Where and when to spend 3 weeks..

jasoncapecod

jasoncapecod

Well-known member
Hoping to spend 3 weeks out west next season..Will probably Airbnb a place and drive from NY... Where would you park your butt for 3 weeks?
Think March would be the best time..
 
No interest in seeing where the snow is falling and doing some audibles closer to drive time?

Unless you are like Q who is fine with the same place for multiple weeks at a time I'd think if you plan to be 'stationary' (eg not dive more than a couple hours max to anywhere once settled), you are probably looking at good variety of different resorts to hit in Tahoe, Utah or Central Colo (eg Summit county/Vail-ish, etc..). Most other places you need to be happy with 2 or maybe 3 max options if you stay in just one place. March also potentially drops off options that don't have high altitude N facing terrain, etc...

Personally, if I had that kind of trip in mind, I'd wait a bit to see where is looking favored that season, and also plan to perhaps do a week at a time in a couple different spots, but that is me.
 
I'm no expert but I would think March would be fine to book somewhere on the fly. The restriction may be needing to buy a season pass or Ikon or Epic pass soon though? I like to stay in towns and would road trip between Utah and Colorado with Ikon. If I had to stay in one location in the US for three weeks in March it would probably be Aspen.
 
My first question is what pass are you going to buy, Epic, Ikon, Indy, or something else?

Re Epic, I had one for a nine week cross-country skiing road trip I took in 2015. The last four weeks (mostly month of March) were in one condo in Silverthorne. It was a fine location for that pass. I enjoyed excellent variety while sleeping in the same bed every night; skiing Keystone, Breck, Vail, Beaver Creek and even A-Basin was on that pass then. That could be a fine choice for your plan.

Re Ikon, it works well for CO and Utah. In CO you could ski Copper, WP, Steamboat with base Ikon and those plus Aspen with full Ikon. Skiing a bunch of those could entail lodging relocations or longer commutes. Utah, With base ikon you can ski Solitude unlimited and then multiple days at Brighton and Snowbird. With full Ikon you can ski those plus Alta and Snowbasin. Utah is a further drive for you, but you could sleep in one location in the Salt Lake Valley the whole time and hit all the above fairly conveniently.

Re Indy, someone else will have to comment. Seems like Rocky Mtn indy places are somewhat scattered, this could be really fun if you want to get off the beaten path.

Other options are buying something like a Monarch or Cooper season pass and skiing some of the reciprocity places that come with that pass.
 
Thanks for the suggestions!!! Im not a fan of the the i70 resorts and not a fan of Epic.
Aspen sounds interesting , also I have never skied that area.
 
I truly hate these kinds of threads. :eusa-wall:

That said; I'd go with this suggestion: three days each at lots of independent ski areas out west:
jimk said:
buying something like a Monarch or Cooper season pass and skiing some of the reciprocity places that come with that pass.
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Cooper (includes three days at Plattekill):
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Monarch:
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Loveland's pass includes three days midweek at Schweitzer, which you'd love.
 
You have to buy an IKON or EPIC pass (or reduced-day tickets) before there is snow on the ground, so the only weather-based decision-making one can make is maybe a La Nina, El Nino, or neutral. This rang true this year as WA/OR/BC suffered a bit.

I might slightly prefer IKON and would move around to a week at either Jackson/Targhee/Snow King, Big Sky/Bozeman, SLC BC+LC Canyons, North Tahoe/Mammoth, Aspen areas, etc.

Personally, I might do a week in the following: Banff, Jackson, and Aspen.

I have also done the Indy Pass NW road trip.

Your best values are in NW and Canada (inland BC and Alberta).
 
ChrisC said:
I might slightly prefer IKON and would move around to a week at either Jackson/Targhee/Snow King, Big Sky/Bozeman, SLC BC+LC Canyons, North Tahoe/Mammoth, Aspen areas, etc.
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Sound advice if you're going the mega pass route. As has been discussed extensively on the forum -- unless money is no object, you have to commit to one of the season-pass products in North America. This ain't the Alps.
 
jasoncapecod said:
Thanks for the suggestions!!! Im not a fan of the the i70 resorts and not a fan of Epic.
Aspen sounds interesting , also I have never skied that area.
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This is useful feedback. When people ask, what is your favorite ski area? I usually say the Aspen Group. Love Highlands, Snowmass and Ajax, fabulous skiing at all three. Early March would be ideal there for weather and snow. Beautiful and not as crowded as I70. Problem is it's expensive. Also, full Ikon only gets you seven days. Perhaps you can get an affordable room via Airbnb? Or commute from Glenwood Springs motel? You'd have to pair it with other ski areas if you want to log approx 12-15 ski days on your trip.

You will probably spend 3 days each way driving NY to CO. Therefore, realistically you have two weeks in the Rockies. How much driving vs. skiing do you want to do once there? I'd say limit yourself to 2 or 3 bases staying 4 to 7 days each. Doing 1 or 2 day stays and moving on to another ski area gets pretty tiring, especially sandwiched between big drives from East to Rockies and back. Believe me, I've done it 20+ times.

You didn't say how much you'd be willing to relocate? With Ikon you could also do some time at Steamboat (unlimited on Ikon). Steamboat's not my fav, but it's a fine place for a flatlander to start in the Rockies because elevation is relatively low. Ikon also includes Winter Park and Copper. Between those four you could have a great three weeks in CO with only 2-3 hour relocations. If you wanted to drive another 6 hours west from Aspen or Steamboat you could base yourself in SLC area for a week or more with Ikon.

You also didn't say whether you favor big places or smaller/quirky places. Above focuses on big places.
 
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jimk said:
You will probably spend 3 days each way driving NY to CO. Therefore, realistically you have two weeks in the Rockies.
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Exactly. Driving your car out from the East Coast for a season or even six weeks is one thing, but a three-week window doesn't make sense.

Can't believe I'm taking part in this discussion. We all know that you're going to cancel (or rebook to Florida) at some point. :smileyvault-stirthepot:
 
jamesdeluxe said:
Exactly. Driving your car out from the East Coast for a season or even six weeks is one thing, but a three-week window doesn't make sense.

Can't believe I'm taking part in this discussion. We all know that you're going to cancel (or rebook to Florida) at some point. :smileyvault-stirthepot:
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NOT going to Fla for the winter!!!
Last visit left a bad taste in my mouth
Need to really look at car rental prices and determine what’s the best option.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
This ain't the Alps.
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Why not the Alps for 3 weeks from the East Coast? We have been doing this for 6 seasons from the West Coast. You can chase the best snow conditions with lesser drive distances. And you aren't forced to commit to specific areas with advance lift tickets before you know where the best snow is.
jamesdeluxe said:
Exactly. Driving your car out from the East Coast for a season or even six weeks is one thing, but a three-week window doesn't make sense.
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We have had quite few 3+ week ski safaris with our own car, but driving from SoCal is obviously easier, never more than one day off from skiing to start or end the trip. Here's the exactly 3 week trip this past March.

I have driven to western Canada twice but both of those trips were over a month. Tseeb has driven to Canada for 3 weeks or less, but he's a bit closer than I am and even his marathons are not comparable to doing it from the East Coast. I'd say a month is the minimum to drive a western ski trip from the East Coast, but will defer to jimk who lots of experience.
 
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jasoncapecod said:
NOT going to Fla for the winter!!!
Last visit left a bad taste in my mouth
Need to really look at car rental prices and determine what’s the best option.
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There’s no point looking at options. If you want to ski for three weeks you fly and rent a car. The cost isn’t really an issue.
 
Sbooker said:
There’s no point looking at options. If you want to ski for three weeks you fly and rent a car. The cost isn’t really an issue.
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Yes, losing six days driving through flyover country to save a few shekels is not a winning strategy.

Sbooker said:
Why? I’ve got some fantastic advice from this and other forums in the past. I generally take and act on some or most of the advice.
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I was partially joking -- referring to how we've gotten burned a number of times over the years on threads like these where extensive info is provided and then the OP decides not to follow through on the trip. Also, when there isn't a specific geographic target, people tend to advocate for their personal preferred ski areas and ignore the OP's stated terrain preferences, comfort zones, and financial bandwidth.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
we've gotten burned a number of times over the years on threads like these where extensive info is provided and then the OP decides not to follow through on the trip.
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Sbooker came on the FTO scene well after the infamous GPaul departed. There are numerous GPaul threads in addition to the one I referenced. I'm still waiting for that steak dinner. :icon-lol:
 
Tony Crocker said:
Sbooker came on the FTO scene well after the infamous GPaul departed. There are numerous GPaul threads in addition to the one I referenced. I'm still waiting for that steak dinner. :icon-lol:
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From that thread it seems GPaul is an interesting and pretty unique bloke.

As an example of good forum advice it was you Tony that gave me the tip to take my family to Mammoth in our Easter holidays about a decade and a bit ago. We had only skied Northstar in North America at that point. The drive up from Los Angeles with the Sierra on the left hand side was worth the trip over the Pacific. Then it started snowing as we pulled in to Mammoth Lakes. By the next morning there was three feet of snow on the balcony.
Hooked from that day on................
 
Sbooker said:
GPaul is an interesting and pretty unique bloke
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As my father would've put it: a real piece of work. "Hola!"

I side with Tony -- if three weeks is your limit and you follow our advice not to drive your car across the country, going to the Alps is a stronger proposition: cheap rental cars, far less driving, and the freedom to ski where you want when you want without being limited by a season pass.
 
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