Based on memories of about 20 years ago, I had the impression of Mt. Snow as basically a soft-skiing place catering to a weekend get-a-date crowd sort of Eastern skiing's version of Gidget Goes Hawaii. I figured that the place probably hadn't changed much, except maybe that the Gidget-era fashions had been replaced by something more Madonna-ish.

Then Rick Kahl, editor of Skiing, got my ear. He insisted that Mt. Snow was a terrific area. I said,"Rick, I'm sure you're right." Seeing as he's the guy who pays me to ski the world's great mountains in order to write about them for his magazine, Rick always gets to be right. Privately, though, I was doubtful.

When I returned a couple of years ago after a long hiatus, one thing was obvious: Mt. Snow wasn't what it had been before. Or, more accurately, Mt. Snow skiers weren't what they'd been before. The Gidget gang now had company; a family-oriented bunch had diluted the singles' scene. Get-a-date was just as likely to be get-a-diaper-or-day-care.

Sure, the singles crowd can still, literally, party the daylights out of the apres-ski hour at Cuzzins in the base lodge. Sure, the weekend party scene in the area can still scale the heights of decadence. But that has still left room for families to establish a comfortable foothold, and Mt. Snow has done an effective and imaginative job of making kids' and teens' programs work.

So while I discovered that the clientele had a new look, I also discovered that, in an important way, the ski area looked very much the same. Mt. Snow was still tapping into its original concept: It was still a moderately priced, weekend get-away spot aimed largely at people in the New York metropolitan area. And Rick was right in that respect Mt. Snow does a great job in making the concept work.

	Mount Snow at a Glance Pluses and Minuses: Pluses: Lots of cruising, high lift capacity, relative proximity to major cities, variety of lodging and dining. Minuses: Shortage of expert terrain, weekend crowds. Book Your Next Ski Trip to Mt Snow on GORP! Key Phone Numbers: Ski Area Information: 802-464-3333 Lodging Information: 800-245-7669 Snow Phone: 802-464-2151 Location: 9 miles north of Wilmington on Route 100. Mailing address: 429 Mountain Rd., Mount Snow, VT 05356 Mountain Statistics: Vertical drop: 1,700 feet Summit elevation: 3,600 feet Base elevation: 1,900 feet Number of trails: 127 (including neighboring Haystack) Lifts: 2 quad chairs, 9 triples, 10 doubles, 3 surface lifts Average annual snowfall: 155 inches Snowmaking coverage: 82% (490 acres)

What attracts families and singles now, at least as far as the skiing goes, is just what attracted the dating-gamers a couple of decades ago: lots of ego-boosting skiing. The skiing is as I remembered: skewed to the soft side. Wide, moderate-pitched trails stretch down the front of the mountain like a profusion of white dreadlocks. There isn't a lot of variation among them Mt. Snow is, by and large, a pretty uncomplicated ski area. But variety isn't the point. Mt. Snow is made for showing off, whether it be junior-high classmates trying to outdo one another or potential lovebirds trying to wow one another with their grace and dexterity.

Mt. Snow does have some challenging terrain tucked out of sight on its North Face. But if I want challenge, there are other places I would seek out before Mt. Snow. Mt. Snow is a place to come to in order to restore confidence: 70 of 84 trails are rated novice or intermediate.

Also attractive is Mt. Snow's accessibility. It's just 28 miles off I-91 in southernmost Vermont, meaning that weekenders from Providence, Hartford, Springfield, Boston, and New York (almost) can hit the road after work on Friday and be at Mt. Snow at a reasonable hour for dinner. And when the weekenders show up, Mt. Snow is ready for them: Its 18 lifts, half of them quads and triples, can get more than 25,000 skiers an hour up the mountain. And that doesn't include the six lifts at neighboring Haystack, which can be skied on a Mt. Snow lift tickets. Such an abundance of uphill transport goes a long way to reducing lift lines, but it also puts a lot of skiers on the mountain, many of them skiing at the ego-boosting speed the trail layout permits.

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Just getting a good weekend crowd, though, hasn't been enough to satisfy the Mt. Snow people. So they have concocted a variety of mid-week"theme" packages things like Teddy Bear Ski Weeks for kids and Romancing the Snow weeks definitely not for kids. The packages generally give you a wide variety of lodging options to choose from, which points up one last attractive element to Mt. Snow lots of places to stay. You like slopeside condos? Mt. Snow's got slopeside condos. You prefer a modest and moderately priced hotel or motel nearby? Mt. Snow's got that, too. This being long-settled southern Vermont, there are plenty of New England inns, plain to fancy, in the area.