Tahoe South....

[Tony Crocker]

I was previously under the vague impression that this was not q's first trip to Tahoe. If it was, I wholeheartedly agree with ChrisC's points.

Adam was at Tahoe in the same time frame. As expected Kirkwood had the best conditions with winter snow remaining on its north slopes above 9,000 feet, same as Mammoth. Though Squaw was mostly spring conditions he said it skied very well, as I would expect following the sun around on a warm day.

Tough luck with Snowbowl going to Thursday-Sunday operation with March 31 being the first closed day. I would not have anticipated that either, and Flagstaff is a rather substantial detour between Vegas and Summit County. And looking at the schedule it's obvious q drove all day on the 31st to be skiing Copper the next day. This makes little sense to me. q anticipated spending the day at Snowbowl; why not spend that day in the Grand Canyon as consolation since you're there anyway?

He also skipped SW Colorado, but the I-70 group has had a fair amount of new snow recently and the SW places very little. This an advantage road-trippers have in flexibility.

 

[ChrisC]

For the record here's my list. European resorts could be expanded due to the nature of the beast but I will keep it minimal :lol: Don't think I'd be ahead of you Tony.

USA


California

Mammoth, June Mountain

South Dakota

Terry Peak, Deer Mountain

Spending more effort to ski South Dakota....than taking a day at Squaw Valley....I really do not want advice from this guy.

I find whatever bias to his criteria, and they do not link up to most skiers criteria.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I wouldn't presume that q went out of his way to ski South Dakota. He was there, so he skied, as some of us addicts might also. For most of the western ski resorts you can tell that he was in selected geographic areas and tried to hit nearly everything within them.

But ChrisC's point is still valid. This was q's first trip to Tahoe, so not trying Squaw/Alpine seems silly. Even if you're crowd-phobic he had the flexibility to hit them midweek.

The excessive small area bias is most evident here:

Austria

Zell am See, Scheffau, Obertaurn, Sallbach

France

Valmorel, La Rosiere

You could make the same comment about Chile, but based upon Patrick's experience q might have been right about that one.

The total count was 106 (ChrisC and I are still ahead), including the ones labelled HIKE. We don't know whether those were earned turns or summer non-ski visits, probably the latter judging by the areas so listed.

 

[q]

Guys, I am a bit perplexted by the anti feeling I am hearing here, if I wanted that I would have posted elsewhere. I skied, with parents, and had little say in where we went in Europe. As for South America we wanted to see the real country and ski at the same time and we did so it was VERY much mission accomplished. How many of you guys that stay very much closer to SA have been?

I dont have an endless budget, I cant ski 30 days at the top resorts and from what I gathered on the ground Heavenly was not worth it. I have skied, almost every major resort in the USA outwith Washington and Oregon and what I have done over the last 6-8 years is revisit areas(normally states) and hit ones that I like and and ones that I have not been to before. During that time I have added the larger resorts to my count and I am pretty sure in future years Heavenly et al will be added.

ChrisC, TBH, I dont give two hoots whether you value my advice.

 

[Tony Crocker]

With regard to the list of areas only the Europe ones looked unusual to me, now explained.

And I didn't criticize Chile; I complimented it because based upon Patrick's experience Chillan can actually have better skiing that the better known places.

So my only real criticism was on bypassing Squaw/Alpine on the current trip. q liked Kirkwood after all; it's hard to imagine he wouldn't like Squaw/Alpine. And since Tahoe is ChrisC's home turf, I'm sure that's what attracted his attention.

 

[q]

I was a bit on the tetchy side guys haha.

Squaw and Alpine are very much on the radar next time but I felt at the time that I would not see the best of them.

Vail today was pretty average although I guess that is probably down to the last two days being so good at Beaver Creek and Winter Park. I'd have to say that while the new 6 pack to the top at WP has dealt with the queues it has added the mother and toddler group and for me made the top far to easy to get to and track out.

I think the count is now 126 and the hikes were all during winter but either after the season ended or on closed days.

Anyway, there is another G&T with my name on it

 

[ChrisC]

Guys, I am a bit perplexted by the anti feeling I am hearing here, if I wanted that I would have posted elsewhere. I skied, with parents, and had little say in where we went in Europe. As for South America we wanted to see the real country and ski at the same time and we did so it was VERY much mission accomplished. How many of you guys that stay very much closer to SA have been?

I dont have an endless budget, I cant ski 30 days at the top resorts and from what I gathered on the ground Heavenly was not worth it. I have skied, almost every major resort in the USA outwith Washington and Oregon and what I have done over the last 6-8 years is revisit areas(normally states) and hit ones that I like and and ones that I have not been to before. During that time I have added the larger resorts to my count and I am pretty sure in future years Heavenly et al will be added.

ChrisC, TBH, I dont give two hoots whether you value my advice.

I apologize for some of the criticism. I do not mean to be a total biege. I'm interested in your trip.

And I like how you have visited some out-of-the-way places.

But can I get behind all of your choices? No.

Part of the reason I like living in California is to be near Tahoe. And there is a difference in the quality of the skiing between the areas in the region. I think Squaw Valley is a Top 10 US ski area. I never ski a day without seeing a new line, going bigger off of some rock and just feeling lucky to be alive in the California sunshine with friends. And I feel the need to recommend it. Over other places.

 

[q]

As I say Chris, I was tetchy :lol:

I met a guy in Reno who was determined that Squaw and Alpine were superb and I dont doubt it. I ran out of time this trip.

I've probably enjoyed my time more this winter at the larger resorts than ever before TBH and over the coming years with less smaller hills that I can hit I will probably spend more time in CO, UT and CA.

As for advice, I'd like to clarify what my site is about(or should be if I had the time). I would never ever advise anyone to follow me or go to half the places I have been to. However, from a UK perspective most visitors to Tahoe would not venture far from Heavenly, most visitors to Utah would not go far from the 3 Park City resorts and that is what I offer advice on as I feel that they will not see what the areas really have to offer.

Anyway, the barmaid has left the building

 

[rfarren]

However, from a UK perspective most visitors to Tahoe would not venture far from Heavenly, most visitors to Utah would not go far from the 3 Park City resorts and that is what I offer advice on as I feel that they will not see what the areas really have to offer.

That would be a shame because the best two mountains in Utah are Alta and Snowbird. I've never been a huge fan of the Park City Resorts. I've also heard from my cousin who just moved to SF that Squaw, Alpine Meadows, and Kirkwood are the best mountains at Tahoe.

 

[ChrisC]

I've also heard from my cousin who just moved to SF that Squaw, Alpine Meadows, and Kirkwood are the best mountains at Tahoe.

Um, yeah.

And Tahoe really segments itself into 2 shores - North and South. They are far enough apart/difficult to travel between - that it's not as easy to combine the region as one would think.

However, I think you need to add Heavenly and maybe Northstar into the mix for intermediate skiers. The above mentioned areas do not cater very well this segment.

 

[Tony Crocker]

q can take rfarren's and ChrisC's comments to heart about the relative merits of Utah and Tahoe ski areas. I would only add that I think Alpine Meadows is pretty good for intermediates. There is quite a bit of off trail skiing that is not at the level of steepness Squaw and Kirkwood are famous for. And Mammoth is one of the best mountains for intermediates anywhere (just ask GPaul).

I suspect in the UK the travel marketers concentrate on group sales and are looking for the places with great apres ski activities. Thus the focus on Heavenly and Park City.

Another issue with both Utah and Tahoe is that they are both most effectively explored with a rental car. And the tour operators don't think in those terms.

 

[tirolerpeter]

I suspect in the UK the travel marketers concentrate on group sales and are looking for the places with great apres ski activities. Thus the focus on Heavenly and Park City.

Another issue with both Utah and Tahoe is that they are both most effectively explored with a rental car. And the tour operators don't think in those terms.

I believe that both these points are probably very valid. Consider that Brits drive on the opposite side of the road. Despite the proximity to Europe, I suspect that many vacationers from the UK don't want to make the effort to get used to switching sides in a car.

 

[rfarren]

I believe that both these points are probably very valid. Consider that Brits drive on the opposite side of the road. Despite the proximity to Europe, I suspect that many vacationers from the UK don't want to make the effort to get used to switching sides in a car.

That could be fixed by just going on a hele-ski vacation. :wink:

 

[tirolerpeter]

I believe that both these points are probably very valid. Consider that Brits drive on the opposite side of the road. Despite the proximity to Europe, I suspect that many vacationers from the UK don't want to make the effort to get used to switching sides in a car.

That could be fixed by just going on a hele-ski vacation. :wink:

We all have our fantasies :lol:

 

[q]

I think there would be a fairly even spread of people who drive and those that dont. For Utah, Tahoe and Colorado(Summit) resorts I'd say most people will drive. Of those that don't they tend to be in the group that take the option of cheap lodgings/tickets for places like Copper and they stay there for the duration. Uk markets used to throw in free lift tickets for Copper I believe.

Driving generally in the USA is much easier... no gears, quieter roads(I-70 is not busy!), straight etc etc. Only problems I have is at roundabouts where you guys just dont know how to indicate or what lane to start and finish in :lol: :lol: :lol: