Jan 25-28....Open to Suggestions!

Business trip to Los Angeles Jan 24/25.  Will fly from LA to ??? on Thursday night, ski Fri/Sat/Sun, and take a redeye back to work for Monday.

The question becomes.....where to ski?  I could literally go anywhere, so long as I can find convenient and reasonable flights there on Thursday night, and a convenient redeye back Sunday night.

Easy options I’d like to get back to would be Denver (hit Breckinridge/A Basin) or Tahoe (Sugar Bowl/Squaw), but even entering a stormy pattern toward the end of next week won’t likely improve the dismal (so far) snowpack they have.  I haven’t included SLC since I’m headed there in February.

Seattle (Baker/Crystal) would be a good and easy choice.  Decent snow pack, big storm this week, heading into an active pattern.  Definitely want to get back that way, but it would be an easy trip to make in March.

So, maybe I want to do something new, maybe a little more involved since I have 3 days.  So, I’m open to suggestions.

I’ve thought maybe Whistler/Blackcomb.  Not many options for the redeye out, but there is one, literally.

Another idea is to fly into Calgary.  Stay in Lake Louise.  Hit Kicking Horse, Lake Louise, and Sunshine.  Unfortunately, flying from Calgary to NY late sucks.  No late departures to NY.  I can dig some more, but would have to make a connection on the way back.  Might be worth it.

Had interest in Big Sky, but travel to  Bozeman is neither convenient nor reasonable.  Same for Jackson Hole I think.

What else is exciting, yet easy on the travel front?

Hoping to glean some good ideas from your collective experiences.  Thanks!

You can't go wrong with Whistler blackcomb. When you look around to see who has and who doesn't have snow it makes  even more  sense Whistler blackcomb.. and finally if you've never been there that should make the decision easy

JTG4eva! wrote

Another idea is to fly into Calgary.  Stay in Lake Louise.  Hit Kicking Horse, Lake Louise, and Sunshine.  Unfortunately, flying from Calgary to NY late sucks.  No late departures to NY.  I can dig some more, but would have to make a connection on the way back.  Might be worth it.

Calgary to Louise is 2 hours.  The first hour and a bit is the same road to Sunshine, with half an hour added once you get off the highway.  Kicking Horse is a solid hour from Louise.  Could do Castle Mountain/Whitefish/Fernie.  Who was it, RA or Nepa, who liked Castle?

You can't go wrong with W-B.  I've been there a bunch of times.  How about Bachelor?

Kicking Horse has gotten 5 meters of snow so far this season. Go get it!

I’ve been keeping my eye on things, as I’m headed out in Feb.

D.B. Cooper wrote

Could do Castle Mountain/Whitefish/Fernie.  Who was it, RA or Nepa, who liked Castle?

Whitefish, MT?  Mapping it out I don’t see that this trio is all that effective, but I might not be looking at it right.  Lots of driving, seems like a logistical nightmare.

Bachelor has had less snow than Baker/Crystal and things are still filling in, so not the right time.

Calgary to Lake Louise makes sense to me logistically.  Put in the two hours to Louise.  Ski one day there.  Hour out and back on another day is a small price to pay for Kicking Horse.  Then on the last day hit Sunshine on the way back to Calgary, leaving me a short drive back to Calgary for the flight out that afternoon.

I’m getting more and more set with the Canada idea.  Whistler-Blackcomb has the snow, at more than 200 inches so far (which isn’t really much more than Baker/Crystal) and unrivaled terrain, almost 100% open.  Same for Kicking Horse, which actually rivals in some ways and has had more snow than W-B.  While LL and SV haven’t had the same snow totals, they have done well and are near 100% open.

So, check W-B off the bucket list and enjoy a long weekend in the village without having to drive anywhere, with an inside line on some easy back/side country......or invest some more drive time and cross off three great resorts that are on my wish list????  Lodging more expensive in W-B, flights less convenient for the Calgary option.

Thanks for the input, eh?

Actually, looks like ski-in/ski-out accommodations LL/SV are similar to W-B, at least booked through the resort.

Haven’t check out Airbnb or other options.

There is no slopeside accoms at Louise.  Nat'l Park.  Sunshine Village is at the base of a very long gondola; that's all slopeside.

Yeah, I saw something at Sunshine, around $350 USD a night.  Ski3 ticket includes free shuttle between SV, LL and all non-slope side lodging.  Would reduce hotel cost and help maximize drinking time!  

Whitefish-Fernie-Castle is a great trio. Three very different hills.Best for 5-6 days,but if your interested I could help with logistics.

What about part of the powder highway as you mentioned but via Kelowna?

I’ve been eyeing this up as a way to utilize some American Airlines miles....

Yea Kelowna.    See my canadian Rockies planning recent string    It’s falling into place

If I had more time I could see doing Kelowna->Revelstoke->Kicking Horse->Calgary.  However, with just three days it’s a lot of ground to cover, and leaves a longer drive than I’d like on departure day.  I’ll look into Kalispell and Kelowna flights though.   Fernie looks interesting, but even with upwards of 200 inches ytd they only have 99/147 trails open.

Thanks for all the ideas though.  If it weren't for having to connect to NY from Calgary on Sunday I’d be sold on probably 2 days Kicking Horse and a day at Sunshine on the way back to Calgary.  Whistler-Blackcomb is a great choice with a better return flight to NY.  Hard to go wrong either way.  I may wait to book until the forecast window is a little smaller.

But keep the ideas coming!

How about flying into Spokane and checking out Red Mountain and/or the other mountains within a few hours drive?

Elaborate, please!

Looking for reasonable travel to one great or multiple kick ass resorts, for max challenge without putting myself in true no-fall zones.  

Spokane to Red is almost three hours.  Do I spend all my time there, or are there other good mountains near by?

If possible I’d like to keep the drive to airport on Sunday under two hours.

A Washington airport does open up certain....shopping options....and maybe my non-passport-holding fuck ass brother could come with!?!?

JTG4eva! wrote

Spokane to Red is almost three hours.  Do I spend all my time there, or are there other good mountains near by? If possible I’d like to keep the drive to airport on Sunday under two hours.

http://nyskiblog.com/magazine/the-west/inland-northwest-ski-resorts/

Check out the TR links at the bottom of the article for more pix.

JTG4eva! wrote

Elaborate, please!

Looking for reasonable travel to one great or multiple kick ass resorts, for max challenge without putting myself in true no-fall zones.  

Spokane to Red is almost three hours.  Do I spend all my time there, or are there other good mountains near by?

If possible I’d like to keep the drive to airport on Sunday under two hours.

A Washington airport does open up certain....shopping options....and maybe my non-passport-holding fuck ass brother could come with!?!?

You could spend the entire time at the Red and not get bored.  Get yourself a mountain tour on day 1 so you'll know the entrance and exits to some of the more hidden gems.  Red has some "no fall" terrain, but is all easily spotted and avoided.  The drive from Spokane is a piece of cake.  Border crossing is nothing to worry about.

Red, with maybe a backcountry or Cat Skiing day, is a possibility.  Rossland Winter Carnival, Canada’s oldest, is that weekend.

Same issue as with Calgary though....have to connect through Seattle to get to NY from Spokane.

How do the reduced logistics of going to one area compare to the addition stopping in Seattle?

That’s what I have to figure out!  It’s challenging enough to survive the redeye home after a few hard days of skiing (and go straight to work) when you can pass out once you board the plane.....having to add a change of planes would only add to the exhaustion, most likely.....

JTG4eva! wrote

That’s what I have to figure out!  It’s challenging enough to survive the redeye home after a few hard days of skiing (and go straight to work) when you can pass out once you board the plane.....having to add a change of planes would only add to the exhaustion, most likely.....

That's an argument to get to north Tahoe somehow and then take a red-eye out of Reno.  Mt. Rose actually has pretty good terrain and is only 45 min from the airport, so can get in a full ski day at the end.  Did that with a ski buddy at the end of a full ski week staying in Tahoe City a while back.  I still had to change planes to get to RDU, but not until BWI so got a reasonable amount of sleep.  Was already retired but had morning school drop off responsibilities for my daughter as soon as I got home.

I haven't been following the snow conditions though.