Anyone been to Jiminy peak? I need to make a decision on swapping a time share for the end of feb. and this looks like it has the best accomodations. I can get a place at canaan for week I want but its in a very plain jane place(no pool).

I've skied Jiminy twice for PSIA events. Compared to what we are used to here, its a big mountain. Compared to other stuff in New England, its modest. It has a small base lodge, its a little limited in terms of snow making, and if you are looking for the Vermont-type skiing/shopping/dining/apres-ski experience, its in the middle of nowhere and doesn't have many amenities nearby. It is mostly an intermediate's mountain and a family mountain. There is some steep stuff, but in my recollection, this terrain is served by an old and slow double chair. Nice blue trails though. Its laid out on top of a ridgeline, so you do sometimes have to skate a bit to get to different trails.

The staff is very friendly. I don't know about weekend crowds as I have only skied it during the week. I like it well enough, but don't know what you are looking for... basically a place for people looking to ski, have one or two drinks, go back to the condo and cook and fall asleep.

As far as weather variability and snow quality, think more Catskills than Vermont. In other words, its more susceptible to the make snow, rain, freeze cycle than places further north. But both times I went were in February and the conditions on these trips were good.

No bumps either time I went. But most people don't ski bumps so you may not care.

I don't know about grooming capability. My sense is that they don't manicure the hell out of the place.

Never been to Jiminy. Weatherwise end of Feb can range from great to a little iffy thoughout the East. If I'm wagering a whole week, I'd take my chances at Jiminy because it's a few hundred miles further north than Canaan Valley. Believe Jiminy has about 1140' VD and about 25 trails. Also, it's only about an hour from Mt. Snow and Stratton if you wanted to make a couple of day trips. These two larger places have approx 75-100 trails each and good lift and snowmaking systems.

Bumps, You know your way around CV/TL, never been to jiminy either but from otto's description and the possibility of a trip to mt. snow, I'd go North.

I learned to ski at Jiminy Peak as I grew up in western Mass. I haven't skied there in about 15 years. I know they added a high speed 6 pack. It gets very crowded on the weekend, mainly New Yorkers. I can only imagine that it has prob. gotten worse over the years. All trails are pretty much top to bottom runs, so it does ski pretty big for its vertical. The top of the mountain (like most mountains) is very windy and difficult to manage when as stated previously you have to skate to your desired trail. I also recall one very steep trail that was very icy due to the wind blowing off the snow. I would also say that Stratton/Mt.Snow is a little further than an hour North. I want to say its closer to the 1hr 45 minute mark. Thats all I have.......

To me, Jiminy is a lot like a stretched version of Timberline. Add 500 or so feet of vertical (is my memory correct?0, widen the mountain just a bit, add some newer lifts, and you've got Jiminy. I skied there on a mid-January weekend a couple years ago and the crowds weren't all that bad. Nice mountain if you can't get up to VT or NH.

I skied Jiminy in High School. It did ski pretty big considering its vertical and yes, the Timberline analogy definitely applied back then.

However, it appears that Jiminy has made some big changes as of late:

http://skitown.com/resortguide/stats.cfm/ma11/JiminyPeak

Base Elevation: 1,250 ft (381 m)
Summit Elevation: 2,380 ft (725 m)
Vertical Drop: 1,150 ft (351 m)
Skiable Area: 170 acres (69 hectares)
Annual Snowfall: 100 in (254 cm)
Snowmaking: 93 %
Number of Lifts: 8
Uphill Lift Capacity: 12,800 per hour
Types of Lifts: 1 Surface Lifts
1 Double Chair
3 Triple Chair
2 Quad Chair
1 High Speed Six
Number of Trails: 43
Longest Run: 10,560 ft (3,219 m)

From looking at the trail map, it appears that many trails cover 1500 of vert, which is a good thing. The snowfall number is less than WV, which is not good, especially if snowmaking is lackluster. However, the lift situation looks good. If it were me, I'd take a chance and go and if things are bad snow-wise, day-trip it to Stratton or Mt Snow.

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No bumps either time I went.

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Surprising.

Never been to Jiminy despite growing up not too far from there. How would you rate the most challenging trails in terms of steepness, difficulty, personality, etc. compared to trails in the Mid-Atlantic and in the rest of the Catskills/Southern New England?