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snowbirdsurfer should absolutely look at Las Lenas. You get sterp sustained fall lines rare in lift served North America and more like the Alps. The big caveat is that 3/4 of the terrain requires Marte open, an old double chair that is open about 40% of the time. Wind is the usual culprit but...

I have Marker Barons on the old Black Diamond Verdicts that went to Antarctica. That trip does require AT boots. My DPS skis came equipped with Look plate bindings if you want them. You are right about ski racing in SoCal. Adam placed 8th of 30 for UCSD in his first college race in the...

I have had only 3 trips to Telluride. None had any fresh snow upon arrival, though the first two got about 6 inches while we were there and Adam had his first fluid powder runs there as an advanced skier at age 7. I would have the same questions as takeahike46er about Bear Creek. I’m sure it’s...

I think James and I both tend to use booking.com for Euro lodging. ChrisC is an excellent source about Euro guides. We tend to think about guides once we have locked in lodging. So a couple of times (Arlberg 2013 and Val d’Isere 2018) that has been far in advance, but Monterosa and Engelberg...

Adjusting for both latitude and altitude (1 degree latitude = 275 feet) how much higher or lower is the named area vs. Mt.Baldy.

Read that reference from the 170 Project. NZ skiing has an extremely retro ambience, would appeal a lot to James and Patrick. Coronet Peak is the only place with major league snowmaking. Grooming is not as intensive as North America or the Alps. So I think it’s common to open lifts in low...

Storm cycle totals are 129 inches Vallée Nevado and 213 inches Portillo. The third party Las Lenas site is reporting similar base depths as July 19 so not very credible.

Stuart has the same perspective as JimK from growing up in the Midwest and now living in NYC. It’s all about snowmaking improvements. I have to remind these people that large western ski areas rarely have more that a quarter of acreage under snowmaking and minimal advanced/expert terrain. I...

@jimk: How does your son compare Pipeline to Main Chute and Little Chute? I’ve never contemplated Pipeline for the reason stated by ChrisC: that hike looks way too long.

I see little concern for LCC/BCC in at least the intermediate term. People are overreacting to 2025-26. There is no trend I see here that should concern LCC/BCC skiers, and by extension essentially all of Colorado and other high altitude areas in regional context like Mammoth and Big Sky...

Many when you realize the rate is around 0.2C per decade and a 1C temperature increase raises the average snow line 500 feet. Thus the example I cited that it would take a 3C increase for Mammoth to get the proportion of rain that Palisades gets now.

FWSA transcript is here.

Turoa is on a wind exposed volcanic peak, a topic we have discussed recently. Spring is favored because odds of lift closures decline vs. winter. And it takes a while to build a base with the wind.

I suggest you read a Vanat Report www.vanat.ch. European skier visitation has been stagnant for decades due to low birth rates and demographic trends. 2022 report is downloadable. Later reports require payment. There are marginal low altitude places in Europe that won’t last. ChrisC saw...

https://substack.com/redirect/29fb4e15-c960-4269-8552-d19de6c999ee?j=eyJ1IjoiMjhwMTZnIn0._ZRFUMRutrVoESrXmOq-hjiQz7aNUD7HguPGRl0lDlw Stuart just linked to this brilliant post about the vicissitudes of New Zealand skiing. Having been there 4x I can’t disagree. Patrick has been there twice with...

I’m not impressed. What northern area would be celebrating partial terrain openings on Jan. 27? There is little doubt in my mind that Sbooker should be going to Santiago. Same for Patrick.

In terms of bang for the buck or favorable ratio of skiing to grunt work, the Alps are by far the best overall destination region. You may need to hire guides for navigation and local expertise on snowpack safety/conditions, but still a good value for what you can get. Not on the same day...

Sorry, I should have know better or looked it up. It's like Palmyra Peak of Highlands Bowl but on a larger scale. In all of these cases there is some rationale that the hike is a filter that keeps away most people who might get in trouble skiing. There are some of us who could havea...

No data but the best analogy is probably Mammoth. Coastal snow does dry out some lifted to that altitude but chronic wind breaks off the dendrites, making the snow denser. Mammoth density based on decades of data averages 12.9%.

Arpa was way cheaper than Canada in 2007 so worth a shot for a new experience. I would not recommend at current price for reasons ChrisC explained.