Where to Go for New Years?

S

socal

Member
We had a trip to Jackson Hole booked for months but given conditions we're going to cancel. I was bascially able to get all the money back so all good. We want to ski as the kids have off the whole week after new years. Thoughts on Alyeska? Seems like lots of snow there, reasonable lodging and flights don't seem terrible. Downsides seem to be lack of daylight (10:15-3pm) but otherwise we thought it would make for a nice adventure. Private Lessons are much more afforable than th $1200+/day we paid at Jackson.

About to pull the trigger.
 
Go for it. The entire lower 48 doesn't seem to have a real snowy spot right now. Also, would you consider Europe? They seem to be getting the snow:
1703514420527.png
 
Last edited:
We booked it.

We are on the west coast so it’s a much longer trip to Europe. We considered Japan before but not this time.
 
Alyeska is indeed loaded with snow. I don't understand why their snow report says only 36 out of 76 trails open. As with James' Solitude situation 3 weeks ago, I would have called and spoke to a live person about what's open (North Face specifically) and why/why not before committing $$$.

In general Alaska is not that cheap a destination. Maybe the airfares and lodging are way down during low light season? Euro airfares are cheaper in winter than summer, though perhaps not for a borderline holiday week on short notice.

I'm also curious why you didn't just leave the Jackson flights alone and relocate the lodging to Targhee? That seems a simple solution. I don't know the ski skills of your kids, but Targhee seems ideal for a broad intermediate skill range getting some ungroomed snow experience. Half open Alyeska is a much smaller place than Targhee even if you had the same daylight ski hours. And if the North Face is open, it's at the level of much of Jackson's expert terrain.
 

🎁 35% OFF LODGING 🎁​



Merry Christmas from Grand Targhee! Get 35% off lodging in January when you book before New Year's Day.

We have snow in the forecast, all our lifts spinning and 100% of our terrain is open! What better way to kick off the 2024 than some powder turns in the Tetons?

This offer ends at midnight on New Year’s Eve, so book your January stay at Targhee today!

P.S. We still have some availability the 31st - 7th!

The above was in my e-mail today!
 
Tony Crocker said:

🎁 35% OFF LODGING 🎁​



Merry Christmas from Grand Targhee! Get 35% off lodging in January when you book before New Year's Day.

We have snow in the forecast, all our lifts spinning and 100% of our terrain is open! What better way to kick off the 2024 than some powder turns in the Tetons?

This offer ends at midnight on New Year’s Eve, so book your January stay at Targhee today!

P.S. We still have some availability the 31st - 7th!

The above was in my e-mail today!
Click to expand...
I will be having to ski between Christmas and New Year next year when we visit Kylie’s aunt in SLC. I will drive north and take the crew on a Yellowstone tour before having a couple of days at Grand Targhee. (We’ll be on Mountain Collective so Jackson is an option but GT will be less rammed with holiday crowds)?
I’d prefer to stay in Driggs or Victor or other nearby town than the resort itself. Plenty of lodging options there?

Things may have changed but in previous years we’ve skied Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Alta/Snowbird and the crowds were, well, not crowds. Same with New Year’s Day. Should I expect a different experience this time?
 
I don't get an impression of an abundant bed base in Driggs/Victor. I have no idea if those towns sell out during Christmas Week.

I've skied Christmas Eve and Christmas Day exactly once each, both SoCal local. 4 of the 8 New Years days were SoCal also. The only one that was crowded was at Alta, but that was a lean snow situation where the other Utah areas were very rocky. Mammoth in 2006 and 2010 was manageable, and the other one was in Aspen.

In general I avoid destination resorts in that time frame, so others are better qualified to answer sbooker's questions.
 
Tony Crocker said:
I don't get an impression of an abundant bed base in Driggs/Victor. I have no idea if those towns sell out during Christmas Week.

I've skied Christmas Eve and Christmas Day exactly once each, both SoCal local. 4 of the 8 New Years days were SoCal also. The only one that was crowded was at Alta, but that was a lean snow situation where the other Utah areas were very rocky. Mammoth in 2006 and 2010 was manageable, and the other one was in Aspen.

In general I avoid destination resorts in that time frame, so others are better qualified to answer sbooker's questions.
Click to expand...
In a perfect world I wouldn’t holiday at peak times either. Our time of having school vacations dictate our timing is nearing an end. My mother in law hasn’t seen her sister at Christmas for over 50 years (she’s only seen her three times since they left Fiji in the 70s). At 76 and widowed she won’t travel alone so I’ll take one for the team and take her.
I’ve skied Alta on Christmas Day twice. Both times not crowded. I’ve skied Jackson and Aspen Highlands on New Years Day. Both not crowded - in fact Highlands was deserted until early afternoon.
I’m not an avid record keeper unlike others on this board but I’m sure the below pic is Snowmass on New Years Eve.
9646CFA3-0E24-42B1-8B69-DC33EF883C07.jpeg
 
Tony Crocker said:

🎁 35% OFF LODGING 🎁​



Merry Christmas from Grand Targhee! Get 35% off lodging in January when you book before New Year's Day.

We have snow in the forecast, all our lifts spinning and 100% of our terrain is open! What better way to kick off the 2024 than some powder turns in the Tetons?

This offer ends at midnight on New Year’s Eve, so book your January stay at Targhee today!

P.S. We still have some availability the 31st - 7th!

The above was in my e-mail today!
Click to expand...
We are on the ikon pass so I can’t go anyway but I don’t see where the weather shows any real snow in the forecast. NWS and Open Snow both show maybe an inch or so coming in the next week and only like 5 inches in the past week, which is why I canceled Jackson hole.

IMG_3596.jpeg


Looking like snow for Alaska, 40 inches over new years, but possibly rain at sea level at some point. My luck has been bad recently. I’ll keep an eye out and remain flexible.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3597.jpeg
    IMG_3597.jpeg
    108.7 KB · Views: 34
I went to Alyeksa early this past summer and took the tram up to sightsee. I was a little surprised at how small the area was vs what I expected. Still, some of the terrain looked pretty fun, especially that north face on a powder day. At least you won't have to worry about enough snow. 346" YTD up top.

I'm sure you'll still have lots of fun. Enjoy!
 
Yeah it definitely seems like a smaller place. It'll be good skiing hopefully and something pretty different. 4 days seemed like a lot but the sun is only up 1015-330 so I think it'll keep us busy.
 
snowave said:
346" YTD up top.
Click to expand...
Impressive. Hah, it's located on Arlberg Avenue.


socal said:
it definitely seems like a smaller place.
Click to expand...
The footprint is 1.9 miles wide x 1.6 miles deep: about the size of Grand Targhee if you take away the Mary's/Peaked sector. I'd certainly prefer less terrain and sunlight in exchange for good conditions, especially considering what's on offer across most of North America at the moment.
1703865027972.png
 
Interestingly, I just looked at the live web cams for both Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole. Looks like almost no one is skiing at either resort this week. Pretty much ski on to all of the major lifts at both resorts and GT is reporting thin coverage on any south-facing slopes. I wonder if a lot of people cancelled their X-mas ski plans?
 
From Alyeska snow report:
Outer Areas: Ski Patrol will be evaluating The North Face from Chuck’s Gate down, exiting via Jim’s Branch or the Autobahn. Patrol is also evaluating Chilkoot Knoll & the High Traverse out to Peel Off for likely openings.
Click to expand...
Note that half of James' footprint above is the North Face. Chuck's Gate is the entry immediately under the top of the tram. I can almost guarantee from prior experience that direct drops into the North Face from the top of chair 6 will not be open. The bottom of that snow report has said 0/8 Outer Areas Open every time I've checked this month. This is the basis of my comment Monday:
Half open Alyeska is a much smaller place than Targhee
Click to expand...
At least the trail count is up to 44/76 today.
 
berkshireskier said:
I wonder if a lot of people cancelled their X-mas ski plans?
Click to expand...
Destination visitors, almost none. How many threads have there been on this and other forums during lean early seasons? Almost no one bails from these trips, especially if air travel is involved. The locals are the ones sitting this out, like us here in California. Remember it was those same locals generating most of the crowd crunches post pandemic and especially during last year's high snowfall and record attendance season.
 
From Mammoth thread at SkiTalk posted 12/28 at 6:30 PM:
"Chair 1 was down for some reason. Spent a solid hour and a half with only handful of people, until chair six was also shut down so by then everyone was on the gondola or chair 11, which then caused the line for 12 to back up to the trail from chair 11. The Gondi line was back to chair 1. They opened 6 finally at lunch time. DD arrived a bit later in the morning, tried to ski from canyon to main, she spent 1 hour waiting for ch 2. (see picture).
IMG_2492.jpeg

just one side of Chair 2 .... the other was just as bad...."
 
berkshireskier said:
Interestingly, I just looked at the live web cams for both Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole. Looks like almost no one is skiing at either resort this week. Pretty much ski on to all of the major lifts at both resorts and GT is reporting thin coverage on any south-facing slopes. I wonder if a lot of people cancelled their X-mas ski plans?
Click to expand...
We did. Booked Jackson Hole in June and even bought the better Ikon pass to go there but luckily the hotel was sold after we booked and changed names so they allowed us to cancel inside the 14 day window at just a $50 cost. JHMR refunded our private lesson bookings ($$$$$) and we changed our flights without penalty.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
Impressive. Hah, it's located on Arlberg Avenue.



The footprint is 1.9 miles wide x 1.6 miles deep: about the size of Grand Targhee if you take away the Mary's/Peaked sector. I'd certainly prefer less terrain and sunlight in exchange for good conditions, especially considering what's on offer across most of North America at the moment.
View attachment 38358
Click to expand...
We booked it sorta on a whim without thinking too much, just wanted to go somewhere and it worked out pretty well, surpsingly easy to get there, 3 hours to Seattle and then 3 more to Anchorage, not horrible and good flight times. We were lucky that my kids in LAUSD have the week after new year off again this year because Alyeska Resort didn't have any rooms with 2 beds for the period before new year. We're staying in Anchorage on New Years eve and driving to Alyeska on new years day, luckily the lifts don't open till 10ish so we probably won't miss much.

I would also mention that doing a little more research a lot of the terrain is on the north face which isn't fully open and a lot of it isn't easily accessable for the kids and requires what appears to be a long traverse that may require a lot of side stepping. Its fine, we'll have fun as long as it's not raining!

1703881065044.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top