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USA resorts?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
A mate and I are starting to search around for our annual ski holiday and are thinking about the States perhaps. However my knowledge of resorts there is limited so I'd welcome some suggestions.

Some info about me:
I ski pretty well, skiing fast generally on the piste and normally enjoy blacks and reds. I tend to ski hard all day and cram lots of runs and miles in. I'm just beginning to get good enough off piste to enjoy it....well...good enough to muck around off piste so long as I don't go too far! As a result I like the large French resorts and have been to 3 Valleys, Tigne/Val, La Plagne/Les Arc for the last decade or so.

Since it will most likely be just me and a mate, when we go to France we go for chalets and love meeting a group of people that way to perk up the apres and have a laugh and a beer with.

Now for my questions:
I have skied at Mammoth (just a weekend, in the middle of a business trip) and that resort didn't seem to be anything like th size of the big french ski areas. If I go all the way to the states I'l be looking for a fortnight long trip.....so I want a big ski area to keep me amused. What would people suggest?

From what I can tell American resort accomodation seems to be hotels or condos/apartments, do they not do chalet style acomodation? If not, what is the apres ski like in American resorts (the bars etc). As a frequent business visitor to a few places in the states (but not holiday resorts) I am a bit concerned that the night life might be a bit too quiet for a couple of lads?

I know lift passes are pricey over there, but pistes groomed and empty by comparison.Anyhting else I should watch out for?

Thanks,

Neil
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, you just won't find any single ski area in the US to be as extensive as some of the huge European resorts. And the extent of apres ski is going to vary greatly from resort to resort. A few thoughts: I'd definately take a look at Vail. Vail is arguably the largest ski resort in the US, you can ski its sister resort of Beaver Creek which is only a few miles away, and has good night life. With a car you could also make your way over to the Summit County resorts (Breckenridge, Copper, Araphahoe Basin, Keystone) if you get bored. Breckenridge would be an alternative base with a lively town. Based on your post, I do think you'd probably want to visit some other places for skiing if you based yourself in Breckenridge. I'd also take a look at Park City, Utah. There are three resorts withing about 10 mintues, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, and The Canyons; all three are fairly extensive and offer varied terrain. Park City has much going for it as a base. The other thing about Utah is that the ski areas are clustered. Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, and Brighton are about 45 minutes from Park City. I'd definately suggest visiting these areas cause they offer amazing skiing with an average snowfall in the 500 inch / year range. The layout at Alta gives skiers the opportunity to venture a bit off piste into powder and soft bumps and trees. And if you can ski everything at Snowbird, you're a true expert. Really a ton of amazing skiing in close proximity, but you'd likely want a car. You can stay in Park City and ski Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, and The Canyons without a car -- pretty convenient bus system. The other option that would seem to fit the bill for a couple of lads on the loose is Whistler in British Columbia. They've gotten big dumps of snow and have a great base already.
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RI Skier has pretty much said it all.

For apres, it's only as good as you are prepared to make it - I've done trips to the US on my own, and had good apres, but I also find that after skiing fresh powder in Alta all day, I'm normally happy with a couple of beers & a hot tub in the evening (although I can rarely every drink all the hot tub)
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(oh, and welcome to snowHead !)
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Neil.N, I no you've said USA resorts, but if your going over that side of the pond why not go to Whistler, Canada, i havent been yet but im going end of Jan, and what ive heard the nightlife is supposed to be bouncing, and the ski areas huge too. Puzzled
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Whistler is the blindingly obvious choice.
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true. It's the nearest to a European style ski resort (both good and bad) that you'll find in North America.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Thanks RIS and WTFH for the sugestions and the welcome Smile

Liam, I would consider Canada. I am currently thinking US as the pound is so strong against the US dollar.

How big is Whistler? I've heard it is big but the lift system is dinky compared to the big Eupean resorts isn't it? Although I get the impression each lift sort of serves a 'bowl' with a bigish ski area rather than serving just a one or two runs as they often do in Europe. Town seems quite nice (I visited the bike park with my mountain bike a couple of years ago), and the scenary is beautiful.....just make sure that whoever drives up from Vancouver keeps their eyes on the road and not on the scenary!
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Hi

Just a note to say that I have stayed in chalets in Steamboat springs and Breckenridge and Whistler. With Crystal (probably now crystal finest ) and ski independence. I agree with the others - no area individually will be bigger than europen ones. We had a great stay , a week in Steamboat springs, a week in Breckenridge and that was a great way of over coming the altitude issues some people have at Breckenrdige. We had a car - so from Breckenridge did trips to Vail and Keystone as well including nightskiing at Keystone which was brilliant- we were alone on a whole lit mountain side (it was very very cold though - we were in an abnormal arctic freeze as the loacls called it- and the gondala - pronounced gond-oooooo-la- was frozen and rather eerie). Hair froze solid whist in hot tub and your feet froze afterwards to the deck!Off piste is good overthere for newby off pisters (me) as they are back bowls that are in essence part of the resort and served by lifts and patrolled etc. I found Whistler overrated although I ahven't ever found anyone else who agrees with me. It was very busy (in an off-peak week) , queued which I hate and it lacked a certain charm.

HTH
Lucy
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Neil.N, most North American resorts work on a similar principle - rather than having many lifts, they will have few, which will serve multiple areas.

If size is all that matter, then stay away from NA - Whistler, Vail and Big Sky are the 3 biggest resorts (each based around 1 town, not like the Euro ones), but in terms of km of piste, then they are tiny - less than 1/4 the size of the likes of the 3V.
But, then again, it's not all about sticking to the piste - the snow quality will mean you're not as limited.
Also, if you look at the number of skiers for the size of the area, you'll find that even on a busy day the NA resorts have considerably less densely populated slopes.


Here's a busy day in Solitude, Utah last February...


...and at Snowbird...
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Looking at km of pistes is a false indicator. Look at acreage of terrain and vert. You're right that the lifts are maybe not as cutting edge as other places, but they serve their purpose.

For what you're describing, Whistler seems like the best bet by far. Enough moutain to keep you entertained without having to drive around to another resort each day. As good a nightlife as you're going to get. Easy access from Vancouver (also a great place if you want some time away from skiing).

On the downside, I find the village too contrived, but in NA you either have that or no village.

I don't know what the exchange rate for CD$ is, but I was there two winters ago and felt that my Euros went pretty far.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
When the US dollar is sick, the poor old $Can rushes down the tubes after it. Currently the USD is £ =$1.96 the Canadian dollar is down at $2.27.

For 2 weeks in the US I'd agree with RISkier and Wear The Fox Hat, and choose Park City. It's got easy access to a range of mountains and great snow. There are some good bars (Try the Wasatch Brew Co: a microbrew pub at the top end of town).

In Canada, Whistler will keep you amused for a week, easy, on and off the hill, and I'm sure our very own Whistler Separatists will show you how to have a good time. Banff can also be good for nightlife - it has the highest per capita incidence of STDs in Canada (it's a liftie thing....).
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Thanks all, there's lots of good info there. As you say it isn't just about the number of lifts and km of piste. How do Whistler and the other areas mentioned go for vetical drop (top of mountain tdown to the resort town)?

Seems like a car and a 2 centre trip would make for a pretty amazing holiday.
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You know it makes sense.
Neil.N,

Whistler/Blackcombe do quite well for vertical by NA standards, IIRCC its about 2000 - 7000 old feet so its almost like Val d Isere if you can make use of it, ie 5200 ft As long as the useful skiing is around the 3000ft vertical then you'll have good scope...
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Neil.N,

I would seriously back the original posted reply of the Summit County quad. They have even nabbed the highly pretigious [url]http:www.snow.com[/url] if that counts for anything! Have a look at the stuff going on: truly makes you want to just ride.

We did a week in River Run Keystone, visting Breck, then over to Vail for a week, just after Blue Sky had opened - Awesome. Visited Beaver Creeek as well.

Nightlife? - OK, you might have to work a little harder than Austria, no one bar was a guaranteed riot of noise and colour that you could just drop onto, but say, no worse than France - if you looked around and kept your ears open, there was stuff going on.

However, after that much powder, and that many trees, and that many bowls, and that much space, and that much night skiing, and that much... just "ahhhh....." days, we really didn't need a lot of night time activity!

As the others have already said, size of 3V, Killy and Paradiski: yeah, nice, we have skied probably 11 or 12 years between the three, but there was enough to keep us happy in Colorado for the fortnight without feeling undue constraint. And we didn't even get to A-basin, or Copper.

And I would go back like a shot if only to try the expanded Blue Sky, and the Independence Bowl (as per my other thread!)
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Lake Tahoe
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Neil.N, I hate to not come up with original ideas but I'd go

1. Utah, specifically Park City for accommodation as you can easily access any of the other areas from there.. If you do, we found Solitude to be special, Snowbird less so. Alta would be amazing on a good powder day, but I reckon Solitude wouldn't be far behind.

This will give you an idea opf the terrain in Alta:

2. Whistler, as I've done 6 days there without really feeling I'd properly exploited the place. However, being "coastal" it does have a received reputation for wet snow and rain. Can't comment. Was pretty fun when I was there.

3. Jackson Hole. Was only there pre-season - only went because I wanted to see the Tetons and ended up having two awesome days touring with Jackson Hole Mountain guides. One of them even had to lend me their skis as the shops hadn't mounted any with rando bindings yet. So no idea of the actual pisted stuff but even without any tourists and as a sad no-mates reading my book in the bar I had a lot of fun.
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No one has mentioned Lake Tahoe in CA. Heavenly Ski Resort has a lot of terrain and 24 Casino nightlife as wild as a want it(Tahoe is half in Nevada (gambling, etc.) and half California). Plenty of other ski areas surround the Lake, notably Squaw Valley (wicked steeps) and Alpine Meadows (great tree skiing). The snow in Tahoe ("Sierra Cement") tends to be on the heavy side, but the lake side scenery and Ponderosa pines are beautiful. Fly into San Francisco- which is a true gem of a city- and hire a car for the 2 hour drive. Cool


That's my 2 cents-

Happy Holidays
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Go for Breck, but take a car

Crystal have two big chalets there, which are probably sold out this year.
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i have spent a considerable amount of my life skiing in various parts of north america. it's going to sound silly to say, however, debating which resort is "best" is akin to counting angels on the head of a pin.

salt lake is great, as is colorado, as is california, don't forget montana, and there is jackson hole..........

if pressed to do so in the area that i know best i could not do so. i love winter park. if i had to pick a second town it would be steamboat.

merry xmas to all
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We've had this argument before. Winter Park is a great ski area, but the nightlife sucks - and would be a great disappointment to anyone wanting anything comparable with European apres ski.
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I am less keen on Breck, and more keen on JH (but I have been boring enough about that before) and Vail, Aspen and the associated resorts. Whistler is good but can be wet. You will find that many UK skiers have often been to Breck &/or Whistler, and I think both resorts have been well promoted. Steamboat is good - not sure it has the nightlife you might be after. Never been to Winter Park and it is below Utah and Telluride on my North America to-do-list. My Brother (Stoat) is in Squaw valley at the moment and having a great time - but he is a tray-boy so what does he know... wink
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My wife and Iare planning a 2 week trip to USA with Park City Utah being the probable destination.
As its going to be a DIY trip any suggestions on accomadation,time of year to go or other info that you thinlk would be help full.
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Quote:

My wife and Iare planning a 2 week trip to USA with Park City Utah being the probable destination.
As its going to be a DIY trip any suggestions on accomadation,time of year to go or other info that you thinlk would be help full.


Well, I've only been one time so I'm certainly not an expert. You might take a look at www.vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner). My wife and I rented a 1 bedroom condo in Red Pines condominiums near The Canyons. It was about $130 / night. Relatively small but very comfortable with a fire place. It's not ski-in/ski out. It is fairly close to a bus stop that will take you downtown in Park City and to the three local ski areas (Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, and The Canyons). These condos were probably 3 miles or so from downtown Park City. I'm really not familiar with other specific accomodations. We actually drove to the ski areas rather than using the bus. In the evenings we used to bus to go downtown. There are lots of dining and drinking options in Park City. My wife and I loved the Buffalo Burgers at The No Name Saloon. In fact, we liked them so much that we actually went back a second night. We also enjoyed Nacho Mammas, a Mexican/Southwestern restaurant, in the Prospecter Square area of Park City. The Wasatch Brew Pub is a fun place to hang out and have a few beers, you must try the Polygamy Porter, but "why stop at just one." Wasatch Brew Pub has good pub grub. All of the above are modestly priced. We also went to a place named Chimayo (SP?) which is an up scale restaurant with a Southwestern motif; the presentation was spectacular and the food was good but we didn't think it was worth the money. I always read very favorable comments about the food at Deer Valley restaurants; we had a really spectacular lunch at the Silver Lake Lodge and I suspect almost any place at Deer Valley would have good food.

The following website gives information on historical snow patterns for many US resorts, http://members.aol.com/crockeraf. According to that report, the Park City resorts are somewhat prone have spring conditions relatively early in the year. Mid January to early March probably gives the best chance for good surface conditions, though March is often pretty snowy. And I'd check snow conditions if you're planning to go soon, I don't think they've had tons of snow as of yet, but haven't been watching to closely. Definately avoid the week of February 19, which is President's Day holiday, a week when many schools have vacation.

We spent two days skiing at Alta. It was about a 45 minute drive from our condo. Alta and Snowbird are in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Solitude and Brighton are in Big Cottonwood Canyon. These areas have higher base elevations than the PC resorts and more of an open bowl, alpine feel. When Utah claims the greatest snow on earth, they are really talking about the Cottonwood Canyons resorts which average around 500 inchs of snow per year. We thought Alta was absolutely amazing. IMO, anyone traveling to Utah to ski is cheating themselves if they don't at least sample one or more of the Cottonwoods Canyons resorts. There are shuttle services that will take people from Park City to and from the Cottonwood Canyons resorts; I don't recall the exact price but it included a lift ticket and I recall thinking the price wasn't too bad. Don't know he names of the shuttle services, unfortunately. I'd also suggest that you spend some time on www.skiutah.com which gives lots of information on lodging, dining, transportation, etc. Have fun.
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Didn't see any dates Neil, but right now Colorado, Whistler and the cottonwood canyons of Utah have the best snow.

If nightlife is a significant aspect of the trip I would recommend South Lake Tahoe, Park City, Aspen, Whistler and Breckenridge in no particular order.

For skiing it has to be the cottonwood canyons in Utah even though I've skied more in Colorado the past 2 seasons and will again this season.

Most of the places mentioned should be fine and Tahoe is starting to get some good snow now.

Have a great trip!
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jgiddyup, welcome to snowHead - how's things? Will you be in Aspen in a few weeks?
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I'll be there Fox and maybe Neil should come to.

Thanks for the welcome and I'll be sure to steal enough money from someone to buy you a drink or twenty Smile
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Neil.N, I'd go for Whistler. They're having the sort of season that only happens once in a lifetime. To put it in perspective, their previous monthly record was something like 2.5 metres in a month, in November they had 4 metres total. There is plenty of terrain to keep you amused for two weeks there. It's true that you don't get to do the sort of high mileage excursions that you get in the 3vs with a characterful little cafe for lunch, but you do get some fantastic skiing. Two weeks ago, we were having fantastic powder skiing conditions, so much so that often we would ski the same run many times. If you run out of routes, then hook up with the Extremely Canadian guys, not only will they show you stuff that you could never find on your own, they'll show you stuff that you'll never be able to find again. To be honest though, with current conditions, you don't need a guide as fresh tracks are to be found all over the mountain, at all times, by only venturing a little off the beaten track.

According to the phone calls and text messages that I've been getting from the people formerly known as my friends who are still out there, conditions now make two weeks ago look icy and hard packed in comparison.
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Neil.N -- It sounds like you are looking for a tier-1 global resort. One that sits easily alongside the likes of Zermatt (313km of runs) and Chamonix (155km), etc.

In North America, there are only a handful of tier-1 stations that genuinely compare. All are on the West side. They include:

* Aspen -- 184km, 42 lifts, plenty of blacks and offpiste, fine restaurants, upmarket atmosphere;

* Whistler -- 216km, 33 lifts, plenty of blacks and offpiste, healthy nitelife;

* Vail -- 317km, 33 lifts, plenty of blacks and offpiste, good eating-out, upmarket atmosphere.


I would recommend Aspen, because it has a pleasant upscale vibe. Great resort, both on- and off-piste.

Whistler would come second. Great skiing, but becoming a bit too mass-market.

Good luck.
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What a great topic guys. I'm pretty much in the same situation as Neil.N but we're a slightly larger group and looking to go 13th Jan (fancy joining us Neil?!!)

I've seen a deal to Banff for £299. We're all male and 25ish looking for a good time as well as the snow... will Banff suit?
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 Poster: A snowHead
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Sorry another quick question... how long are you talking for the flight and transfers to somewhere like Banff?
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Nick-o,

Flights to Banff take about 9.5 hours (Air Canada direct to Calgary from Heathrow). Transfers from Calgary airport to Banff take about 1.5 hr. Allow another hour to go through Canadian Immigration and collect your luggage. (Invariably 3 planes arrive at the same time, meaning that there are generally long queues in immigration). You can undoubtedly have a good time in Banff.


yinkymoka,

Park City is a great place for a base in Utah. I visited second week in January: that time of year has its pluses and minuses. - It's the same time as the Sundance Film festival. That means that finding acommodation might be a bit harder, and you'll probably have to make reservations for most restaurants. On the other hand, most of the film people don't ski, so the slopes are pretty empty!
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Transfer to Banff is around a couple of hours. Biggest problem in banff is the ski bus to the ski areas (every day gets to be a pain) 20-25 mins to sunshine village or 45 mins to Lake louise. The skiings great, but the journey grinds you down by the end.
NB But also don't choose the only ski in - out hotel, as its 20 mins away from the action
Whistler is the best place for Skiing i've ever been, skii'ed all over europe, which has more character i.e the locals are rude esp the french, but you cant beat europe for full on apre ski. Whistlers facilities and the standard of accom. is incredible compared to what you get in europe. the people are massively friendly. Whistler vs banff = no competition Whistler wins hands down, it's even got a strip bar.
i'd be back in whistler like a flash, but my wife's making me go to courchevel this year (Grrr) have fun though, i wish i was coming with you - come on you wales!!
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Welcome to snowHead, Steve!

stevespence wrote:
Whistler wins hands down, it's even got a strip bar.


I've been reliably informed that the Boot has closed its doors. (although I'm still trying to find out how Hels_T won a snowboard... Laughing )
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The Boot is derelict these days. Crying or Very sad
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Nick-o, if you can get a hol in Banff for £299, go for it. Having a good time there is simplicity itself.
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