Best places to ride MLK weekend

fresh tracks before work

After that little bit of snow we got we were all reminded that this is actually winter (I was starting to question that) and if you got the opportunity to ride yesterday you were also reminded that pow days are awesome. More please Mother Nature? If you didn't fake some mysterious 24 hour bug to play hooky Thursday you missed out on some fun times!

However, there's still some snow left to slash this weekend and even the possibility that some places will be getting a few more inches. Beware though: the forecast calls for dropping temps Saturday night into Sunday (high of 10?) so bundle up good! On the plus side this may keep some of the usual holiday crowds off the slope so you can get at that small bit of fresh left on the side of that one trail you like...


Best bets for this weekend:

While most mountains received 6-8 inches, Jay could be getting up to another 4 tonight. However the forecast also calls for winds up to 40mph and extremely cold temps. There's a good amount of terrain open and hopefully some of that snow will get pushed into the trees where you can avoid the gusts and ride some of the steep, tight lines Jay is famous for. Jay is also offering great lodging deals to celebrate the opening of their new indoor water park so even if conditions suck you can have fun surfing some artificial waves.

Wildcat powder (from @skiwildcat)

If you don't want to make the long haul up to Jay, Killington is a always a good bet for a busy holiday weekend. Although the mountain will undoubtedly attract a lot more vacationers, it has the terrain capacity to handle the rush without feeling too crowded and with 7 inches of new snow there's even the possibility you'll find some untouched stuff to make pretty lines in.

Wildcat in NH is reporting 9 inches of snow yesterday and from the looks of the pics they posted it seems like it was a blast. Not a ton of trails open but they will have less crowds than some of the bigger mountains. Nearby, Attitash also got a fair amount of snow and has more trails to offer too.

In Maine the Loaf is definitely the way to go. Report says 7 inches but by some accounts they got nearly a foot of snow, at the least 10 inches. Forecast is also saying 4-6 inches of additional accumulation possible tonight, but it will definitely be a cold one up there with a windchill as cold as -13.

Hopefully by now you've packed up your gear an you're getting ready to hop in your car to have an awesome weekend of riding! Stay warm and go get some pow, you deserve it.