Great for all Beginners, Intermediates and Some Advanced Skiers
Pros: Excellent service and lessons. Huge with loads of easier and intermediate terrain. Great grooming and snowmaking.
Cons: Can be expensive and a lack of truly hairy terrain.
Terrain:
Okemo is a mountain that is tailored to skiers below a certain skiing level (8 on most resorts scales).
They have a plethora of intermediate terrain and cruisers as well as a lot of beginner terrain. The beginner areas are primarily by both of the main base lodges, but a beginner has a way down from every lift (except for the Black Ridge Triple and The Pull). However, the beginner area by the main base is often clogged due to it being a major funnel area for three other lifts that service the top of the mountain, which can make traversing that area interesting. The black diamonds here for the most part would be considered blue squares at most other resorts, so if you are an intermediate do not hesitate in trying some of the expert trails here (I list some better ones to start out on later in the review). The trails that have moguls are clearly marked which is something that has tripped me up on other mountains, especially after a hard freeze. Most of the moguls here are on non-g;aded trails man made and most of the moguls are over by Jackson Gore. Finally, there are the seven glades. Okemo has an introductory glade in Whistler, but the other six glades are all double diamonds, but the trees are tighter on some glades (Black Hole and Forrest Bump) more than others (Double Diamond and Outrage).
While I tend to stay off the terrain parks, Okemo has a bunch of terrain parks from small ones in each beginner area, to medium sized ones on Timberline and Lower Tomahawk to a big one on Nor'Easter (which needs a park pass, which is free, and tends to keep the gapers off the trail).
Good beginner trails to do when you are done with the beginner area are Sachem, Dream Weaver and Mountain Road (Upper, Middle and Lower)
While most of the mountain is intermediate, the best ones are Sidewinder, Sapphire and Jolly Green Giant.
Good expert trails to start out on are Blind Faith, Exhibition and Wild Thing.
Good mogul trails to do are Sel's Choice, Ledges and Big Bang (Okemo's lone non-gladed double diamond).
As far as the double diamond glades are concerned from easiest (least tight) to hardest (usually tightest): Double Diamond, Outrage, Loose Spruce, Forrest Bump (which eventually becomes less tight), Supernova and Black Hole. There is a significant difference in difficulty here and like all glades snow cover (with the exception of Double Diamond which has snow making) is based on how nice Mother Nature is feeling that day.
Lifts:
Okemo has a good lift structure, with 5 high speed quads that get you where you need to go very well. However, unless you love 15+ minute waits, avoid the Northstar Express Quad on the weekend and take the Sachem Quad to the Glades Peak Quad to the summit. The other issue is that to access the mountain from the main base lodge, you need to ride one of the two South Ridge Quads, which also function as the beginner lifts, to get to the other lifts which also can cause lines. Also note that South Ridge Quad B has a conveyor loading and unloading which is awkward for skiers who are not used to it.
Lessons:
This is where I relearned how to ski and am still taking lessons from time to time. I have always had a very good experience with the instructors here and have always walked away with plenty to work on and tips on how to approach it. It is cheaper to go for a group lesson midweek (non-holiday) as you may get a solo lesson for the price of a group one.
Nightlife:
There is a sizable village very close to the base of the mountain which has a variety of restaurants to eat at. Wicked Good Pizza is a good cheap pizza place in town (though they do not accept credit cards). Frank's Tavern and Cool Moose Cafe (formerly Archie's), are good places for a burger and beer. More expensive dining options include Sam's Steakhouse, the Echo Lake Inn (10 minutes away in Tyson) and Panorellas.
Value:
Okemo is normally a very pricy resort (adult weekend tickets are about $80 and I have never seen Okemo on Liftopia), but Okemo has a few things to help lower the cost. Okemo has the Sunday Solution, which is a cheaper ticket good until 1:00pm on Sundays. They have flex cards which give 25% off on the weekends and 50% off on weekday tickets. However, the best deal by far is if you are a college student, in that Okemo (along with Stratton and Sunapee) offers the SOS Pass which is a no blackout date, season pass to all three mountains for as low as $279 if purchased early enough (it can climb to $400 if purchased after mid December).
Overall:
This is an excellent mountain for beginner and intermediate skiers as well as some advanced skiers. However, if you are the type of person who longs for areas like Castlerock, this is not the mountain for you (Magic Mountain is).
