American Resort Suggestions

A snowHead

Decided to give America a try Feb – March 08. 1st time skiing in the states so looking for a little advice. 2 good intermediates with a reasonable budget. 7 to 10 days. Which resort would suit best?

Thanks

TP

A snowHead

El Rosierie.

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tp023, 7 days is too short. 9-10 minimum. President's weekend (mid feb) can be busy at resorts accessible from big cities. Don't do what many British skiers do and go to Breckenridge. It is rather high, and you miss out on the terrain and tree skiing that other resorts have. Don't ski in the East (too cold and icy) or far west (too wet). Go for the Rockies.

For an intermediate of places I have been I would think of Beaver Creek, Vail or Steamboat

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

o.k. lets say 10 days. Early March. Aspen??

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tp023, Consider Utah. Deer Valley (especially with $$$ budget) has got to be one of the best intermediate resorts in the US. Utah has a great powder reputation but that doesn't mean it doesn't have great tracked runs too. Solitude is great and quiet.

The nice thing being that you can base yourself in, say, Park City and ski all the surrounding areas.

The other nice thing being that all that powder compresses nicely into awesomely good pistes.

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

Sun Valley (Idaho) sounds fun too, My mother used to serve "Pink Squirrels" in the main lodge cocktail lounge.

After all it is free

tp023, Had a fantastic time in Heavenly last year, and combined it with a few days in Vegas for a trip to remember snowHead

Snow was awesome and the pistes were real 'corduroy', definitely worth a visit if you're up that way.

What would you recommend in North America end of March beginning April for 2 advanced boarders an intermediate boarder & an intermediate skier?

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tp023, Aspen is good - 4 good hills to go to. Not been there for 15 years - but liked it a lot.

I'd love to go to Utah some day but there are a couple of other North American resorts above it in my to-do-list. Toofy Grin

I am a complete bore about how good Jackson Hole is - perhaps you should save there for a future trip? (but shuts a bit earlier than some American resorts)

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I'd second Utah. Loads of resorts within easy striking distance of Salt Lake City.

Snows OK too.

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tp023, nothing wrong with going for 7 days. I often do the US for 4 or 5 days. Not a prob. Colorado is the obvious choice because you can fly direct. Winter Park would be my choice - nearer Denver, loads of terrain and a better snow record than Vail etc. Cheaper too. Steamboat well wrth a look for similar reasons. Other way to do it is to stay somewhere like Frisco and take in a number of different places... Breck, Copper, Keystone, A Basin, Vail, Beaver Creek and even unheard ofs like Ski Cooper and Loveland.

You've presumably skied several times in the Alps, so I'd recommend that you go for something completely different. Don't head for a large european-style resort like Vail - look for something that emphasises the best features of American skiing - massive in-bounds off-piste, huge powder potential and deserted trails. By that measure and based on my own fairly limited experience, I'd recommend Big Sky. But others will give you plenty of alternatives.

You know it makes sense.

Mammoth Mountain in California never disappoints. I've got friends in the UK who go every couple of years, and it's all been good, year after year.

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

Snow quality-wise, Colorado and Utah are the best, and also the easiest to get to without even bothering with a car. Lake Tahoe has better scenary, a little harder to get to (and a hassle to get around EVEN with a car).

Of the Colorado resorts, Steamboat and Aspen both have unique village. Both have plenty of good inermediate terrain. Though I'm not sure if Steamboat is big enough for a full week though... Vail/Beaver Creek has village more like Europe while skiing is completely different (fantastic skiing actually Wink

). A good choice also. None of the above are cheap. But with careful planning, you can often score good deals that are quite reasonable.

Of the Utah resorts, Park City is more intermediate friendly. Also much better apres. Car is not needed unless you want to go to the "Cottonwood Canyons". Be forewarn though, Alta and Snowbird are more geared toward upper intermediate and a true heaven for expert skiers. You can ski it as an intermediate, but you might ended up wondering what the heck is all that hype. As an independent DIY kind of trip, Park City is often cheaper than, say, Aspen, and much cheaper than Vail.

I would say for 1 week, it's not worth going to Tahoe just yet. Rest of the lists, such as Mommoth, Jackson Hole etc. are much harder to get to and again as an intermediate, you won't find it any "better" than those clustered in Utah/Colorado.

Then, there's Canada, of which I have not much personal experience.

BTW, to clear up the confusion:

"President's weekend" is the weekend of Feb. 16-17. It's THE busiest weekend of the ski season. Avoid it if you can.

"President's week" is from Feb 16 to 24. Lots of Americans take vacation that week to go skiing. So it's a tad bit busier. But for those "destination resorts", it really means very little. There're enough terrain and lift you wouldn't notice the "crowd".

All through March, various colleages have their "spring break" so you're not going to find truely, truely quiet slopes. But again, the resorts in CO/UT are really quite capable of handling that kind of crowd you shouldn't have much problem.

A snowHead

Thanks for the input.

Is the following workable??

London - Denver - Aspen (car). 5 nights Aspen (4 days ski). Any hotel suggestions?

Aspen (car) - Denver - Las Vegas. 3 nights Vegas. Any hotel suggestions?

Las Vegas - Denver - Vail (car). 5 nights Vail (4 days ski). Any hotel suggestions?

Vail (car) - Denver - London

Thanks

TP

A snowHead

Sure, anything is workable. It's just a lot of flying about.

Not sure why you want to go to Vagas in the middle of your ski trip... Much less hassle to do Vail and Aspen back to back and then go to Vagas.

Also, unless you happen to nail some great deals with a TO, your 4 day then 5 day car hire is going to cost you nearly twice as much as hiring for a single 9 day period.

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

I thought that but then decided it might be because of flights home Puzzled

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Try GreenBee travel (part of John Lewis group) they had some good deals on Aspen lift passes when we booked.

We're doing:
7 nights in Avon (close to Beaver/Vail & ok to drive to Copper/Keystone/Breck)
2 nights in Aspen (Molly Gibson Lodge)
1 night in Winter Park to allow us to ski for longer on the transfer day as it's closer to Denver (going to Orlando for a few days at end of skiing)

Flights were about £450 each going from Heathrow to Denver direct with flight home from Orlando going via Washington - we're going in early December tho' so not sure if that makes much difference to price.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

tp023, that is a lot of flying around (by the way, hope you're not considering driving it all!). Vegas is a good place to get rid of jet lag so worth making it your first stop. Salt Lake area is only a short hop from there so consider Alta/Snowbird/Park City etc followed by a 6 hour drive to Aspen then on to Vail. In that case would suggest (if poss) a one-way car hire from SLC dropping off in Denver.

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Prob consider Vegas at the end. Only driving will be to and from resorts from Denver but this can be shared. Just thinking about a little break in between the skiing (decided on 14 days now). Alraedy got a lot of skiing planned late Jan through Feb so not sure my body could take 10 days straight!!

TP

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

tp023, just remember driving from Denver to Aspen takes about 4- 41/2 hours - is that something you want to do straight after longhaul flight ? you can get a flight from Denver to Aspen airport and collect a car from there ( not that you need it to get to Aspen, 10 min taxi ) Driving from Aspen to Vail approx 2 hrs.

Aspens not a bad place with plenty of good stuff, backside of Snowmass and then theres Highlands with the bowl if you fancy a walk Very Happy

After all it is free

My choice would be fly into Aspen - stay at Little Nell Hotel and they will send a car to pick you up. Public buses to Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk and Snowmass are very easy and cut out the parking problem plus you can have a few drinks after skiing. Aspen is a real fun place to be with great shops, galleries, bars, restaurants. There is a great restaurant at Snowmass called Krablooniks - you can ski there for lunch or go for dinner. The husky dogs centre is right beside the restaurant so if you feel you need a day off you can take a ride with the dogs through the woods. Then on to Vail and make sure you ski Beaver Creek. Whatever you will love US skiing.

"reasonable budget" is what i noticed.

i wouldn't try to do vegas and a whole heck of a lot of driving around. pick one town and ski.

i can only speak about colorado having taught skiing/lived there for the past decade. vail/beaver creek and aspen are expensive. always have been and always will be.

every resort or town in colorado are unique. the reality is that there are no bad resorts.

i live and work in winter park because i love the town, the people, the ample snowfall, and the mountain.

btw........we are expecting a fairly substantial storm this weekend. first real snowfall of the year.

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You cannot go wrong with Aspen.

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tp023, Whistler, you can not miss.

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You know it makes sense.

Aspen/Snowmass should be excellent that time of year and there are a few reasonably priced places to stay. There's no car needed if you fly into Aspen or shuttle from Denver.

Park City as already mentioned would work very well also.

I REALLY like the mention of Big Sky as it shares access to Moonlight Basin on one ticket. It's much harder to get to than Denver/Salt Lake however and I don't think you would want to be there for a two week trip. Nightlife is very sparse as well unless you just want a few drinks and a nice dinner.

Strictly a personal opinion, but I've been to Vail two of the last three seasons and while the mountain is great for the skiing you're looking to do, the rest of it doesn't do anything for me. While I will make a day trip there when in Summit County, I'll likely not make it a destination in the future.

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

Where in Le Fox?

A snowHead

not sure how reasonable this sounds to most people but it seems like a good deal to me. i live in tahoe at heavenly. season passes here are $350 and you get 3 days free skiing at any vail resort with that. so you could come to tahoe and ski heavenly for 4-5 days then fly reno-denver and ski at vail, breck, keystone or beaver creek for 3 days. so say you get 7 days skiing total...thats $50 a day at $80 ski resorts, pretty good savings, and you don't need to buy tickets everyday, just get on the lift. i think there are other resorts that do season pass deals like this so look into places you are interested in going. one i know of is the kirkwood pass ($350) gets you 10 free days at durango in colorado. you can buy these passes online and when you get here it takes just a few minutes to get your picture taken and the laminate to process and off you go.
whatever you choose the currency deal from euro to us$ is fantastic. i don't even want to think about travelling to europe these days....just too expensive.

A snowHead

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One note on skiing CO or Tahoe or points further south, is this is turing into a a true La Nina winter which means more of WA and N. ID as destinations. You are coming late enough for the more southern ski areas to have received snow, but last good La nina storm cycle (98-99) Baker Mtn saw more snow than had ever been recorded anywhere before. Schwietzer had a record year and we had skiiers from all over the country coming since we had snow. Would rather dump pow on a trip than sunny dry or warm wet experiences.

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pinhead, The National Weather Prediction Service seems to think that La Niña conditions are likely to develop this winter. If that happens, their analysis of the impact doesn't particularly suggest that Colorado will have a bad season but it does indicate that the it could be an epic year in Pacific Northwest and British Columbia (BC isn't shown on the graphs as this is a US site - you need to hunt elsewhere on the web).

I certainly hope they're right!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Suggestions for places to try:

Aspen, Colorado: Four mountains to choose from

Summit County, Colorado: Stay in Frisco or Breckenridge and many mountains are within a 30-minute drive (Copper, Breck, A-Basin, Keystone, Vail, with Beaver Creek only 15 minutes more). Steamboat and Aspen are a 2-hour drive.

Utah: The Extended Stay suite motel in the Sandy area is 30 minutes from most of the Utah resorts

Tahoe City, California: All the north Lake Tahoe mountains are within a 30-minute drive (Squaw, Alpine Meadows, Northstar, etc.). Heavenly is an hour away (casinos, if you enjoy them)

Have fun!

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Aspen.

Whistler.

Killington.

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

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American Resort Suggestions

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