Worth it? PILE ON! PNW

M

MurmurNYC

New member
So we have 2 families 5 kids from ages 4-8, the adults are strong intermediates to expert skiers.

The timing of the trip is tied to the kids vacation so we are talking mid decemeber - xmas.

Intend to back out of our Utah plans, the question is:

Which PNW area would be best for us given the conditions?

Bachelor? Crystal? Baker? Whistler?

Expert opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Michael Rubin
(NYC dad desperate to get back out there!)
 
For your family description, in terms of skiing I would definitely pick Bachelor. It's a big, intermediate oriented mountain with fast lifts and almost never crowded. The downsides are that town (Bend) and mountain are 15-20 miles apart and the gateway airport in Portland is 3 1/2 hours away. There is a small airport in Redmond, just north of Bend, but you'll pay more to fly in there. Bend and Sunriver are nice resort communities, just not on the hill.

Whistler is the resort experience, convenient, walk to everything, huge. But better with teenagers that can roam the village and the mountains on their own than smaller kids. Ski School has a very good rep, so I would be inclined to put your kids in there the whole time at Whistler if you go there.

The Washington areas are all day areas for the Seattle locals. Interesting skiing, but no resort atmosphere. If you want to visit Seattle sometime anyway, go for it. This one depends a lot on how adaptable the kids are.
 
For once, I have to disagree with Tony. With two families and a bunch of small kids, the only way to go is ski-in ski-out accomodations. Believe me, I've tried it both ways and learned the hard way. It's hard enough to help the kids with equipment, clothing, checking them into ski school, etc. let alone having a 20 minute drive at each end of the day.

We do a vacation that's very similar each year with two families, 5 kids. We only have a few rules that we NEVER violate:
1) slopeside accomodations
2) hot tub
3) variety of runs to suit different skiing abilities.

Without a doubt opt for Whistler-Blackcomb.
 
I'm flattered Tony thinks so highly of Mt Bachelor, many around here have a bit of an inferiority complex.
I'm thinking TGW at Bachelor a great bet for your family, once you get here. Obviously no slopeside accomodations but I think that's why this place is so kid friendly. I think they're safer without all the hotels nearby and all the lower, easier slopes will be open, no need to haul them up higher on the mountain. If they're bigger, send them up on the bus!
Other advantages: snowmobiles for rent at Wanoga on the way up the hill, solid Nordic area across from the lifts, tubing hill at the base and a real town to dine in and shop on Friday.
The long range calls for a "warm and wet winter" and so far it's been wet but not that warm. If warm fronts arrive we're still a good bet because of our relatively high base elevation.
So...if an easier commute and more convenient lodging are important, go to Whistler. But if you like good snow, fast lifts and lots to do, come here.
Oh, don't forget your goggles!
Today: 5" new overnight with nice hike-to pow turns. Tonight: more snow.
 
1st, What's TGW?

I've taken my crew on more than a few ski vacations...

With younger kids, I'm not convinced Ski in Ski out is always worth it...

Sometimes the access trail isn't the easiest for a little kid, sometimes there's lots of flats, which means skate and tow (and fall), sometimes the young ones take a lot of work and if its a cold day, and you've got on lots of layers, and your in the ski school, and its a little crowded and your kid is crying your a puddle by the time your done.

More important to me is a good system. easy parking and unloading if we have to drive to the area, lack of crowds, a great (patient) ski school, laid back vibe, etc.. Snowbasin was fantastic in this regard for instance...

Don't know how crowded Whistler Ski School would be BEFORE xmas, but after, I'd worry that hastles of checking the kids in and out would easily cancel out the ski in ski out convenience.

Been checking out Big Sky/Moonlight Basin. Seems like that may be the best of both worlds.

And Whistler seems expensive compared to the other options (w. snow) in play...
 
Mike,
TGW is Thanksgiving Weekend, which was the subject of a similar post. After rereading your post I see you were talking about a holiday time period. Everything I said would apply except I expect us to be 100% open.
 
If you're going BEFORE Christmas, Whistler should be OK. If it's Christmas-to-New Year's I wouldn't want to deal with the cost and crowd issues at Whistler, or a lot of other places. For the "zoo" week, Bachelor should be near the top of the list because it's much less crowded.

I did plenty of trips with kids, and the decision about where to stay depends on the area. Bachelor had complete children's facilities in both day lodges back then. I don't know whether that's still true.
 
With our group of 9 skiers/5 kids, we found that some of the kids/wives will want to start later, finish earlier, take a mid-day break in the chalet for lunch and a hot tub, etc. Usually at least someone gets tired and wants to retire early, while the die-hards want to ski a full day.
Slopeside accomodations are the only way to make all of this possible.
That's just us....I guess it really depends on the preferences of the people in your group.

We always rent a chalet from the owner directly or from a property management company that is not affiliated with the ski area (easily found with a bit of research on the net). When we split the cost between two families, it is quite a bit cheaper than booking through the ski area and we have always obtained very high quality accommodations with very easy ski-in/ski-out access. If you do your homework on the chalet location, you can avoid long traverses on supposedly ski-in/ski-out locations.

You mentioned Big Sky...that's one of our favorites. Last year we rented a 4 BR chalet at Lone Moose, at the base of one of the ski lifts, through Ski West Travel and it worked out great. Another place to consider that is amenable for families is Big White near Kelowna BC. They are known for their ski-in/ski-out accomodations and it will be less expensive than Whistler, although perhaps a little harder to get to. I think their snow base right is at least on a par with Whistler's at the moment (33" on their website, although it doesn't open until Nov. 19th.). We found our chalet, a 4BR with a hot tub right on the slopes through Rent Chalets.

Anyway, that's what's worked out best for our group.......have a great time wherever you go! We're heading to Mammoth this year (Tony's influence) and can't wait.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top