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I’m way out of the loop on this topic. In SoCal the shop sales would typically start in late February or March but in the bad years it could be late January. But after the Sport Chalet chain went belly-up in 2015 there are hardly any specialty ski shops left here. Since then my purchases have...

Is that 24-30 hours of actual train travel time split up over multiple trips? Is there a time window like a week or two when it must be used? That’s an intriguing deal which Sbooker should definitely consider. Japan’s rail pass is unlimited within a time frame of 1, 2 or 3 weeks IIRC.

I'm sure that run at the top of Schilthorn is just fine in March most of the time. Caveat emptor on the rest of the Jungfrau skiing unless you make the call on short notice like ChrisC did, just as we had outstanding conditions in Avoriaz/Chatel at the end of March this year.

@EMSC, didn't the Colorado ski shops have fire sales this spring after the disastrous season there?

It doesn't really work that way. In terms of climate change we would expect that the 1C temperature increase over the past 50 years would have raised the average rain/snow line by a modest 150 meters/500 feet. But of course every storm is individual and certain seasons can lock into a pattern...

Schilthorn is higher and colder than the rest of the Jungfrau ski terrain. But the terrain around Murren itself had the worst boilerplate that we encountered in our 3 days in the Jungfrau. Off piste anywhere lower than the Riggli chair was unthinkable. I'll hazard a guess that ChrisC...

Bad seasons usually yield deals in the spring, and typically earlier than usual. Especially notable were Liz' Blizzard Sambas purchased at a shop in Reno for 1/3 of retail price in March 2014. I would not speculate that this trend continues into the summer. I think most sellers want to...

I still believe Jackson is the better analogy. I've had 4 trips to Jackson in the same late January/first week of February timeframe as we now more often go to the Alps. The first of those was the powderfest with Patrick in 2006, and while the later ones with Liz did not have much powder...

That's a new one to me and AMS is our usual connection airport flying to Europe including the outbound trip to Bilbao recently. The return from Madrid was via Atlanta.

Kylie isn't with him on the January trip.

Yes that’s dirt cheap for the lodging. And yes you want to base in St. Anton due to the early morning meetups with guided groups. I do not believe a car is more needed in Japan than the Alps. I did not have a car on my first Japan ski trip that was to both Hakuba and Niseko. The second trip...

I’m sure Sbooker has seen my 2013 and 2017 Arlberg reports. In 2013 I was with Piste-to-Powder 3 days in their second highest group. We needed guidance far afield to get powder but that did include the bucket list backside of the Valluga. With Liz in 2017 we hired no guides but there was...

This applies to our friends who were with us on the first half of the trip. The husband just retired at the start of 2026 so they are newbie retired travel mode, starting with 3+ weeks in Japan in May. Spain was their second big trip and we were traveling together in a van for the 10 days from...

Agree. What leeward side? Predominant exposure is west which I saw so much wind effect in Sept. 2007. One sheltered steep pitch off Tortola was the only chalky off piste I recall. I’m hoping the spring corn cycle will dominate when I’m there this time, similar to Mt. Bachelor.

This is my point. Of course it’s cool getting off the plane and walking across the tarmac in some remote spot in Africa or the South Pacific. And for the smaller planes used to connect into regional airports in the US Mountain West, sure. But this was a Delta transcontinental flight from a...

Has any else ever returned a car rental to an airport you have never seen before? That was us in Madrid this morning. Google car rental return, follow the map and signs, and we were there easily at 6:55. Then we get in the terminal and find out it’s the domestic Terminal 4. Terminal 1 is a...

In fairness late January is ideal for the Arlberg because exposure does not matter much then. St. Anton is the Jackson Hole of the Alps in both positives and negatives. Since Sbooker is solo and wants to challenge himself, Piste-to-Powder guides would be a good way to do that. They split by 4...

I called. Inca Lodge was available Sept. 16-19 but we want the hotel for the dining room and not primitive shared bathrooms. The schedule must not be for set dates after Sept. 19 because of course I asked if we could start then, but they said full until the 21st. I’m more concerned about...

Yes, that’s why I look at El Niño months not seasons to have more data. I’ll probably send OpenSnow an e-mail when I get home. It’s absolute BS for that map to be forecasting above average precipitation for Utah and Colorado.

Late January Hokkaido I would not worry so much. Bad conditions can occur just as often or even more in Europe or North America in a short time frame and fixed location.