Destination Trips: Planned and Executed

If you are going to Canada, Tahoe would probably be a better starting point than Denver. But I see that as unlikely. Jackson/Targhee/Big Sky/Bridger could easily consume all the time you have. The drive route from Denver could go through Steamboat, which would be worth your while if it's snowing there.

Bozeman to Whitefish is an easy 5 hour drive in good conditions and unlikely to be all that bad very often...

You can't do them all but if you do take that route up then you passing "loosely" the following resorts and keeping an eye on conditions could pay dividends as you head north.

Great Divide - Lots of glades, very quiet but slightly off your direct route.
Discovery Basin - Lots of steeps on the backside with reasonable snow preservation. My "home" mountain and will be getting my cheap seasons pass on March 1st.
Lost Trail - Not one of my favorite places but others disagree. A little off the direct route north.
Montana Snowbowl - Good long steepish runs, deserted. Another of my favorites.
Blacktail - More family oriented, soem reasonable pitched intermediate terrain. Good views.

Cant really disagree with Tony on the snow but for me it is always fun and am sure with a bit of luck on route you will score some great skiing and boarding.

q":3e3trutm said:

Great Divide - Lots of glades, very quiet but slightly off your direct route.

Click to expand...

I've always wanted to go to Great Divide. I understand that its annual snow totals are only in the upper 100s, but the trail map looked inviting. Do you have any pix from your day there?

That said, whoever redesigned Great Divide's formerly spartan website should be banned from doing any further internet work... a Flash nightmare.

jamesdeluxe":2pz9e6m8 said:

That said, whoever redesigned Great Divide's formerly spartan website should be banned from doing any further internet work... a Flash nightmare.

Click to expand...

And I thought Black Diamond's redesign in Flash was bad and managed to make all the usual Flash mistakes! I'm going to download the Great Divide site and keep it in my collection of horrible UI design examples. Thanks for the pointer.

jamesdeluxe":1eyi5dcg said:

I've always wanted to go to Great Divide. I understand that its annual snow totals are only in the upper 100s, but the trail map looked inviting. Do you have any pix from your day there?

Click to expand...

I've visited twice in the last 6 years or so. In 2002 we saw most of the mountain and there was a lot of snow over the entire mountain. On March 16th 2007 I visited again in a very poor snow year and there was only one run open, it was throwing down rain at the base and was terrible. In fairness Montana/Idaho had a really bad time around then and Great Divide with less snow than most probably suffered greater when the melt came. Might be the same again this year.

One thing about the hill is it is a great grass meadow down the front and where the rain turned to snow higher up it was safe to ski on about a 6" base. Another thing to bear in mind is the best terrain is only open I think Sat/Sun or maybe Fri/Sat/Sun. From memory you can only ski the main lift on a Wed/Thursday and not into Rawhide Gulch or the Wild West which are the best areas.

As for pictures, I don't really have many and they ain't great as it was before I had a digital camera. I think these ain't bad and trust me, as somebody who checks that website every week or two this is a massive improvement on the old website!

q":23f5nqs3 said:

trust me, as somebody who checks that website every week or two this is a massive improvement on the old website!

Click to expand...

I remember the old website. Pretty bare bones and *very* limited functionality, but at least it reflected the culture of the ski area/region.

We'll have to agree to disagree, but IMHO (and I'm not a website designer), this is a complete disaster... the overused Flash rollover elements, the glossy and cheap look-and-feel of the home page; it doesn't even allow a proper look at the ski map! Most designers realized more than five years ago that the best way to annoy people is through Flash, and adjusted their approach accordingly.

Sorry for the rant, but :evil:

The "wander through Montana" route q describes is one of my options next March between the Iron Blosam week and NASJA Sun Valley.

Remember this thread?

Choose three destinations and see if you go through with it, choose a Plan B, or are forced to abandon all hope. Here are mine:
1. Eastern Townships, Quebec
A tasting menu of Orford, Sutton, Owl's Head, and Bromont.

2. Northern Idaho
Fly into everyone's favorite armpit, Spokane, and hit Schweitzer, Silver, 49 North, and Lookout.

3. Switzerland
I haven't even chosen a resort or region yet, but anywhere will be great, I'm sure.

Click to expand...

I only hit one of my three planned trips. Here's where I ended up:

1. Colorado: East of the Eisenhower Tunnel (Loveland, Winter Park/Mary Jane)
2. Eastern Townships, QC
3. North of Quebec City, QC

2. Northern Idaho
Fly into everyone's favorite armpit, Spokane, and hit Schweitzer, Silver, 49 North, and Lookout.

Click to expand...

Northern Idaho did not do well this season. Schweitzer was at 69% of normal snow as of end of March. Fortunately central Idaho, where I spent the last week of March, was closer to average.

Tony Crocker":60hsl7r3 said:

Northern Idaho did not do well this season.

Click to expand...

I kept waiting for that region to break out of its slump and by the end of February, I gave up. Quebec was having an equally lackluster season, but I knew that we'd have a far better time there (with off-mountain pursuits) than out west if conditions didn't improve. Luckily, my two trips were well timed for snow and I hit vacation paydirt on all counts.

I said I was going to do a western tour and I did it. Not bad for me as I hit 15 days out west this season between whistler, colorado, and utah. Maybe next year my trip to Europe won't fall through.

I said I was going to do a western tour and I did it. Not bad for me as I hit 15 days out west this season between whistler, colorado, and utah. Maybe next year my trip to Europe won't fall through.

Click to expand...

teaching piano to little ones on the upper east side must pay well... 8)

jasoncapecod":3qyafwcj said:

I said I was going to do a western tour and I did it. Not bad for me as I hit 15 days out west this season between whistler, colorado, and utah. Maybe next year my trip to Europe won't fall through.

Click to expand...

teaching piano to little ones on the upper east side must pay well... 8)

Click to expand...

It does all right, but it's the compositions for film/tv and commercials that pay better.

rfarren":1ziu11z4 said:

It does all right, but it's the compositions for film/tv and commercials that pay better.

Click to expand...

Which is why he needs to live in an artistic/media center and locations like SLC are probably not viable. How much of a step down in employment opportunities would LA be vs. NYC?

Tony Crocker":3npnagev said:

rfarren":3npnagev said:

It does all right, but it's the compositions for film/tv and commercials that pay better.

Click to expand...

Which is why he needs to live in an artistic/media center and locations like SLC are probably not viable. How much of a step down in employment opportunities would LA be vs. NYC?

Click to expand...

Film a step up, tv a bit worse, commercials quite a bit worse. The biggest hit would be felt in my concert life as I would lose many performance opportunities. A move to LA or Vancouver would be viable, especially if Nikki needs to move for work. I'm not sure if the education part of my job would be as lucrative in LA.

rfarren":kor3kg0y said:

Tony Crocker":kor3kg0y said:

rfarren":kor3kg0y said:

It does all right, but it's the compositions for film/tv and commercials that pay better.

Click to expand...

Which is why he needs to live in an artistic/media center and locations like SLC are probably not viable. How much of a step down in employment opportunities would LA be vs. NYC?

Click to expand...

Film a step up, tv a bit worse, commercials quite a bit worse. The biggest hit would be felt in my concert life as I would lose many performance opportunities. A move to LA or Vancouver would be viable, especially if Nikki needs to move for work. I'm not sure if the education part of my job would be as lucrative in LA.

Click to expand...

Besides, if you moved out of NYC you'd no longer be helping to support the LDS church.

Marc_C":2j4lex4k said:

Film a step up, tv a bit worse, commercials quite a bit worse. The biggest hit would be felt in my concert life as I would lose many performance opportunities. A move to LA or Vancouver would be viable, especially if Nikki needs to move for work. I'm not sure if the education part of my job would be as lucrative in LA.

Click to expand...

Besides, if you moved out of NYC you'd no longer be helping to support the LDS church.[/quote]
:lol:

I looked back at my post back in September and my plan was executed almost as I planned it.

I flew out on the 17th March, skied at Snowbowl for a day then 6 outta 7 days at Discovery Basin. 6 days means next season is effectively free skiing on my seasons pass. Had some pretty good conditions on the backside despite barely hitting 50% of their annual snow up to that point. A few days of snow helped freshen things up.

My day off coincided with my friends only day off together and we all went shooting a couple miles from Philipsburg. Never seen so much guns since the US/UK invaded Iraq!

I then had 3 days in Bozeman and one in Pocatello on my way to SLC. Was supposed to be meeting up with a girl from Billings in Bozeman but she was sick. Skied at Bridger and Moonlight Basin. Not having the gear meant I stuck to the lifts at Bridger and lapped the Headwaters at Moonlight.

From SLC I skied Brighton, Solitude, Deer Valley and Powder Mountain this time. 2-3 big storms in April made for great turns. Back to Philipsburg and Missoula for 2 nights and home just as the airspace nonsense began. Dad and brother were not so lucky, they are stuck skiing in Colorado for at least an extra 5 days.

Next trip will be planned shortly. Skis and boots are in a cupboard in Philipsburg, Montana so have to go back there and although I love new places I think I may well just ski Montana and Utah again next winter. Cant wait.