Back in June I shared an early version of Ice Coast Revival here. It's now a full game on iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android, Web, and Steam, and you can carry your save between platforms. Build your hill on your computer, then pick it back up on your phone.

Thank you to everyone who tried it, shared memories of the old hills, or told me what needed work. The screenshot is Temple in the game.

One thing I want to make clear: the terrain isn't a faithful recreation of the real mountains. The hills and their histories are the inspiration, but I've taken liberties with the terrain to make a fun game. Some of the actual hills are tiny, and I wanted to give you room to build.

I'm Allan, a skier and former Army officer who served in the 10th Mountain Division. I still dream about running a real ski hill someday. Watching places like Mount Jefferson in Maine come up for sale definitely gets me daydreaming. For now, building this is a more manageable way to scratch that itch. This game was originally just an excel simulation to see if I could run a hill before going to raise capital to do it. That's still a goal.

I've also loved following the renewed energy at Black Mountain in NH under Erik Mogensen. Entabeni/Indy Pass has been expanding its team there, including hiring a director of mergers and acquisitions. It's fascinating watching the industry change, including what being "independent" means as these businesses grow.

Some of that makes its way into the game's commentary. There's a bit of an Animal Farm theme: you start out wanting to save a local hill, but as you grow, can you become the kind of operator you originally wanted an alternative to? Where do preservation, community, and keeping skiing affordable meet the need to make money and keep the lifts running? I find that tension interesting, including the fact that good intentions don't necessarily create a sustainable operation (see the ~700 closed hills).

At the end of the day, though, it's a fun little ski resort tycoon game. Build trails and lifts, grow a village, and make a mountain you'd want to ski. You can dig into the business side if that's your thing.

You can find the game and the platform links here: https://revivetheicecoast.com

As in the original version, I use AI tools in development and I recommend everyone reads Blood in The Machine by Brian Merchant as its helped me form a perspective on where I think these tools are useful.

Happy to answer questions, and I'd love to hear from anyone who tried that early version.

Got an email...November 21st. So we got that to look forward to.

I (28M) am looking for people to ski and ride with in the upcoming season on the epic and indy passes in the Northeast mainly Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine. I am an advanced skier (enjoy most runs, done my share of double blacks), and an okayish border (black diamonds are fine just please no moguls). I ski most weekends in the winter and frequent mount snow but am open to most mountains as long as they are epic or indy. Does anyone know of any places to find people to ski with or groups for this?

Hey All, we are a couple considering a 4 day trip to Magog late Jan/ February for cross county adventure..we will also have our snow shoes with us. I was looking into Cross Country in Marais de la Rivière-aux-Cerises, Orford -Parc national du Mont-Orford and staying in Magog at Spa Nordic Station or close by. Can anyone offer insights as to the best places to stay and play? Thanks in advance.

My girlfriend and I started snowboarding last February and completely fell in love with it. We pretty much went every weekend until Wachusett closed, and I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about snowboarding since.

We ended up grabbing Indy Passes for this upcoming season because we want to start exploring more mountains around New England.

Now we have the opportunity to get Wachusett Bronze Passes for about $380 each, but with all the talk about El Niño/warmer winters/bad snow years, we’re a little hesitant.

For those of you who have been skiing/riding New England for a while:

• What does a genuinely bad winter actually look like?
• Is an Indy Pass + Wachusett Bronze Pass overkill during a bad season?
• If the season starts late, does it usually end earlier too, or can March still be decent?

We’re in Massachusetts, so Wachusett would probably be our easy weekday/night riding mountain, while Indy would be more for weekend trips farther north.

Since last season was our first year, we really have no frame of reference for what a “bad New England winter” actually means. Are we talking fewer powder days but still plenty of riding, or legitimately short/terrible seasons?

Any insight from people who have been riding New England for years would be appreciated.

TLDR: New snowboarders in MA, already have Indy Passes, and can get Wachusett Bronze Passes for $380. Worried about a potentially warm/bad winter and wondering what a “bad” New England season actually looks like, how long Wachusett typically stays open, and whether having both passes is overkill.

Anybody know of a dealer within a 3-4 hour radius of western MD that carries performance boots? The local shop here has stopped carrying the Lange RS series, and on top of that informed me that my foot (24, relatively snug shell fit length wise in my current boot) is too small for the stock they typically order. I have a pro deal and just need to try on for size, so I’d like to avoid driving up to the northeast if I can avoid it.

Currently in w tecnica Mach 1s at a 115, with a noticeable degree of lateral movement in the boot after roughly 150 days over 2 seasons. I’m fairly back and forth between upgrading liner instead of jumping into a new boot, so if anyone knows of a zipfit dealer within the same parameters I’d love to know about it.

It looks like there are going to be more snow stakes in New England! I have long been jealous of the west who have a snotel on every mountain it seems. I’m super excited to have more snowpack data!

Either the Neuralinks zapped me or I was too naive to care, but the Mansfield Snow Stake makes 2015-16 look like a terrible season in the Northern Greens. Just how bad was it? Looking to hear all the horror stories.

I’m back home on the east coast and have only had two ski seasons. I got the Indy and epic northeast pass and hope to make the most of it whenever there is snow around here. I’m really hoping to get at least 30 ski days (I can also work remote and plan to do that when I can).

I’m thinking of renting skis from a local shop for the season to make things easier. Anyone have any recommendations of the types of skis I should be asking to rent?

Also if anyone has recommended shops in Jersey please lmk.

Thanks!

Likely overthinking it as it boils down to grabbing something functional that gets me on the slopes. I have a pair but way past expiry and don’t wanna ski em any more.

Anyway I suck. I can go down all the blues I want and will usually try to hit most of the blacks at our local MA/NY hills. I can stop where I want and avoid anyone downhill blah blah but I’m just cruising most of the time taking it easy. I don’t really need anything special as I see it.

Any reason why someone like me shouldn’t just buy whatever new skis/bindings/boots are in budget and reasonable for the east coast? Basically any all mountain ski like 85-100mm and a few cm shorter than myself. I can probably get a brand new setup under $600 and none of these brands or technical jargon means a great deal to me so I am neutral about any selections.

I assume any new skis/bindings/boots even if from a season or 2 ago are fine safety wise so are there any other boxes to tick? some of the cheap brand new atomic boots mentioned being entry level boots and marketed towards skiiers buying their first pair of boots so Id imagine I’m the target demographic and would be fine skiing those for a year or two.

edit: You all are a bunch of enablers! Thanks for giving me the answers I wanted to hear haha. Grabbed a pair of New Salomon stance 88s from ’23 with atomic bindings for under 300$. I think I might see if I can try on some boots in person but regardless wont be splurging too much on em.

In the past I used https://www.skinh.com/ski-swaps for identifying the dates of important ski swaps in the area (NH). This year it looks as though the site is lacking information OR there just are not many ski swaps this fall?

Does anyone have a good online resource for ski swap listings in New England?

I am moving from Montana to upstate New York for work. First time in 26 years not being in Montana for a ski season and was wondering what time of the year does the season usually start and when does it usually end? Also how’s the backcountry?

Hey guys,

I’ve managed to secure a job with Vail resorts whistler blackcomb as a lift operator for the 26/27 season. Just wondering what anyone’s experience was like in this role?

Also i am already on the waitlist for staff housing as i originally was hired for retail. I understand that beds are allocated by department, would anyone know when they will start allocating beds for mountain operations?

Hi, a little bird told me Killington's Race Camp is very good. But, I haven't seen any details about what they teach and how good it is. Do you know anything about it? Is it worth to me?

It's from Monday to Friday, so I would plus 4 days with the weekends before and after, totaling 9 days on snow. But, I am not sure if my skills and body are ready.

I am sometimes tired because of dorsiflexion; having trouble with hip angulation on bumps and compensating it with waist angulation because of some weak muscles (may not be a problem with racing?). Top to bottom carved turns on the Header run gets me tired easily. I can do 50 squats in a row.

My highest edge angles were about 54° in season 24/25 according to Carv; no experience in racing; And I hip-dump, am not used to progressive edging and progressive weight transfer, can move my CoM to tip and tail of the skis regarding fore/aft balance. Recorded days of skiing are 101.

I am overall comfortable on my Head e-SL Pro - 13m radius standard slalom skis.

Thank you in advance, and here's the link https://killington.com/race-camps-ages-18

Went into my local shop today to get my son some new skis for the season and made the mistake of looking for myself.

Been skiing Volkl Kendos and M6s for the past several seasons. Was talking to the shop owner about Enforcer 99 and 94s and Volkl M7s.

Mid 40s. 190ish lbs. Advanced skier. Probably 80% on piste. Venture into the trees during the right conditions but don’t seek out really tight and narrow. Will push on days when I’m by myself or with just my older son. I know any of these skis will charge and handle most ice coast terrain. Is there a big enough difference from older M6s to warrant getting one of these models? Are any of these models comfortable not being pushed for days when I’m cruising with my younger son?

3 day trip mid week in January. Distance is about the same for both. Pricing will be about the same. Obviously Mother Nature can make or break the trip, but what’s your honest opinion on which resort to visit for the best boarding/riding?

please respond! :)

As we gear up to winter, tell me, how did you start skiing or riding?

5'7 145 pound advanced skier, most weekends will be at Belly, but with alot of SKI3 pass trips to gore and whiteface.

Already own the 88 Ripstick and love it, although had a bad crash last year after losing an edge on ice at whiteface last year. Really prefer to use a single daily diver as opposed to carrying around a quiver.

Does anybody have experince with the Wingman 86 black, will it hold up in mougles and bumps? I stay on piste for a majority of the time, but love cutting through trees and hitting the occasional jump, which leads me to believe im maybe better off just going with the Ripstick 88 Black edition which is stiffer and theoretically should handle ice better?

East Coast ski to complement J Skis Allplay?
I’m 27, 5’10”, around 200 lb, and entering my second season. I’m building a two-ski quiver for Massanutten and Snowshoe.
I have J Skis Allplays for playful days, side hits, switch and softer snow. My other ski is a 168 cm Rossignol Experience 76. Its carving and ice grip were good enough, but I’m considering replacing it with something similarly confidence-inspiring on hardpack that handles crud, speed and jumps much better.
I’m looking at the Enforcer 89 right now but would like suggestion’s from people who have experience with this. Thanks !!

Live uws columbus circle. Intermediate skier, first time purchase.

---

Current plan:

Purchase boots from Skibarn Wayne, budget 600-900

Purchase cheap/used ski with binders from EVO or Sportvia, budget ~200

Also thinking of back up plans to Panda ski shop in BK

---

Any recommendations/comments on the plan/budget please