 Poster: A snowHead
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Family and I are contemplating first trip to US in Xmas hols as only time we can make it as a family. Parents are competent red runs; youngest ( 12) is competent red run too, but prefers blue cos she is essentially lazy!; and oldest 14 is horribly over competent and can ski natural blacks with good instructor and no parents in tow. As usual money is tight and we are worried about having to travel this time of year but have no choice due to kids in shows etc...( Note to self: stop encouraging kids to act and sing!)
Question: Areas? Best way of staying there/hiring etc for the $; can we fit in trip to Potterworld in Florida ( ...I know!!!!); How long should we stay to make it worthwhile; What to expect? Good operators etc to deal with? Any info to help me start researching this holiday?
Thanks Snowheads
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Lots of info if you search on here - my advice would be head west (Colorado onwards) and think carefully about what are non-negotiables or are nice to haves e.g. IMO the best combination of cost/flexibility etc is to stay in local towns near a few resorts with a rental car and not be too bothered about up to a 3 or 4 hour drive from my arrival airport. You might want short transfers, no driving and ski/in out which reduces your options and increases the price.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Doubt you'll make a cost effective trip with Florida on the agenda, but if you're after a theme park or something, fly into LA do the Diznee thing or similar (plus as your kids sing/act they may like the whole Hollywood thing) for a few days then drive to Mammoth or Big Bear, it's about 6 or so hours in the car. US resorts i've been to tend not to be ski in ski out (or very limited on mountain accomodation), you'll stay in the town and get the bus or drive up to the hill in the morning. Have a look at Mammoth, lots of blues and black diamonds (US equivilant of red runs, Double blacks diamonds are EU blacks) it's probably my favourite mountain I've ever ridden anywhere, plus tends to stay snowy right through until april/may (this year July!)
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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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My tip: don't pay full price for anything, especially your lift pass. There's always a special price available somewhere if you look for long enoug in the States. This year, my discount pass will be about half the price of the pay-at-the-kiosk price.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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My tip: don't pay full price for anything, especially your lift pass. There's always a special price available somewhere if you look for long enoug in the States. This year, my discounted pass will be about half the price of the pay-at-the-kiosk cost.
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You could ski New England and then go to Florida, or vice versa.
most American Airlines give great prices on "multiple destinations", try Continental or United for example.
Alternatively, book a flight into say Boston or NYC and out of Florida, and book the internal flight with Southwest.com or jetblue.com, much better service and bags free.
Stowe would fit the bill and is a real New England town, and New Hampshire has many really nice resorts like Bretton Woods, Jackson, etc, but if you want to rack up ski "mileage", you might need to visit a few - they are all very close to each other.
the service and lessons beat France anyday - the kilometres you can ski in one resort don't!
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tinabf, well, if it were me, I'd be considering either Denver or San Francisco as your gateway - both direct flights and relatively easy drives to some great resorts.
From SF you're looking at a 4-5 hour drive to South Lake Tahoe (sometimes more). Base yourself somewhere and then there are heaps of resorts to go and explore. Heavenly is the benchmark and you can't go too far wrong there. I've stayed in a couple of the casino hotels on the Nevada side and Embassy Suites on the Ca side. No idea how busy in Xmas break though. Large number of flights going to SF so probably best bet for seat prices you can just about live with.
From Denver you're looking at a couple of hours drive up Interstate 70 and you might consider basing yourself somewhere like Frisco (cheaper) and exploring Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper, Vail. Winter Park defo worth a visit too or even look to stay there. If you want to be resort based I'd probably plump for Breckenridge having stayed at them all.
In either case I'd recommend dossing at an airport hotel on arrival and tackling the drive early in the morning (you'll be wide awake at 3am anyway).
Operators... Ski Safari, Ski Independence, Ski World, Inghams, Crystal - important thing is flights and they may have their thumbs on some. Otherwise look to DIY it - book flights and car direct and maybe try www.snow.com for accommodation.
The East and places like Stowe can be very nice in spring but not a great choice for late December IME - can be brutal conditions if you hit it wrong.
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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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Bode Swiller, Xmas break at Frisco/Breck can be brutal too. but it is easy access up I70 if it's not snow blocked.
tip, don't camp in Walmart car park and hit the web for liftpass discounts.... find a package deal for Breckenridge
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Thank you for answers so far...I have given up on Potter world. Just won't tell kids for a while...Now to find a ski holiday!!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If you don't fancy driving from San Fransisco to Tahoe you can fly into Reno - either from San Fran or Vegas. Then it's about 40 minutes to an hour to drive to the resorts. You can get slopeside accommodation at Northstar, and Squaw. At Heavenly it's a walk across the road from the casinos to the gondola. Alternatively, you could stay in Reno at one of the casinos and drive or get the snow bus up to various resorts.
The week between Xmas and New Year is the busiest - people come up from the Bay Area on the 26th. But busy depends on your point of view, and where you ski, even within each resort. You won't find the huge long runs you have in Europe, but you also don't have to put up the crazy lift lines.
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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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Did heavenly for new year,awesome snow,stayed in CAesars. Very good,food great and subsidised,could gamble even when on the loo!! We visited Squaw valley at the same time east to get too, we did 10 days more than enough, very good skiing lots of miles, tip though if it's snowing park undercover we didn't first night and car was under two foot of snow, I,d go to HEavenley sat in Caesars IMO
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I wouldn't be thinking East coast at that time of year...Increased likelihood of very cold weather and hard, probably man made snow,
Rockies a much better bet... (although I will confess I am not a NA expert...)
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You know it makes sense.
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| tinabf wrote: |
| Areas? Best way of staying there/hiring etc for the $ |
Having recently spent many hours pouring over brochures and web sites, the best way of saving $ - a very necessary thing given the tragic state of the £ these days - seems to be to go to Jackson Hole. Jackson is an unusual ski resort in that winter is low season, as most visitors go there for the summer attractions of Yellowstone, so hotel prices are extraordinarily low. We're spending less than £20 per person per night on accommodation and breakfast during half term this year. That price also includes a free shuttle to the slopes, although we've chosen to take advantage of stupidly low car rental prices instead. We're also taking advantage of the resort's generous policy of offering free lift passes to anyone aged 14 or less.
Jackson might not be ideal for your family, as it's a little short of confidence-building intermediate runs. But it will certainly be cheap.
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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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Crested Butte is worth a look... a resort not serviced by the TO's but without a doubt my favourite place to ski on the planet. It's a small-ish mountain - a 10 day stay will allow you to know the mountain reasonably well without getting bored, lots of wide treelined reds and blues, some very fun blacks and of course the extreme limits for some double black diamond action. It's billed as 'Colorado's last great ski town' and the town itself is breathtakingly picturesque. A small but perfectly formed resort that not many Brits ever even know about. I've been going since I was a young child and have been in love with the place ever since!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Without going over lots of the same stuff again (try a battle with the search thingy should bring up lots of info), but if your thinking of heading the Tahoe direction, I'd def spend a couple of days (at least) on the way back in San Francisco. The Flying into Reno option has been mentioned above, but it still leaves you about 70miles from South Lake Tahoe and having done it once and taken the South Tahoe Express coach from Reno to South Lake, I'd not do it again. The flights to Reno were expensive, added airport time and hassles as well, and Amtrak from the Bay Area didn't cost much more than the bus from Reno.
My preferred way is to fly into San Francisco and stay near the airport that night and use Amtrak to get to Tahoe. The Airport South Travelodge at Millbrae is ideally situated, it has a courtesy bus from the Airport (as do nearly all nearby hotels) and on the other side of the street (to rear) is the Millbrae BART Station, from where you can catch an early BART service across the Bay to Richmond, to join the Amtrak Capitol Corridor service to Sacramento, where an Amtrak coach will be waiting to take you on to Tahoe. I love being able to chill and watch the scenery go by, esp once you start climbing into the mountains, without having to do the driving, but with family in tow you might consider it easier to drive.
If your staying in South Lake there is a comprehensive shuttle bus service for all the Heavenly base lodges, indeed if you are staying around the Stateline then the Heavenly Gondola is in walking distance. You can also get to Sierra at Tahoe, Kirkwood (30miles from SLT) and to Squaw Valley at the North Shore end of the Lake by daily coach service from South Lake Tahoe. With the merger between Squaw and Alpine Meadows, there is supposed to be a regular shuttle bus between the two, so it might be possible to use the SLT->Squaw coach to get a day at Alpine, but check this out - details of shuttle services should start to appear on the various resort websites soon (if not already up).
Also take a look at http://www.skilaketahoe.com - has links to each resorts website.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just a note to the comment re Jackson Hole, winter in general is also low season in South Lake Tahoe - summer is the peak holiday season at Tahoe, but not sure to what extent the Christmas / New Year period is considered more peak season. There's an array of accommodation for every budget too.
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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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There are lots of resorts that have the type of skiing you are looking for- I'd have to hear about some additional priorities to be able to offer better advice. You mentioned cost, but if that is the main consideration, then flying oversees during the Christmas Holidays is the wrong starting point. Do you want to be ski in-out, or do you prefer to try a lot of resorts? Close to airport or don't mind a drive? Stay in a real town or ok with a resort?
The x-Mas holidays is peak season at almost every ski resort in the Northern Hemisphere, so don't expect a lot of great lodging deals. Yes, Tahoe and Jackson have big summer seasons, but X-mas/NY is not low season anywhere. I'm sure you guys will have a great time, but expect to be sharing the joy with others.
If you are skiing 7 to 10+ days, you may still be able to get some season pass deals or even 4 packs to various mountains. Some good info has been collected here http://www.lodging247.com/2011/10/14/ski-luxury-colorado-under-100/ and as mentioned above, my home town of Frisco is a lovely place that checks off a lot of the boxes many people are looking for.
In past years, the heaviest skier traffic is usually 26 or 27 to 31 Dec. Expect most resorts, except some of the more expensive, low density resorts off the beaten path, to be busy at least those 5 days. Mammoth and Tahoe will not be an exception. I grew up in L.A. and wouldn't dream of flying from the UK to ski Big Bear at x-mas unless the main focus of the trip was site seeing (or visiting family) and you were just looking for some nearby skiing.
Places like Big Sky might have somewhat lighter crowds, but they and Jackson Hole do need a fair bit of snow to cover their big rocks (although much of that terrain is not stuff your family will be skiing). Grand Targhee might be a good option to have lighter crowds with a very good snow record. Deer Valley in Utah may still limit their ticket sales, but expect to pay top $ for accommodations and food.
Around my neck of the woods, Loveland, Beaver Creek and Copper Mountain tend to have lighter crowds compared to Breckenridge, Keystone or Europe, but don't expect any place to be empty 27-31 Dec. Vail is probably somewhere in the middle of those in terms of crowds and is very big, so you can usually find something nice. Each mountain has a somewhat different offering and feel, but all have some terrain that will suit you family.
If you do come to Colorado, a day or two in Denver (or even Boulder) is worthwhile to check out a new city and/or get used to the altitude. I'd stay near 16th Street Mall in Denver (or possibly Cherry Creek) or Pearl St in Boulder Enjoy!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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At Squaw Christmas week is not our busiest week - people do start to arrive on the 26th, and it is relatively busy for the rest of the week, but that usually means a few minutes wait to get on the lift, rather than skiing straight on. It is generally no busier than any other weekend!
Driving 70 miles to from Reno to South Lake Tahoe sounds like a long way, but it is quite an easy drive, and if you're in the Tahoe area you would probably want a car any way, it just makes things easier. Heavenly does always seem a little busier than Squaw, we think because the trees at Heavenly funnel everybody together on runs, rather than being spread out.
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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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Fly to LA, drive to Mammoth. Nobrainer.
Or, Fly to SF, drive to Tahoe. A bit more driving around to ski in different mountain, fighting the crowds. Beautiful vista though.
Or Jackson Hole, Steamboat, Big Sky, Sun Valley... Those are all self-contained mountain + village in one compact package. Hunt down some good deals.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
The x-Mas holidays is peak season at almost every ski resort in the Northern Hemisphere
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not in France it's not  . New Year is far busier.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
The x-Mas holidays is peak season at almost every ski resort in the Northern Hemisphere
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not in France it's not . New Year is far busier. |
I was lumping x-mas and NY together when I made that statement.
The week between x-mas and NY is definitely busier than the week before x-mas in the States. However, lodging prices are going to be higher the week before x-mas compared to say the first few week of January. The week between x-mas and NY is usually the most expensive of the season.
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In Europe the 6 days that span New Year tend to be the busiest based on week long accomodation lets. As above, In N America it tends to be fairly rigidly 26-31 unless the 1 and 2 January are a weekend. New Year's Day in particular seems to be quite quiet.
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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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| fatbob wrote: |
| In N America it tends to be fairly rigidly 26-31 unless the 1 and 2 January are a weekend. New Year's Day in particular seems to be quite quiet. |
Depends on which part of the week Christmas falls. This year, it's on a Sunday. So the following Monday will be a holiday. I'd say it'll be relatively busy.
N. American skiers don't have the rigid Saturday to Saturday schedule. So they simply come and go when they have time off. If Christmas is in the middle of the week, likely both days are quiet since they both end up being the "travel day". And some people might even go home for New Year's eve. So much fewer people will be on the slopes on New Year's eve.
However, if it falls on a weekend like 2012, most people will ski New Year's Day and head home on Monday. New Year's Day will be busy.
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| Quote: |
N. American skiers don't have the rigid Saturday to Saturday schedule. So they simply come and go when they have time off.
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Roll on the day when European skiing is equally flexible!
I remember well, the only christmas I spent in the US, being a little shell shocked that everyone was back to work first thing on Boxing Day.
We do indulge ourselves in Europe, don't we?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The day of week does have some effect, but I think the reason the 1st is less crowded than the 27th-30th is that a far number of people:
a. haven't recovered from NY eve festivities
b. like to stay home and watch (American) College Football games
c. have gotten enough skiing in for the week already- In addition to Europe being more rigid about Sat-Sat, US skiers tend not to be as rigid about skiing everyday (and the flexible lift ticket options like 5 of 9 day passes and the like reflect this).
It belongs in a different thread, but there are advantages and disadvantages to both the flexible and more rigid approaches.
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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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| MEfree30 wrote: |
| US skiers tend not to be as rigid about skiing everyday (and the flexible lift ticket options like 5 of 9 day passes and the like reflect this). |
I think the more expensive day lift ticket price cause that. Different from their European counterpart, N. American skiers tend to ski a full day, from lift open till it closees. With such high ticket price, it's better to ski the days long, then take a full rest day, saving the ticket price for that day, before resuming intense skiing again. The European system tend to have a low price weekly ticket, so buying 1 less day doesn't really lead to significant saving.
It's actually build into the structure that most N. American skiers don't ski every single day. I've been on club trips where we stay 6 days but only have 5 day lift pass as part of the package. Peeps who wish to ski the 6th day had to pay extra for it.
| Quote: |
| It belongs in a different thread, but there are advantages and disadvantages to both the flexible and more rigid approaches. |
What would be the advantage of the rigid schedule for the individual skier?
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| pam w wrote: |
We do indulge ourselves in Europe, don't we? |
To be fair the seppos only last a couple of weeks into January before they need another public holiday for MLK day.
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You know it makes sense.
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| abc wrote: |
What would be the advantage of the rigid schedule for the individual skier? |
Go to a destination resort (rather than one near large urban centres) and enjoy relatively quiet Saturdays. Also group lessons are easy to schedule - 6 days same instructor all week.
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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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| fatbob wrote: |
| abc wrote: |
What would be the advantage of the rigid schedule for the individual skier? |
Go to a destination resort (rather than one near large urban centres) and enjoy relatively quiet Saturdays. Also group lessons are easy to schedule - 6 days same instructor all week. |
But that's not the advantage of the rigid schedule itself. Rather, it's taking advantage of those who are bound by the rigid schedule.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Most of our guests are weekenders, generally from anywhere up to a five or six hour drive away. It's not a holiday for them when they come skiing, it's what they do at the weekend. Most American get a lot less time off from work too, the standard is just 10 working days for the year so that has a big impact on how flexible their time off is. The resort is generally very quiet during the week, and our busiest week is Presidents Day week - because many of the Bay Area and Sacramento schools have that as a designated week off.
New Years Day is usually relatively quiet, and if it snows really heavily on a Friday or the day before a holiday, then that weekend tends to be less busy - having the Freeway closed can be an issue!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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tinabf, as a family of four we headed off to Colorado last April. It was our first time stateside and we loved it. On our travels we met lots of Brits who said they'd never ski Europe ever again. Personaly I love Europe too much for this but you get the idea. As others have said shop hard on the web before you go, it was a real eye opener to save so much. We had 17 day lift passes for 199 dollars, stayed only 7 days in Breckenridge (week 2 was in Winter Park) so got a refund of 40 dollars for unused ticket PLUS a refund for the days we went to ski school as lift ticket is included with your lesson. We paid 200 dollars a week to rent a monster truck. I think we sourced our lift tickets via the apartment booking agent for winter park
If you go to Colorado I would really recommend checking in to a hotel on arrival, have a bath and go to bed. The altitude and long flight takes it's toll, it will still take you three more days to fully adjust but a hotel helps and it is very very cheap to do.
We plan to return to the US or more likely Canada this winter. So we are sold on North America
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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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Just read the rest of your post. Pottersworld can wait , there is however a cracking, authentic 100 year old goldmine to tour on the way to winter park and you could head into Denver for a baseball match (we did), big stadium, Mexican waves (sorry no cheerleaders), tacos, big hats. It's the all American experience and a lot of 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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Frosty, Baseball season ended yesterday.
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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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| skinanny wrote: |
| Frosty, Baseball season ended yesterday. |
Yes, x-mas is about as far outside of Baseball season as you can get, Frosty visited in the Spring...but there is usually basketball (Denver Nuggets) or American Football (Denver Broncos) at that time of year and they both would have cheerleader (along with many of the College teams like CU Boulder).
Agree with Frosty about spending the night in Denver, especially if you live at close to sea level. There are plenty of cheapish hotels by the airport, but I would recommend going into the City as it is towards the Mountains and has more to see.
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FAQ
