Need help planning the upcoming season!

Y

yokel

Member
Hi everybody!

My buddy and I are have been planning our season for awhile now, I we know that we are gonna end up in Whistler around the Telus festival (late April). Since we have spend our last season there, but we wanna get the Olympics out of the way, before returning.

So our plan is to stay a few month in the States before heading up to Canada. We are both danish, and are planning on leaving for the States in early to mid January.

This is were we would like some help from you guys, we really don't know that much about the resorts in the US. So any help would be much appriciated. Cost of season passes, walk ore drive distance to the mountain, price on accomadation (or if any of you have a spot for to skibums for a few months), how the parks and the powder are and the bars and the nightlife.

So just all in all what would be a good resort for us to visit. I would say we ski a little more park than powder, but I nice mix of the two would be great (like Whistler).

Resorts we have been talking about visiting (but really know nothing about):

- Breckenridge

- Northstar Tahoe

- Park City

- Keystone

Feel free to comment! Any advice is good advice for us!

Thanks!
 
I have been to a few of these. I am at work right now but when i get home I will give you a bunch of good places and as much onfo as I can, This is a big question, just give me a day or 2 to get you a good response.
 
That is awesome that you guys are gonna get to spend so much time in the US skiing. Here is the best I can do. I know the most about Utah skiing so I'll do Utah first.

Here is a brief description about the resorts. From SLC you have 3 canyons Parleys, little cottonwood and big cottonwood. Both cottonwoods have 2 ski resorts and are about 30 minute drive up the canyon.

Little cottonwood has Alta and Snowbird. They have the most amazing terrain and snow, you will never get bored here and you can do a lot of backcountry free style of natural terrain, but there isn't really a park at either of these resorts. Everyone that skis here is legit, noone sucks, These are my 2 favorite resorts. So I would hit these for sure. Ticket price here is about $60 USD a day

Big cottonwood has Solitude and Brighton. Solitde is a lot like snowbird and is never crowded. There is really good terrain and good snow. However it doesn't really have a park either. Brighton has some fun terrain and has a pretty descent park, lots of rails and hits. It is a little more snowboard friendly and definately has more snowboarders than skiers but you would have fun here. Tickets here are about $60USD a day.

If you go up Parleys canyon you head up to Park City, the Cayons, and Deer Valley. It is about 30 minutes to get up the Canyon to Park City. Park City resort and The Canyons are more wide open resorts, they are big resorts with wide open runs and not a lot of steep challenging terrain. However, the Canyons and Park city have very good parks, lots of rails and many different jumps, small, medium , and large. You will have a lot of fun at these resorts and they are so big you wont get bored. You will often see pro riders at the Park city resort throwing down some crazy stuff. Park City is a really fun town too, it is a little more resort like and more expensive but they are fun and have a good night life. The hotels are a little more expensive but it is fun there and good restaurants too. If I had a choice I would want to stay in Park city. Ticket prices here are about $80 USD per day.

If you go a little farther north, like 60 km then you will go to Ogden. Up Ogden canyon are the resorts Powder mountain and SnowBasin. I don't know much about these resorts. They are less crowded, but everyone that goes there loves it.

www.skiutah.com has good information on all these resorts.

It also has information on different multi passes you can get. Like you can get a pass to all of the resorts for a couple thousand I tihnk.

Also many of the hotels have ski shuttles that take you up to the hill.

I am not sure how the night life is in SLC but close to the university I am sire there is a lot going on. But I think Park City has a cooler nightlife, and has a few clubs.
 
As far a lodging goes I do not think that Utah and Colorado have priced lodging like hostels and other things that Europe has. There is a website called priceline( www.priceline.com ) that you should book your hotels on. You can find very discounted rates. A good hotel would be "Extended Stay America" it is made for people who are staying for a couple weeks or a couple months. Sometimes you can go on priceline and get it for $30 USD per night. The rooms are very nice and have a kitchen so you can eat at home instead of Mcdonalds every day. I would definately try to get a hotel on priceline, this works in Every state in the whole country. I tihnk Extended Stay America would be very good for you. If you need help with this website and figuring it out let me know and I can help. In Utah it is very central to the ski resorts and is just outside downtown Salt lake by a few miles. I am not sure where they have them in Denver but i know they do.
 
You could live in Kings Beach or Truckee if you wanted to ski Northstar. Northstar isn't to amazing in my opinion. Great ski skiing on a powder day and the parks pretty good I guess. I would rather go to Alpine or Squaw though.
 
I am not as familiar with Denver resorts but here is what I know.

there is one freeway or Highway heading west from Denver, I-70. Most of the main resorts are off this highway. There are some others a little farther north but I have never been to them so I won't talk about them.

1st is just 20 minutes west of Denver. It is a little ski hill called Echo Mountain. It is very small and the whole mountain is a terrain park. There are about 6-7 jumps and probably over 50 different rails. it is very close, cheap , and fun. If you just want to take a day and ski park this would be fun and easy. It is only $30USD a day and is just outside Evergreen.

Most of the other Colorado resorts are fairly similar in terrain. Once you head a little farther up the canyon you can turn off and drive to Winterpark. it is about 45 minutes from Denver. It is very fun, has some good terrain, they get good snow, and they have a pretty good park. There is nothing else there, just a ski hill, no litlle town or anything. I think Tickets here are about $60USD.

If you stay on I-70 you will come to a resort called Loveland. It is at the summit of the pass, I have never skied there so sorry I can't give you any advice sorry.

If you keep driving you come to the towns of Frisco, Silverthorne, Dillion and Breckenridge. These are all kind of grouped together. It is a nice little town. I have heard the night life is good but i can't confirm. Around here you have the resorts. Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Copper Mountain, and Breckenridge. Keystone and Copper Mountain are very similar mountains and both have very fun terrain and both have very good parks. Both have small, medium and big parks so once you are done with one you can move up to the tougher one. They are big fun mountains and you sill not get bored there. I have never skied Breckenridge, but i have a shirt from there. I heard it is super nice and is similar to whistler. They always get good rankings on their park but I have never skied it. I think AB, Keystone, and Copper are all about $70 USD per day and Breckenridge is closer to $85 a day.

Steamboat Springs is not close to there at all but if you want to know about it just write me and let me know.

If you are not going to to buy a season pass then you can check out www.craigslist.com. it is website where people sell stuff and you can often find discounted passes for sale.

If you go to www.skicolorado.com you can find a season pass to Copper Mountain and Winter Park for about $400. This is an amazing deal!!!!!!!!!! I think you could ski these 2 places and not get bored at all. If i were you I would buy this pass if i wa planning on skiing over 10 times on Colorado.

This is all I really know about Denver skiing. Denver does have a more happening Nightlife than SLC for sure. More places to go and things to do. If you drink then Denver is better than SLC, it is a little harder to get alcohol in Utah.

If you have any other questions let me know.
 
^A-bay is the shit.

Breckenridge has an incredible park, probably better than the others, but I would not compare the resort to whistler. Its not bad though, and does have a sweet nightlife.

Winter Park does have a town, and I think there is a cheap hostel there.

Better than the Winter Park/Copper Pass is the Colorado Pass if you are looking to ski a lot. It is similarly priced, but gives you Keystone, Breckenridge, A-basin, and 10 days at Vail or Beaver Creek, which are close and pretty cool too.
 
Oh yeah, and Keystone and Northstar both suck unless you want to ski only park. They have sick parks, but everyone is uptight and resorty, and the other skiing is terrible
 
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