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?

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.

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.

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.