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Yes fat skis are essential in very heavy snow. But I thought the Nordstau snow was fairly low density until the spring sun got at it. And I wasn't skiing it at that high elevation. Ovrannaz, Chatel, Avoriaz, Flaine, all in the 1,800 - 2,300 meter range. I was not on fat skis at any of...

There is no reliable and consistent way to do that, particularly with the huge verticals. Bottom of someplace like Zermatt and its 99 inches is not particularly useful info. But Isola 2000 has a vertical not that different from many places in North America: 1,800 - 2,603 meters and the snow...

I spy former admin's green helmet in the pic above! You might want to check in with Jimk and/or his son for insider knowledge.

I agree with ChrisC about Lake Louise, Telluride and Tahoe, but would put Alyeska up there with them. Weathertoski's list is on another level IMHO. First views of something the likes of which you have never seen before tend to leave the most lasting impressions. In my case that would have...

Alta website shows Supreme Bowl closed, along with Backside and everything off the High T. That’s a lot of Alta’s prime powder terrain. I’d guess the T lost coverage during the March heat wave, not sure that would true for Yellow Trail on the way to Backside.

Isola 2000 has almost exactly the same standard deviation of annual snowfall vs. average (40%) as Mammoth (39%) with that average being half as much (175 vs. 350 inches). However, as at many places in the Alps Isola measures snow at the very bottom of lift service vs. Mammoth about 1/3 of the...

We will be skiing Mammoth April 15-17. Storm total is 16" so far. Mammoth should have no problem lasting until Memorial Day with similar snowpack now (38-107 inches) as at this time in 2011-12 (60-96) and much more than in 2013-14 (40-70) and 2014-15 (18-50). Wolf Creek closed as announced...

I was surprised that Flaine did not have one of those signs at the top with that panoramic view of the north face of Mont Blanc.

It's interesting that Saalbach and St. Anton have the block letter signs. The highest density of on-mountain huts/dining options is surely in Italy. I can believe that the block letter signing started with the purpose built resorts in France. That said, the mountain scenery is a bit less...

Avoriaz and Zermatt were the only ones I noticed on this trip. But we got this one on on the last day of our best Euro ski trip in 2018. German-speaking areas don't necessarily conform to the French block lettering style.

Juneau already has a sightseeing gondola within walking distance from the cruise port. I recall using it after dinner on our 2001 cruise to view the sunset and also a tidal bore moving in the water channel.

Here's some more hilarity.

Friday warmed into the mid-30s F so spring conditions became more widespread, including nearly all pistes in Morillon/Samoens and some first day softening in the lower part of Flaine. We started on Aup de Veran, view down to Flaine buildings: Crossing Diamant Noir we saw this warning sign...

This is fairly routine for us in the Owens Valley on April/May trips to Mammoth. But bug season started way early this year. We had them driving from Big Sky to SLC on March 7. We also had them earlier this week driving from the Alps to the last 3 days of our Euro trip in Florence. On my 5...

I agree with ChrisC that Lake Louise's scenery impresses me more than Sunshine's. Also generate higher spire measures. Mt. Robson's 941 is not far off those big 3 in the Alps, and its Jut is more than any of them, and even a bit more than Aconcagua or FitzRoy. All of these are listed here...

Our day in Auron was a bluebird day. Look at the pictures and there is barely a clue you're so close the the Mediterranean. It could be anywhere in the Alps at a small-on-paper-but-skis-much-bigger-than-it-looks-on-the-trail-map place. It's typical surrounded-by-other-mountains Alps scenery.

Since Jimk missed the original thread on spire measure several years ago, I invite him to read the description here. There are links to several lists by state or region. Clicking on the places you know should confirm that spire measure is a quite good quantification of visual impression...

I retitled to include both Perisher and Thredbo, so presumably either area in title search will find that thread. Users will benefit from getting both TRs at once.

Yes, but the Monterosa exposure issue is a complication. I'm sure it's possible to score impressive off piste corn in the Monterosa but I'd guess that would be very difficult to line up for a non-local. Sometimes the southern storms hit early. That's how we were confident reserving February...

In terms of surrounding peaks, yes. I'll :smileyvault-stirthepot: and ask James where those places would rank in the Alps. Slightly above average I'd say. Alyeska has both water views and surrounding peaks views. In terms of water views, the Tahoe resorts, Heavenly and Homewood in...