Al Neubert: Enjoyable skiing can be found in Connecticut

Unlike a week ago when Winter Storm Diaz dumped prodigious amounts of snow in the Catskills, Adirondacks and mountains of New England, Winter Storm Elliot was a snow killer. Elliot produced heavy rains – up to four inches in places – that went right up to the Canadian border ruining what was turning into a fantastic holiday period for skiers and snowboarders. The only consolation was that the warm-up was very short-lived, lasting under 12 hours, and the heavy natural snow cover soaked up much of the rain, but it’s become like marble now, following the deep freeze.

Then came the plummeting temperatures and high winds that produced actual sub-zero readings and way-below-zero wind chill numbers. Many ski areas in our area closed on Saturday and for Christmas just to recover and make snow. The quick freeze turned slopes into glaciers requiring multiple grooming runs by ski area grooming machines. Even at open ski areas, there were wind holds on many chair lifts, especially on upper mountain and summit chairs.  Skiers and snowboarders just can’t seem to catch a break for the holiday period as I’ve lost count as to how many in a row have been spoiled by Mother Nature playing the role of the Grinch.

Connecticut treasure

I managed to get out to Mohawk, in Cornwall, Connecticut, just before Elliot hit. Mohawk is under 60 miles from my home in Woodstock, driving mostly due east on mainly county roads in Dutchess County.  It’s one of the most scenic drives in our region, meandering through rolling hills and horse farms, going over the Taconic mountain range and across the Litchfield Hills of northwestern Connecticut.

Mohawk Ski Area was founded in 1947 by Walter Schoenknect, who also developed the massive Mount Snow ski resort in southern Vermont. Descendants of Schoenknect have kept the resort in the family and continue to run it in the founder’s tradition of excellent service. Schoenknect was a visionary and is credited with being the first to use snowmaking to ensure skiing (there was no such thing as snowboarding in the 1940s) when there was a dearth of natural snow, which has always been a major concern of ski area operators in the Northeast. He also chose the location for Mohawk because it was in a natural snow pocket and that was in evidence when I was there with about six inches of natural snow while there was almost none just a few miles away.

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Mohawk is a mid-sized ski area with five triple chairs and four beginner carpet lifts. There are 26 trails with night skiing available on most. There are no genuinely steep expert trails but the black-diamond rated runs from the summit are challenging enough for a short distance to make you earn your turns. Instead, most of the runs are intermediate and novice level but the really fun part of the terrain is the upper third of the mountain where the trails are narrower and wind through the pine and maple forest. The ski area has about a 600-foot vertical drop and the views from the summit are more like what you would find in Vermont.

I took 10 runs on a combination of trails from the summit and what I noticed was how easy it is to traverse from one side of the trail network to the other as the three summit chairs all converge together at the top. The area has excellent snowmaking coverage on virtually all the skiable terrain and surface conditions were outstanding while I was there for over two hours. Mohawk is also part of the Indy Pass program, probably the best season pass deal in the country.

Indy Pass a great buy

What is unique to the Indy Pass program is that you are not tied to one or even a few resorts but instead can use it for two visits each season at 120 ski areas across the U.S. and Canada. There are 22 resorts that participate in the program in the Northeast including from Pennsylvania to Maine. Among the top ski areas that are easily accessible from our area are the aforementioned Mohawk, Greek Peak, Catamount and West Mountain in New York; Berkshire East in Massachusetts; Magic Mountain in Vermont; and, Shawnee and Montage in Pennsylvania. Jay Peak, in Vermont, Waterville Valley and Cannon, in New Hampshire and Saddleback, in Maine, are among the major resorts that are part of the Indy Pass.

The Indy Pass program is priced at two levels: A base pass at about $350 per season and a $450 Indy Plus pass per season, with the latter having no blackout dates. Note that any areas that have blackout dates have them on the busiest weekend and holidays when you wouldn’t want to go anyway. Kids' pass prices are a little more than $200. Pricing is also dependent on when you purchase the passes – the earlier, the greater the discounts. For more information, you can go to the program website at www.indyskipass.com.

Think less cold and more snow and Happy New Year, and happy skiing and riding!

You can contact me at asneubert@aol.com or you can visit my Instagram page at asneubert

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Short drive to Connecticut nets enjoyable ski visit