Yesterday, I’d said I wasn’t sure where I'd be skiing today, but Jay Peak had the edge and I’d make my decision in the morning. There were several other options, including Whiteface, Smuggler’s Notch, or maybe even somewhere else. When I said “maybe even somewhere else,” I was thinking Sugarbush or Stratton. Instead, I found myself pulling into the parking lot of a surprising choice: Titus Mountain.

Titus Mountain is in northern New York and only about an hour away from me. It’s not on any of my passes, which is why I wasn’t expecting to end up there today, but when I saw they had lift tickets for $20 for opening weekend, I said ‘Why not?’. That’s a great deal and Titus is a fun mountain. I make the trip a few times a year, but never this early, so it was unique in that regard.

Before I dive into the skiing, I'd like to mention that this is a mountain that feels very well-run and taken care of. It’s not the biggest mountain around, nor is it the most challenging, but it’s a great place to learn and there’s some fun terrain, especially the trees and the Upper Mountain.

With it being early in the season, the Upper Mountain wasn’t open today, but a few trails off the Lower Mountain were. They were spinning two lifts. In total, there were 11 runs open, some of which were natural snow only. The mountain wasn’t very busy. In fact, there essentially was no wait to get on the lift and the runs themselves were quiet. That’s in contrast to my ski day at Sugarbush yesterday, where I'd randomly find myself surrounded by a ton of people.

It was snowing when I got there and it didn’t let up the rest of the day. As a result, conditions were fantastic. The natural snow-only terrain that was open was a little thin in spots, but nothing you couldn’t navigate around. My favorite runs were Mark’s Way, a beginner natural snow-only run through a forest, as well as the trees/trails in the Jack’s Jump area. The groomer Ridge Run also skied very well, and was great to rip down.

Shoutout to Titus for offering those cheap tickets on opening weekend. It was great to be able to go there today and get some runs in with the fresh snow coming down. The next time I stop by this winter it’ll probably be for night skiing, but maybe it’ll be during the day. Either way, I’m looking forward to it!

Never Quit Skiing,

Lincoln

TITUS MOUNTAIN FOR THE WIN

SKIING THROUGH THIN COVER AT SUGARBUSH