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Sorry for OT but I know there are many rennllisters here on the 993 board that love skiing.
We are planning a trip to North America end of February-beginning of March and looking for the best place to hit some powder.
We are advanced skiers with close to 20 years of off-piste experience on the mountains (mainly alps). Not looking for extreme runs but on the other hand not afraid of steep.
We skied 7 days in Japan in January this year, it was 100% tree runs. So looking get back to alpine terrain (couloirs, open bowls etc.)
Level of accommodation, night life etc. are very low priority. Good skiing is everything. My buddy is building a house so he is kind of on a budget so not looking to spend a fortune either.
We've been reading about the places in North America and one seems to fit our bill the best: Alta, in Utah.
Any folks have experience there?
Any other recommendations? We also looked at Revelstoke but they say the snow is a little heavier there.
While there are great places across America, a cousin who was a professional instructor in the US and Japan always said the best skiing in the world was Utah. Snowbird, Alta, etc. easy access to a large airport and dry powder. Whistler, BC was the site of the Olympics and is popular as well. Jackson Hole, WY is know for extreme skiing, often helicopter access. Dozens of good colorado resorts of course too. Enjoy!
I have been to Alta and Snowbird a long time ago. Alta was much less crowded & much cheaper than Snowbird. Both were great skiing with plenty of advanced trails and bowls. Skiing off-piste is great. I'd recommend looking at Park City too. Skicentral has more info.
Snowbird and Alta will get your the biggest powder dumps, no question.... I lived in Aspen for 20 years and Telluride for 4 years, Great scenery there and good skiing, but not the caliber of snow conditions on a consistent basis. Also, Utah is cheaper. A great place to stay in Alta at the bottom of the area is the Peruvian Lodge. It is like going back in time to a 50's ski lodge. If you are on a budget, you can stay at a Days Inn or similar motel at the edge of the canyons and pick a place to ski daily by driving up (need to rent a vehicle).
Snowbird and Alta are more similar to skiing in Europe
Absolutely love snowbird, mammoth, whistler blackcomb, didn't care for park city or canyons (to crowded and terrain not as good). Haven't made it to Alta but heard great things. Whistler is so large it gives you just about everything.
Here is Winnipeg we have a ski hill that holds 3 national records.....Spring Hill (aka, Spring Ditch)
1. Most injuries/skiers
2. Smallest hill with a chairlift
3. Only hill with the parking lot at the top
Have to agree with stace's cousin. Utah has fantastic powder and easy acess to the airport. Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton, Park City, all fantastic areas with some very nice back country stuff.
Have a great time!
Utah is the best, lightest deepest powder I have ever skied. park City,Snowbird, Alta, all great, with different charm.
If you want steep challenging slopes though, Taos is the place. Not too easy to get to though, you fly to Albuquerque and drive a few hours north. Great terrain.
Lake Tahoe doesn't get the light fluffy stuff, but there is a ton to do after the slopes.
If you're looking to ski on a budget Whistler isn't it. The weather there is also very hit and miss but as stated above the mountain offers just about everything.
Revelstoke is one of the best hidden gems in Canada, imho. Ridiculous amounts of snow, great vertical and empty slopes. It's also close to Kicking Horse which is another great hill with lots of advanced terrain. With the CDN dollar in the crapper it might be a good time to ski north of the border.
Juha, where in Japan did you ski? I'm heading to Hokkaido in February and plan on doing 5 or 6 days of skinning while I'm there.
Juha, where in Japan did you ski? I'm heading to Hokkaido in February and plan on doing 5 or 6 days of skinning while I'm there.
We were in Myoko (close to Nagano). Flew into Tokyo and rented a van. It was about 4hr drive to Myoko. There were several nice areas (Seki-Onsen, Akakura Onsen, Myoko Kogen, Nozawa etc.) We skied different places every day. Lots and LOTS of snow. Every day, every run we laid fresh tracks straight from the lift almost no hiking. That just doesn't happen in Europe.
An awesome trip!
I live 13 miles from alta and am in season 14 as a full time ski bum.
feb/march is generally a good period of time for storms. if you stay in alta there is nothing to do at night and very little choice for food and entertainment. you'll pretty much ski, sleep and read.
snowbird has a massive hotel and some bars.
you could easily stay in south sandy or draper at a hotel and be 20 miles away from alta, there are a ton of places to eat and drink. it will be much cheaper than staying up top. I'm embarrassed to say that tourist taxes are brutal, politicians build all kinds of slush fund projects and use hotel, airport and service taxes to pay for the projects. it can be as high as 18% of your bill, sorry about that.
that out of the way, alta is epic. you couldn't pay me to ski anywhere else. best snow, great terrain and nice atmosphere. alta and snowbird are connected so you can cross over easily. alta/snowbird require lots of technical traversing and side stepping to get around. alta requires quite a bit of hiking. most of the hiking and side stepping will be 10k ft above sea level and wears people out quickly. you can't really crank out vertical at alta, its all about quality turns.
flying into salt lake city will also put you very central to other ski areas depending on your time frame and length of stay. jackson hole is 5 hours away, vail is 6 hours, squaw is 8 hours and silverton is 6-7 hours. so if the weather is dry and skiing is nothing special a road trip is easy.
of course I recommend alta/snowbird and would love to show you gents around. if you catch good conditions and a storm you will be shocked how good the skiing can be.
telluride and silverton
silverton is an amazing ski area, only open 4 days per week, guided and hiking required. but you could stay and ski at telluride then head over to silverton for 2 days.
revelstoke
nothing wrong with revelstoke, although it is just too easy to hitch a ride on a helicopter for a day blowing your budget. kicking horse is 2 hours away and is amazing. you could also road trip every other day after skiing and be able to hit fernie, revelstoke, kicking horse, lake louise...
let me know how your plans progress and I can keep you posted on the weather. I do nothing but sit around waiting for storms.
I live 13 miles from alta and am in season 14 as a full time ski bum.
feb/march is generally a good period of time for storms. if you stay in alta there is nothing to do at night and very little choice for food and entertainment. you'll pretty much ski, sleep and read.
snowbird has a massive hotel and some bars.
you could easily stay in south sandy or draper at a hotel and be 20 miles away from alta, there are a ton of places to eat and drink. it will be much cheaper than staying up top. I'm embarrassed to say that tourist taxes are brutal, politicians build all kinds of slush fund projects and use hotel, airport and service taxes to pay for the projects. it can be as high as 18% of your bill, sorry about that.
that out of the way, alta is epic. you couldn't pay me to ski anywhere else. best snow, great terrain and nice atmosphere. alta and snowbird are connected so you can cross over easily. alta/snowbird require lots of technical traversing and side stepping to get around. alta requires quite a bit of hiking. most of the hiking and side stepping will be 10k ft above sea level and wears people out quickly. you can't really crank out vertical at alta, its all about quality turns.
flying into salt lake city will also put you very central to other ski areas depending on your time frame and length of stay. jackson hole is 5 hours away, vail is 6 hours, squaw is 8 hours and silverton is 6-7 hours. so if the weather is dry and skiing is nothing special a road trip is easy.
of course I recommend alta/snowbird and would love to show you gents around. if you catch good conditions and a storm you will be shocked how good the skiing can be.
telluride and silverton
silverton is an amazing ski area, only open 4 days per week, guided and hiking required. but you could stay and ski at telluride then head over to silverton for 2 days.
revelstoke
nothing wrong with revelstoke, although it is just too easy to hitch a ride on a helicopter for a day blowing your budget. kicking horse is 2 hours away and is amazing. you could also road trip every other day after skiing and be able to hit fernie, revelstoke, kicking horse, lake louise...
let me know how your plans progress and I can keep you posted on the weather. I do nothing but sit around waiting for storms.
Awesome!
I think all this just confirms that we fly into Salt Lake and rent a car. That way we'll be flexible with accommodation and where to ski at.
It would be awesome to hit some trails with you! My cardiovascular shape could be a lot better (well, there's still a little time to improve) so hours of hiking is not what we are looking for (short 30min hikes are ok) but traversing on steep ridges etc. is no problem at all. This is what we are used to in Chamonix, Verbier etc. where we usually ski.
12-12-2014, 09:49 AM
OT: Alta snowbird, Utah
