Preseason hiking

going up when it gets dark with night vision goggles would probably  be the easiest way. but in my past experiences you need special permission to do what you are asking. last year we went to bromley in vt to get some turns in, but apparently only because our coach asked first... i dont know, im assuming most mountains are different, but its about liability too.... uhh idk go for it!

i went up and skied the race hill because they blow snow for thoughs lucky bastards early and i didnt know it was like a staff orientation so i get to the bottom and out of nowhere like 50 cars pull in all at once and pretty much surround me and my friend who i was hiking with but they turned out to be stoked on it so we went up for a few more runs and it was all good

watched sun come up at top of quad in Stowe and got a few turns in and back to house by 8AM this morning. Didn't suck but a lot of work for an icey mellow groomer

usually from what ive noticed is taht its obviously important to avoid the snowblowers and the surrounding area (look wehre the pipes are coming from and dont ski in between them and the blower). also, as long as you dont go up immediately before they plan to open you should be set. alta usually cuts up uphill traffic about a week prior to them opening, before that its lappers delight really.

Yeah, I tried that last year, nobody bothered me, I stayed away from where they were and just linked em up, nothing dangerous or too fast, just to get warmed up for the season. Everyone seemed cool with it, chances are they knew exactly where I was coming from.

Give it a shot, probably the worst that will happen is they ask you to leave and you oblige, no biggie.

Let us know how it goes.

depends on the resort though too.

bridger doesnt really blow snow untill a week or two before they open, so you can hike bridger pretty much whenever you want. and even when they do blow, its very easy to circumvent the areas where they do, because the only place they blow is on the low down beginner runs.