide to the lift. Packing, you can bring a few favorite food items from home. Having a kitchen in the unit saves time and the hassle of having to go out for every meal, instead saving that as a special treat. And if your young skiers are like mine – their appetites are voracious right around 4pm – so it’s nice to have snacks and hot cocoa packets handy, and why not wine and cheese while you are at it.

One of the things we love about Okemo is that the ski trip is all mapped out. I think it is due to the resort owners, the husband and wife team who taught their own kids to ski. Diane and Tim Mueller know the effort involved in taking the gang skiing – and they have streamlined the process for the rest of us. Diane even shares helpful hints on Okemo.com. With a phone call, you can set up ski and snowboard lessons with the Cutting Edge Learning Center before you go. Then upon check in, you can pick up your lift tickets, and the Rental Shop stays open as late as 11pm on prime Friday nights.

These simple steps help quell first day on-snow anxiety. By getting completely outfitted by the professionals the night before, your ski morning is far less hectic. You are already signed up, have boots and board(s) for the entire family, and can skip the Saturday morning lines and lengthy forms. You just ski the posse down to the lifts or to the ski and snowboard school meeting area for a day at Snow Stars (ages 4-7) or Mountain Explorer (7 –14).

If your kids are just learning to turn, the bonus of the advance gear fitting is letting them get comfortable with their new toys. It’s like being allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve. I know when my kids were little, they loved getting their shiny boots and skis the day before “school.” My son called them “spaceman boots” as he adapted to the funky footwear. Result: he had mastered the awkward task of walking in ski boots and was amped up about skiing the next day – no fear – just fun.

Whether you choose to lodge near the original base at Okemo Village, at Kettlebrook, Winterplace, or at the newer Solitude, all Okemo’s condominiums are well maintained and turnkey for your arrival. Coming in late on a Friday night, my husband lights the fireplace, I unpack and claim the master suite for us, while the kids explore the hidden treasures of our home away from home. Then we all settle in for a skier’s nights rest.

Waking to a glorious sunrise over the Vermont hillsides on our first morning is enough to charge our batteries and get us up in time for lift opening. But the real beauty of slopeside lies in lying in, if you aren’t early birds. You can sleep in without fear of losing the prime parking spot or a seat in the base lodge. You are already at the slopes; you can roll out of bed and into your boots at your leisure, knowing the freshly groomed trails are right out your door.

Our kids love hanging out over breakfast in their snuggly pajamas before suiting up for the big ski day. Now that my daughter is a teen, she needs to sleep in, then style her hair (before donning a helmet - funny), so slopeside to her means lollygagging in front of the mirror while her zealous parents slip out to bag early tracks.

For those up with the sun, you can be blazing first turns down to the quad chairlift, where the liftees are starting up the chair, sweeping off the light, dry dusting that accumulates overnight from the man made blizzard. Okemo knows how to make snow, and they do so in quantity from November on, so the first up-first on is generally rewarded with freshies whether Ma Nature has done her dance or not. It’s a win/win by 9ish. My husband and I are replete with our first track fix, our kids are rested and finally ready, and we can all meet at a designated hour of civility to ski together.

Okemo has grown considerably since its origins in 1956, the ski area now sprawls with 624-acres of skiing with the highest vertical in southern Vermont at 2,200-vertical feet. So your family will find plenty of terrain to roam. With 117 trails, you can choose from buffed to perfection boulevards like my fave – Jolly Green Giant, to bumps and glades.

 

If your kids are into terrain parks (whose aren’t?), Okemo has the largest Superpipe in the East plus six Terrain Zones including a familycross park with big bank turns and snow whales to whoop it up and have fun together. Hot Dog Hill is designed as an intro park for newbies. Nor’Easter, Dew Zone, and Blind Faith pump it up for skiers and riders with rails, hits and jumps. The music du jour pumps out over the loud speakers for an extra cool factor.

All this fall-line fun is served by 18 lifts, so having a game plan with your gang is a good idea at Okemo. We like to start our day skiing over to the Northstar Express Quad and heading to the summit first thing. From here we can cruise popular Okemo runs like Chief and Defiance, often before some people are off the pillow. Then cruising to the South Face express finds us the best early day sun and snow, and the least people on splendidly scenic trails like Dreamweaver.

If the perfectly formed corduroy isn’t enough to make you smile, the sweeping views of Ludlow Valley and the surrounding Green Mountains covered in white certainly is. Note: here is the shutterbug spot for the smiling family photo, maybe even a ski greeting card.

With Okemo’s swift high-speed lifts, getting “ten by ten” is entirely possible, but that makes you hungry by 11. There are so many tempting lunch options to ski to; it’s hard to decide.

I love the Asian stir-fry served at Jump in the Summit Café. My son likes a good old-fashioned juicy burger at the Sitting Bull in the Base lodge with a view up the slopes. My husband prefers Solitude Lodge’s sit down restaurant, Epic, which serves trendy cuisine samplings. My daughter would be happy just skiing up to the adorable Swiss-chalet Waffle Haus for a chocolate-covered confection with powdered sugar. You need to ski Okemo for a week just to try out all the wonderful on-mountain dining outlets (and perhaps stretchy ski pants).

Don’t forget, you also have the affordable option of skiing back to the condo for lunch if that makes better “cents” for your crew. If the weather is changing throughout the day (this is New England – of course it is!), it is ultimately convenient to ski back to your condo for a change of clothes, add a layer or shed a neck warmer, grab sunscreen and shades – whatever snowball Mother Nature throws - a pit stop will have you refreshed for your next batch of runs.

Note: anyone who’s had enough outdoor adventure by noon can retire in the cozy condo with a good book for the afternoon.

Heading skiers’ left after lunch, you can explore the newest part of the resort – Jackson Gore, added in 2002. With steeper trails like Quantum Leap, Vortex and Big Bang, and a high-speed quad, this section of the mountain adds a more die-hard dimension to Okemo’s otherwise family friendly terrain. You can always take Limelight when your legs start to wobble in the afternoon, and point your tips toward the Jackson Gore Inn where you can toast your own s’mores fireside.

The Jackson Gore Inn (opened winter 2003-04) is an impressive ski in/ski out hotel, modeled after a Vermont country inn and farmhouse with a signature red round barn – but much more upscale than sleeping with the sheep. The Inn’s centerpiece is a sumptuous lobby and bar, a gracious setting to gather beyond the Inn’s condo-suite accommodations, which range up to 3-bedroom units.

 

This is the place to stay if you like everything under one roof: swimming, dining, shopping, a game room and a grand stone fireplace (did I mention underground parking). We stayed here one weekend, and our kids loved having the freedom to walk around the Inn independently, check out the game room or go for a swim, while we could enjoy adult-only dining in the posh paneled Wine Room. If you have littler ones, the on-site Penguin Playcare is open daily and most Saturday nights for a supervised kids’ pizza and a movie party.

If you are lodging in a mountainside condo, at least ski over to the Jackson Gore Inn for lunch, like fresh woodfired pizza in the Roundhouse Foodcourt or pub fare at the Coleman Brook Tavern. Note: all Okemo’s eateries are “ski boot friendly.”

While Okemo is big, the pastoral Vermont setting and the genuine hospitality from staff members put you at ease. As the kids get older (this is my new challenge), you can loosen their leash and let them ski till the lifts close (particularly given their late start). The teens can find their trail back at day’s end. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad can call it quits and sneak in secret Jacuzzi tub time.

For après ski, you can catch the convenient Okemo Resort Shuttle for a soak in the heated swimming pool and hot tub, or get more exercise ice skating at The Ice House, or cross-country skiing and indoor simulated golf at Okemo’s Nordic Center and Golf Training Center. If you get the shopping bug, it’s a quick drive down to the charming village of Ludlow for that must-have Vermont maple syrup, kitschy crafts, or ski stuff from several full-service ski shops.

In the evening, you can choose from Okemo’s culinary offerings at the Jackson Gore Inn, Solitude Lodge or Willie Dunn’s Grille - located at Nordic and Golf Center. Downtown is brimming with casual pubs and cafes. For an especially romantic dinner, treat yourself to the spectacular 1902 Castle. Of course, you can simply cozy up to the fire, uncork a bottle of red and mangiare the lasagna you packed, knowing there is no better place to be than slopeside.

I learned that the name Okemo comes from the Native Americans, meaning “all come home.” As I watch my family come through the condo door at 4pm, with those tell tale rosy cheeks and big smiles, I am always glad we choose to “come home” to Okemo.

 

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All Photography by Greg Burke

 

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