 Poster: A snowHead
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So next year it will be just hubby and I and fancy USA or Canada, having skied only Europe we know nothing about skiing further afield so though I'd start here, any recommendations for either? We like largish ski areas and would get bored with a small resort, not sure about TO or DIY, hotels or condos, fly drive or package that kinda thing, best month to go etc 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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One thing to be aware of in North America generally, is that if you go with a tour operator package you will no doubt have an under occupancy charge.
The room will in theory sleep 4 (in 2 large beds) and as a couple there will be a supplement for each night.
So the brochure price will start off looking pretty good but watch out for the supplements. It is still worth it though!!!!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Most North American resorts are waaaaay smaller than the 'mega' resorts you'll find in Europe, but it's never bothered me. Personally I love skiing in the US and Canada and find there is usually a huge amount of varied terrain on offer so don't necessarily just look at how much piste skiing there is. If you like to venture off piste a bit, ski moguls or trees most resorts will have more than enough terrain (in bounds and avalanche controlled). If however you really need to have a resort with lots of pisted runs, I'd say Whistler and Aspen should be on your shortlist. Really depends on the type of skiing you enjoy.
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Oh yeah, with regards how to book, I've never been able to put together a DIY package cheaper than TO's. The flights and hotels are simply too expensive. We always get a condo if poss because eating out can be expensive too so gives you more options. Accommodation on the whole is a lot better than Europe too.
We got a great deal to Heavenly with Virgin 2 years ago for 10 nights including flights, 4x4 SUV hire and accommodation for less about £950 each. One thing to be prepared for is the price of lift tickets - not cheap.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks for your input so far, would definately prefer self catering and a car would be nice to travel around a bit, if Europe we expect to pay around £200 for 7 day lift passes how much would we expect to pay there?
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hobbiteater, brilliant thanks, not too much more then!
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feefee, they will be negotiated pre-pay prices. Counter price at say breck is $774 or £483!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Hiya Feefee,
got back from our first trip out of Europe a couple of weeks ago as we went to Canada with skisafari, had a hire car and took in 3 resorts, Banf Lake Louise being the biggest. Really don't worry about the size as has already been mentioned as you ski the area rather than pistes.
Resorts were generally empty which was nice too.
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if i went back to canada with my mrs i'd pick whistler. if we returned to the states it'd be vail/beaver creek. both however are fantastic.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If you end up choosing US and are interested in large resorts, Vail would fit the bill. It's huge, with a ton of both on piste and off piste skiing. The village is more fun than most with a lively apres/nightlife scene. Beaver Creek is nearby (20 minutes), in case you decide to spend a day or two there. Overall it's a really fantastic place to be. The only negative is the cost- it's rather pricier than many US resorts. But it's worth it  .
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| feefee wrote: |
| We like largish ski areas and would get bored with a small resort |
Just so you won't be disapppointed, you'd better be willing/ready to ski off-piste, or at least willing/ready to learn! (if the latter, budget for some lessons)
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We've done both East Coast US and Canada and really enjoyed them both although massively different.
We've visited Sunday River, Killington and Stowe in the US.
Sunday River was my favourite. However it's very remote (4hr drive from Boston) and based around the tiny village of Bethel. If all you want to do is ski yourself into the ground each day and collapse at the bar at the end of the day this is the place as there is not much else to do.
Killington is a bigger resort and has other ski areas nearby to do day trips to. Theres more to do in and around Killington but didn't think the skiing was as good as Sunday River.
Stowe was beautiful, but absolutely freezing whilst we were there. Its what you imagine a New England village to be like with clapperboard houses and mom and pop stores but can be expensive as a lot of New Yorkers head there for the weekends.
We did Banff in Canada and absolutely loved it. Sunshine Village has a lot of skiing but is compact and easy to get around but had some of the biggest dumps of snow i've ever seen. We had 2 weeks there and had some pretty extreme temperatures (-35) so if you go early in Jan / Feb make sure you have the thermals packed. There's also Norquay and Lake Louise nearby so there's plenty of options
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You know it makes sense.
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Utah should also be on your radar. Plenty of hills in easy driving distance of Salt Lake City. Park City would be the destination of choice with access to the Deer Valley, Park City and Canyons resorts, and these are not too far from the Cottonwood Canyon resorts (Alta & Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon) which get the most snow. On top of these, you have - in Big Cottonwood Canyon- Solitude and Brighton, so plenty of opportunities to visit different areas, and there's a lot of variety between these.
The downside to this is that all the resorts are separately owned, and so far as I remember, can't seem to get it together to offer an area lift pass (it's been a few years since my last trip, so this may have changed) - which means that you might be a bit more restricted in your options if lift ticket prices are a major problem (but maybe a TO could sort out a deal).
Finally, if you're a confident off-piste skier, there's a guided backcountry tour - the Utah Interconnect - which takes you between these hills. This is quite hard work, and you need to be pretty fit since there's an element of ski-touring involved.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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No off piste for me that's for sure! I say largish ski area as I'd get bored of the same couple of runs everyday, but it sounds like it's very different there so maybe that wouldn't be the case? Any recommendations for the best month to go? I quite like the sound of Lake Louise and Banf, if we went for 10/11 nights and had a 6 day pass are they consecutive day passes? Need to do some research methinks
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Poster: A snowHead
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feefee, we've just been through the same choices and have settled on whistler. Costed up a couple of well known TOs and going DIY is working out around £600 per head cheaper. That's at Easter as well. we've booked accommodation through alluradirect.com which is easy. Transfers are working out cheap from Vancouver as well.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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When we went to Mammoth in 2012 we booked lift passes in advance through American Ski Classics, who were very helpful. They can do a whole package for you, or you can do as we did, book flights, accommodation etc ourselves and just booked lift passes and skis/boots through them.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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feefee, what sort of skiing do you like?
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I have been to the US and Canada for the last 10 years and have always had a great time. Over the past 6 years or so these trips have been to the US and I have always found it cheaper to do it DIY (and I have no gripe with Tour Operators having worked for one for 12 years!). I just got back yesterday from Big Sky in Montana and had a great time..I would say though that my favourite has been Utah staying in Park City with three local resorts really easy to get to on the local, fantastic bus service with the added bonus of another 10ish resorts within an hours drive. The town is also decent for evening meals / apres (we are not late night apres skiers just a couple when we come off the slopes). Really enjoyed Aspen and Vail too. We have always tried to fly to the closest airport (eg Aspen for Aspen, Eagle for Vail etc) rather than in to airports like Denver as it helps with the drive after the long flights.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| feefee wrote: |
| No off piste for me that's for sure! I say largish ski area as I'd get bored of the same couple of runs everyday, |
Keep in mind many of north America mountains had done away with bashing their blacks piste!
Take a look at the number of piste (or km) of some of the US/Canadian mountains mentioned, then substract the un-pisted blacks from the total, you get the number of "cruising" mileage.
There will still be more than just "couple of runs", but you'll realize the it's really not a huge number.
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shoogly, darbyrw, I'm clearly doing something wrong. Have been to the US and Canada quite a few times but have never been able to get prices for DIY anywhere near the TO prices.
shoogly, for example I can't imagine how you've managed to save £600 per head on a trip to Whistler - assuming a 10 night trip just having a quick look at TO prices you can get that for around 1k per head including flights, transfers and condo. How is it possible to save £600 pounds per head or get even close to those costs when flights alone must at least £400 to £500?
I'm not saying you haven't managed it, just wondering how?
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nickr, I will always look at both tour operators (Virgin, Ski Safari, American Ski Classics, Ski Independence etc) for US holidays and DIY. For DIY I will look for the same dates using flight sites such as Kayak / Expedia /Opodo, the usual hotel sites (expedia, booking.com etc) and tend to use alamo.co.uk/brits which gets you second driver free for cars in the US. I go with whichever is cheaper and that suits. We are always flexible on the flights and I don't mind a first flight from Manchester to Amsterdam / Charles de Gaulle etc before heading across the Atlantic if it makes it cheaper and the flight times / stopovers are not too ridiculous. Using sites such as Kayak with the ability to filter really easily has helped.
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| Quote: |
Keep in mind many of north America mountains had done away with bashing their blacks piste!
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Many, but not all, thankfully. Or at least thankfully for those of us who like a steep groomed black run . In any case I would highly recommend asking for a grooming report in the morning and planning your itinerary accordingly. Don't completely rule out off-piste skiing- the back bowls in Vail are a TON of fun, and you don't need to be an expert skier to enjoy them (depending on conditions, of course).
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Fantastic info from you all thanks, having a good look through TO's initially, prices aren't so bad when there's just 2 of us 
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feefee, Lift passes tend to be expensive at the ticket window. Assuming you will go for more than a week to make the long journey worthwhile, you can get a massive discount by buying a lift pass months in advance, the Epic, Epic Local Rocky Mountain Super pass or Salt Lake one pass are great value, alternatively you can get big discounts on lift passes bought in conjunction with accommodation /or flights. American Ski Classics did all the spade work for us this year & did a great job in making savings and sorting out all the details.
For an easy trip with 5 resorts to ski, I would recommend getting the Epic Local Pass, BA flight LHR to Denver, 4x4 hire and stay at Dillon, Frisco or Breckenridge. You have a bit or trawling to do on the web to find a deal on accommodation, sometimes Skiworld have something on sale.
Go Jan-Mar should be OK
As alenchic, says, the the back bowls at Vail are great fun even for the average skier, everything with the boundary ropes is avalanche controlled & covered by decent insurance, there are easy (& more difficult) tree-ed areas to create your own lines. There's a public barbecue to throw on a steak for lunch - brilliant.
The natives are so polite & friendly. Enjoy.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'll stress the point raised by abc, Lechbob and alenchic about the bashing and bowls. In places like Whistler it's normal not to bash the whole resort each night and the resorts measure themselves by 'acres' (including all inbounds skiable terrain) rather than 'km of piste'. That doesn't mean everything there is gnarly - but the real strength of these resorts is the general skiable terrain, not the groomers. Many of the so-called marked-runs are little more than a couple of run markers nailed to trees at the top and bottom.
Whilst all these resorts will I'm sure still be great fun, a more adventurous spirit is required when it comes to terrain than in Europe to make the long flights worth it IMO.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Great help thanks everyone
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You know it makes sense.
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Last time I went to Banff our 7 day 3-area pass was valid for 7 days out of 10. It worked really well, we had a ten day holiday, skied for some days and other days did various other activities. Certainally Banff/Lake Louise there's a lot more non-skiing activities than many European resorts
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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TommyJ, that's good to know, thanks.
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Poster: A snowHead
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feefeeWe keep asking ourselves the same question but end up going back to Whistler. Mainly for easy transport and direct flights, with a huge ski area I still have not seen all of after 6 visits.
They have updated 2 lifts this year and are going to update the main gondola for next year so that will help with the lift queues which can be a hassle on a powder weekend. They do have brilliant queue management though and happy smiling lifties which make any wait less painful. So much better than the barge and crush funnel seen in France trips.
Do get your ski-pass early (pre november cutoff) as it is half price. In fact if you do use a TO book before Nov to get best price - we normally use Ski Independence but Virgin was cheaper once and despite Ski I saying they match and price they did not ! Walk up price is $95 a day.
We have always done a hotel suite for 2 and pay the small extra for not having people sleeping in the lounge. Then you get a kitchen and dinning area too so can do breakfasts easily and the odd evening meal. (think it was £200 extra each for 10 days)
You do not need or want a car in Whistler as you can walk everywhere in the village with no cars allowed. If you did want to go out for a day (no where to go other than Vancouver) you can just hire one for a day or get a bus. So just get a transfer from the airport.
If you do get something from Allura check where it is as Whistler is a big town and you want to be in Village or Village North or you will be needed a bus.
Note the CAD$ exchange seems to be much better than US$ at moment but no idea if it will stay like that for next year, but if it does then more for your £ in Canada.
I have seen people say they can do the holiday cheaper them selves through Allura etc but I can't make it work and its a load of extra hassle.
Also saw a comment vis jet lag and a long way to go but not in my view. Going to Alps seems to take a whole day same for Canada its just a longer day, as long as you sleep on the plane on the way back no hassle. We even ski on the last day as you do not get picked up until 2pm(ish)
If you do go to Whistler you can get ski storage at the edge of the lifts which saves carrying them. We hire skis from Summit and storage is free.
kitenski - Easter is a good time to go over to Whistler, when we normally go as they do not crank the prices up. Check a TO for price options.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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kitenski, we're going to Whistler and flying on Friday April 3rd, rather than the busier and more expensive Saturday. Flights aren't available yet but this easter can be had for £630 even this late on. Check http://www.skyscanner.net for flights. Therefore I wouldn't imagine next easter will be any more, especially since we have the whole year to book the best price we see.
11 nights in a very nice apartment in the Gables part of Whistler (across the road from the lifts up Blackcomb and 2 minute walk from Whistler village is working out at around £400 per adult (4 adults)... this means that kids are all free. We're in a 3 bed townhouse which sleeps up to 9 and there'll be 2 kids with us. Family are also in the same building in a different condo as there's a group of us going.
Transfers will be by stretch SUV/Limo type thing and works out at around CAD$40 per head return.
So, it'll work out at around £1,000 per adult and flights only cost for the kids. Obviously lift passes are on top.
I costed the same holiday through Ski Safari and Ski I and was told that £1,400-£1,500 per person would be a starting point, more realistically more than that.
I also checked out accommodation directly through Whistler Blackcomb and costs were easily twice what you can get from Alluradirect.
oh... should add. lift passes can be bought at discount of around 20% through Alluradirect as well once accommodation is booked.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Jake43, shoogly, brilliant help thank you, thinking March rather than Easter as we can go term time, not worried about flights we've done long haul for a week before so 11 days will be fine, liking the sound of Canada having had a quick peek at TO Prices seems better to book in advance rather than last minute? Particularly with regard to lift passes.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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What's it like going to US or Canada at Christmas and new year prices, busyness wise?
I presume it's very cold? Is it better to go later in the season?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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shoogly, thanks
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Layne, thats the only time they hike their prices
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| feefee wrote: |
| Jake43, shoogly, brilliant help thank you, thinking March rather than Easter as we can go term time, not worried about flights we've done long haul for a week before so 11 days will be fine, liking the sound of Canada having had a quick peek at TO Prices seems better to book in advance rather than last minute? Particularly with regard to lift passes. |
As a couple ourselves we find TO works out cheaper than the brilliant deals mentioned if you get a house. They all seem to do offers if you book before some time in Nov (15th I think this year). We are off in March this year but April is better. It is BC school hols are last 2 weeks of March ! Early April cheaper and quieter - still fine snow with ski out until they close Whistler mountain at end of April - Blackcomb is still open in May
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| Layne wrote: |
What's it like going to US or Canada at Christmas and new year prices, busyness wise?
I presume it's very cold? Is it better to go later in the season? |
Can only tell you about Whistler and it is the busiest they get all year. Snow is generally not so good. Either early conditions or Avalanche risks cutting down the acreage that you are allowed on.
They have Low, mid & High seasons then they have Xmas-NY prices. Everywhere including the restaurants. It is a complete rip off unless that is the only time you can go.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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kitenski, We are flying from Leeds/Bradford on the connector down to Heathrow - this was so cheap as an option well worth looking at. They were trying to force us to Manchester but they agreed to do LB eventually.
Now all we have to hope is that LB is not fogged in  Fingers crossed
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| hobbiteater wrote: |
| feefee, they will be negotiated pre-pay prices. Counter price at say breck is $774 or £483! |
Cept you'd never pay that - buy an unlimited Epic pass for cheaper than that and score 5 days eac in 3V, Verbier, Arlberg and Niseko as your "cheeky" trips
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FAQ
