Season 2014-2015 Plans

[jamesdeluxe]

My daughter and I , who is spending her junior year in Spain,will be spending Xmas week in Morzine.

Any measurable precip in the Portes du Soleil so far?

 

[jasoncapecod]

looks like a foot or so fell on the mountain...Another early season nail bitter..

 

[Tony Crocker]

Morzine IS part of Portes de Soleil. My opinion about skiing Christmas Week is well known, and the Alps have at least as many crowd/price issues as North America in that regard.

Nonetheless Avoriaz (in the middle of Portes-de-Soleil's altitude range) has the highest measured snowfall in France, and is thus an intelligent choice for the early season.

 

[jasoncapecod]

Morzine IS part of Portes de Soleil. My opinion about skiing Christmas Week is well known, and the Alps have at least as many crowd/price issues as North America in that regard.

From which part of my post did you get the impression that I don't know where Morzine is located?

 

[jamesdeluxe]

If Xmas is your only window to ski the Alps (most sane people wouldn't do it) -- as Tony points out, Jason had narrowed it down to two of the best choices for early-season turns. I've mentioned before that while the lower half of the Portes du Soleil is quite low comparatively, the upside is that it's pretty much all grassy meadows with very few rocks, so you don't need a huge base.

No surprise that he was priced out of Lech during the biggest week of the season. It's possible that Morzine et al are cheaper because they're situated near several decent-sized ski regions: Le Grand Massif (Flaine), Aravis (La Clusaz), Megeve, etc.

Thanks to Mr. Crocker for clearing up that confusing "Morzine is in the Portes du Soleil" issue. :lol:

 

[Tony Crocker]

Mea culpa in misreading jason's first post.

Maybe if you want to ski Lech during the holidays you stay in less-known Warth and use the new gondola. Morzine is a fairly central location for Portes-de-Soleil, though.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

BTW, Where to Ski and Snowboard Worldwide is reporting that several Swiss resorts are getting ready to open:
http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/n ... pen-early/

 

[Tony Crocker]

It's still early, but those Euro reports are a sharp contrast to what's not happening here. Mammoth got 22 inches last weekend but this Friday set a record for the latest day in the year for the temperature in town to hit 70F. The cam on Snowbird's Hidden Peak shows a thin layer of snow on the ground, while it was completely bare a week ago.

 

[Admin]

Bobby reports about 10 inches of settled natural snow on the ground at mid Collins at Alta (plus snowmaking). He skied yesterday, and amyz is skiing today. Me, I'm cleaning more leaves from the Black Forest of Doom.

 

[Geoff]

Bobby reports about 10 inches of settled natural snow on the ground at mid Collins at Alta (plus snowmaking). He skied yesterday, and amyz is skiing today. Me, I'm cleaning more leaves from the Black Forest of Doom.

I hear you on the leaves. I filled 9 bags yesterday and cleaned up a very neglected piece of side yard. I still need to get up on a ladder and apply the leaf blower to my gutters, hack down the two huge clumps of tall ornamental grass, and fill another half dozen bags with leaves. My neighbor has oak trees that take forever to drop all the leaves and I have a Japanese red maple that shows no signs of dropping leaves yet. I'm outta here as soon as Killington gets top-to-bottom going. I guess I will spend another few hours raking & bagging in December when I'm back in town for a day or two. Better then than during prime spring skiing in April.

 

[Geoff]

I have no 2014-2015 plans other than to roll out of bed and try to ski a couple of hours most days. My free cash flow is all tied up for 2015. I'm trying to zero out my mortgage by August. I'm planning to buy a new car with cash next fall. I have to replace two expensive glass doors in my Vermont condo. I'm getting a new mahogany rub rail and bowsprit/chain locker for the CQR anchor on my catboat over the winter on top of the usual boat yard bills.

I might grab a few free days at Copper if I'm in Denver on business since my season pass gives me 3 day tickets there. I might lug gear out to Vancouver when I'm out there for XMas to grab a day at Whistler if they have good snow. Other than that, it's unlikely I'll ski outside of New England this winter.

 

[Tony Crocker]

since my season pass gives me 3 day tickets there.

For the first time stingy Powdr Corp is finally offering limited reciprocal benefits at its other resorts to season passholders. This decision predated the Talisker/Vail trial and sale of PCMR: http://www.parkrecord.com/park_city-new ... -pcmr-pass

The somewhat complex options for pre-Vail PCMR/Powdr passholders are detailed here: http://www.parkcitymountain.com/site/ti ... n-pass-faq . Geoff gets 3 days at PCMR if he bought his Killington pass before 9/11/14.

 

[Geoff]

Geoff gets 3 days at PCMR if he bought his Killington pass before 9/11/14.

Yeah, but then I'd have to ski PCMR. It's my least-favorite ski area in Utah. If I'm burning frequent flyer miles, vacation days, and hotel/car rental/restaurant money to fly to Utah, I'm unlikely to want to bother with PCMR. When my mom lived in Park City, sure. At the time, my season pass worked at Canyons so I skied a lot of days there. If I'm going now, I'm likely to avoid the three Park City ski areas completely.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I generally share Geoff's sentiment about the Utah ski areas. But his Copper comment piqued my interest to research Powdr Corp's policy regarding reciprocal benefits, and what would happen for 2014-15 after PCMR was sold to Vail.

 

[Geoff]

I generally share Geoff's sentiment about the Utah ski areas. But his Copper comment piqued my interest to research Powdr Corp's policy regarding reciprocal benefits, and what would happen for 2014-15 after PCMR was sold to Vail.

We all got a letter or email that PCMR under the Vail empire would honor anybody with a Killington season pass who was eligible for the 3 days.

Another thing that was added this year was 3 days at Okemo. Not that I'm all excited about Okemo but it's a good option on a midweek powder day when all the Killington locals come out of the woodwork and track it out in an hour. ...at least, that's when I plan to use my days. I used to go down to Mount Snow occasionally midweek when my pass worked there on powder days where they got more snow than Killington. I enjoy skiing intermediate mountains where you still can find untracked everywhere at 3:00.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Liz and are on a scuba trip to Yap and Truk in Micronesia Dec. 1-15, as that is the only time we could get on the boat we want and use FF miles to get there. This is why I predict lots of snow in the West for December. That's fine with me as I'll be delighted if Mammoth has good skiing for the week before Christmas. A preview in November would be nice, but I'm not betting on that.

I can stay in a friend's Vail timeshare Jan. 10-16. Driving, we have lots of options (Aspen, Utah, even JH) for the following week if we want to extend. But we're tempted to try another Euro trip in late Jan/early Feb if it looks good over there.

Feb. 18 fly to Kelowna, join Tseeb's road trip, then I fly home Mar. 1 from Missoula while he drives on to Jackson and Utah. We have Feb. 21-23 skiing at Mustang Snowcat, will choose lift service areas the other days based upon convenience and snow.

March 7-14 Snowbird timeshare

March 15 fly to Iceland via Seattle. Liz and I are on a one-week tour that includes a solar eclipse flight March 20. We'll stay on after the tour to ski one day lift service and probably 3 with Arctic Heliskiing.

We fly back to Seattle March 31, expect to ski Whistler April 2-6.

Hopefully there will be another 2 months of Mammoth skiing after the long distance trips are done.

Not that I'm all excited about Okemo but it's a good option on a midweek powder day

Okemo has enough pitch to ski powder??? :-k

 

[Admin]

Not that I'm all excited about Okemo but it's a good option on a midweek powder day

Okemo has enough pitch to ski powder??? :-k

They don't get enough powder that pitch becomes an issue!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Okemo has enough pitch to ski powder??? :-k

It's the Grand Targhee of southern Vermont!

 

[tseeb]

Feb. 18 fly to Kelowna, join Tseeb's road trip, then I fly home Mar. 1 from Missoula while he drives on to Jackson and Utah. We have Feb. 21-23 skiing at Mustang Snowcat, will choose lift service areas the other days based upon convenience and snow.

March 7-14 Snowbird timeshare

My late Feb/early Mar road trip begins with one day driving to and one day skiing Bachelor, either Mon/Tues or Tues/Wed of President's week. Then, if I have time on the way to Mustang Powder Cats, I will stop at Whitewater and ski the morning of 2/20 when I need to be at pickup for Mustang by 3:30 PM. This will be my first time skiing in Canada. After three days at Mustang our choices including Revelstoke (very close to Mustang, but may save for another year), Lake Louise/Sunshine (free for me on MCP) and Kicking Horse for next three days. Then most likely we will be at Fernie and Whitefish the last Fri/Sat in Feb.

Since I'm dropping Tony C at Missoula airport early on Sun, March 1, I will probably drive to and ski Discovery that day, then drive to Belgrade/Bozemon afterwards. March 2 will be Big Sky, then drive towards Driggs/Jackson afterwards. I'm hoping March 3 will be day EpicSki gathering goes to Targhee so I have shorter drive and don't have to backtrack. After getting my three free MCP days at the tail-end of EpicSki gathering at JHMR, I plan to drive to Evanston, WY and then ski Canyons and/or Park City for a day or two before joining Tony C's Snowbird timeshare group and using my MCP days there. Then I will return to CA with the possibility of skiing at one of Tahoe Vail resorts on the way through.

Trip will be at least three weeks with the possibility of skiing every day except for two long drive days from CA to OR (525 miles San Jose to Bend) and from OR to BC (535 mile Bend to Kelowna). I also have one more long drive from SLC to Tahoe (550 miles to Truckee, 575 to So. Tahoe). Only reservations so far are for Mustang (already paid) and for inexpensive motel in Jackson for three nights beginning March 3 that can be canceled until 3/2. So far the price of gas and the exchange rate have moved in my favor. I hope I don't jinx myself posting this here.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Then, if I have time on the way to Mustang Powder Cats, I will stop at Whitewater and ski the morning of 2/20 when I need to be at pickup for Mustang by 3:30 PM.

That would be likely be Silver Star coming from Kelowna. I will probably ski Big White 2/19. It could take nearly 5 hours to drive from Whitewater to Mustang's pickup, including a ferry crossing that only runs once an hour. Ski area drive times to Mustang pickup:
Revelstoke 1 hour
Silver Star 1.5 hours
Big White 2.5 hours
Sun Peaks 2.7 hours
Kicking Horse 3 hours

I hope I don't jinx myself posting this here.

The overhyped El Nino has been moving in western Canada's favor too. The MEI for SEP/OCT has fallen to an insignificant +.360 from +.815 just 2 months ago.