Where to go out west

C

CS_Films

Member
I am going to plan my first trip out west this winter for a week or so what would u guys recomend for a plan of action?
 
eather winter or spring break time i would like to get a little of everything some helisking nice park and maby a backcountry hit if i can get a good spot just do some of the things its near impossible to do on the east coast
 
Haha, I love how "out west" is some sort of mystical term for anybody east of the rocky mountain front.

Anyways, it all depends on what sort of skiing you want to do. You better not touch a terrain park while you're on your trip or Ullr is going to piss all over the east coast for all eternity. Places I would recommend would be Jackson, SLC, or Tahoe if you want a more touristy experience. There's a lot of smaller super fun places to go as well if you're willing to do research, and those can be just as good or better than the big resorts--also cheaper. But my number one recommendation would either be Great Divide by Helena, MT or Snow King right across from Jackson Hole.
 
utah and tahoe are the easiest to get to(minimal car travel from airport) both have some of everything. Most other western ski destinations have a 3-5 hour drive from the nearest airport.
 
yeah you hear amazing things about "WEST" so i hope its all it lives up to be but just sking for 6-7 days straight would be good aneywhere i would just like a nice package of everything maby go to two seperate resorts or find some kind of package for everything dunno.
 
Yeah i heard they ride stage coaches to the mnt, then either take there horses to the top, and have to hold them coming down the hill, or hike. YOU WILL HAVE A HORRIBLE TIME WITH THE HICKS IN MONTANA DON'T GO THERE.
 
i hope you're joking about that. coming ALL THE WAY to the west and ski mammoth and bear? what a waste! go to utah and piss all the utahns off that you're not a local. airport's only 30-45 minutes away from the mountains. motels are cheap in utah. a lot good shops if you need to pick stuff up. plus depending on what you want to ride - park, big mountain, backcountry - you'll find them in utah within close proximity to each other and they'll be top notch. also make sure you hit up beaver mountain!
 
don't count on anything espeacialy before Christmas, because nothing is garentied (sp) but Jackson/montana usualy get bounded the first week of the year. and for spring break I would look at the cotten wood canyons in Utah stay away from Park City latter in the year it is lower in altitude and the snow wont be as good but the park should be in top form, and you probably don't want to go hellisking unless you's got a good $500+ a day perperson, Thats something you should probably do once in you life. however Both Saltlake city and jackson have Heli services. If you go up to Jackson/Montana Don't plan on spending a lot of time in the park, Whistler is here too remeber, And I am sick of the Rockies being called the West, look at a map it is in the center of the damn country, The west is Arazona/Navada/California/Oragon/Washington and Idaho. Damn east costers think the country is centered around them.
 
in canada i would say big white is one of the better mountains...not as crowded as whistler, more developed than red...although i went there recently and took a trip over to red for a couple days, its worth checking out
 
Snowbird/Alta, best skiing you will ever do in your life. Have a wide variety of things to do from cliffs to chutes to in bounds backcountry. They hardly groom though since the powder is so insane. Your almost guarenteed to get a dumping while your there.
 
Interior of B.C.

Hit up Whitewater in Nelson for deep pow like Utah's and nice Backcountry. Head over to Kicking Horse in Golden for a taste of big mountian that will make you east coast knees shake more than they do on an icy groomer and then head to Fernie because its the funnest mountain you'll ski.

Whistler is fun as well but plan on paying more.
 
go to british columbia, best backcountry skiing in the north west in my oppinion, plus we ahve some great resorts( whistelr/blackcomb, fernie, sunpeaks, bigwhite etc.)
 
you have know idea man. when you come from a mountain with an average snow fall of like 26 ft and a 600ft elevation.
 
Where exactly do you live now. Whats your budget, etc.

Utah is always a good pick, lots of good mountains close to each other, all about 30 minutes from SLC with buses that can transport you to and from the mountains.

Hotels are pretty cheap in SLC too.

Look into CO for an early trip - Loveland is gonna be the first open in the US. They start blowing snow usually before october, so around november they might be in full force if not in october.

Jackson Hole is pretty nice too, along with other MO mountains. There a lot of good pow out in MO thats usually untouched. Check out Big Sky while you're there too.

Besides that, you have all the well known places, mammoth, hood, whistler, bear mtn, etc
 
I know where you're coming from, I just find it humorous that all the east coast kids think that by going to a mountain "out west" they're going to somehow be ripping huge lines in 40" of powder every day because it's always like that. I just can't imagine how disappointed some kids must be when they go on a trip, lets say to montana last christmas when it was raining, and their high expectations are totally crushed. Sure, I'd pick any of the western ski areas over anything on the east coast, but USUALLY the skiing out here isn't quite what some people say it is.
 
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