 Poster: A snowHead
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[edited 29 Aug 2018]
The current 'top 5' are ... according to self-stated data on their respective websites etc ...
Patrick Thorne (editor, InTheSnow): "more than 260"
Peter Hardy (WeLove2Ski, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, ex-editor 'Good Skiing Guide' etc.: "some 500"
James Cove (PlanetSki, ex-BBC): "600+"
Arnie Wilson (ex-editor, Ski+Board, author of 'Ski the World', ex-FT ski correspondent etc.): "more than 725" *
Dave Watts (co-editor 'Where to Ski and Snowboard', ex-editor Which? magazine: "getting on for 1000"
What's your tally?
[I've clocked up about 85 resorts (including all 5 in Scotland, I hasten to emphasise!)]
* Update. Arnie Wilson has been in touch, to revise this figure to "734".
Patrick Thorne has added 2 other very widely travelled, non-UK, ski writers:
Oliver Kern (skiresort.info: "world's largest ski resort test portal"): "885"
Jimmy Petterson (author 'Skiing Around The World', veteran ski writer): book features "500-plus ski resorts in more than 70 countries"
More on this:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/wtf-ski-club/james-cove-claims-200-new-resorts-skied-in-2-years/1429311563838393/
[and see comments]
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 29-08-18 14:10; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Circa 110 stations across 23 countries.
About 2% of the world's ~6k ski resorts.
Japan has the best snow.
Italy has the best scenery.
US has the best service.
Switzerland has the best combo of everything.
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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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Not defending James Cove - don't know him, never met him - but it's not impossible to rack up 145 resorts in a season if you count an area like the Ski Welt not as 1 ski area but by its individual resorts.
There's 9 there for starters which could be 'skied' in 2 days.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Mike Pow, indeed, and depends where you draw the line. In Ski Amade Some people might say that they've skied Schladming, others might ski the same route but consider it as Schladming/Planai, Hauser Kaibling, Rohrmoos, Reiteralm. In fact it's probably Ski Amade that's the reason I've lost count. Other than that I've only done La Plagne, Les Arcs, Tignes, Livigno, Val D, and all resorts in the 3 Valleys.
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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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They probably only carpet skiers 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As @Mike Pow, says it's meaningless without defining what they count as a resort. I've done 11villages in the 3v in one day. Is that 1or 11... Or is it 12 because I skied Orrell but didn't go down to to village?
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A quick glance at bergfex.at gives me 372 'ski areas' in Austria alone. Of course many of these will actually just be part of Ski Welt or Ski Amade etc. I suppose it's possible to ski 1000 ski areas world wide. My main question would be : what for?
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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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| Steilhang wrote: |
| I suppose it's possible to ski 1000 ski areas world wide. My main question would be : what for? |
For once, there IS a point.
The point being, they write about skiing. So they’d better skied a lot more areas than the average skiers, just building the bases of knowledge about skiing.
| Davina Goldballs wrote: |
What's your tally?
[I've clocked up about 85 resorts (including all 5 in Scotland, I hasten to emphasise!)]
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But for the rest of average ski punters though, there’s NO point. Well, bragging point if you insist
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| Quote: |
including all 5 in Scotland, I hasten to emphasise!)]
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Showing your ignorance there sonny. Do try to keep up.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Steilhang wrote: |
| A quick glance at bergfex.at gives me 372 'ski areas' in Austria alone. Of course many of these will actually just be part of Ski Welt or Ski Amade etc. I suppose it's possible to ski 1000 ski areas world wide. My main question would be : what for? |
Many folk prefer the challenge of something different every week, month, or year.
Riding the same old cr*p at Kitzbuhel or Killington, or whatevs, gets tiresome and repetitive.
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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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Valid point.
Perhaps a more interesting list than how many total, especially for those who’s been around a lot (skied more than 30?), what are the stations you go back more than once?
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@Whitegold, Riding the same old cr*p at Kitzbuhel as usual, you are completely wrong. Nothing crap about Kitzbühel.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Steilhang wrote: |
| A quick glance at bergfex.at gives me 372 'ski areas' in Austria alone. Of course many of these will actually just be part of Ski Welt or Ski Amade etc. I suppose it's possible to ski 1000 ski areas world wide. My main question would be : what for? |
Right! 
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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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KitzbuhelI agree with @Steilhang there is nothing cr@p about Kitzbuhel,
I think I could spend the rest of my ski life on that one ski pass.
But ... at this time of year, we don't have much to drool over so we could play the "list" game.
Are we going to start it here?
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Poster: A snowHead
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UPDATE
Firstly, thanks to all for the interesting and positive response to this thread. It's attracted nearly 700 hits over 24 hours, at an average hit-rate of about 50 viewers per post, written by a dozen contributors above.
| Mike Pow wrote: |
Not defending James Cove - don't know him, never met him - but it's not impossible to rack up 145 resorts in a season if you count an area like the Ski Welt not as 1 ski area but by its individual resorts.
There's 9 there for starters which could be 'skied' in 2 days. |
Agreed, and it seems perfectly valid to me to count all resorts skied in a 'circus'-type ski area.
I do know James quite well (we first met about 15 years ago) and he's worked hard at the content of PlanetSki over the years, frequently reporting from the mountains rather than a desk. Obviously the important thing is to take his claim in good faith, and allow him the benefit of any doubt. That said, he's been very specific in what he's said ... "600+" resorts ... and been absolutely clear about the count ...
https://www.planetski.eu/news/10739
| James Cove wrote: |
| I've clocked up hundreds and hundreds of ski resorts across the world in my travels (600+ at the last count) |
... so the "count" needs a little explanation. As far as I can see, one can't "count" resorts without listing them, so I've invited him to share the list - especially for the last couple of years, when the count jumped from "400+" to "600+". Of course, in line with that, it would only be fair to invite the other UK ski writers ranked above to do the same - all in the interests of informational entertainment and fair play.
In the next few days, I'll do my best to write a comprehensive list of the resorts I've skied myself.
| TheGeneralist wrote: |
| Quote: |
including all 5 in Scotland, I hasten to emphasise!)]
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Showing your ignorance there sonny. Do try to keep up. |
Specifically: Cairngorm, The Lecht, Glenshee, Glencoe and Nevis Range (Aonach Mor). Those are all the ski resorts/mechanised ski areas known to mankind in the Scottish Highlands.
| Whitegold wrote: |
Riding the same old cr*p at Kitzbuhel or Killington, or whatevs, gets tiresome and repetitive. |
I've visited both Kitzbuhel (first place I ever skied, in fact, in 1959) and Killington. It's ridiculous to bracket them ... as "tiresome". Kitzbuhel is one of the world's classics, obviously, not only because it hosts (arguably) the greatest/toughest downhill ski race in the world. It's a mecca of skiing, deservedly. One can potentially combine it with St Anton (for an interesting contrast of terrain), since there's a direct rail connection at 3 hours or less.
By the way, Patrick Thorne (one of the writers above) has made interesting mention of two very widely travelled non-UK ski writers, in relation to this topic: Jimmy Petterson and Oliver Kern. Both have visited huge numbers of ski resorts. See the comments:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/wtf-ski-club/james-cove-claims-200-new-resorts-skied-in-2-years/1429311563838393/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Scotland has 6 ski resorts.
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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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Jimmy Petterson visited some of the English club fields this year to bump his tally up 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Here's my Life List
Andorra - Grandvalira (Canillo, El Tarter, Grau Roig, Pas de la Casa, Soldeu [5]) [1 / 5]
Argentina - Caviahue; Cerro Bayo; Chapelco; La Hoya; Las Lenas [5]
Austria - Arlberg (Lech, St Anton, St Christoph, Zurs [4]); Kaprun; Kitzbuhel; Saalbach; Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis [3]; Ski Welt (Brixen, Ellmau, Going, Hopfgarten, Scheffau, Westendorf, Soll [7]); Stubai [7 / 18]
Canada - Big White; Castle Mountain; Fernie; Kicking Horse; Lake Louise; Panorama; Powder Springs; Sunshine [8]
Chile - Antillanca; Portillo; Termas de Chillan [3]
France - Chamonix (Brevant, Flegere, Grand Montets, La Tour, Les Houces [5]); La Grave; La Plagne; Les Deux Alpes; Montgenevre; Tignes; Val d’Isere (7 / 11)
Georgia - Gudauri [1]
Italy - Corvara; Courmayeur; Madesimo; Marmolada; Monte Rosa (Alagna, Antagnod, Champolouc, Gressoney St Jean, Gressoney Trinitie [5]); Pejo 3000; San Domenico; San Martino di Castrozza; Solda; Trafoi, Valzoldana (Civetta) [11 / 15]
Japan - Asahidake; Chisenupuri; Furano; Iwanai; Kamui Ski Links; Kiroro Resort; Kurodake; Mt Racey; Niseko United (Annupuri, Niseko Village, Niseko Grand Hirafu, Niseko Hanazono [4]); Niseko Moiwa; Nukabira Gensenkyo; Pippu; Rusutsu; Sahoro; Sapporo Kokusai; Sapporo Teine; Sun Laiva; Tomamu [18 / 21]
Kosovo - Brezovica [1]
Macedonia - Popova Sapka [1]
Montenegro - Kolasin; Savin Kuk [2]
New Zealand - Cardrona; Coronet Peak; Craigieburn; Mt Dobson; Ohau; Porter Heights; Temple Basin [7]
Norway - Narvik; Stranda [2]
Sweden - Rikksgransen [1]
Switzerland - Aletsch (Belalp; Bettmeralp; Riederalp [3]); Engelberg; Les Diablerets; Leysin; Zermatt [5 / 8]
United States
Colorado - A-Basin; Beaver Creek; Breckenridge; Copper; Crested Butte; Keystone; Loveland; Monarch; Ski Cooper; Snowmass; Steamboat; Sunlight; Telluride; Vail; Winter Park [15]
Maine - Sunday River [1]
Montana - Montana Snowbowl; Moonlight Basin; Turner Mountain; Whitefish Mountain Resort [4]
Utah - Alta; Beaver Mountain; Brighton; Deer Valley; Park City; Powder Mountain; Solitude; Snowbasin; Snowbird; Sundance; The Canyons [11]
Washington - Alpental; Crystal; Mt Baker [3]
Vermont - Jay Peak; Mad River Glen [2]
Wyoming - White Pine [1]
TOTAL 117 / 146
EDITED TO ANSWER
| abc wrote: |
Perhaps a more interesting list than how many total, especially for those who’s been around a lot (skied more than 30?), what are the stations you go back more than once? |
I've returned on a different trip / different season to the following:
Argentina - Caviahue; Chapelco
Canada - Castle Mountain; Fernie; Kicking Horse; Lake Louise; Panorama; Sunshine
Chile - Portillo; Termas de Chillan
France - Chamonix
Italy - San Martino di Castrozza; Trafoi
Japan - Asahidake; Chisenupuri; Kiroro Resort; Kurodake; Mt Racey; Niseko United; Niseko Moiwa; Rusutsu; Sahoro; Sapporo Kokusai; Tomamu
United States
Montana - Turner Mountain; Whitefish Mountain Resort
Utah - Alta; Brighton; Powder Mountain; Solitude; Snowbasin
| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| What would be more interesting would be the number of ski resorts that ski journalists have visted and ever written anything bad about an/or the number that they have visted wholly out of their own pocket. |
Paid for over half of the resorts visited out of my own pocket.
Feel no need to return to
Fernie; La Plagne; Tignes; Val d’Isere; Cardrona; Coronet Peak; Rikksgransen; Copper Mtn; Snowmass; Sunday River; Park City; The Canyons
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Mon 6-04-20 16:58; edited 7 times in total
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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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What would be more interesting would be the number of ski resorts that ski journalists have visted and ever written anything bad about an/or the number that they have visted wholly out of their own pocket.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Dave of the Marmottes,
I was trying to tot mine up all of which have come out of my own pockets and came to around 100 in around 120 weeks of skiing (very approximate). Haven't come across too many I dislike even if there is the odd one I have considered less than ideal for the non skier.
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Every time I ever try to tot mine up I fail. There aren't many if any places I would say I hated but I can certainly think of negatives even about the places I like the most and/or have had the best times at.
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| Quote: |
it seems perfectly valid to me to count all resorts skied in a 'circus'-type ski area.
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I'm not so sure. If someone does a week in courchevel and on one day skis over to VT, just rides a single piste down to the village then takes the lift straight back up and skis down to meribel have they really "skied" VT? Fair enough for chalet bragging rights maybe, but for a journalist expected to give an informed view on a place I would expect at least a few days would be required - especially when weather conditions play such a big part in the experience.
Trying to get in as many resorts as possible in a single trip seems to be becoming more normal now in North America. I suspect epic and mountain collective passes contributed to this. Although I meet plenty of people doing road trips in BC ("powder highway") which are not covered by a single pass. Always seems like quality of skiing is sacrificed for quantity of resorts
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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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| boarder2020 wrote: |
| Trying to get in as many resorts as possible in a single trip seems to be becoming more normal now in North America. I suspect epic and mountain collective passes contributed to this. Although I meet plenty of people doing road trips in BC ("powder highway") which are not covered by a single pass. Always seems like quality of skiing is sacrificed for quantity of resorts |
You can't tell what's "quality" until you get some "quantity". In other words, you need something to compare with before you can say it's "better". Better than what?
Some got lucky their first mountain is a good one and they're happy. True quality.
Some people are happy skiing the mountain close to their home, day in and day out, year in and year out. Even if it's not all that good, they wouldn't know, and wouldn't care, if it's better or worse than the next mountain. Is that quality?
The availability of multi-mountain passes definition makes it easier for people to sample different mountains in one trip. If more option is bad, it's because it takes away the time spend on each of the more limited options. 
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I think you are making a different point, maybe I wasn't clear. By quality I mean making the most out of a resort. I will use kicking horse as an example as I know it well and I met a lot of powder highway road trippers doing a single day there. With a single day you are going to see a small amount of the resort, and miss out on lots of the better runs. Spend a few days there working out the terrain and you start to find the hidden gems, know the places to avoid etc. I'm sure for most people day 2,3,4 at a resort you have better quality of skiing than on the first day when you're trying to work out just getting around. I don't really think this is an unreasonable idea - anyone that's skied with a local can tell you how much it can add. So I think you get a better overall experience doing more days at fewer resorts. Of course this is based on the assumption it's not a tiny resort where you can literally ski every run in a day
The exception might be if you are chasing snow. In which case driving to a new resort getting dumped on may be better than staying at a resort where you know the terrain but there's no new snow.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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So it would appear that being a journalist on ski freebies entitles you to brag. Next time round I must be reincarnated as one!
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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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| boarder2020 wrote: |
Spend a few days there working out the terrain and you start to find the hidden gems, know the places to avoid etc. I'm sure for most people day 2,3,4 at a resort you have better quality of skiing than on the first day when you're trying to work out just getting around.
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My closest ski area has 10km of runs and 15 years down the road and 150 days skied there we are still finding new variants in the off piste. Someone who skied 1 day would go away thinking it was a piss ant ski area not worthy of further investigation.
btw I know that Peter Hardy has paid meals out of his own pocket in alpine restaurants because the owners have only found out they'd been reviewed when they saw it in the papers.
Oh I note that Planetski still has the content he copied of Pistehors up on his website, I guess he didn't actually ski those Corsican ski areas then.
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@Davina Goldballs, Just added them all up ……. Total of 104 Resorts in 8 countries across 2 continents.
Many of the resorts I've only skied once, many others I've skied a dozen weeks at least.
I've not included the great Yorkshire "resorts" of Kilnsey, Dob Park, or Ben Rhydding. Global Warming has all but shut down these legendary slopes.
I can certainly see how those "in the business" can clock up hundreds more than joe-punter.
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You know it makes sense.
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@boarder2020, I got the exact opposite impression because you were lumping the availability of multi-mountain passes and the Powder Highway skiers together. And suggesting the former is the cause of the latter, which I completely disagree.
Even the most stingy multi-mountain passes, the Mountain Collective, gives 2 days in each resort, and 50% off for additional days. I think that's not a bad setup. If you like it, you can stay longer. But if after TWO days, you still haven't found enough to entice you to stay, it's time to move on.
With MAX (and now IKON), the minimum one gets is FIVE days in each mountain! SEVEN for the "regular" IKON pass. How many people ski more than 7 days in one trip?
(I visited Kicking Horse last year. I stay the 5 days offered on the pass. Whilst I still haven't seen even close to ALL of KH, I may not have ski KH at all had it not been part of the MAX pass. )
EPIC pass has even more generous day limits on them. It's 10 days for Vail/BC/Whistler. One is most likely to spend all those 10 days in one (or two in the case of Vail/BC)
The Powder highway skiers maybe of a different mindset. But it's NOT BECAUSE of the multiple mountain passes.
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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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Maybe I didn't phrase it well. A lot of people going to NA seem to be trying to visit as many resorts as possible. While I think the multi resort passes may be one reason for this, it's clearly not the only reason (e.g. powder highway where there's no single pass that covers it all).
| Quote: |
With MAX (and now IKON), the minimum one gets is FIVE days in each mountain! SEVEN for the "regular" IKON pass. How many people ski more than 7 days in one trip?
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I think most people going from UK to North America are going for longer than 7 days, 10-14 seems the norm. But you are kind of making my point. Someone flying into SLC with an ikon pass has access to solitude, Brighton, deer valley, snowbird, and Alta. With 10 days they will probably do 2 at each.
| Quote: |
One is most likely to spend all those 10 days in one (or two in the case of Vail/BC)
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Yes for whistler. Not sure about Colorado, it seems like a lot of people with epic passes are basing themselves at somewhere like dillon or silverthorne (cheaper accommodation than Vail) and skiing Breck, arapahoe basin, keystone with a couple of days driving over to Vail/BC.
My point is really not about the passes though. My point is that imo you get better ski experience after a few days at a place, with first days almost being a write off spending more time studying the piste map and trying to work out the lay of the land. So less resorts but more time spent at each is a better experience. However, people seem set on doing the opposite.
Edit: at least the above refers to North America. People seem more content on visiting a single resort for Europe trips. Someone saying they are doing 2 days in Chamonix they driving to tignes for 2 days then somewhere else for 2 days would probably be met with confused looks.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
My point is really not about the passes though. My point is that imo you get better ski experience after a few days at a place, with first days almost being a write off spending more time studying the piste map and trying to work out the lay of the land. So less resorts but more time spent at each is a better experience. However, people seem set on doing the opposite.
Edit: at least the above refers to North America. People seem more content on visiting a single resort for Europe trips. Someone saying they are doing 2 days in Chamonix they driving to tignes for 2 days then somewhere else for 2 days would probably be met with confused looks.
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@boarder2020, I see you're talking about Brit's visiting North America.
First, I don't think it's a new thing that visitors crossing the pond tend to visit more than one resort in a trip. At least not a "new thing" since the introduction of multi-mountain passes. More over, I think it's actually a good thing.
There's a misconception of how the ski mountains are setup in Europe vs in North America. In Europe, the ski domains are much bigger than those in North America. So, whilst people may spend a whole week in the Dolomites, they're skiing "around" the entire domain, spending time in different sectors each day. It's almost like they're staying in Frico and skiing Breck/Keyston/A-basin, even though they aren't linked by lifts!
St Moritz is another good example. It has 3 distinct mountains linked only by bus or trains. Yet, people who spend a week there aren't going to limit themselves to just one. They visit all 3. And typically choosing to return on one or another after they sample each first. This is EXACTLY LIKE staying at Salt Lake City and skiing Snowbird one day, Solitude next, onto Alta and Brighton etc.
Many Brits made the mistake of not realizing the size of North American ski domains. They committed the whole week at a destination such as Deer Valley (pre-paid passes only good for DV, for example). Not that it's a bad mountain. Not that it doesn't have lots of skiing opportunities. But they're definitely missing out by not venturing to at least one or two additional mountains. But they're limited due to the pass limitations.
Now, with IKON pass, they WILL be tempted to visit Alta/Bird. And I really think it's a good thing. Let's suppose one is staying at Val Thoren, would it not be a wasted opportunity if they never ski over to Courchevel?
Granted, that opportunity could be misused by not spending more time in ANY one of the areas. But just like people need to get their heads around not limiting themselves to only one single mountains that may not be the most suitable, they will eventually figure it out the reverse... they do want to spend more than one single day on each mountain.
Personally, I found 2 days in one mountain is more or less ideal. Leave a couple "spare" day to extend the stay if I like a mountain particularly well (or the snow happen to be best).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
I think you are making a different point, maybe I wasn't clear. By quality I mean making the most out of a resort. I will use kicking horse as an example as I know it well and I met a lot of powder highway road trippers doing a single day there. With a single day you are going to see a small amount of the resort, and miss out on lots of the better runs.
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With respect KH is a pretty terrible example as it takes about 1 gondola ride in good vis to work everything out - this bowl or that then a few laps of the chair to mix stuff up. While I agree that investing time in knowing where your lines are, which tree marks what and even which rocks you need to avoid, will always pay off it doesn't make the road trip a bad decision. The powder highway does make for a perfect road trip a bunch of interesting characterful hills all within an after ski drive of each other.
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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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@Dave of the Marmottes, so what was your favorite line (or “bowl”)?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Many Brits made the mistake of not realizing the size of North American ski domains
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True that n American resorts are smaller in size, but the inbounds off piste set up means the actual skiable terrain is often large. Of course if you just want groomers they are tiny in comparison to Europe.
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With respect KH is a pretty terrible example as it takes about 1 gondola ride in good vis to work everything out
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Which is what everyone that only visits for a day or two says... Because the laps are so long and T1 and T2 both require hikes it's hard to do it justice in a day. At a minimum imo to say you've "done" kh you need to ski T2, T1 north, T1 south, CPR north, CPR south, redemption north, redemption south, whitewall - which is over 10000m vertical descent plus about 1 hour hiking (good luck doing all that in one day!). Even then you would just be pretty blindly picking a line on each ridge. A lot of one day visitors skip the T1 hike (even though truth and dare are arguably the iconic kh runs) and never discover some of the classic chutes like Dutch wallet (hardly surprising as there are over 70 chutes). So if a mountain with such a simple layout and gondola takes numerous days how can someone ski one of the more complex resorts in a day or 2?
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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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| boarder2020 wrote: |
| Quote: |
Many Brits made the mistake of not realizing the size of North American ski domains
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True that n American resorts are smaller in size, but the inbounds off piste set up means the actual skiable terrain is often large. Of course if you just want groomers they are tiny in comparison to Europe.
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It maybe argued, for Brits to cross the pond to ski groomers is akin to ordering steaks in a vegetarian restaurant. But truth be told, if it hadn't snowed a week (or 10 days), many of the off-pistes are nothing but all look-alike bump fields. You can have infinite lines but they all ski pretty much the same!
And if there's a freeze-thaw cycle, god help you with those glazed over house size moguls!
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| abc wrote: |
| @Dave of the Marmottes, so what was your favorite line (or “bowl”)? |
I can't remember. I remember skiing whitewall which was pretty good but we got good pow laps right under the chair with a local tele girl. Something from that ridge dropping the other side probably. And no over a couple of multiday visits I've never hiked Terminator ridge - combination of vis, snow being good enough elsewhere and laziness.
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| abc wrote: |
| @Dave of the Marmottes, so what was your favorite line (or “bowl”)? |
I can't remember. I remember skiing whitewall which was pretty good but we got good pow laps right under the chair with a local tele girl. Something from that ridge dropping the other side probably. And no over a couple of multiday visits I've never hiked Terminator ridge - combination of vis, snow being good enough elsewhere and laziness. |
@boarder2020, @Dave of the Marmottes does has a point. "Snow being good enough" is exactly the kind of "quality" he's talking about.
It's entirely possible the snow over on T1/T2 might have been AMAZING! But you would never know until you either go over, or somehow figure it out by inferring from the runs under the chair.
Even for those who don't like to hike (me included), there're many hidden lines on the far side of CPR ridge that takes time to discover. Hooking up with a local is something everyone tries to do. Again, it being a chance encounter thing, the more time you spend in a mountain, the more likely it would happen.
Last but not least, weather is an inherent factor when one is doing a road trip. If you hit KH on a low vis day (which happens A LOT), and don't have a buffer day (or 2) to wait it out, you're going to really miss the best of that mountain can offer.
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I've had awesome one day visits to many of the resorts I've skied.
But I've always had better days on the days I've gone back - combination of picking the right day for snow conditions and knowing the resort a little better.
I must have skied close to 150 days at Kiroro Resort on Hokkaido over the past 8 seasons and I'm still finding new lines and variations on a theme.
And I did two seasons at Kicking Horse and know from experience that whilst it's a fairly obvious mountain to navigate top to bottom, there are lots of surprises side to side, and either side of side to side 
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