Powder Hounds Ski Trivia Game Podcast Jeff Shaw

The 4th Annual Mogul Madness Bracket Challenge episode is a good one – the Toughest Ski Trails of the East! I am joined by Pete Denato, Dave Jagich and Nolan Wheeler, absolute ballers on the slopes. These guys don’t just ski fast, they ski steep, deep, and gnarly terrain, while often logging 20 hour day trips just to find the goods in the woods. We talk favorite terrain, trails and ski areas; we touch on the back-to-back Nattys of our [Nolan and my] beloved UConn Huskies; we warm up with a couple old favorite games to wax up the bases for the Sweet 16 ski trail bracket challenge. This year’s bracket challenge may also have coined a new meaning for BYOB [or not!]. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Powder Hounds Ski Trivia bracket challenge without a few surprise twists and turns along the way. The episode charges hard out of the gate, try to keep up! And stick with it, some audio gold awaits you at the end. 

0:40: Welcome
3:50: Sources
4:25: Introductions
13:06: Back-to-Back Nattys – Go UConn!
15:26: Name That Ski Area
18:57: True or False
22:41: Sweet 16 Bracket Challenge: Toughest Trails of the East
51:20: Final Jeff-Pardy
58:09: Last Chair

Catamount Ski Area may be best described as a hidden gem in plain sight. After all, it has been operating since 1939. Its location, among the Taconic Range, perhaps not necessary thought of when planning ski trips. But the ski area delivers with fall lines, headwalls and trails snaking through the trees. It is affordable. Its season pass gives you unlimited access to two other nearby ski areas. The ski school is also 84 years old and the Mountain Cat program may be among the best kept secrets for 3-year-olds learning to ski and snowboard. This episode was inspired by a handful of years skiing Catamount regularly, plus my first born’s inaugural winter on sticks. We begin with regional ski news-passes, weather, terrain updates and spring events, pivot to the history of Catamount, continue to the present day mountain profile. A deep dive of recent changes under Jon Schaefer as well as a potential expansion are explored as well as an unanswered question about ski area trail names (Catamount and Stowe have an unusually large amount of trails named after people). Of course, the episode wraps with nine trivia questions for the nine decades of Catamount’s existence. Go buy a spring equinox pass to Catamount (and Berkshire East) before it’s too late!

Segment time:
3:42 – Regional Ski News
7:26 – History of Catamount Ski Area
12:36 – Mountain Profile
15:14 – Recent Changes
18:16 – Episode Inspiration
22:07 – Catamount Trail Names
24:43 – Trivia Questions

While Camelback Resort, celebrating 60-years of operation, may be most well known for its gigantic indoor and outdoor waterparks, it should also get love for being home to the ‘long ski day in PA.’ A compliment! On weekends and holidays, lifts start spinning at 7:30am (First Tracks) and stop – 14 hours later – at 9:00pm. While night skiing is not unique at smaller ski areas, the sheer cluster of ski areas (7) within 88 miles of one another that offer night skiing with 100% of terrain open, makes the Poconos special. Also noteworthy, this is the first winter season that Camelback is a parter on the Ikon Pass (along with nearby Blue), offering 7 days without blackout dates for full Ikon; 5 days with holiday blackouts for Ikon base. The usual topics covered include, ski area history, mountain profile, prices while focusing on the benefits of night skiing. The episode wraps-up with an ’Elite Eight’ set of trivia questions. I also bring back an old starter segment, regional ski news, including headlines, weather forecasts, open terrain rankings and a notable event. This episode – and all episodes – have a little something for everyone. Happy February, Powder Hounds! 

Segment time:

3:55 – Regional Ski News

8:55 – Episode Introduction

9:52 – Camelback History

14:12 – Mountain Profile

17:00 – Benefits of Night Skiing

19:56 – Night Skiing in Poconos

23:33 – Trivia Questions

Hot Dog...The Movie celebrates its 40th Anniversary on January 13, 2024. 40 years! Wow. While the cast, crew and fans have reunited every ten years to celebrate the movie’s legacy, I do not know where or when the 40th bash will be. Until those details surface, consider this episode a soft celebration. We kick things off with the briefest of overviews [if you’ve found this podcast, you’ve likely watched Hot Dog...The Movie]. For funsies, I read the Rat Pack’s IMDB for a little insight on what they did before/after this slopeside cult classic. The majority of the episode is trivia questions, with four categories: locations (green circles), competitions (blue squares), behind the scenes (black diamonds), and random (double black diamonds). A final Jeff-Pardy question closes us out. The movie soundtrack was all the music inspiration one would need, so enjoy the unusually long snippets. Happy 40th Hot Dog! Downhill, anyone?!

4:14: About Hot Dog...The Movie
7:38: Rat Pack IMDBs
13:44: Trivia Category: Locations
17:58: Trivia Category: Competitions
20:50: Trivia Category: Behind the Scenes
26:41: Trivia Category: Random
31:22: Final Jeff-Pardy Question

I kicked off my winter season at Windham Mountain Club in New York. Windham aka “The Club,” for this episode’s purposes at least, is undergoing a transformation to a semi-private model and I had to check it out before my Ikon Base Pass is no longer an accepted form of entry. Additionally, I have begun my season in the Catskills each of the past three seasons, so that’s a fun little tradition to keep. I really like diners apparently. This episode covers mountain stats, the not-quite-a-trend-but-close shift to semi-private models across ski county, the before and after the October 2023 rebrand and redevelopment announcement, with some ski puns, word play and laughter mixed in. Eight trivia questions bring us home, with an unanswered question, whether a terrain park should be considered a trail on a trail map. Ikon pass or not, ski “the Club” this season, Powder Hounds!

3:23: History of Windham
6:35: Mountain Profile
10:06: Why Windham
14:47: About Windham before October 2023
22:31: About Windham after October 2023
28:58: Trivia Questions

My guest is Sarah Wojcik, the founder and editor All Mountain Mamas, which seeks to share her – and her fella mamas - passion of skiing and snowboarding with families across North America. All Mountain Mamas will celebrate its 10th anniversary in January! [Be on the lookout for 10 free lift tickets, well, maybe] Sarah was previously the Director of Marketing and Communications for Ski Vermont and is currently the Associate Editor of SAM Magazine (Ski Area Management). Sarah talks a super interesting origin story, cutting her teeth ski patrolling in the Poconos, “majoring” in skiing in college, patrolling at Bolton Valley and Sugarbush as well as most sought-after content on All Mountain Mamas, the future of skiing in the northeast, the best deals in northeast skiing [FOURS], comeback kids, best food(s) in VT, a potential petition drive to resurrect a lost stoke-filled magazine and much more. Sarah even throws a curveball trivia question at me! My only regret, is not spending more time at Jay Peak, especially posing an important question; State side or Tram side?!

Segment Times:

4:01 - Lightning Round
13:45 - All Mountain Mamas
21:00 - Second Lightning Round
24:06 - Ski Vermont
30:39 - Ski Area Management (SAM)
32:10 - Pop Quiz – Sarah’s gem of a trivia question (& rough edit add)
36:16 – State of Skiing
43:01 - Trivia Questions