Is anyone actually skiing back there??

But...if all it takes is a car trip up to the local hill for a few turns..total cost $100.00, as compared to a grand to fly out west, then you do what you can...that being said I'm changing my tune and probably going to head west in December from now on rather than sit around and hope it snows here...
 
I
did try to put together a trip out to Utah but airfare went through the roof for the holidays..$1200.00 nice...an old friend did the right thing and rolled the dice and booked a trip to Snowbird on the 12th months ago...of course he hit the jackpot...I think airfare was 300.00 then..

i booked SLC on Nov 14 for 425 each from JFK
 
When the Eastern thread drifts to airfare prices to the West you know it's not a good season back East.

Unfortunately East is where I will be next week... Anyone want to make some turns at Greek Peak? Just you and 1-2K other skiers will be trying to hit free day on the 24th with one real trail open :shock: . Ah, heck maybe I'll just hit the Malls in Syracuse ;)
 
Glad to see the recent forum activity from the East. =D> Now, let's take it to the next step and get back into the habit of posting separate TRs of their own topic.
 
kingslug":3hojffsp said:
But...if all it takes is a car trip up to the local hill for a few turns..total cost $100.00, as compared to a grand to fly out west, then you do what you can...that being said I'm changing my tune and probably going to head west in December from now on rather than sit around and hope it snows here...
Those are 10-1 odds, and as people surely remember from last year December is not a slam-dunk in the West either.

In the last 9 years the Cottonwood Canyons were not worth a fly-in trip all of last December, half of December 2007 or the first week of December 2009. I'm sure most of you realize those are far better odds than at most western resorts. It's hard to justify betting airfare $ anywhere before mid-December unless it's a late call to somewhere that got a lot of snow in November.

Vermont has had very good skiing in 3 of the past 14 Decembers and there were a few others that were decent if you picked the right week. If you are driving in the East and don't have to commit until you know it will be good and balance that against the probability of the western December trip being a bust, I suspect the math may actually favor easterners not far advance booking western trips until after New Year's. This has to be true for the vast majority of western destinations. Whistler, Bachelor, Targhee and LCC are the likely exceptions and even with those I'd be inclined to stick to the mid-December period right before the Christmas crunch to maximize your odds.

As I may have mentioned before, I see a lack of logic in advance booking destination trips in early season if you're NOT doing them in January - March.
jamesdeluxe":3hojffsp said:
I booked SLC on Nov 14 for 425 each from JFK
This was a different situation as LCC had just had a 50-inch storm. The weather would have had to shut down completely for a month for his trip not to have been worth it. Recall that the weather DID shut down for the first 2 weeks of that month.
 
jamesdeluxe":3j356erz said:
I booked SLC on Nov 14 for 425 each from JFK
That ^^^ quote was from Jason, not me (I'll let Marc C scold Tony for his inability to quote people). I booked the FF award for my recent SLC trip in early September.

Last year's UT visit was certainly way below optimum -- the worst in a decade of early-season trips -- but still better than what I would've gotten in the East in mid-December, especially considering that I live six hours from our best shot at decent early-season conditions: northern VT.
 
jamesdeluxe":38qlr4ry said:
but still better than what I would've gotten in the East in mid-December
I don't recall whether you're going west in January-March, but if not I don't quite get why a booking in September would not be for one of those months instead of December for the same price but better snow odds.
 
Tony Crocker":u2on9tmr said:
jamesdeluxe":u2on9tmr said:
but still better than what I would've gotten in the East in mid-December
I don't recall whether you're going west in January-March, but if not I don't quite get why a booking in September would not be for one of those months instead of December for the same price but better snow odds.
Because just maybe people have factors other than snow conditions contributing to the decision.

I have long time friends from NJ who regularly spend the week or so before xmas with us. They like the visit. They like getting away from the east coast. They often have vacation time that they have to use by the end of the year. One year we blew off a day of skiing and went down to the Swell for a little taste of canyon country. Even last year, arguably one of the worst Utah Decembers in a decade, had better conditions and more terrain open than where they usually ski. They were happy and ate/drank well. Not everyone in every instance has your particular priorities. There's more than just snowfall statistics.
 
Tony Crocker":rxf5bx0x said:
I don't quite get why a booking in September would not be for one of those months instead of December for the same price but better snow odds.
Yes to what Marc C just said (I need to kill off vacation time before the end of the year; chances are better for decent conditions than the NE; I need to collect on bets :-"; etc.). Moreover, I always cash in FF awards to fly out west, so if I go during Jan/Feb/Mar (off-peak for FF programs), I can wait until a far later date to pull the trigger.

My record for early-season powder days in UT, CO, and WY speaks for itself -- hell, I even got one during last December's drought -- so Tony should save his lecture for someone more deserving.
[-X
 
James also killed off his vacation time during a much better week than admin did. I think James was also the one who did the bargain cat skiing at Targhee in December once.
 
Its a crap shoot but I think the odds of getting better conditions in the west than here are better than 10 to 1. I haven't skied a day this month..so the 600 or so dollars I didn't spend would have better spent in Utah...Last year was a freak event so I'm not counting it...we have had very miserable conditions here..yes they are better 6 or 7 hours north but then I might as well fly out..plus I would be going with a good group as opposed to skiing solo..on ice...
 
kingslug":31miteaq said:
Its a crap shoot but I think the odds of getting better conditions in the west than here are better than 10 to 1.
That may be true but the odds of getting busted on a ~$1,000 western trip in December are well over 10%. If it's early December it could be close to 50%. I would save the expensive trips until after New Year's. I've gotten on an airplane to go skiing before New Year's twice lifetime, and one of those was the Antarctic trip a year ago. Part of my puzzlement is that all these easterners are chomping at the bit to roll the dice out here in December, yet most of them turn up their noses at much more reliable wall-to-wall skiing in April. :dead horse: I know, it's cold at home so I have to go skiing even if it's crappy; if it's warm at home I'll play golf or whatever even if the skiing is great. That doesn't make it logical; it should be about the expected quality of the skiing if you're spending $$$ and vacation time.
 
You raise valid points, but speaking of :dead horse: not everyone has, or has to have, or even should have the same set of priorities as you.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note II using Tapatalk 2
 
Admin":331jls2m said:
You raise valid points, but speaking of :dead horse: not everyone has, or has to have, or even should have the same set of priorities as you.

You forgot...

Or freedom to take or have the amount of vacation that you had...prior to retirement. :bow:
 
Tony Crocker":201uizp5 said:
getting busted on a ~$1,000 western trip in December are well over 10%. If it's early December it could be close to 50%. I would save the expensive trips until after New Year's.
If it's your only fly-to destination trip of the season, yes, I'd agree; however, most of us here don't fall into that group unless they live close enough to top-shelf mountains. I've had isolated instances of good December skiing in the East, but you can't count on it. Since I don't want to have the choice of WRODs or not skiing at all, I'll continue my pre-Xmas strategy of going either to the Cottonwoods (very good probability of paydirt) or Grand Targhee (excellent probability of paydirt).
 
Well its almost January and I still only managed to ski on 3 trails...all day...we're still hurtin round these parts...but its getting better...next year..I'm rolling the dice!
 
jamesdeluxe":2j4794h6 said:
I've had isolated instances of good December skiing in the East, but you can't count on it. Since I don't want to have the choice of WRODs or not skiing at all, I'll continue my pre-Xmas strategy of going either to the Cottonwoods (very good probability of paydirt) or Grand Targhee (excellent probability of paydirt).
If I understand correctly, you're willing to live with eastern skiing during the core of the season when it's decent 2/3 to 3/4 of the time and you presumably have some flexibility to avoid when it's bad? So the December trip is an extension of your season into a time frame when the East is often not worth it? Do you ever consider western trips in late season when the East is melting down?
 
Tony Crocker":2ws01hgf said:
Do you ever consider western trips in late season when the East is melting down?
I have a much better chance of getting decent conditions in the East during the late season (the last three weeks before April 15) than during the early season (before Xmas); hence, my annual early-season trip out west. If money and vacation time weren't an issue; sure, I'd go on a western trip in late spring, but given my limitations, I'll continue my current MO.
 
jamesdeluxe":2m6bcuzy said:
I have a much better chance of getting decent conditions in the East during the late season (the last three weeks before April 15) than during the early season (before Xmas)
It depends upon one's definition of "decent" but I do agree with this based upon reports I read here. The odds of the more interesting eastern terrain being skiable are higher late season than early season, though unlike the west significantly lower than mid-season.
 
Back
Top