Ideas for a big North American trip

A snowHead

Yeah. I'm Manchester. Atlanta is about the only direct US location from here unless you're doing a package so you're always looking at either Heathrow, into Europe or one of the US hubs.

Internal flights wouldn't bother me if they was what was needed. It's a days traveling whatever you do.

A snowHead

For the US get a full Ikon pass and rent a car with snow tyres out of DEN.

Loop of

Winter Park
Steamboat
Jackson
West Yellowstone and take a snowmobile tour into the park
Big Sky
Snowbasin
SolBright and AltaBird
Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef,Arches and Canyonlands NPs
Aspen
Copper

Main issue is increasingly cost of accommodation but with a car you can stay down valley and pick up Priceline etc deals if you're flexible.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

How long is your big trip likely to be?
Japan = Tokyo, Osaka/Kyoto for sightseeing. Hakuba in the Japanese alps & Hokkaido island resorts.
Very snowboard friendly.

Big fluffy flakes this evening. Snowing non stop since Wednesday evening!
https://streamable.com/pfcmym

You'll need to Register first of course.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

So it's not a big trip then!

After all it is free

Well, it's double my normal pass out and several timezones different.

Appreciate for some it'd just be a standard holiday though. Hence the ideas request.

We’ve been skiing Breckenridge for the past 3 years and absolutely love it. Best mix of an authentic Colorado town and great skiing. We’ve also found it to have the best dining options out of all Colorado resorts we’ve visited - copper, vail, keystone, steamboat.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

1. Kiroro
2. Jackson Hole
3. Aspen

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Given the time constraints I'd pick Hokkaido as a one off.

snow reports

Taos to Marmot

At least both of those are in north America, so well done there.

You know it makes sense.

start south, work north, its a big trip

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Two weeks you say? Fly to SLC, get a car and sample the Wasatch for a few days. Then drive up (ideally on a Saturday to miss crowds in SLC areas) to Jackson & Grand Targhee. Then back to SLC when your legs need a day off. Finish in the Wasatch. The everything Ikon gets you to all you need on this itinerary except GT, and it is still reasonably priced (and my favorite, worth the drive.)

A snowHead

A snowHead

Bit late to this, but from my reasonable (but by no means comprehensive) experience of North American boarding, you could do a lot worse than Utah. Some of my best days on a board were had at Snowbird. I’ve done PNW which I liked a lot (Mt Hood area) as well as Tahoe and pretty much all of British Columbia.

It’ll be down to budget (lift passes are silly money unless you buy a discounted season pass well in advance) and what if any kind of apres you might want.

For my next stateside trip I’m actually thinking of either going back to Mt Hood and getting their spring pass (which is incredible value for money) or going earlier and doing a trip to Mt Bachelor. I’d like to go back to Fernie too in BC but more for nostalgia.

Take the plunge though OP and I suspect you’ll not be disappointed.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@paulhinch, I posted pretty much the same on the North America 23/24 thread as I am planning a trip in 2025 and the lift tickets are quite confusing and expensive https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=166033&start=40. I can speak only from Utah and Jackson Hole experience (and that was 20 years ago) and it was amazing. Spent quite a few years visiting all the Wasatch resorts and have never skied such light powder (but not been to Japan). From Heathrow I tried different routes using San Francisco, Chicago, Cincinnati and Denver as the the hubs, then flying onto Salt Lake City. preferring the latter 3 as the initial hop is shorter (flight to San Francisco just felt like forever). I am just starting my research and planning so this thread is incredibly helpful. Only drawback I can see is - as others mention - couple of resorts don't permit boarders. Whatever you decide I am sure you will have an incredible time.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Thanks for all the replies. Best suggestions, I think, that I'll put some proper thoughts into are: -

- Japow tour package (I need to check my abilities with this one but it fits with being a massive adventure and the conditions just look mental in a good way).
- Tahoe from SF - I've done California plenty of times so feels the most comfortable.
- The one from Scooter a couple up from SLC to Jackson across a few resorts over a couple of weeks - ticks epic road trip and some pretty iconic places.
- Banff area - I suspect this is my fallback as an intro (kind of feels like it might end up being a gateway drug though).

I suspect the treasury committee at home might have a big input (hopefully that doesn't mean I get an afternoon at the Chill Factore instead).

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Tahoe would be easier from Sacramento or Reno if you can get flights that work!

You'll need to Register first of course.

@paulhinch, I'm off to Tahoe in a few weeks, staying in Heavenly.
Happy to give an update on our trip if of interest.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Tahoe is fine from San Francisco but don’t try and do it straight off the back of the flight. We stopped at a hotel on the airport overnight, was up early with jet lag and drove to Heavenly and were on lifts by about 11am.

If you’re serious about Banff you could always consider Fernie as an alternative. Some incredible in bounds terrain to go at for all levels. If you self drive you could even do a trip to Kimberley or maybe even Castle Mountain. Castle is like nowhere you’ll have ever been I suspect.

After all it is free

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

We once did a two week roadtrip around Fernie / Panorama / Kicing House / Banff area. It was great, definitely up ther with the 2 weeks in SLC and has the advantage of being in Canada. Lots more driving though, it's a 4 hour drive to Fernie from Calgary...

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

OP said “ I'm a solid blue / reasonable red rider, aged 48”, I’m not sure if Fernie and KH are good for that, I heard they were better when advanced/confident. I’m that or better as a skier, I’ve been to Banff for at least five 2-week trips and would very happily go again. I think you calling it a fall-back does it a disservice, there are some blacks and double blacks that I still won’t go near. And the First Tracks cheap private instructors are excellent.

snow reports

Yeah - I'm saying a fallback purely as that might well be more than up to my level. The idea of a full on Japow trip sounds amazing but I'd hate to get somewhere and it be too much.....

As I said, it could well be that I need this trip as a gateway to something bigger / better in the future (although how I get that past the finance committee is a whole other issue).

I'm actually not that fussed about getting onto the insanely steep stuff (even if I was good enough to cope, I'm generally pretty risk averse and the French blacks I've seen from a lift all just look like they'll be moguled to death anyway and no fun).

Big pow cruising would be the ideal I guess.....research needed now Happy

paulhinch, Easy enough to do a roadtrip if thats your thing, been soing them for years usually between 2-3 weeks.

You just need to decide where you want to go.

Are you travelling alone or finding someone to tag along ?

Banff area - Sunshine, Lake Louise, Jasper, Revelstoke, Panorama - you can ger 2 days at each +1 bonus if you buy early enough. This year worked out around £49 per day, twodays spare give you a day at Norquay and another day at one of the others, or a couple of days in Kicking Horse, to add on.

We're doing an exrensive version of this, with some other places thrown in too - looking to drive around 2.5k this year Toofy Grin

We've done the SLC up to Jackson many times,its really easy. Passes will determine where you'll ski really.

Colorado would be another good trip, as mentioned plenty of ski areas to go at.

You know it makes sense.

Tahoe is always a disaster in waiting, especially if driving from CA. Skiing in Tahoe is very hit or miss, either great or horrible. Each week is different. The powder their is far heavier than Colorado and utah. Driving from CA can be a nightmare if it is snowing. Actually, if you have a rental car and don't have chains or 4-wheel drive and it is snowing their is a good chance you will not be permitted to drive past a certain point.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@paulhinch, Definitely interested in hearing about that. Haven't quite worked out the various Tahoe resorts to be honest so any info definitely appreciated.

The hardest thing was trying to work out the lift passes! I ordered mine (putting down a small deposit in April / May) then paid the balance in September. You really need to research this!
I opted for the Tahoe Local - giving me Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar (with blackout dates on weekends for Kirkwood and Northstar) - but have 13 days total in Heavenly staying right by Gondola.
Would like to try 1 or 2 other resorts close to Heavenly not included in this pass - but it really depends on cost of 1 day / conditions etc etc

Will be staying overnight close to SF before driving to Tahoe following day.
And yes have hired a AWD - and will be purchasing chains / cables - just in case!! And will be paying attn to all the relevant road advisory platforms

A snowHead

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Lifelong Tahoe skier here...."powder" is very rare there. Usually it is Sierra Cement, and the feast or famine tendency mentioned above is correct. Even when the snow is light, its is often delivered by high winds so it is windpack. Also as noted, go to BC or Utah for pow. Go to Tahoe, but do it in the spring when sunshine is highly likely and the chaos-inducing multi-foot dumps are over with for the season. A different kind of beauty down there with the lake and the pines and junipers. Way less crowded then too.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@paulhinch, was meaning to reply sooner but got a bit busy and had alot I wanted to say.

Being a snowboarder too we had quite a few trips around Europe while we learnt but for us the mecca for snowboarders and the one place we had to go to if it were a one trip wonder was the USA. After researching for months we picked Utah and never regretted it. We have wanted to go back to Utah but the prices have shot up considerably since we went 2015. We have since been to Canada 3 times and Japan once. Snowboarding in NA is something you need to experience. The resorts are all great each have their own vibe and the food bar Banff was fantastic. The ultimate NA resort is probably Whistler but its a euro style resort as in the most miles and easy accessibility, but the inbounds off piste is amazing, the hospitality and friendliness of the locals is awesome.

Anyway back to Utah. For a bit of an adventure exceptional food and sheer thrill of riding in the USA, Utah ticks all the boxes. The snow, hospitality even better than Canada, great bars and various resorts to choose from with a car. You can base yourself as many do out of Sandy and drive to each resort or stay nearer Park City and use the bus around there and hire a car when needed. When we were there it was one pass for PC and Canyons which between them we had more than enough for 2 weeks. A great town in PC and fantastic terrain. We paid day passes at Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude on different days and had a great time. It’s just awesome across the pond and being a boarder feels natural there (if that makes sense). We had a proposed Colorado trip planned for this season but life stuff got in the way this year, hopefully next year.

Banff as mentioned has 3 resorts nearby and they are pretty good if I remember Sunshine was the better one for us as we found some great off piste areas but there wasn't that much and we ventured out to Kicking Horse for a couple of days. That was my favourite resort and the drive there was awesome. I know people do a season at KH but it wouldn't be enough for you there. The terrain is quite progressive and some parts very challenging so it may limit your enjoyment.

So a quick one on Japan, we went to Niseko and it was a great experience but overall lousy snowboarding trip as there just wasn't any snow. We were very unlucky. This is true of anywhere but Niseko as a resort is a working progress and not much to do if there’s a down day. We had 3 and we were onsened out by the first day. The food is excellent though but ultimately NA is where I would go if it’s the one trip. If you need any further advice hit me up!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

@paulhinch, I know nothing about Japan, but I have this question for myself, and it applies to you as well: if it isn't dumping in Japan, do they still have good conditions for skiing? Meaning, for me anyway: long runs, good grooming, pitch, high speed lifts, and the option of easily going to different resorts. Utah and environs can deliver these things when they don't have fresh pow. How is Japan in this regard?

Lodging cost strategies: if Utah, stay in SLC or Ogden at a limited service hotel (e.g. Hampton Inn, Courtyard etc). If Jackson/Targhee, stay in Driggs in a VRBO or a little cabin. You'll need a car anyway so the crushing cost of staying at the hill can easily be avoided.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

I've been flip-flopping between North America and Europe for more than 20 years and would agree with much of what has been said.

For a one-off big experience, I would go small. Resorts like Vail and Whistler (I've been to both twice in the past 4 years and they are amazing resorts) don't really catch the essence of transatlantic skiing, with big crowds, lift queues, busy slopes and endless pistes. If you're new to skiing ungroomed stuff, you don't need their huge bowls and extensive slopes, and you certainly don't need their prices.

I'm in Panorama, BC right now, and I can't imagine a better place to get the Canadian experience. Pano doesn't get huge precipitation, but it's always cold and the resort has more acres than beds so the snow stays good for ages after a storm. All the accommodation is on the hill, which makes for an easy trip. It would take even an expert a couple of weeks to fully explore the off piste stuff, and the pistes are absolutely deserted. Having skied many of the big names, Panorama properly stacks up from a terrain perspective, with the Taynton Bowl and Extreme Dream Zone offering exceptional skiing.

In my view, it's better to get to know one resort well than to spread yourself too thin. Take some powder lessons, look for the easier ungroomed stuff and slowly spread your wings as your confidence grows.

On planning, note that prices tend to be much lower if you book well in advance. I booked my trip 9 months ago, and the price would have more than doubled if I'd waited until the autumn. The interior BC resorts tend to be much cheaper than the USA, btw.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Help!!

Ideas for a big North American trip

snowHeads Forum Index >>> The Piste