Back from the Grave!

[cweinman]

Just wanted to post a quick note up to reintroduce myself. I used to post reports periodically from upstate New York back in the 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 seasons. Life was unkind and finishing up my doctorate in combination with relocating my life to Arizona from New York (all while trying to do this and restart on basically no savings until I got going) shut me down for the 2008/2009 season and by the time I could have played around down here in the Southwest, the season was already winding down with it well into March.

Some of you may remember a post that I set off on the eastern forum concerning the best metro areas in the west to live for skiing. Regardless, being in Phoenix now, I don't exactly find myself in one of them, but I'm still looking forward to having easier access than I ever had to explore the West (something that I have no experience with, having discovered skiing just 4 years ago while in graduate school).

Regardless, I'll be lurking and occasionally chiming in with a trip report from Sunrise or AZ Snowbowl along with a likely run some time this winter at Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and/or California. Maybe I'll squeeze in a weekend or two in New Mexico while I'm at it if conditions warrant it .

One thing I know is that I won't miss the eastern thaw/freeze/thaw/freeze/rain/ice up tango that I had grown to hate with a passion!

-Craig

 

[Admin]

Welcome back!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

A few weeks ago, while scanning an old thread (I think it was about Belleayre), I saw a post by you, and was wondering where you'd gone. Good to see you back.

To give you an idea for a trip this winter, check out my article about Jackson Hole-region ski areas in the features section. I'm also finishing one about a week in northern New Mexico.

Oh yeah, you need to fix your "location."

 

[EMSC]

skiing just 4 years

Not sure what your ability level is, but guessing just based on # of years in the sport, I'd think Wolf Creek and Durango Mtn resort would be up your alley on the southern edge of Colorado.

Got tired of weather at the great Greekus Peakus eh?

 

[Tony Crocker]

Some of you may remember a post that I set off on the eastern forum concerning the best metro areas in the west to live for skiing.

In that time frame I started constructing a model but only completed it for the SW quadrant of the USA. Needless to say Phoenix is by far the worst metro area of the West for skiing. Drive distances to out-of-state locations are formidable, with the best bets being Telluride/Durango/Wolf Creek at 7.5 - 9 hours and Mammoth at 9-10. Those times are beyond most people's weekend tolerance. That's roughly my Tahoe distance and I usually try to make those trips 4 days. If you get a whole week off, then you're in better shape in terms of flexibility and/or saving $ with multiple drivers. You also have Southwest Airlines, so you get a break there in terms of no bag fees and less restrictive reservation requirements as well as competitive airfares.

With regard to Snowbowl it's a nice area but rates to have fairly severe liftline issues on good condition weekends with just one fixed triple top-to-bottom. Snowfall is the most volatile in North America, over 400 in the best years, under 100 and rarely open in the worst years due to no snowmaking. I've never skied Sunrise but from the chair ratios it's very flat.

Compared to the East, my guess is Phoenix is better than MASH, maybe about the same overall (but with a completely different set of parameters) than NYC, worse than New England metro areas.

 

[cweinman]

A few weeks ago, while scanning an old thread (I think it was about Belleayre), I saw a post by you, and was wondering where you'd gone. Good to see you back.

To give you an idea for a trip this winter, check out my article about Jackson Hole-region ski areas in the features section. I'm also finishing one about a week in northern New Mexico.

Oh yeah, you need to fix your "location."

James,

Good to hear from you; I remember some of those Belleayre posts. I only got out there to ski there once (usually favoring Windham), but nailed it with lots of fresh snow and 100% open conditions (including the lift line glade and Cathedral Brook) and had quite the epic day (for southern New York at least). I'll read up on your Jackson Hole and New Mexico articles when I get a chance.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Phoenix is better than MASH, maybe about the same overall (but with a completely different set of parameters) than NYC, worse than New England metro areas.

Can someone delineate the boundaries of MASH? To me, it's DC/MD, PA, and the lower 2/3 of NJ.

I ask because I live 18 miles as the crow flies from NYC, but can reach three different classes of NE ski areas within five hours:
1:45 to the Catskills (third-tier)
3:15 to southern VT (second tier)
3:30 - 4:00 to the ADKs (second tier for lift-served, skimore would argue first tier for BC)
5:00-ish to northern VT (first tier)

While it's a very long way from optimum, I can ski on a regular basis and get a handful of powder days each season -- many more with a bit of flexibility. When I move away from here to a better location, I'll no doubt look back at this stint as "skiing hell," but on an absolute basis for the East Coast (no comparisons to SLC), is it really?

 

[cweinman]

skiing just 4 years

Not sure what your ability level is, but guessing just based on # of years in the sport, I'd think Wolf Creek and Durango Mtn resort would be up your alley on the southern edge of Colorado.

Got tired of weather at the great Greekus Peakus eh?

EMSC,

I probably line up as a level 8 skier or so, not quite expert, but definitely on the upper side of advanced at this point. I basically could get down anything in the east (and I'm talking places like Stowe, not Greek Peak), but it was't always pretty if the conditions were sketchy. I do love trees and bumps, and had gotten into trying to ski with only fresh surfaces since I had a lot of flexibility to pick my days out in New York.

Let me tell you, going from central New York to Arizona is quite a shock to the system to say the least. I've survived my first summer though and do not miss never seeing the sun (versus now always seeing it). Lack of seasons like what we had in the east is probably the most depressing thing. I already got to see snow this year though by climbing Mount Humphrey's back on October 10 after they had their first snow there above 10K feet or so, so that was a nice touch.

 

[cweinman]

Some of you may remember a post that I set off on the eastern forum concerning the best metro areas in the west to live for skiing.

In that time frame I started constructing a model but only completed it for the SW quadrant of the USA. Needless to say Phoenix is by far the worst metro area of the West for skiing. Drive distances to out-of-state locations are formidable, with the best bets being Telluride/Durango/Wolf Creek at 7.5 - 9 hours and Mammoth at 9-10. Those times are beyond most people's weekend tolerance. That's roughly my Tahoe distance and I usually try to make those trips 4 days. If you get a whole week off, then you're in better shape in terms of flexibility and/or saving $ with multiple drivers. You also have Southwest Airlines, so you get a break there in terms of no bag fees and less restrictive reservation requirements as well as competitive airfares.

With regard to Snowbowl it's a nice area but rates to have fairly severe liftline issues on good condition weekends with just one fixed triple top-to-bottom. Snowfall is the most volatile in North America, over 400 in the best years, under 100 and rarely open in the worst years due to no snowmaking. I've never skied Sunrise but from the chair ratios it's very flat.

Compared to the East, my guess is Phoenix is better than MASH, maybe about the same overall (but with a completely different set of parameters) than NYC, worse than New England metro areas.

Tony,

I think that was generally the conclusion from the previous thread; that Phoenix was probably the worst with the exception of Tucson which arguably became slightly more problematic. Fortunately, I don't have kids just yet and my wife and I have no aversion to driving long distances, even with winter conditions involved (try towing a 12 foot U-Haul trailer through lake effect snow some time).

I don't think I'd do anything like Durango as a weekend trip, but it's definitely within reach for a 3 or 4 day weekend (we're already considering heading up that way for Christmas this year, but are a bit concerned about early season coverage). I fortunately have 16 days of vacation to work with a year with reasonable flexibility beyond that. We'll probably look more at driving this year, but quick hop direct flights to somewhere like Salt Lake are really tempting if we just wanted to get away for a weekend or what not.

Snowbowl I know finally won it's lawsuit and will be expanding starting 2010/2011 I believe with plans to upgrade lifts, cut some more terrain and bring more snow making online. I have heard exactly what you mentioned so far though, that the place is a zoo at best on a lot of peak weekends. I may need to come down with a case of midweek sno-itis at least once to check it out if a midweek powder day beckons however O . Sunrise doesn't look like anything terrain-wise too much better than a smaller northeast hill, but they do appear to get a lot of snow (I think they had well over 200 inches last year). I live in the far Northeast valley down here too which gives us a good head start for heading out that way, so as long as it is reasonably decent, I imagine I may head out there a few times this year.

Ultimately, without a job and a career, I wouldn't have been doing much skiing anyway, so I decided to just make AZ work the best it could. :-D Nevertheless, I would love to find myself in Salt Lake or the Pac NW at some point in the future (I'm just 28, so I have a lot of skiing to do still!).

 

[EMSC]

I probably line up as a level 8 skier or so, not quite expert, but definitely on the upper side of advanced at this point

That's an awesome improvement curve for anyone, especially as an adult.

New York to Arizona is quite a shock to the system to say the least

Ironically I know someone who did the reverse - from Colo, moved to Phoenix, and then to Cooperstown of all places (had nothing to do with baseball). And big skiers to boot.

we're already considering heading up that way for Christmas this year, but are a bit concerned about early season coverage

Follow Wolf Creek reports. That place is either feast or famine by Christmas. More often than not it's Feast. They get a lot of snow early (one of the very few in Colo that gets enough to open everything fairly early).

 

[Tony Crocker]

Can someone delineate the boundaries of MASH? To me, it's DC/MD, PA, and the lower 2/3 of NJ.

I've never seen a formal definition, but that seems as good as any. The northernmost part of NJ should be easier to get away from on a Friday than most of NYC or Long Island. In terms of access to skiing, Long Island is probably MASH too. Unless there's a ferry across to Connecticut that cuts time vs. driving through NYC.

Wolf Creek is 9 hours, about the same as Mammoth. Propensity to large dumps, only takes 3-4 feet to cover most of it, certainly worth watching, can be 100% open in November. Not a big hill for an extended trip, unless you're getting powder the whole time.