Early season trip ideas

S

ssnowbdr03

New member
I have some time off from Dec. 5th-14th and am looking for ideas for an early season snowboarding trip. I've never been out West and have been told Summit Co. is the place to go but I'm concerned there won't be enough snow in early Dec. I'm not an extreme rider but I can handle a fairly steep slope.
 
Salt Lake City..could be a possible place..I was there 2 winters ago..early Dec. received 4ft in 4 days...easy access from airport..Try getting a Super Pass for Brighton, Solitude and Snowbird..Alta is also incl. but is for skiers only..Brighton is a boarders hill...more people on boards than any place I've ever been...Hit Solitude on Sundays and tackle Snowbird on mondays. Take the tram to Mineral Basin and jump in!..
 
If at all possible, delay picking your destination as long as you can. There's no telling who will get the early snow. Could be Whistler. Could be Utah. Could be Tahoe. Could be a Wolf Creek or Steamboat.

Utah and Whistler give you the best odds but nobody can predict the weather.
 
Geoff couldn't have said it better.

It's a slack time of year in the travel industry. You won't be shut out of flights or lodging by waiting until at least mid-November to decide.
 
At that stage, it's whoever got that one big storm.

Get in your car and drive. You will have wheels and no airfare. And snow.
 
ChrisC":95q4ns2u said:
Get in your car and drive. You will have wheels and no airfare. And snow.
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And from Hartford, about 80 hours round-trip of driving...and that's just to Denver....add another 6 for Summit Co. resorts, 16 for SLC.

I think you forgot an emoticon or three for the troll post this is! :lol:
 
It's not 80 hrs. But 2 days - sure.

I've done the NH-to-SLC,UT and it was about 36hrs.

My general advice is see who is getting snow. And go there. A ski trip with snow is tops. No matter where.

Drive or fly.
 
ChrisC":1mht3ivr said:
...My general advice is see who is getting snow. And go there.
...Drive or fly.
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This is absolutely the best advice.

Using this strategy, I almost always find good snow to ski between Nov 7 and Dec 7. Since my inaugural destination is chosen via a complex decision tree that is weighted by snow quality, available time, and family obligations, I have little pattern to where I will get first tracks. Over the past ten years my first tracks have been in PA, WVa, VT, CO, and UT.

Obviously, I can fly to Colorado this week for snow, but I usually wait for an area to develop a good base on its expert terrain and hopefully powder conditions.

Cheers,
Jeff
 
It still amazes me that people will go to that much effort to ski between Nov. 7 and Dec. 7. Laying out $1,000 in advance with a high chance of limited skiing with no expert terrain open. Or spending 4 days of a 9 day trip driving across the country.

I would direct people to look'n4powder's avatar. You can take that late spring steep skiing at Bachelor to the bank and book your flights now. For advanced/expert western skiing, April is usually better than December and May is usually better than November.

My hat is off to the diehards who are bucking the odds on these early trips if they are still going strong in April/May. However, if you're thinking about a destination trip before Christmas but you'll give up the boards for the golf course or other warm weather pursuits in spring, you're clueless.
 
Tony Crocker":3fou0l7q said:
It still amazes me that people will go to that much effort to ski between Nov. 7 and Dec. 7. Laying out $1,000 in advance...
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Agreed! Early season skiing should be completely driven by fortuitous opportunity and never premeditated. PA/WVa skiing are day trips for me. Early season trips to other states usually started with a telephone call from a friend who said something like "Did you see that Jay P. just got 42!" When cheap arrangements are possible (thank you Southwest!) and I have time, I'll fly to get a couple days on skis--particularly if the venue offers massive amounts of powder. But since most areas have limited terrain before Jan, I've never seen the attraction of those Christmas ski trips that families seem to invest heavily (Yes, I understand their motivation, but the investment seems too expensive and risky.)

My wife is more sensible, she just says "no" to ski trips before January.


Tony Crocker":3fou0l7q said:
I would direct people to look'n4powder's avatar. You can take that late spring steep skiing at Bachelor to the bank and book your flights now. For advanced/expert western skiing, April is usually better than December and May is usually better than November.
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Better advice! I highly recommend celebrating "National Taxpayer Week" (aka 15 April) and Easter with a ski trip. We have for the past 16 years and we have had great experiences. Yes, during late season weeks the snow surface usually varies from spring to powder, but, the days are longer, the snow depths are deeper, and the lodging is cheaper.

BTW, that powder shot in my avatar was the result of only a 1" snowfall the night before. Up in the cirque the wind concentrated the light powder into an 18" deep delight. Bachelor was so empty that we cut new tracks until the lifts closed! In May only two days later we skied on 12" of new powder at Mt. Hood. Yet, this particular April/May week was not untypical of every spring trip we've taken to Whistler-Blackcomb, Bachelor, Colorado, Utah, and Mammoth.

Late season rocks!

Cheers,
Jeff
 
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