going outwest

[paappraiser]

Please help with a suggestion.

Im planning a vacation with my cousin who is a 2 year snowboarder and long time skiier. me Im a long time boarder (2.5 years alpine now, many more bored )

We are looking for suggestions for good resorts that will be good for me to carve, and him to screw around with on both skis and his board.

We are sorta on a beer budget. We were looking at going to utah and Colorado but anywhere is cool. We are on the east coast now. I went to vail a few years ago that was great (but $$$). This will be his first and probally only trip out ..

The altitude in CO did cause me to have sleep problems, Dont know how it is in UT. We are sea level here in PA.

Oh and night life... We need a area that has some sorta life.

suggestions of great areas that are reasonable and impressive??

(edit--- sorry I messed the message up, I hope its clear now)

[LeeW]

Sun Valley.

[Randy T.]

Stay in Reno or Tahoe and choose from a lot of great resorts around Tahoe. Reno and South Lake Tahoe have good night life and Tahoe has great riding.

If you choose this area and want more specific info let me know and i'll help anyway i can.

Randy

[paappraiser]

Ive heard good things about Heavenly..

What resorts would be the ideal ?

Sun Valley.. !! Never thought about it... ill have to look at it

[AndyYT316]

Park City is always fun. We've got some great terrain for carving, and the park at PC just got Transworld's best park award for the 3rd time in a row. The snow is great, especially on a powder day. Light fluffy dry snow! As for the night life, there's some bars and clubs around park city and in salt lake city. There's always Jazz basketball and Grizzlies (minor league) hockey games. I don't drink, but I know that a lot of people don't like our beer much because of the lower alcohol content. And you can check out the olympic park in park city. It's definately worth checking out if you like watching the olympics.

[tilledog]

but I know that a lot of people don't like our beer much because of the lower alcohol content.

The Bayou in Salt Lake proper has 30 beers on tap and 210 beers that defy the 3.2 (4.0 by volume) rule as it is a private club. There are many other bars with private club status in SLC and PC so this is a non-issue.

SLC is very affordable to stay and from the city, you have access to 7 world class resorts within 40 minutes drive.

Dave

[kipstar]

My pick would be Tahoe, because it is cheap, and you don't get locked in to one resort. Mid week is even cheaper.

Of all the resorts there, Heavenly would not be my favourite; south shore most carvers tend to go to Kirkwood; North shore and people go to Alpine (which is a great skier mountain and I like it a lot but some others don't) or Squaw which is also expensive like Heavenly. To compare, Alpine when i was last there was $39 and I think is going to be about $42 a day. Squaw and Heavenly are almost $70 and they aren't significantly bigger in size or better laid out or anything. Actually Squaw is damn good, but Heavenly has some lame run outs so you need to like traversing.

Then the smaller resorts are great too. Diamond Peak ok for a day, a lot of Reno carvers end up at Mount Rose, which is very cheap and close to Reno (only 30 minutes away). During the week they have two lift passes for the price of one; $10 student days; 1/2 price women prices and so on. The chutes are great skier terrain.

I am biases, because i cannot stand cold weather. However, I fully rate Tahoe/Reno area as it isn't too cold, and lots of choice. my friends that have gone to Colorado say that place is great too with even slightly better snow, but it is colder and can be more expensive. And Tahoe is not that high so no altitude problem.

For tahoecarvers.com they have more info, although currently site is down.

to give you an idea, check out hotel prices at Circus Circus in Reno; about $35 USD a night midweek; more expensive weekends; hire a car; fly in to the airport and you should be good to go. Food is very cheap in casino town as well; all resorts are within an hour of Reno for the most part (Kirkwood/heavently maybe 1.5 hours?)

[kipstar]

My pick would be Tahoe, because it is cheap, and you don't get locked in to one resort. Mid week is even cheaper.

Of all the resorts there, Heavenly would not be my favourite; south shore most carvers tend to go to Kirkwood; North shore and people go to Alpine (which is a great skier mountain and I like it a lot but some others don't) or Squaw which is also expensive like Heavenly. To compare, Alpine when i was last there was $39 and I think is going to be about $42 a day. Squaw and Heavenly are almost $70 and they *(edited to reflect the updated info from Tex 'you don't know what you are talking about') only about twice the size of Alpine and while significantly bigger, IMHO the additional terrain only benefits if you have time to spend more than a couple of days to explore the whole place - and YES Squaw is damn good, and IMHO Heavenly ain't all that. My friends who know more than me and live in Reno say much the same thing. We are all entitled to an opinion, and this is mine (end of edit)

Actually Squaw is damn good, but Heavenly has some lame run outs so you need to like traversing.

Then the smaller resorts are great too. Diamond Peak ok for a day, a lot of Reno carvers end up at Mount Rose, which is very cheap and close to Reno (only 30 minutes away). During the week they have two lift passes for the price of one; $10 student days; 1/2 price women prices and so on. The chutes are great skier terrain.

I am biases, because i cannot stand cold weather. However, I fully rate Tahoe/Reno area as it isn't too cold, and lots of choice. my friends that have gone to Colorado say that place is great too with even slightly better snow, but it is colder and can be more expensive. And Tahoe is not that high so no altitude problem.

For tahoecarvers.com they have more info, although currently site is down.

to give you an idea, check out hotel prices at Circus Circus in Reno; about $35 USD a night midweek; more expensive weekends; hire a car; fly in to the airport and you should be good to go. Food is very cheap in casino town as well; all resorts are within an hour of Reno for the most part (Kirkwood/heavently maybe 1.5 hours?)

[tex1230]

Of all the resorts there, Heavenly would not be my favourite; south shore most carvers tend to go to Kirkwood; North shore and people go to Alpine (which is a great skier mountain and I like it a lot but some others don't) or Squaw which is also expensive like Heavenly. To compare, Alpine when i was last there was $39 and I think is going to be about $42 a day. Squaw and Heavenly are almost $70 and they aren't significantly bigger in size or better laid out or anything.

Terrain:

2,400 patrolled acres; 100+ designated runs

6 peaks, 4,000 acres and 2,850 vertical feet of terrain.

With 4,800 acres, we are one of North America's largest mountains

you have no clue what you're talking about. Alpine is tiny compared to Squaw and Heavenly. And Squaw is a much better mountain, both for carving and all around freeriding.

[Raisputin]

Bah...all those big resorts. ;) Come to WA and hit Mission Ridge, Stevens Pass, Alpental, Snoqualmie, White Pass, Mount Baker, 49° North, Mount Spokane, and Crystal Mountain. Lots of good riding/skiing out here and besides I work at Mission Ridge :)

[Jon Dahl]

You ain't lived 'till you've ridden Cascade cement! Seriously, though, Seattle @ sea level would be good. You are 45 minutes to Snoqualmie (aka slush city) pass, 1hr plus to Stevens pass (my home mtn in spite of living closer to Baker) 2 hrs to Mt. Baker (best freeriding terrain, little carving, best backcountry) 1-1.5 hrs to Crystal mtn (good carving, good backcountry access) Mission ridge is 45 minutes past Stevens pass, and you are a day trip to the others that Raisputin mentioned. On a good snow year this would be a most rewarding trip, so pray for snow! Oh, and if you planned it right, you could have your own personal resort guide for each resort, as there are several of us here on the forum!

[Sinecure]

you have no clue what you're talking about. Alpine is tiny compared to Squaw and Heavenly. And Squaw is a much better mountain, both for carving and all around freeriding.

Numbers can be misleading Tex. Heavenly is big, but because of the layout, you can spend a lot of time getting from place to place (gotta cover all those acres, not all of which are vertical). Heavenly has some great things going for it from a vacationers perspective. There's a lift right to the village where there are casinos and other nightlife options and also cheap hotel rooms in the casinos. I don't like the terrain there too much, but some folks do (carvers who go to the south shore tend to be biased toward Kirkwood, which is 45 minutes away). I don't know if it went forward this season or not, but there was also talk of a water shuttle to the north shore from one of the casinos to offer access to the North Tahoe resorts like Alpine and Squaw.

Squaw is definitely bigger than Alpine, but has similar terrain (just more of it). It also has a better park, if you like that. Part of the difference in vertical between Squaw and Alpine is that Squaw has a long run-out to the base village. The reality from a skiing/riding perspective however is that runs are similar in length at the two resorts, for the most part. Because Squaw is more crowded than Alpine, the added terrain doesn't offer additional freshies on a powder day (in fact, with its open boundary policy, Alpine offers fresh tracks much later in the day than Squaw). Squaw has much better apres-ski options than Alpine, but its only a 10 minute drive over to Squaw if you want to enjoy that after a day at Alpine. I think Alpine tix will be around $45/day this year. They were $41 last year.

Back to the original question. As a former east-coaster who took a number of vacations out west, here's my opinion. I'd look into Park City, Jackson Hole or Tahoe. If altitude gives you problems, Tahoe may be your best bet since its lower than the others (sleeping around 6K). Getting to PC is easy since there are lots of direct flights into SLC. I don't know what flights to Reno are like from Philly. Jackson is harder to get to. Jackson has fun night life, more in Jackson than Teton Village. Its also a cool cowboy experience overall and the terrain is amazing. If you go to Tahoe, staying in South Lake offers night life at your doorstep, but you are then pretty much limited to Heavenly or Kirkwood (which is a fairly long drive if it snows). Reno offers night life, but you are going to have to drive to anyplace. Mt. Rose is fairly close, Squaw and Alpine are ~45 mins to an hour, depending on road conditions. You can stay in North Lake Tahoe, which offers some good nightlife and a short drive to Alpine or Squaw (10-15 mins). There's a place called Granlibakken that has some good deals on lodging and includes lift tickets to your choice of Squaw and Alpine, plus a free shuttle to either one. You can walk into town from Granlibakken (20 min walk), or they may have an evening shuttle to bars/restaurants. Of the choice between PC, JH and Tahoe, you'll find carvers in PC and Tahoe, less so in JH if that matters.

I'd look into prices for the dates you want and then assess based on that.

[Phil]

The important thing to remember is that no matter where you go, do not go on February 9th. You MUST save that date for MAC Tracks '07.

[Rusty]

Why not just go to SES??

[Pat Donnelly]

Joining a ski club might give you a benchmark for budgeting to a specific destination?

http://skifederation.org/councils.html

I agree with Tiledog, Salt Lake has a lot to offer in the way of accomodations and areas to choose from.

Non-destination areas tend to be less crowded and provide easier access; Powder Mountain, Snowbasin and Brighton.

Request brochures from www.skiutah.com and/or http://visitsaltlake.com/

If your dates are early / mid Feb then the SES might make sense too. Flying direct into ASE could avoid a rental car.

[D-Sub]

buy a colorado pass and stay in summit county. Keystone, Breck, A-Basin. Im sure there are "beer budget" places there

Tex...we're civil here usually. I say Kip DOES "have a clue" but even if not Im sure that a senior member can be addressed in a better way by another?

[Dr D]

Bah...all those big resorts. ;) Come to WA and hit Mission Ridge, Stevens Pass, Alpental, Snoqualmie, White Pass, Mount Baker, 49° North, Mount Spokane, and Crystal Mountain. :eplus2: Lots of good riding/skiing out here and besides I work at Mission Ridge :)

These would all be cheap and mission ridge has decent snow on a good year.

North idaho and nw montana will give you the big resort feel for lots cheaper than colorado or utah. Schweitzer basin Or Big Mountain. Whitefish has a decent nightlife although you would find cheaper accomadations in the valley. you can get a hotel for under 50 bucks in kalispell. If you are flying the tickets might be higher though.

[tex1230]

buy a colorado pass and stay in summit county. Keystone, Breck, A-Basin. Im sure there are "beer budget" places there

Tex...we're civil here usually. I say Kip DOES "have a clue" but even if not Im sure that a senior member can be addressed in a better way by another?

you're right - my meds must be wearing off...

Sorry, Kip

(but squaw is infinitely better than alpine)

I'm just in a sh!tty mood as I have realized that I may not get any days on snow this year and I've been taking my frustration out on everyone...(so much for the new coiler - probably gonna be for sale as soon as I get it.)

[D-Sub]

WTF? what happened?

[ak_rider]

have you considered western canada? sunshine has extremely varied terrain and lake louise is just plain sick. is you stay in canmore instead of banff it's cheaper and you can grab abus to the resort. plus beer is pretty cheap. plus with the conversion it'll be slightly cheaper, but who knows what our money will be worth when you go.

if you want to stay in the US, iw ould say Utah. if you come back to summit co you can take a med called diamox(sp?) it's supposed to help with those altitude symptoms you mentioned. just talk to your doc about a week or so before you come out and they should be able to hook you up.

[mackDan]

Start looking at some maps and see where there are a few resorts near to each other. This will lead you to either Tahoe, Salt Lake City area or Canada (between Banff and Spokane Washington). Then look at the cost of resorts, and that will rank those areas as probably, Canada, SLC, Tahoe. Then its a question of lodging costs and fuel costs getting there.

I'm a Tahoe skier, but have figured out that you can get to SLC and ski the resorts around it for about the same cost as driving up to Tahoe from San Francisco. Its because hotels in SLC are about the same or slightly cheaper (actually stay downtown SLC). The lift tickets are cheaper than Tahoe. THere are a couple good breweries in downtown SLC adn some good restuarants with a good crowd.

But In Canada, the lift and lodging costs are going to be cheapers still, because of the $US vs the CDN$

[Neil Gendzwill]

The OP was asking for nightlife too, which would mean Banff is a better choice than Canmore. I don't know as Canmore is that much cheaper, either. If you're on a budget and in Banff, stay at the Voyager or maybe Bumpers. Avoid the package website deals as they lock you in with big cancellation penalties. Most of the hotels will offer you near the same deal on ticket/accomodation packages with a 1 or at worst 3 day cancellation policy.

Second choice for nightlife and good terrain after Banff would be staying in Jasper and riding at Marmot.

Whistler beats them both, but way more expensive.

I like Big White near Kelowna - you can stay on-hill in a condo for very reasonable rates mid-week, great terrain. Nightlife not so much as Banff/Jasper/Whistler, although there are several bars and clubs in the village.

[kipstar]

you're right - my meds must be wearing off...

Sorry, Kip

(but squaw is infinitely better than alpine)

I'm just in a sh!tty mood as I have realized that I may not get any days on snow this year and I've been taking my frustration out on everyone...(so much for the new coiler - probably gonna be for sale as soon as I get it.)

It is all good fun tex :-) No offense taken, I know you are a big Squaw fan; so am I; Siberia bowl rocks as a carving run. Just that I like cheap prices, and Squaw terrain, so tend to cheer Alpine; we all have favourites, nothing wrong with that. If they were the same price, I'd be off to squaw for sure but value for money, at $45, Alpine is pretty tough to beat, and this guy is on a budget. For sure, everyone should do a day at Squaw, it is one of the best resorts in USA probably; however Heavenly for me, is just not worth a visit unless someone is in south shore already. At least not on a board.

Max respect D-Sub, youse gotz my back :-)

Don't stress Tex, keep the board, save $$$ and hope you can work things out.

[paappraiser]

Joining a ski club might give you a benchmark for budgeting to a specific destination?

http://skifederation.org/councils.html

Im in a club... he is not :)

Hes of the mind of ... any club that would want me as a memeber I dont want any part of.

[paappraiser]

Thanks for all the help!

I think we are going to go to SLC... He liked he idea of it

All you SLC carvers... what resorts would you recomend, hotels, drinking holes?

We will only go 'Out' one night for fun.. we are really going to board.

How many carvers are there in SLC on a average weekend? Here im ussaly the only one on the mountain.