03/22/2026
TNT Ski the East pt.6
We woke up to a beautiful sunny sky and the choice today was either Black Mountain, which has the interesting story about being owned by the Indy Pass guy or back to Attitash to ski the top of the mountain that wasn’t open last time we were there. Quick check showed that the Indy pass guy wanted $80 and of course Attitash is on our pass so it was free. Knowing that it was only going to be a quick five or six laps. We chose the cheapskate route. Oh by the way, yesterday I forgot to mention that we stopped at the Mt. Washington Hotel. Holy crap, what is this place? Somewhat of a cross between the Grand Hotel, the Fairmont Château and the Timberline lodge from the Shining! Who has stayed here? Tell me about it. A little later we stopped to get ice for Tams drink. They had an ICE buffet. All you can eat.
Back to this morning. I noticed on the way over that my phone didn’t charge last night and was only at 29% charged. Our Epic passes are mobile passes only, meaning no hard RFID card. The scanner works good and it seems easier than the cards. But once your phone dies so goes your permission to ski! Running their app which tracks EVERYTHING you do while at the resort. You know, which runs you went on, Which chairs you rode, How fast you went in the Slow Skiing Zone, how much you spent on lunch, which bathroom you used and for how long. You know, all the things that you want to review when you get home. But all that great data comes at a cost. It burns your battery pretty fast. Combine that with the high tech Carv app that also runs GPS tracks in the background . Add to that a camera to record all your tourist moments and a 29% charge disappeared in a hurry. I asked the CLO what would happen if my phone was no longer holding a charge for them to scan my pass. He told me that technically you get treated as if you didn’t buy a pass but he would do me a favor and remember me. On run number five I went dark, Carv didnt even say goodbye and I pulled up to the loading station and found my guy to remind him that I was at zero. All good but just then the chair went dark too. I guess those idiots forgot to charge it last night! So with an estimated 10-15 minute delay, they asked everyone to move to the other chair. Of course this new CLO gave me a hard time, but I was able to squeeze one more upbound lift ride out of it.
Snow was the best it’s been all week! But still very fast. Every run was in the 50mph range and that was still “full belly” maximum carve knuckle dragging GS turns. Every now and then I would get a little too close to the edge of the slope, come over a rise to see a “thin cover” sign planted in the middle of an ice oozing rock. To me that is the best skiing because it keeps your heart rate up and the energy level high! For the most part everyone was skiing the lower mountain so the top roller coaster section was all mine. I upheld my JHAF pledge to be the best skier on the mountain. But it didnt take much to do that. In comparison with Stowe the day before, Attitash was very quiet.
Out of juice, I went in to the ticket office to see what the policy is for dead phones. No problem she says just open the app and disable it and then I can replace it with a RFID card. Rather than give her a hard time, I handed her my dead phone. She figured it out and smiled and said “maybe someone in the cafeteria could give me a quick jump”. I knew Tam would not like that and that she was at the outside fireplace for a suntan session so I called it quits and joined her for a coffee, a quick clothing change in the parking lot and then we were off to Boston Logan.
Allowing for a possible TSA slow down we may have over allowed and arrived earlier enough for a possible 5 hour security line. Did you know that Delta won’t let you in the lounge more than 3 hours before your flight. Somehow we were able to get all that gear back on a plane and now
It’s time to reflect on our trip.
The East is the best.
We ventured this way to experience a classic ski culture and tales of the best winter they have had in a long time. The culture is superb but the great conditions are a fragile thing and we caught it on January 1 early am.
The East is a Beast. Tradition says the east is icy skiing. This whole area is “rock oozing ice!” That’s true and nothing in Michigan compares to what we skied this week. Great carving? No. But you could feel the skill building happening.
The East is better than Michigan.
It's got longer runs. But so much of it is just like Michigan. Ishpeming Ski club started in 1887. Hanson hills opened in 1929. Mt Ripley opened in 1934. Caberfae in 1937. While the White Mountain people were bragging about it the Michigan crew was quietly getting it done. Mt Mansfield says it invented the National Ski Patrol. Ripley had one and the same year. The first chair in the east was 1947. Boyne had one the same year. All those famous names of the Pioneers of the East skiing should be noted right along with Everett Kircher, Stein Erickson. Don Thomas, Tom Nichols, Norm Brown, Carl Shumaker, Joe Kosik and all of the pioneers of Michigan skiing. And they did it with out the aid of a ski train or the CCC doing the hard work for free. I know I’m just scraping the surface of historic Michigan skiing events and people. Please add your suggestions to the replies below and someday we will give all the quiet hero’s of Michigan Skiing their due.
This wraps up the TNT Skis the East travelogue. We’ll see you on the next lap. Or as Brewster always famously says “Skiii ya later!
This travelogue dedicated to the memory of Shawn King. (1975-2026) One of the greats. Gone way before his time.
