For the Seattle day tripper:

Summit at Snoqualmie is 40min away, and for a weekday/night its awesome. I used to go a lot after work during the week. Short runs and a small total area, but its never busy during the week and lift tickets are cheap.

Crystal mountain is 1.5hrs away, good range of runs, little expensive but for early or late season skiing, its the best local option.

Stevens Pass is 1.5-2 hrs away, lots of good groomed runs, pretty big total area but very expensive. Worth it if you like the groomers, terrain park or like going off trail without having to go full back country.

Mt. baker is 2-2.5 hrs away. Basically open areas, a few groomed runs with tons of free runs, powder and backcountry that are very accessible. If you're a really skilled skiier or snowboarder, this is the place to go. Lift tickets are a little cheaper, and its basically a day trip only option which is perfect for you (very little in the way of cabins or motels up there).

Whistler is 5-6hrs away, and honestly too far and away too expensive to warrant a day trip. To make it worthwhile you'd have to leave Seattle around 2am, and you'd get back at 1-2am the next night.

12/3/2013 12:35:41 AM

Anyone ever ski in Davos, Switzerland? We are considering making the trip, as we have the points to pretty much pay for everything. It would cost the same to ski in Colorado, so going to Europe is a lot more appealing.

12/3/2013 11:06:30 AM

No but my pass includes Verbier, Switzerland and I've got points to pretty much cover everything as well. I would argue with you that food will probably cost a bit more over there. Switzerland isn't cheap. Let me know how it goes!

12/3/2013 11:10:34 AM

Thanks! I know some French. I would assume, given the most educated population in the planet, English will be widely spoken there.

12/3/2013 12:56:20 PM

I can't wait!!

http://www.breckenridge.com/info/peak-6.aspx#videos#Top

12/4/2013 12:51:59 PM

Davos is booked I'll be skiing the Swiss Alps at the end of January!!

12/4/2013 10:30:33 PM

Haven't skied davos. Did the Matterhorn from the swiss side in April. Tons of fun. Lots of groomed trails and most Europeans ski, very few boarders.

Thanks all for the seattle info, may not end up making the trip., but good info if I do.

12/4/2013 11:08:22 PM

Going to Wintergreen next weekend. Anyone know of any decent places to get lift ticket discounts? Does Costco or places like Ski Barn have coupons/sell tickets at a discount? Thanks

12/9/2013 4:53:45 PM

^Some of the ski shops do I believe. Think it may be a little late for discounted tickets but I don't know.

Lots of powder this past weekend! Got lost on North Peak at Keystone:

12/9/2013 4:55:54 PM

After watching a lot of near disaster videos of tree wells, I am more nervous that ever about venturing too deep in trees.

With that said, looks really nice so early into the season

[Edited on December 9, 2013 at 5:06 PM. Reason : .]

12/9/2013 5:04:20 PM

Most of the bowl skiing (best skiing IMO) has a bunch of trees. I don't necessarily like them that close together (i think that area/run was called "bushwhacking") but enough to provide some obstacles is essential IMO. Straight runs with no moguls, obstacles, bumps, or other just gets boring.

12/9/2013 5:07:56 PM

Driving down to Provo this weekend. It'll be such a cock tease being right by Park City and Sundance and not skiing Hopefully sometime before Christmas

12/9/2013 9:14:05 PM

^^^ The only places I've seen where tree wells were a real concern were places that got just giant shitloads of snow (Mt Baker, for example).


I'm getting pretty close to lining up a free trip to ski Tahoe in January. Well, free airfare (through work) and free lodging (through a friend), at least. Hell, Squaw gives free lift tickets to active duty military, although I'll probably go to Heavenly for at least one day.

12/9/2013 10:16:42 PM

"at least" being the key words. the views from heavenly are...uh...heavenly.

12/9/2013 11:38:30 PM

I'm selling my skis and boots if anyone's interested, by the way.

178 cm Nordica HotRod Eliminators.

Boots are Dalbello Avanti V-Pro.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201000826112?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201000834763?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

12/10/2013 12:38:17 AM

Quote :

"^^^ The only places I've seen where tree wells were a real concern were places that got just giant shitloads of snow (Mt Baker, for example)."

The 30' deep ones might not be everywhere, but even small ones can be really bad if you go in wrong. A 4' deep well is a pain in the ass if you go in feet first, but if you slide in head first on your stomach it can suffocate you. I suspect it's worse for snowboarders since our bindings are harder to get out of and we can't move our feet independently.

Just make sure your group is aware of the risks and try to watch out for each other. Have a plan for what to do if one person doesn't show up at the lift.

I never figured out what caused this well. It might be a rock crevice, but it's cringe worthy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vevbvgvuh6c


Just remembered...I found a skiier stuck against a tree at Steamboat last year. He slid into it shoulder first and on his stomach. He was basically pinned with his feet stuck in skis behind him, his back arched, and gravity holding him tight. We got his skis off and he was able to get up on his own. He was pinned against an Aspenwood tree, so no low hanging branches to dump powder on him as he struggled. If it had been a powder day and an evergreen tree he could have gotten buried pretty quick.

[Edited on December 10, 2013 at 10:06 AM. Reason : s]

12/10/2013 10:01:20 AM

When does Blue Sky usually open? I'll be there on New Years

12/13/2013 12:53:04 PM

Pretty much any ski resort will be open on new year's.


Looks like I'll be at Tahoe from 21-26 Jan.

12/13/2013 1:44:08 PM

^Wasn't necessarily the question. Blue Sky Basin is a portion of Vail. It usually doesn't open until sometime in January I think. Most resorts open in early November (at least in CO). That doesn't mean all the runs are open though. They slowly open from November to mid-late January.

12/13/2013 1:59:46 PM

Thank you neodata

12/13/2013 2:32:05 PM

It's also highly dependent on the snow conditions in the bowls. If they're great by new years they could open Blue Sky Basin. It all depends. Either way the runs on the front mountain at Vail are great and really long.

12/13/2013 2:45:58 PM

I'll be with my family who are mostly beginners so I'll hang with them some of the time. But for the rest of the time, seeing as it's New Year's I expect there to be a lot of people, so if the bowls and blue sky are open I'd think that would help. Plus last time I was there Blue Sky consistently had snow even after the rest of the mountain got skied off

12/13/2013 3:33:16 PM

^^^^ Oh ok, I thought he was talking about some place I'd never heard of. Haha, I've actually skied the Blue Sky Basin several times...but I don't really pay much attention to what stuff is called. Some of the names ring a bell, but I mostly don't remember which ones they are--I just kinda start skiing and end up where I end up.

The times I've been, other than early season, I think it's tough to predict what (if any) bowls will be open. I'd expect the odds will be pretty good by January, though.


^^ Yeah, front side of Vail is very good just like any decent mountain in Colorado, but nothing all that special. I'd probably go other places (Breckenridge, Copper, Keystone, or Winter Park, etc) and save Vail for sometime when the back bowls are open. That's what sets Vail apart.

12/13/2013 7:29:03 PM

Somehow I posted in last year's thread, so I'll ask again in here (thanks, neo).

Probably going to do Vail on Monday; where else in the Summit Co. area should I go on Tuesday? I've done Vail and Breck before, so I was thinking of maybe riding Keystone or Beaver Creek for the first time. Any opinions?

I'm sort of disappointed there was no real snow this week after the great start to the season, but oh well. Should be a blue bird day on Monday.

12/13/2013 8:04:43 PM

Anyone live in Boise? Or Idaho for that matter? My ski season commences with a trip up to Bogus today...

[Edited on December 15, 2013 at 9:37 AM. Reason : j]

[Edited on December 15, 2013 at 9:39 AM. Reason : it's early]

12/15/2013 9:36:35 AM

^^^Vail is just such a bigger mountain. The runs even on the front side are longer. Speaking of Vail stayed in Avon tonight. About to hit the slopes!

12/15/2013 10:52:05 AM

yeah, i mean, Vail is huge, but that's not really too much of a factor unless you're local or are gonna really be there a while. It would take a while to wear out Breckenridge, Copper, or Keystone.

12/16/2013 9:16:18 AM

I didn't ski, but I wanted to report back that Park City, Deer Valley, and Canyons looked great this weekend. The beer at Wasatch Brewery was good and the women were beautiful.

12/16/2013 10:33:40 AM

Quote :

"Probably going to do Vail on Monday; where else in the Summit Co. area should I go on Tuesday? I've done Vail and Breck before, so I was thinking of maybe riding Keystone or Beaver Creek for the first time. Any opinions? "

I haven't done Beaver Creek, but I would recommend Copper.

12/16/2013 10:55:58 AM

Quote :

"yeah, i mean, Vail is huge, but that's not really too much of a factor unless you're local or are gonna really be there a while. It would take a while to wear out Breckenridge, Copper, or Keystone."

Well it's more about how long the actual runs are and how much variety there is. Plus the width of the runs at Vail are huge compared to most other resorts. You rarely have to worry about running into people or it ever getting crowded.

Vail has 5,289 skiable acres. That's compared to Showshoe, WV (244 - sorry had to throw it in there), Breck (2,908), Beaver Creek (1,815), Keystone (3,148), and Copper (2,465).

Not to mention Breck (and I think Keystone) are known for having a little more ice.

Blue Sky basin was not open but China Bowl was. Vail just has a lot more variety in terms of back bowls that you can literally ski anywhere you want. No runs.

Not my pic (China Bowl which was open):



[Edited on December 16, 2013 at 11:30 AM. Reason : s]

12/16/2013 11:30:00 AM

First weekend out this year...11 inches of snow overnight in Killington...by far the best day I've ever had there

12/16/2013 11:30:14 AM

I've got some nice snowboard bindings in the classifieds. Check um out!

12/17/2013 12:51:06 PM

^^^ Oh you don't have to convince me...Vail is my favorite place anywhere to ski, so far, and I've probably spent more time on the back side of Vail than on the front (so to speak ).

I'm just saying that if I was only gonna be out there for a couple of days, and the back bowls aren't open, I'd go hit somewhere else instead, and save Vail for a trip when you can take full advantage of what it offers over the other places.

12/17/2013 4:45:01 PM

It's a family trip and I won't have a car. I've been to some of the other mountains but I forget which ones. I'm also staying in Cascade Village. So in the end I won't be leaving Vail, for a multitude of reasons, though I do want to hit some of those other mountains I missed last time at some point in my life...this just isn't the trip for it

12/17/2013 4:51:39 PM

^^Yeah but if price isn't a concern and you're paying for one day ski passes regardless I'd still go to Vail over Keystone or Breck.

12/17/2013 5:38:44 PM

Went to Vail & Keystone and had a blast. Hiked to Wapiti at Keystone and rode the North Bowl and proceeded to get lost in the trees. The bowl was in pretty good shape, considering they haven't got anything in a week-and-a-half and how early in the season it is. Still untracked and knee deep in parts of the bowl, but heavily tracked and bare patches riding out of the trees. Vail seemed to have slightly better coverage and conditions.

Still overall there was plenty to choose from and I felt lucky for that – all before the official start of winter.

12/18/2013 11:55:47 AM

for those of y'all who ski with a gopro, what are the best mounts/techniques that you use?

I use the chest harness and the helmet mount, and sometimes turn the chest harness around so it's filming what's behind me. Anyone tried mounting it to your pole? I always felt it would result in too much movement, but I could be wrong.

I did try putting one of the mounts on my ski itself, but it fell off on the first run, and I decided that would not be a good idea again.

here's the last vid i made from a trip out to steamboat 2 years ago:

The Gang Goes to Steamboat from Bobby Thekkekandam on Vimeo.

12/18/2013 3:14:01 PM

Nice video...I wish I had someone to take all my videos and cut them up for me. I am far too lazy

The only comment I will make on placement is that after having the gopro sitting on my helmet nicely for a whole season I barely clipped a tree and thought "that's not cool that tree just hit my helmet" and then a minute later by buddy says, "Hey man, where's your go pro?". Ripped off, mount and all, nowhere to be found in the foot of snow

So if anyone finds a go pro in blue sky basin it's totally mine. I am thinking about getting a wire or something and threading it through the go pro and through a helmet hole as a safety in case that happens again

12/18/2013 3:47:17 PM

^^Nice video! Why's everyone going so slow?

I can't ski this weekend I'm going back to Charlotte until Christmas! Looks like I'll hit 10 days on the slopes on the 28th.

12/18/2013 4:31:46 PM

^^ yeah, video editing is some seriously tedious work. I found that I can pretty much knock it out on the plane ride home because it's the most interesting thing I can do. Otherwise once i get home, I no longer care enough to edit the video.

hah, that's one annoying thing about POV cameras-- they're not wide enough to give you a frame of reference for how fast you're going.

I was watching some other gopro videos on youtube, and where people have them mounted on a ski pole and held up so you see the trees whiz by, you can really tell.

So i ordered a pole mount. Of course I have a 1st gen gopro HD, so the newer ones are so much better quality than mine, so now i'm itching for a hero3....

[Edited on December 19, 2013 at 11:15 AM. Reason : a]

12/19/2013 10:48:08 AM

I've been thinking of getting a GoPro. Not only for skiing but I want to attach it to our Aussie for backpacking/hiking trips. She probably runs four times the distance we do. Might be an interesting time lapse.

12/19/2013 12:28:58 PM

well, looks like I'm skiing Big Sky on 12/31 and 1/1

12/19/2013 9:08:35 PM

*jealous*

12/20/2013 11:26:06 AM

Woohoo Peak 6 is open. Heading up tonight until the 1st. Mountains have gotten a decent amount of snow in the last week so I think almost everything is open.

12/27/2013 1:12:57 PM

Great conditions at Breck today. They got 5-6 inches. Peak 6 was pretty cool:

12/29/2013 9:39:50 PM

Member status going into our first ever family ski trip, leaving tomorrow:

Dad: torn calf muscle playing tennis a month ago, retorn a couple weeks ago
Sister: All around sick, went to urgent care this morning due to high fever
Mom: has bad knees, not confident she'll be able to go more than 2 days
Me: Pulled something in Killington 2 weeks ago to the point where putting on my bindings, or even just socks, was agonizing. Able to bend down today, but after a day of boarding could be terrible

Housing in Vail is paid for and non-refundable: $1650

12/30/2013 10:09:35 AM

^ Ouch, all around.

That's just your part of the housing right?

12/30/2013 10:19:57 AM

anyone rented from oerentals.com? I just picked up 2 beacons for our Switzerland trip. Since we only ski once a year, the $100 for renting 2 for the week is better than than 500-700 to buy a set. Also picked up a gopro with the rental for an extra $39.

12/30/2013 10:22:49 AM

^^That's actually total cost...my sister and I are splitting a 1 bedroom condo in Cascade Village...got it for around $350 a night (so actually $1750 not 1650 like I said). Still though, for New Years I thought that was a pretty good deal for something walking distance to a lift

12/30/2013 10:34:12 AM

The Vail Ritz and Marriott are pretty nice if you have Marriott points. I've stayed at the Marriot a couple times and it's in Vail village. I imagine over half the people staying at either hotel aren't paying a penny.

12/30/2013 8:33:27 PM