Memorial Day weekend is here. Normally, Killington would likely be spinning the Superstar Lift this weekend, but that lift is no longer standing. Killington is replacing it this summer and, as a result, closed up shop for the 2024–2025 ski season early. With Quebec’s Sommet Saint Sauveur closing this past Monday, the ski season has officially come to an end in the East, at least for lift-served skiing.

Me tearing through Middle Northway at Jay Peak on April 27, 2025.

This was my sixth ski season and it was my best yet. That’s saying something, considering I broke six ribs in the middle of the season. The skiing in the East was phenomenal this year, at least where I ski, which is primarily in northern New York and northern Vermont. Normally, we get our fair share of thaws and rain events mid-winter, but that didn’t happen this season. Mother Nature delivered on the persistent cold and snow, which allowed conditions to be great for much of the winter. It was a real treat and I took advantage while I could, racking up 83 ski days at 13 different ski areas.

EARLY SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

My ski season began on October 14 at Whiteface Mountain. While the ski area wasn’t open, an early season dump allowed the toll road that goes up the mountain to be in play. It was my first time ever hiking up the road to ski and it was a lot of fun, particularly because I was skiing in mid-October. From there, my season took a break and picked back up in mid-November, when Whiteface Ski Area opened for the season.

The first few weeks of the season got off to a slow start, but the season kicked into overdrive as the snow started to fly in late November/early December. By December 6, Cloudspin, a natural snow-only run at Whiteface, was open. That basically never happens that early in the season. On December 7, I met up with Pro Skier Darren White at Smuggler’s Notch for a powder day. The trees on Sterling Mountain were in play. We’re both still kicking ourselves for not running it back on December 8, when Madonna Mountain opened for the first time this season.

Just a few days later, on December 12, a lake-effect snow band parked itself over Whiteface in the afternoon, dropping several inches of snow per hour on the mountain. It was a surprise powder afternoon and it’s still one of my most memorable days of the ski season. By December 14, the time had finally come to head to Jay Peak to ski some glades. Canyonland and Timbuktu were open, making for a very memorable mid-December day at Jay Peak.

I returned to Jay Peak a couple more times after that in December. My favorite day there that month was Christmas Eve, which I declared to have been the “best day of my 29 days so far this season.” Around Christmastime, I skied several other resorts as well, including Smuggler’s Notch, Sugarbush and a nearly fully open Titus Mountain. All of those days were excellent, with fresh snow and off-piste terrain open at each resort. It was around the holidays that I also ventured to Beartown Ski Area, which is Clinton County, New York’s greatest vertical ski area, and Mount Pisgah in Saranac Lake for some laps on the T-bars. These are both fun, small hills and I make sure to visit each a few times a season.

JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS

As the new year came roaring in, so too did the promise of an amazing season ahead. After all, we’d already had a pretty phenomenal early season and things were shaping up to be legendary. On January 4, I skied Lookout Mountain at Whiteface. This terrain basically never opens before February, but this season it opened around Christmas, which was the earliest it’s ever opened. It was great to experience Whiteface with all three of its mountains open so early in the season.

On January 5, I headed to Pico Mountain for the first time ever with Pro Skier Darren White and TV Matt. I’ve driven by Pico many times on my way to Killington and I’ve always wondered what it was like. Spoiler alert: It’s awesome, but you know, Pico sucks, tell your friends. Don’t go there and tell your friends not to go there either! On January 7, I called an audible after work and decided I’d head to Smuggler’s Notch for a short two-hour powder afternoon. Mainly, I was actually trying to avoid wind holds, which I successfully did, but the powder was a very nice bonus!

The powder train kept chugging along and, on January 10, I headed to Jay Peak with Wild Bill, Pro Skier Darren White and Bryan from New Hampshire. This was an epic day. Jay had received more than 50 inches of snow in 10 days and the woods were deep. The following day I headed down to Sugarbush to ski Mount Ellen. It was only my second time ever skiing Mount Ellen, but I really enjoyed it. The terrain is nice and it’s not as busy as Lincoln Peak.

There were a lot of amazing days at Whiteface in January, so I won’t cover them all, but on January 17, Skyward finally opened, alongside Blazer’s Bluff, which rarely ever opens. I’d only ever skied Blazer’s Bluff a couple of times, so it was fun to get to ski it again and show Wild Bill, who had never skied it, what it was all about. The entrance is steep, but after that it’s not too bad. On January 23, I finally made it to Cochran’s Ski Area outside of Burlington, Vermont, for the first time ever. Cochran’s is a small ski hill, but the terrain is a lot of fun and there’s night skiing. Plus, the rope tow is incredibly fast. I’d never ridden a rope tow before, so the speed caught me off guard. Check out the video linked below to see just how fast it was. It was flying by the T-bar!

As January wrapped up, I hit the road and headed to New Hampshire and Maine to ski at two new places: Wildcat Mountain and Sunday River. I skied Wildcat on January 25. There wasn’t a ton of terrain open for late January, but the views of Mount Washington made up for it. Seriously, if you’re an East Coast skier, this is a ski area that needs to be on your list. The terrain is good, too, but that view is top-tier in the East. The next day, I headed to Sunday River. I enjoyed skiing many of the steeps, including White Heat, but what really sticks with me from that day is The Igloo. This was the coolest thing I saw at a ski area all year. Sunday River built a legit igloo, complete with a bar, at the bottom of one of the lifts. I could’ve spent all day there, but there was skiing to be done.

FEBRUARY DOWNTURN

On February 2, I skied at Sugarbush with my buddies, including Chris, Wild Bill and Pro Skier Darren White. Most of the mountain was open and we spent plenty of time on some of the more challenging terrain, such as the Paradise Glades and the terrain off Castlerock. It was a great time up until the end of the day, when I caught an edge and may or may not have struck a tree on the intermediate run Sleeper. In the fall, I broke six ribs and spent a couple of nights in the hospital. I won’t dive too much into this, as it’s already been written about at length, but you can read about it here. That injury kept me bound to a recliner for more than a month and cost me nearly seven weeks of the ski season. I lost basically all of February and most of March. Breaking six ribs is a pretty serious injury, but it could’ve been even worse than it was and I’m just glad I was able to eventually return to skiing.

March HIGHLIGHTS

As the calendar flipped to March and the weeks continued to pass, I was slowly starting to feel better. On March 19, I was able to return to skiing, albeit at a slower and less aggressive pace. I’d spent 45 days doing nothing but recovering, so it was just nice to be back out on the mountain. Though I was back to skiing, I wasn’t back to 100%, so I didn’t ski every day for the remainder of the season. In fact, it was more like every couple of days that I went skiing. Despite that, I still managed to get in nearly 20 days of skiing after returning from injury.

On March 29, I made my grand return to Jay Peak for a powder day. I’d been hoping I’d get one more day in the woods at Jay on a powder day so I was pretty excited to be there. It was another epic day at Jay. Despite March being warm, the base was still deep and the trees were full of light and fluffy powder. Jay is just built different.

April AND MAY HIGHLIGHTS

April is really growing on me as a ski month. There can be quite a lot of terrain open in northern Vermont in April, including glades and other off-piste trails, and that was the case this year. On April 5, I finally made it to Stowe. I’d been worried my remaining Epic multi-day passes wouldn’t get used, so I figured I’d just go anyway, despite rain in the forecast. I skied with Pro Skier Darren White that day and, while it did rain, we made the most of it skiing tres.

On April 12, Pro Skier Darren White and I took our talents to Jay Peak. The mountain was almost 100% open. It was supposed to rain, but it ended up being mostly snow. Another powder day at Jay in the books. The next day, I headed to Bolton Valley for closing day. There was a lot of snow for closing day and I was able to ski the Vista Glade, which is a personal favorite of mine at Bolton, as well as some new glades like Devil’s Playground.

A couple of days later, I headed back to northern Vermont on April 17 to ski Stowe. I actually took some time off work for this one, because it was a powder day and I didn’t want to miss it! The sun was out, the snow was great, there was plenty of terrain open and trees were in play. No regrets. I’d take the time off again in a heartbeat!

From here on, all my remaining ski days were at Jay Peak. I went a few times during the week and then on the weekends. The most memorable day was April 27. I skied with TV Matt and the forecast was calling for heavy mid-day snow and, boy, did it deliver. Nearly six inches of snow fell in just a few hours, which helped freshen up the terrain and make the woods more enjoyable from the previous night’s freeze. Thanks to warm temperatures and rain, the snow at Jay went quickly and the season wrapped up on May 11 with just the Jet open. Jay was the last ski area to close in the eastern U.S. this season. There was some walking required, and the bottom of the run was more mud than snow, but it was a fun day to close out an amazing ski season.

A MEMORABLE SEASON

Every ski season is memorable, but this one is, for me, even more so. From some amazing, early-season powder days to breaking six ribs, the highs were legendary and the lows were tragic. I like to say that the ski season is a story that’s constantly writing itself. This story started on October 14 and the final page was written on May 11. If you had told me last September that I was going to ski a dump on October 14, have a bunch of early-season powder days, ski new places, then break six ribs only to return in late March and ski trees and powder deep into April, I wouldn’t have believed you, but here we are. Looking back, it’s one hell of a story.

Never Quit Skiing,

Lincoln

A LOOK BACK AT THE 2024–2025 SKI SEASON