IT�S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE Best Places to Ski in the Northeastby Evelyn KanterWhile the rest of us enjoyed summer and fall, ski areas east to west were busy widening trails and bulldozing new ones, adding snowmaking and new high speed lifts, and expanding base area lodging.� They also were working overtime to create packages and programs to lure us back to the slopes.� Here�s a selection of what�s new � or newly improved in the Northeast � for a weekend or longer, for families, singles, or just for fun in the snow..  Stratton Mountain Resort became one of the first resorts in the country to install a six-passenger high-speed lift, in 1995, and now is the first with two of them.� The new Ursa �six-pack�, named for the resorts mascot bear, replaces both the creaky old Grizzly double and the fixed-grip North American quad.� Ursa whisks skiers and riders to the top in less than five minutes, half the time it took before, to broad cruisers, a terrain park and old-fashioned winding New England trails such as Polar Bear.
Stratton also has several women�s only weekend ski and snowboard camps scheduled this season � two in January, one in February and two more in March. The program includes equipment demos, supervised daily workout sessions at the fitness center, coaching and most meals.� Prices are $375 for three-day workshops and� $480 for four-days. Lodging starts at $49 per person per night. Another reason to visit Stratton is Green Mountain Orthotics in the base area village.� The owners are certified pedorthists and members of Ski Magazine�s boot test team.� This is one of the best boot fitting shops in the northeast, and can outfit you with custom footbeds that will make your boots more comfortable while repairing any imbalance in your stance so you can ski better. Stratton Mountain Resort is in southern Vermont, off Route 30, between Brattleboro and Manchester.�� Take an afternoon away from the slopes to shop the high� end designer outlets such as Gucci, Coach and Movado) at Manchester village. Call 800-STRATTON or
www.stratton.com  Okemo Mountain Resort is one of the few independently-owned ski and snowboard resorts left in Vermont, and its low-key nature makes it an ideal place for families with young children, novice skiers and snowboarders who are intimidated by the crowds at larger areas, or those returning to the slopes after several seasons.
Kids six and under ski free, and parents ski worry-free with rented pagers from the day care center and kid�s instruction program, to be a beep away from any problems. Okemo�s Snow Tracks Nature Program teaches about the environment and the animals of Vermont, within the ski and snowboard lesson program.� There are lesson programs for skiers as young as four and snowboarders as young as five, and a supervised �nightclub� in the base area for teens 13-18, from 7:30-10:30 p.m. allows parents to have a civilized, adult-only evening. Don�t think Okemo�s slopes are kidstuff.� There�s some serious black diamond terrain off the South Pass high-speed quad.� Double diamond is short, steep, and usually dotted with monster moguls.� Chief and Tomahawk are both long cruisers from the top, for intermediate and better skiers. There�s also a reciprocal lift ticket package with Stratton and Mt. Sunapee, nearby in New Hampshire.� It�s ideal for skiers and snowboarders to sample three areas with a single multi-day ticket. Okemo Mountain Resort is in Ludlow, Vermont, on Route 103.� Ludlow is wonderful, picturesque an old-fashioned New England town, with the requisite whitewashed steepled church in the town square. Slopeside condo lift and lodging packages start at $160 per weekend per person and there are additional B&B accommodations in town.� Call 800-78-OKEMO or
www.okemo.com. Camelback, the largest ski area in the Poconos has regraded three of its popular trails, King Tut, Upper and Lower Cleo and Pharaoh, to make them easier to cover with snowmaking, which has been expanded, as well.� A new sound system is being added to the terrain park, so younger snowboarders can do their 360s in time to the beat.� For their parents, Camelback is opening a business center with internet access, fax machine and other office needs.� Since this resort is open until 10 p.m. daily, there are a variety of ticket prices, depending on the time of day you want to ski or snowboard.� There�s also an on-line purchase program so lift tickets will be waiting for you � no standing on line.� Snow tubing is becoming increasingly popular, and Camelback has seven runs and three tows.� No lessons or skills required � just dress warmly and step inside a round inflated rubber raft that bounces down the slopes much like its cousins, whitewater rafts, bounce down the nearby Delaware River. Camelback is in Tannersville, Pa., just off Route 80.� Call 570-629-1661 or
www.skicamelback.com.  Jiminy Peak officially opened its new mountain, Widow White�s Peak, last season, making it the largest ski resort in southern New England.� This year, they hauled a wonderful old building two miles up Left Bank trail, to the top of the mountain to become Hendrick�s Lodge, offering both sweeping vistas of the Berkshires and food.
For young kids, a new �magic carpet� has replaced the old Chipmunk rope tow.� This moving sidewalk makes it easier and less tiring for those learning to ski or snowboard.� Because this is such a family-oriented area, there are enforced no-speed zones near lifts serving novice runs. While most of Jiminy Peak is gentle green and blue cruisers, there are a few steep runs that will challenge the advanced skier or snowboarder.� Jericho is usually a fight to the bottom, over and around moguls.� The black diamond runs are clustered in the center of the mountain � and one of them is lighted for night skiing, directly off the resort�s quad chairlift.� There are 18 trails lighted for night skiing. Slopeside lodging is as low as $55 a night (until Dec. 21).� Jiminy Peak also has a reciprocal ticket with Brodie Mountain, three miles down the road.� Brodie, also known as the Irish Alps, is most famous for its green snow.� But that�s only on St. Patrick�s Day for the annual spring bash.� The rest of the season, Brodie�s slopes are covered in white. Jiminy Peak is in Hancock, Mass., near Stockbridge and Pittsfield.� Local must-sees include the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Shaker Museum and Chesterwood, home of the artist who sculpted the statue of Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and there are several examples of the work in progress. Call 800-882-8859 or
www.jiminypeak.com Ski Windham in the Catskills has expanded its night skiing program to include mountain�s main racing trail, the badly-named Wheelchair trail, and now offers night skiing on Thursdays.� The 1 � mile winding blue cruiser on East Peak that opened last year has drawn more novice and intermediate skiers to this under-skied area, taking part of the pressure off the lift lines on the main mountain.� And a second half-pipe, near the resort�s main terrain park, should reduce some of the crowding there, as well. Windham also offers a business center for parents or others needing to touch base with the boss during the ski day, and valet parking for those unwilling to carry gear through the parking lot to the lodge.� The resort�s snow tubing center, with six sliding lanes, is accessible by a continuous shuttle from the main lot. Windham�s program for disabled skiers is widely regarded as one of the best in the country, east or west, and is a center for research and development of adaptive snow sports instruction.� Ski Windham is just off the Windham exit of the New York State Thruway, between Kingston and Albany.� Call� 800-SKI-WINDHAM or
www.skiwindham.com.  Killington, known as the �beast of the east� for its huge size and variety of terrail�� -- and the size of its lift lines � has been tamed somewhat by its new owners, American Ski Company, and aggressively marketing to families with teens and younger children.
Snow Zone is a special teen-only instruction program lets them switch back and forth among� skiing, snowboarding and ski-boarding, which is the newest snowsport, a blending of the other two.� Even more, the program has specific zones for steeps, bumps, racing or tree-skiing, with dedicated coaches for each. Killington also has taken some of the traffic congestion out of the Sunrise Mountain access by reconfiguring it.�� They moved the Northeast Passage triple chair to access more novice terrain� and move beginners away from the speeders coming down the end of Juggernaut, a ten-mile (yes, ten) trail that Killington claims is the longest in the country. At the other side of this seven-mountain monster is Rams Head peak, a family-friendly area served by four lifts, including an enclosed learning center just for kids. And in between the two is some of the most challenging terrain in the country, such as the legendary Outer Limits, super-steep and filled with moguls big enough to hide a Volkswagen Beetle.� Killington is a few miles from Rutland, Vermont.� Call 800-621-MTNS or
www.killington.com Killington also has a multi-area ticketing system, sharing with its sister areas in the Northeast: Mount Snow VT
800-245-SNOW
www.mountsnow.com Sugarbush VT
800-53-SUGAR
www.sugarbush.com Sunday River ME
800-543-2SKI
www.sundayriver.com Sugarloaf/USA ME
800-THELOAF
www.sugarloaf.com Attitash Bear Peak NH
800-223-SNOW
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