With five mountain areas, including Jackson Gore, the resort is one of the largest in New England. Rising more than 2,200 feet above the bustling village of Ludlow, Okemo's mostly intermediate trails run down the mountainside like ribbons of white flowing down the fall line.

OKEMO—A FAMILY RESORT | OKEMO HISTORY | EVENTS

More than just terrain, Okemo is about service and snow quality. The resort covers 95 percent of the terrain with machine-made snow, then grooms it to "hero snow" quality. A few laps off the Northstar Express Quad on blue runs such as World Cup, and you may start to feel as if you could, well, ski on the World Cup.

Okemo has been compared with Deer Valley in terms of service. Hands-on owners Tim and Diane Mueller can often be found loading lifts or busing trays in the cafeteria on busy weekends. Everyone smiles, says good morning, and asks how your day is going. Everyone, that is, except the grumpy guy who woke up late and had to park in a far-distant lower lot. Okemo’s main base area has limited parking. Once on the mountain, you have to take one of two lifts to get to the more wide-open terrain on the mountain proper. On busy weekends, these two lifts are a bottleneck.

Jackson Gore presents a better option for day skiers—although reaching the base lodge from its parking lot also requires some hiking (or the shuttle). Still, Jackson Gore is much less crowded, easier to handle and radiates a more pleasant, less frenetic atmosphere. Anchored by a colossal neo-Colonial structure that's home to the 117-room Jackson Gore Inn, the area has the feel of a college campus. A few steps from the inn is the Spring House, a large fitness and aquatic center. Across the parking lot is the Ice House, home to a semi-enclosed skating rink.

Within the inn itself are a cafeteria and restaurant, day care center, ski school and shops, and amenities such as a full-service spa and indoor/outdoor swimming pool. Carrying skiers and snowboarders up the mountain are two high-speed quad chairlifts, two moving carpets servicing a new beginners’ area (yeah!).

The Local Lore of Okemo and "All Come Home"

In 1955, a handful of local Ludlow businessmen saw the potential to turn 4,000-acre forest park on Ludlow Mountain into an alpine ski area. With four inches of new snow on the ground, Okemo Ski Area opened on January 31, 1956 with two trails and two Poma lifts. A small log cabin served as the base lodge, and the operations staff consisted of six to eight people who performed all of the daily duties necessary to run the area.

In late 50's early 60's, Okemo adopted a strategy to purchase land on the mountain to sell to vacationers for second homes. The very first mountainside village in the country to offer ski-in/off access opened in 1961. Okemo's on-mountain housing played a key role in the ski area's early success and continued to play a role in its future.

The true origin of the name "Okemo" isn't really known. Local lore has it that Native Americans (Abnaki) called the mountain Okemo, meaning "all come home." The founders adopted this American Indian name for the area and selected associated names for the trails and facilities; the summit warming hut was called the Wigwam. The Indian theme really took off and in the early 1970s. Jay Silverheels (Tonto, the Lone Ranger's trusty sidekick) visited Okemo with his family and learned to ski at the area. He even lent his name to the advertising of the ski area, depicted in several photos that now hang inside Gables Restaurant at the Solitude Lodge. Over half a century later, trails such as Chief, Wardance, Tomahawk and Arrow still remain.

Okemo Mountain Facts:

Summit elevation: 3,344 feet
Vertical drop: 2,200 feet
Base elevation: 1,194 feet

Expert: +
Advanced: +
Intermediate: +++++
Beginner: +++
First-timer: ++

Dining: +++
Apres-ski/nightlife: ++
Other activities: ++

Address: 77 Okemo Ridge Road, Ludlow, VT 05149
Area code: 802
Ski area phone: 228-4041
Snow report: 228-5222
Fax: 228-4558
Toll-free reservations:
(800) 786-5366
E-mail: info@okemo.com
Internet: www.okemo.com

Number of lifts: 18—5 high-speed quads, 4 quads, 3 triples, 6 surface lifts
Snowmaking: 95 percent
Skiable acreage: 624 acres
Uphill capacity: 32,050 per hour
Parks & pipes: 4 parks, 2 pipes
Bed base: 10,000
Nearest lodging: Slopeside
Resort child care: Yes, 6 weeks to 6 years
Adult ticket, per day: $69–$74 (07/08 prices)