Deals a-plenty on St. Patrick's Day
What do St Patrick's Day and skiing have in common? Not much. The Irish are more fanatic about football (Gaelic soccer) and hurling, than hurling themselves down snowy mountains. Still, to me (happily half-Irish) St Patty's is a day to ski. March snow is my personal pot of gold.
St Patrick's Day often coincides with soft, spring snow, sunshine, and deals. This year, March 17 lands on Thursday, so many ski resorts are offering $17 lift tickets: Mount Snow, Mad River Glen, Sugarbush's Mount Ellen, Attitash, Waterville Valley, Wildcat, Jiminy Peak, Wachusett (you must wear green for most of these) to name a few. Stowe is $39; still a deal. That's reason enough to skip like a leprechaun to the slopes.
Then there's après ski which, if it weren't French by name, would seem Irish in its party atmosphere of lively music and libation in a pub. Après ski on St Patty's is a given with green beer or the more authentic Guinness - or Irish coffee. Okemo will celebrate with live Irish music from 3-6 p.m. at the Sitting Bull. Saddleback's Swig n' Smelt will have a St Patty's Bash from 3:30-7:30 p.m.. The Foggy Goggle at Sunday River will have Irish tunes from 3-6 p.m. and a special St Paddy's menu.
So get your Irish on (at least don some green for a discount), and celebrate St Patty's on the snow and consider yourself lucky as a leprechaun.
Photo by Greg Burke. For more of Heather’s ski tips, go to www.familyskitrips.com
Contributors
Eric Wilbur is a lifelong recreational skier who spends most of his winter and spring in the mountains of New England. He does not ski in jeans. You can read more of Eric's work here.
Heather Burke is an award winning ski journalist with over a decade of ski news coverage. As a former ski instructor and a ski parent, she knows the ski biz from the inside out. She and her family visit New England ski resorts, as well as the West and Canada, to report on the latest trends and their best family finds. Her husband Greg takes all the accompanying photos, and their work can be seen at www.familysktitrips.com and www.luxuryskitrips.com.
