Destination Trips: Planned and Executed

[Geoff]

My friend bought me 4 lift tickets for $50 each for Vail. They are good anytime, so it looks like no matter what happens, I'm going to Vail at some point this season.

I realize that is a big discount from Vail's day rate... but isn't it funny that $50 is now considered a great deal? I've only skied Vail once in the past decade, because a ski instructor friend got us comp lift tickets. Not to be a snob -- and I understand why Rob would want to go there with a lower-level skier -- but the huge crowds (even on a weekday in mid-December) ain't my cup of tea.

I don't understand why people write things like this. You're just making shit up and presenting it like it's fact. I try to avoid the I-70 resorts on weekends but they're not a problem midweek.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I don't understand why people write things like this. You're just making [censored] up and presenting it like it's fact.

Lighten up, Francis. Everyone else makes blanket statements about things here; I figured it was my turn.

There are very few ski resorts that are consistently crowded midweek/non-holiday, and Vail has lots of terrain for an easy-to-please person like me. I just don't like the Industrial Tourism vibe.

 

[Marc_C]

I don't understand why people write things like this. You're just making [censored] up and presenting it like it's fact.

Lighten up, Francis. Everyone else makes blanket statements about things here; I figured it was my turn.

And when they do, they're frequently called out on it.
OK. Back on your heads.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

And when they do, they're frequently called out on it.

^^ Never afraid to post an irony-laden comment.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

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.

 

[jasoncapecod]

Belleayre and Gore
My Euro plans hit the shredder :x

 

[icelanticskier]

Belleayre and Gore
My Euro plans hit the shredder :x

it's ok, you'll probably get better snow and less competition for it in new york.

rog

 

[jamesdeluxe]

My Euro plans hit the shredder :x

What happened?

 

[jasoncapecod]

Reality :roll:

 

[rfarren]

Reality :roll:

Reality is over-rated.

 

[Marc_C]

Best I can do is:
go elsewhere within driving distance for a weekend or several.

New job and a prior planned climbing trip in mid November (where I'll have to work out some sort of time off arrangement) plus visitors in December and sometime in late March pretty much preclude anything longer/more distant.

So maybe JH, Targhee, somewhere in CO with easy access from I-70. Perhaps Bogus Basin (my neighbor is the building contractor for all the new condos that are going in, so it would mean free lodging and probably lift tix).

 

[Tony Crocker]

2. Northern Idaho

I've been through the Spokane gateway 3x. Definitely good for deals on airfare (Southwest flies there) and car rentals. But I've headed into Canada every time. 2 days at Schweitzer on one of the trips.

if I go with the wife, I'm not sure if there'd be enough to keep her happy.

If she's low intermediate or worse, this is not an ideal destination in any case. But Red Mt. is as good as advertised (snow conditions permitting) so you should check it out. There's enough to keep a typical intermediate content for a couple of days.

No idea if the predicted El Nino is going to cause problems for this region.

Weather patterns track from Washington State all the way to Fernie. The Spokane-accessible region falls squarely in the "strongly favored by La Nina" category. Average percent of normal snowfall in El Nino years is 80-85%. In an El Nino year this is a trip that can be planned but should be executed as last-minute as possible. I had the misfortune to plan TWO trips there during the disastrous 2005 season. Fortunately the second one was with NASJA and I was able to bail two weeks ahead at no cost. Even in the good years I would avoid late season due to low altitude and variable exposures.

"Reality" will likely affect my season, which should be similar to last in terms of destination trips. Back to Canada at the end of January for ~10 days, I'm leaving that schedule more flexible than usual. After Chatter Creek I'm betting on finding last minute openings/deals elsewhere in B.C. I have 10 days in March between the Iron Blosam and NASJA at Sun Valley. That also gives me a lot of choice during that time as I will have my car.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I've been through the Spokane gateway 3x. Definitely good for deals on airfare (Southwest flies there) and car rentals.

The airfares from the east aren't as cheap as from the west coast, but we'd be using FF miles. That region of the U.S. is a big blank spot for me, but I'm impressed with the ski options for a gateway town (Spokane) that no one has good things to say about.

Average percent of normal snowfall in El Nino years is 80-85%. In an El Nino year this is a trip that can be planned but should be executed as last-minute as possible. I had the misfortune to plan TWO trips there during the disastrous 2005 season.

I remember the trip reports from that season... looked awful. Obviously, executing at the last minute is always the way to go, but it's not always possible. You read Tony's analyses and try to avoid obvious dumb moves (Xmas week in the northeast, Jackson Hole at the end of March), then you roll the dice and hope for the best. We're thinking about early February. I'm going to search on a few ski websites and see what I learn about northern ID.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Early February is probably the safest time from a historical perspective. Last minute isn't necessarily literal. But given the state of the economy waiting until mid-December or even early January to commit would not be unreasonable. That's probably late enough to avoid the really bad years.

 

[Skiace]

To get back to new trip planning, here's what's been on the burner lately. Being on a semester schedule this year, my Christmas break is extremely long. First day of classes for spring semester is Wednesday January 20th. I have a friend at school in Boulder on a similar schedule, and a third friend who is likely to be flexible as well (he's probably ski bumming this year).

The idea is to fly to Denver between Christmas and New Years (if cost isn't too prohibitive) and hop in my buddy's car to follow the weather around the west for a full 2-3 weeks. Possible destinations include: SLC, Jackson, Big Sky, Fernie/Castle, Kicking Horse/Revelstoke. My two friends have never been to those Canadian areas, so they want to get up there if possible. However, knowing the El Niño trend it is certainly possible that those will end up being poor destinations this January. Jackson is probably the highest priority place we want to get to, as I haven't been there since 4th grade and these two had a failed trip there several springs ago. SLC is lowest priority just because we've all been there several times, but obviously if that's where the snow is that's where we'll go.

So questions for the board: Any obvious possible locations that we've omitted? I know about SLC, but how difficult is it to find last-minute cheap (we're all young college-aged and poor) accommodation in the rest of these destinations? This could easily become well over 3000 miles of driving, are we insane/dumb for attempting this?

 

[q]

In 2007 I drove 6722 miles and in 2008 I drove 5389 miles in a 4 week trip so no you not insane, or maybe better, your not as insane as me :lol:

Having driven all over the west I doubt you will have trouble finding cheap rooms anywhere at that time of year.

This place seemed to have a reasonable deal for Big Sky when I was tinkering with staying around there a year or two back and you could always stay for cheap in Bozeman and ski at Bridger Bowl.

I think you've got a good looking trip on there :-D

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Red Mt. is as good as advertised (snow conditions permitting) so you should check it out. If she's low intermediate or worse, this is not an ideal destination in any case.

My wife is an intermediate who can ski relatively steep on-piste terrain, but gets nervous about skiing that same pitch in trees or exposed places. Thus, if we decide to do a re-direct from the Coeur d'Alene region, I think we could easily spend a day or two at Red without needing to push her beyond a certain comfort zone.

Given the state of the economy waiting until mid-December or even early January to commit would not be unreasonable. That's probably late enough to avoid the really bad years.

Spokane is not served by a direct flight from the NYC area, and is rarely, if ever, part of a fare war. The best roundtrip fares I'm finding right now are in the low to mid-$400s -- a perfect situation to use FF awards -- so we'd need to commit on plane tickets relatively soon.

If Tony's doom-and-gloom El Nino warning comes to fruition, and a season like 2005 reoccurs, we'd have two bailout options:

1. Since we'd be renting a car in Spokane, head north to B.C., where it may be better.

2. If eastern B.C. is in the same mess as northern ID... instead of connecting in SLC to our flight to Spokane, get off there (you can do that with FF awards) and take our chances with whatever is on the menu in Zion.

 

[Patrick]

So questions for the board: I know about SLC, but how difficult is it to find last-minute cheap (we're all young college-aged and poor) accommodation in the rest of these destinations?

Place you didn't mentioned, but you might have the time: Bridger Bowl and maybe driving back down from Revy through Red.

I guess Tony isn't the best person to ask about cheap lodging? :lol: I've add a few lined up for the 2006 trip (Bozeman-SLC), but joined Tony when our days lined up. Pretty sure places are much better that Corbus #2. The following is the info is better suited for a solo traveler, if there are a few of you, a motel room might be cheaper.

Jackson Hole: hostel in town, it was something around $25/night in 2006, however if you aren't solo, there was a Motel 6.

Bozeman: there is hostel, seem pretty good in 2005 from what I read.

Castle and Fernie (researched for my canceled 2007 trip). Both town had hostels and some not so expensive motels. Revy had the same thing, however that was before the ski area "resorted".

This could easily become well over 3000 miles of driving, are we insane/dumb for attempting this?

Not at all, at least in my books. I've know someone that did a 2 wks trip from Montreal and skied LL, KH, Revy, Whistler, Red, Fernie in that time frame with consecutive ski days once they reached Alberta. I've also gone some crazy mileage trips of my own.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Given the places you're interested in, SLC is a better base to start from than Denver. Denver to SLC by car is only slightly shorter drive than SoCal to SLC.

El Nino makes the expected snowfall (but deviations are as large as any time) in the 80-85% range. Not that much of a deterrent for places like Jackson/Targhee/Fernie/Revelstoke that get a lot, but a possible red flag for places like Big Sky/Bridger/Kicking Horse that average under 300.

All these places have towns so you don't have to stay in an expensive resort. Jackson gets much more summer tourism than winter, no problem there. Driggs, Idaho is down the hill from Targhee, we were the last night of the 4th grade trip. Bozeman is ~20 minutes from Bridger, 45 minutes from Big Sky. The Buck's T-4 Best Western on the road 15 mins below Big Sky might be worth a look. Patrick and I ate at its famous steakhouse, don't know what the rooms are there.

Extending the trip into Canada ups the driving a lot (I'm guessing 7 hours to cross Montana from Bozeman to Whitefish). I would only go as far as Fernie/Castle, as Kicking Horse is another 4+ hours farther, and Revelstoke 1.5 beyond that. If you go to Fernie, Whitefish is on the way, and there's an obscure place nearby, Turner Mt., that has some good word of mouth. You'll pass a bunch of other Montana areas that q and JSpin have reviewed here. They are cheap, many have good terrain, but nearly all are in the "under 300, avoid in lean snow years" category.

Scenarios:
1) Worst case snow is lean even at Jackson. Now Denver may be an advantage. If conditions are good south, go to Telluride/Silverton (Crested Butte is a longshot for early January but 2 years ago it was good then) then SLC.
2) Fairly likely that Jackson/Targhee will be good but mediocre farther north. This is not a bad scenario, because if Jackson is good you won't mind being there a week or more.
3) The easy extension north to Bridger/Big Sky. If the Schlusman's/Lone Peak stuff is open, there's plenty to keep you going for several days here too. Be sure everyone has the avy gear required.
4) I would discourage the substantial extension into Canada unless by some fluke of weather the conditions are actually better than Montana/Wyoming. If that's the way the weather is trending, try to start driving someplace closer than Denver.

 

[Skiace]

Denver is the default starting point because Simon lives there thus that's where the car is. If we wanted to drive from SLC, someone would have to drive Denver->SLC (or Tahoe->SLC or LA->SLC) anyway, or we'd have to all fly and rent a car which isn't really worth it.