Bought my Jackson Hole lift ticket yesterday. 5 days in March. May do a guided backcountry tour. Probably going to do Targhee as well earlier in the season. let’s go!
Got Breck booked for early April. My kids first time skiing. I am sure it will be a shit show crowd wise, but got to bite the bullet on getting them hooked to the slopes. Will have 4 days to ski, but plan on 3 days.
How is Spring skiing there if you have gone before? My brother is a Naval officer and coming off deployment and cant go until late March at the earliest. He wants to spend some of his hazard pay on a Ski in and Out. I want to book a place that has a high chance of decent snow come beginning of April and Breckenridge seems to be a decent one from the reports I've read. He's in CA and I'm in WA, so a place that has a Ski in and Out in like Utah or CO that will have quality snow would be ideal for a meet up if anyone has suggestions. He's pretty new to skiing so snow quality will matter in the decision.
When kids and flights are involved I would always consider Utah because it's like 25 minutes from the airport to where you are staying. Colorado is higher elevation so that probably helps as far as snow.
Depends on the snow gods. Feels like last few years last week of March first week of April have been good to really good in terms of snow pack but it’s spring skiing so it likely is a bit warmer and slushier after lunch. I’d still plan on it but it’s really a crap shoot outside of mid March. Wouldn’t worry too much about picking a mountain - except for crowds, of which Breck is the Disney World of skiing. Copper Mountain, Keystone, Monarch are all definitely second tier on the 70 corridor but less crowded, and what crowd there is is more local and more mountain friendly. Not assholes holding up lifts or skiing slow and falling in the middle of lines. The sacrifice is off mountain options. Basically a few bars and burger places and not much else.
Deer Valley, UT has ski in and out. I’m not sure about the typical snow conditions in early April. March is our wettest month, so I imagine early April is ok. Georgia_Nole , any thoughts?
Steamboat has an airport nearby IIRC and shouldn't be bad from a snow or crowd standpoint. I always enjoy Winter Park but all the flat spots for a newbie may be challenging. Copper or Keystone have enough on-property amenities for a short trip IMO, but if that's still not good enough, Dillon and Silverthorne are just down the road.
I love Copper. Probably my most visited mountain in CO. Perfect for 2-3 days. But I’m there to ski, so bare bone amenities is fine by me.
Currently having our second snow of the season in Park City. Got 3" at my house on Monday, and another 1-2" last night/expected today. The worry is we're getting too much snow too early and it'll warm up and "Die out" we'll see, looks like a passing storm is swinging thru this weekend too. As far as spring skiing goes. To be quite honest, it's a crap shoot. Yes Colorado has higher elevation, but because of the Northwest flow here in Utah, we seem to get good quality snow in late season too. It's just gotta have the moisture in the air to make it happen. 2020 spring was going to be pretty good after the shut down because we had a couple of massive storms. 2021 was kinda crappy as it got super warm and didn't have any huge refreshes to right after the mountain closed. Ski in/Ski out is relative. Do you legit want to walk out the door and ski away, or does that mean you're legit walking distance from a lift? Deer Valley is obviously quite nice, and if you gave IKON is a great place to visit. PCMR has tons of ski in/ski out on the canyons side, and a little bit on the PC side (I suggest Marriott Summit which is on main street if you want the full PC experience)
I love it. I'm a resort skier, so no back country/trekking suggestions. What are you looking for? Advice on the mountain? Lodgings?
We are staying at Huntley Lodge, so I was mostly just looking for advice on the mountain, things I should definitely do while I'm there, etc.
There isn't much there, or wasn't 3 years ago...but they were building a lot. The mountain was great and felt like I was alone constantly. I went in March and was too late to snow mobile through Yellowstone. But we did drive through it and it was great
This is how I felt when I went a few years back too, not much night life but a cool mountain. Went to some wild game restaurant down the road that was pretty good. That’s about all I can remember.
There is so much to ski there. Here are some thoughts off the top of my head. I don't adventure ski or anything - so all the bowls are above my ability. One time I worked up the courage to take the tram to the peak and try a run and the worker was basically like "don't go up here unless you're truly an expert skiier" and I bailed. All the said, I like to start on the east side of the mountain (over by Southern Comfort) in the morning to get some sun (it's a lot colder than Colorado/Utah skiing). There are a few options over there. If you go all the way to Lone Moose you likely won't ever see anyone else on slope - you can always find powder there even if it hasn't snowed in a week. Lots of good jumps/kickers on the sides of Little Doggie if you're looking for a chill run with some jumps. If you head to Thunder Wolf there is Big Horn, which will allow you to set a land-speed record if you're into that sort of thing. There also is a fun meadow right under the lift that I love to play in. On Southern Comfort I enjoy the tree routes (there is a newish one just to the east of the lift and an older more established tree run further to the east back in the green runs). It's interesting to take a lap on the greens and look at all the houses up there. Also worth heading over to what used to be Spanish Peaks (a private ski area Boyne bought back in like 2017). I'd head over there for a run or two one day just to see it - but nothing special. I don't really spend time on Ramcharger, except to get up to Thunderwolf/Southern Comfort. But there are some good runs - just too much traffic (although it's relatively light compared to CO/Utah). I prefer to hit the Moonlight side of the mountain in the afternoons. Honestly there is so much to do. I will take runs on six shooter/the other little quad even further on the moonlight side. Tons of great blue/black runs to enjoy without the crowds you'll experience on Ramcharger. Avoid the greens at the bottom of the moonlight side as many have traverses that suck on skis and will require unstrapping and skating on a snowboard. After writing all of that, now I need to plan a trip back to Big Sky. Honestly it's just the best place I've ever skied. Whether I want to enjoy a lap on something easy and fun, or really get a burn going in my quads, I've always got something to do just a lift away.
Evidently they will have more snow than CO this year. I’m going in early March. Any thoughts on the different epic resorts out there? Our house is right by heavenly.
Heavenly is fine, always bougie in my mind. Northstar is a good too, North Lake and has become more bougie over the years from the Bay Area tech scene. Kirkwood is my favorite, it’s south lake so if you want you can go but tbh I’d just do Heavenly if you are that close
Heavenly and Kirkwood are great if you’re staying south lake. Kirkwood has a more mellow feel being further from the lake and some outstanding off trail terrain.
We will be south lake. Just happen to be right near heavenly. But want to try at least 2 resorts and am willing to drive
Then I’d do Kirkwood, the backside is really fun. More of a laid back resort. No resort will have views better than Heavenly though.
Damn, this thread made me look for updates on Sierra at Tahoe and it sounds like they really got fucked up by the fire. Was a nice change of pace from Heavenly. But the views and commute to the sports books from Heavenly can’t be beat.
just did 4 days of skiing at Monarch Mountain. even with only a little over 50% of the mountain open, it was a lot of fun. don't mind having some early season obstacles as it can make it sort of a game of avoiding things, especially on bump runs.
I never did go up there. And I had to move from MI recently because I switched jobs (again). Gonna miss that state
Harrah’s and Harvey’s are more or less one casino - both Caesar’s properties and connected via tunnel. They’re both fine but nothing like Vegas. The sportsbook in Harvey’s is the better of the two. The other two have changed hands a bunch in the last few years but have always been less busy.
ya, I have been to North Tahoe and understand the casinos are nothing special. Just wondering if one is better than the other. At the end of the day, they are all pretty meh with high limits, but I know I will play one night.
Hard Rock (when it was Horizon) used to have pretty low limits. Harrah’s is the most upscale one - much nicer than its Vegas counterpart; Harvey’s more middle of the road. They’re both nice places to play, just no comparison on size to a Strip casino. Either place the limits won’t be as bad as they would be in Vegas on the same day. But I haven’t been in way too long so my info could be dated.
I'm sure I could google this but why when I have the expertise of The-Mainboard. What is the closest skiing to Estes Park, Co? What would I expect to pay for two days of lift pass/boot/ski rentals/poles? Do I need anything else besides those and proper clothing? And how late could I go and be promised snow?
None of the big ones are close. Eldora is the closest smaller resort. If the road through the park was open it's not a bad drive to Winter Park, but the road is closed in winter. I think it may open up in April though so if you're there that late, it could be an option. Get a helmet in addition to your gear. Usually you will have snow into early April in the main resorts, not sure what the snow situation at Eldora is like.
For those that ski Colorado and Utah, how early do I need to book an Airbnb ski in and out for like Jan 2023?