We are finishing up a week in Whistler/Blackcomb. We got a townhouse where we can walk to the base, so did not get a car. It has been amazing: no crowds, express lifts everywhere. The snow is bad low, but good at mid elevations and great at high elevation, and the mountain is gigantic so we can avoid low until we are skiing home. Visibility has been a challenge at times (my wife and I both bought new goggles here since ours were old and good for California, but not BC).
My son and I hiked up one spot to get some fresh tracks. Longest boot pack we have done (but it was still quite short), and the reward was amazing. He then took my wife on it. I think once my daughter is a bit older, we may have some more adventures off the beaten path.
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The road up LCC is closed for the 4th straight day, barring a few hours very early this AM for downhill traffic only where a few people were able to get out. Still closed indefinitely.
What a difference 3 days can make in the springtime in Utah. The top was Wednesday April 5th and the bottom was Saturday April 8th.
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we are similar in MN but not as green as you. last saturday i shoveled 9 inches of wet heavy snow. Sunday was our 1st day of 50 degrees in a long time. today was our 60 degree day. tuesday will be our first 70 degree day. (at this pace, we might boil by memorial day)
Alta has reported 901" of snow this year. Their prior record was 748".
And just for fun, watch out if you ski on a glacier.
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Wow. If the fall did not get me, I think the heart attack from fear would.
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Digging out the mountain bike trails this past weekend at Deer Valley, per their twitter
Had a friend post that he and his boys (family?) went skiing last Saturday. Resorts are closed but I think they were at one that has a gondola which runs year round. Not sure if they had to pay to ski or just for the gondola trips up the mountain.
Friend of mine went up to mammoth this weekend. Took the bikes and the boards. I think they are running lifts until July 4th
I think Snowbird was officially running their gondola for skiing last weekend for the last time this year if that’s where they were
Summer Solstice pictures at Alta. One is from 2022 the other from 2023. Can you tell the difference?
I suspect that this coming winter of 2023/4 will be extremely mild temperature-wise and have little snow due to El Niño.
We’re going to Finland in Jan 2024, but I have yet to decide whether we will end up doing a few days of skiing as there may be little snow cover.
Where are we skiing this year? I’m not buying a pass, so I’m flexible on location.
El Niño does affect snowfall, but for some areas it actually increases expected snowfall.
The northwest and northeast usually have greatly reduced snow, but CO and UT are usually close to normal and it can help CA and the SW with bigger totals.
I was thinking I might check out Brian Head this year.
I recall Brian Head has some fun terrain but it’s not steep enough if you get more than a couple inches of powder.
That’s interesting.
I have been in situations where there was enough powder that skiing green runs or the flatter parts of blue runs was basically impossible. I usually ski mostly on the blue runs, but on those days I’ve stayed on the blacks and it was fine.
It is a bit out of the way, so if you want better out-of-the-way skiing, Taos, NM.
Tahoe has too many resorts to count, and from that map it should get dumped on.
One of the advantages of Brian Head is that it’s one of the few that doesn’t accept Ikon or Epic passes. Those spots tend to be much less crowded and more locals only.
And, there aren’t a lot of locals (unless we count Las Vegas). We passed by it on the way to Utah. And Aspen, come to think of it.
I’d compare it to Boreal near Tahoe. First place you get to, so it’s convenient, and terrain is fun but not steep enough.
Off the beaten path ski resorts I like:
Schweitzer. Big mountain, great views of the lake below from the ski slopes, nobody there
Grand Targhee: incredible amounts of powder in a mostly locals place
Snowbasin: Not that out of the way, but with so many other great ski areas closer to SLC most don’t make the longer drive there. It is on one of the big passes though
Out of the way resorts not on the megapasses that I haven’t been to but want to visit
Brian Head
Powder Mountain
Whitefish
Telluride
Wolf Creek
