 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all !
First post here having lurked for a little while .....
I'm looking for some advice on the best US/Canadian resorts. I want to take my husband for his birthday next year (probably around mid March) on a DIY holiday as opposed to a package from one of the tour operators. We've skied Austria & he's also done Italy - his favourite resort is St. Anton. I'm wondering where would be a good choice. I'm assuming the skiing is pretty good everywhere but wonder whether there's such a thing as apres ski in the US?? We'll be flying from Dublin and might add on a couple of 'city break' days at the beginning / end.
Any & all advice gratefully received 
Cheers !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Best N American resorts for apres-ski:
Aspen, Banff, Breckenridge, Heavenly / South Lake Tahoe, Killington, Vail, Whistler
Best apres-ski party in N America? Possibly this one:
http://www.goodtimesman.com/
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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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Whistler !!!
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I'm assuming the skiing is pretty good everywhere
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That's a lie. 
Anyway, of all the places I've been, Whistler has the best apre scene. And the mountain is not too shabby either. (it's the largest in N. America)
I heard Part City also has a good apre scene. Didn't spend enough time there to say.
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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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Well. Here in Whistler, 26th May, and we still have a 3 metre base up the mountain. 10cm forecast for tonight. Skiing was really good today on Blackcomb.
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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 a million guys .....
Will check out Whistler to start with & progress from there ......
Any other tips / info. welcome. He usually does the ski organising so I need to prove that I can be trusted with such a huge responsibility also 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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veeeight, sounds still great over there
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veeeight,
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Whistler, 26th May
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Hey, steady on!
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amkenny, Previously did a trip in California - you can take in LA or San Francisco, drive out to Heavenley, Lake Tahoe or Mammoth for some excellent skiing, maybe a trip to Yosemite for some scenery, then a drive through Death Valley enroute to Vegas for a couple of nights...
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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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if u want great skiing and great snow record great apres then stick with st anton, don't beleive the N.American hype.
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amkenny, another vote for Whistler.
As for Apre Ski, Whistler village has more quality bars and restaurant that you can shake a ski-pole at.
And the best thing ... the Canadians: universally friendly; great service in the bars/shops/restaurants; and they know how to queue too!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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waynos, been to Whistler and St Anton this season, St Anton came out overall on top for me. More variation in the alps than on the mountains
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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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amkenny, welcome to 
I had a great time in America some years ago. I found the people friendly, the apres ski great and the accomodation much better than in Europe. I recommend Vail, Beaver creek, and lake Tahoe.
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| jonflat2 wrote: |
| Whistler .. the best thing ... the Canadians: universally friendly; great service in the bars/shops/restaurants; and they know how to queue too! |
I agree Canadians are great. But in Whistler I found more yanks, aussies, brits, japs, etc than Canadians! The Canadians I know tend to prefer someone a little quieter (and cheaper).
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You know it makes sense.
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I've been thinking of Canada for next year. Not sure yet of where exactly.
Any advice on whether to do a DIY trip (book hotel, lift passes, etc here) or use a tour operator? I assume it would cost more if booking through an operator but has anyone planned and booked their own trip. If so, any difficulties.
All advice would be welcome.
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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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Dobz, I think it depends on how many of you are going - for two of us it's normally cheaper to go with a TO but with more people you can rent an apartment direct and then sort out flights etc. There's normally good transfer options available. You can also check out the price of season lift passes - in some resorts if you buy a season lift pass as soon as they go on sale (as they are discounted) it can be cheaper than buying a 2 week one when you get there.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We've also priced up DIY v TO operator for a group of 2, then a group of 4 and can't beet the Inghams price for going to Canada.
Our preference would've been DIY, but can't justify the extra cost to do this.
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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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Whistler can be wet at resort level. What about Aspen - it is not all glitz and glamour plus you have 4 mountains to ski and the apres ski is great. Why not a week there and a week in Vail?
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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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If your looking for Austrian style Apres Ski in the US forget it.
There are of course some bars at the base of most mountains & in the later part of the winter alot of the resorts have live bands playing but its all very tame compared to Austria.
Most Americans tend to finish the day in the Hot Tub with a few cans, go out for dinner and then onto the nightlife.
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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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If the city break is an important element then you probably want San Francisco or Vancouver. Pleasant enoigh as they are Denver, SLC and Calgary are hardly tourist hotspots. You won't get Austrian style apres ski anywhere but you'll fnd a fairly lively apres ski scene at weekends at the big places.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks cathy, SnowboardVicky. Only two of us. I'm quite surprised that DIY is more expensive than a tour operator. Rather glad actually as it will mean less hassle - one visit to travel agents as opposed to hours online.
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Dobz,
I might be wrong but for price as opposed to service you may still be better on line. Many tour operators have a discount for holidays booked on line. But you will need to take time studying the various clauses to find the real price as opposed to the headline price. 
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amkenny, - stanton is on the nail about apres ski, although I have seen it look more lively in Vail, and there is usually at least one lively place in each resort, eg the Mangy Moose at JH (which is still my favourite place...)
Whistler is a great hill - but take wet weather gear for the base village. skilegs is right about that and about 1w in Aspen and 1 w in Vail - something I have done and enjoyed. Don't let anyone con you into skiing the East Coast or Quebec. If you are bothering to cross the pond you need the Rockies. SnowboardVicky, surprised at that, check the room occupancy basis. We have tended to get incredibly cheap deals on accommodationa and passes by avoiding TOs, and to be able to avoid charter airlines.
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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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| Quote: |
but take wet weather gear for the base village
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And earplugs. Don't know what the roofs of all the buildings are made of, but the relentless noise of the rain on the roof kept me awake at night. stoatsbrother, Why didn't I know that Whistler was in the Rockies 
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Hurtle, then you need a ground-floor condo, then you don't hear the rain.
Dobz, Whistler was cheaper DIY for us, and Banff was cheaper with a tour op.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If you get the weather (which can be a big if) Vancouver is a lovely place for a few days either end of a ski trip. We did that in January and had clear blue skies for the time there en route to Whistler. Going back from Whistler it was raining in Vancouver, sadly a not uncommon occurrence.
Both Vancouver and Whistler have a lot of good bars and restaurants. If by apres ski you mean places to go for a drink at the end of the skiing day which have a bit of a buzz then yes it has that..........but it is not Austria as has been said.
We have done a number of trips to Whistler, all DIY. We never found any TO who could come in under the price we could get ourselves and once you know (or have explained) the ropes it is all pretty easy. Everything can be done on the net, the component parts being flights (the usual sites such as Expedia/Opodo etc), transfers (direct bus from airport to Whistler, the company is called Perimeter), accomodation (we use a site called allura for apartments but you can do the hotels direct if you want that), lift tickets/ski school (via the "official" whistler blackcomb site) and ski hire (loads of options). You can also book tables at many of the restauarants online or by email (a problem, obviously for the first time visitor as you wont know where to go !!)
Also if you do a DIY then you dont get stuck with the 7/10/14 day trips that you may have to take from a TO
For Canadians Whistler is seen as expensive, for me it isnt bad and is certainly less expensive than some of the places in the Alps. The exchange rate now is pretty good at something like $2.20 CDN to the pound, which is maybe 10% better than a year ago.
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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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I am looking at going to Canada next year as well.
I have priced up DIY and it seems cheaper to me than with a TO. When I look at inghams I am given a baseline price of about £600 for RO in a hotel, however when you take it through to the booking stage this doubles as they expect 4 people to share the 2 double beds in the room, not very romantic
I found websites such as ownersdirect gave far better value.
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zoe29, try ski independence. Those guys do good value trips to Canada.
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You know it makes sense.
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For 4 people, Whistler was much more expensive than our Europe trips. www.alluradirect.com was by far the best site for booking accommodation in Whistler.
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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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zoe29, If you do go the owner direct route (and look at alluradirect as well as Helen Beaumont suggested) then don't be afraid to haggle. Find a bunch of properties that you like and e-mail all of them and see what kind of deal they will give you. Many North Americans will go for 5 days up to a week. Brits usually go for a couple of weeks so this is a good bargaining tool.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Hurtle wrote: |
Why didn't I know that Whistler was in the Rockies |
Because it's not, it's in the coastal mountains
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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uktrailmonster, Obviously a failed attempt at sarcasm on my part: this is what Stoatsbrother said:
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Whistler is a great hill ... If you are bothering to cross the pond you need the Rockies.
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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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amkenny, though we had responded to this, but can't find the message
whistler is a nice place and has the advantage of being close to Vancouver, which is also a cool place to visit. Take a walk round Stanley park (that is if it's recovered from the winter storms that hit in Jan this year)
downsides with Whistler is it can be expensive,
Can I suggest you conduct a search on this site for Whistler and you'll find loads of fans and comments.we've been twice each time with tour operators, ski independence are really good so are frontier ski
have fun
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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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Hurtle, damn, I did look for the sarcasm and failed to spot it! Sorry
Whistler is great, but it is getting a bit too "touristy" for my liking these days.
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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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All,
Thanks a million for posting so much information .... I've grabbed a couple of preview brochures from the TOs that operate out of Dublin. At the moment they seem to focus on the US resorts (Vail, Breckenridge, Killington) but I'm still searching !
Based on the feedback above, I think that Whistler is the way to go - however, my husband was leafing through the St. Anton section of the brochure last night with a wistful look in his eyes  I'm beginning to wonder whether we should just stick to what we know works .... Decisions, decisions .....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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amkenny, if you are thinking of Canada go for a minimium of 10 days, otherwise the jet lag will knock you out for sure
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Yes WB is alot of fun, and certainly has the apres ski, but so does Banff and with Sunshine Village and Lake Louise two nice Mtns, there's plenty of skiing, I prefer Sunshine of the two. As to the US if it's skiing and apres then Tahoe 5 resorts to choose from and a town that doesn't shut down.
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| amkenny wrote: |
| however, my husband was leafing through the St. Anton section of the brochure last night with a wistful look in his eyes I'm beginning to wonder whether we should just stick to what we know works .... Decisions, decisions ..... |
Some people enjoy variety. Others perfer familiarity. Some even get grumpy if they miss their favorate brand of morning coffee! You know him best.
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| if you are thinking of Canada go for a minimium of 10 days, otherwise the jet lag will knock you out for sure |
Anywhere west of the Missisipi, you're talking about jet lag of 8-10 hours anyway (while the east of that is not worth the bother of crossing the pond).
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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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| rob and sharon wrote: |
| amkenny, if you are thinking of Canada go for a minimium of 10 days, otherwise the jet lag will knock you out for sure |
on the way back. when you arrive its fab cos you are up really early and catch early lifts (makes you a bid saddo on the apres, mind). I agree anyway, I only did 10 days once and would love to do that every time.
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Hurtle, absolutely right about the Rockies - which is why I don't go to Whistler any more. I put it rather poorly.
IMHO for booking months in advance, the East Coast is too Icy, west coast too wet and variable, Rockies somewhere in between meteorologically and geographically.. If you can book to go out there when you know what the base is like, and for jan-march I am sure Whistler is fine.
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