Crested Butte, Alta/Snowbird, or Jackson Hole

lobster

lobster

New member
So I'm planning a ski trip for next year, and we're going to stay 5 nights at one of these resorts. I'm looking to go somewhere to ski chutes, pillow lines, cliff drops, steep terrain, open bowls, etc. We're driving from denver, so one thing to consider is that we'll get an extra day of skiing by going to crested butte. So, do you think jackson hole, crested butte, or snowbird would be the best resort to visit for a ski vacation? +k to helpful answers
 
Jackson for sure man, Alta/Bird is pretty fun and has everything you're looking for, but jackson is HUGE, it has everything.
 
All three are sick.

Alta/Bird get better snow over all

Jackson has so much vert and so much gnarles terrain

Crusty Butte has really sick technical terrain and the town is pretty rad too
 
Alta/Snowbird man those resorts are legit! They are also really close to Park City/Canyons/Deer Valley which are way fun resorts to. If you go there hit me up and I'll show you around!
 
Crested Butte, Jackson, and Alta are all sick resorts. (never skied Snowbird) But if you're willing to hike: Jackson without a doubt.
 
Been to alta SB and JH. While alta and Sb are sick , IMO the terrain is more challenging at JH. And if you are willing to hike, there are endless possibilities of open uncut chutes and bowls. THe vibe at alta is the best, its feels like you are skiing with all of your best friends because everyone is so nice. And Wyoming is beautiful!
 
i disagree but it will be better than CB, sometimes alta has more snow than Jackson in december, i would just wait and check snow that week, jackson is the best mountain in the US though
 
Alta can be absolutely amazing! Keep in mind it depends on the snowfall year and time of year though. I went in 2010 in February and got 3 ft in 24 hrs and 5 ft in a week. It was sick. My cousin also lives in JH si I've been there once when the snow was not as good as when I went to Alta but I hear from other people and her that JH can be sick!

Have a sick trip.
 
I could go in late march also. Do you think Jackson is generally better in Late December/early january, or late march?
 
everywhere is better in late march because the rocks are covered up, just got to watch the weather and go anywhere that is 20 degrees and bellow, sometimes end of march can be 60 degrees, id go christmas and spring break, pick best weather both times
 
Thanks for the help man, I really appreciate it. I'll probably only be able to make it up once this year, so if you had to guess, do you think after christmas, or spring break would be better?
 
jackson has it all but consistent snowfall and northern exposures. but nothing could be more brutal than crested buttes 150 inch winter last season.
 
Thanks to everyone for the help. One more question, does anyone know how the drive from Denver to Jackson Hole is. It's supposed to be 9 hours but is it usually bad conditions?
 
9 hours is usually the average time but it all depends on snow conditions and what not. I got stuck coming back once time and ended up going through Utah...but that's a worse case scenario. And in the end, going through Utah was faster than waiting for the highway to open back up.
 
If we (Jackson) have another snow year like the last one, then wait until late December or later to come.. It was not very good last year until after Christmas, then it was 30'' in a day and a half and great. The entire mountain didn't open until mid december...

So just watch the weather, I learned to ski at Crested Butte, and this will be my first full season at Jackson.

Also, if you (or any other NS'ers) need/want somewhere to crash in JH, I'll have space!
 
if you're looking for gnarly lines in december cb is prolly not your best bet. it takes a ton of snow to cover all of our rocks, that being said, cb is a billy goaters paradise. you are better off going to utah or jackson for more quality snow. one thing i have noticed is that alta/jackson have faster, more open, and less consequential runouts from their really hard terrain than crested butte, where most of our lines here end in a wall of trees, so you have to be comfy throwing the brakes on or threading the needle.this is a pretty cool gallery of what our terrain looks like in the summer time, and kinda puts how much snow we need in perspective

http://www.westelkproject.com/?p=2403
 
I wouldn't go to jackson over spring break, for one the mountain closes the first week of spring break (at least for jackson schools) and snow fall isn't the best. I think your trip would be better off if you came up here in late december.
 
Sick, haven't seen shots like that before. They start to put the gnarliness in perspective, goddamn the skiers left side of dead end chutes gets real gnar
 
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