Pulling Plug of a Utah trip?

Jamesdeluxe wrote

Sorry for not explaining -- that was referring to a long-running disagreement on another forum about January being the month to avoid booking destination trips to Utah.

Figured as much. If it were two years ago, I would've said the same. In fact, I told some friends not to visit in January last year. They did anyways. Idiots..

64ER wrote

tbatt,

Great photo, did you take it, or are you the ski model?  At any rate, great to hear you're back East bringing CHAMPAGNE powder with you.  Well, we can always hope, dontcha'know.

All the best, ski you on the hill @ Gore.

64ER

I took that from the Wildcat Chair. I'm not often in front of the lens.
Nobody said I was bringing teh powz with me but Utah sure hasn't gotten it yet.
Original plan was to be in Bend, OR for the winter until this job offer came up. Faceshots or financial stability?
Carpal tunnel surgery planned for 12/21, which will be interesting considering I have a nephew due 12/20. Hope he isn't late
Ski ya there.

Driggs.

Where the hell do you eat in Eden, to start. Driggs has superb Korean. Korean! Among like five other places.

The only way you'll kick yourself is if the Eden valley gets a dump while you're there, but, odds are, if that happens, Targhee is getting a lot of that, too, so..........

Over 500 inch average a year. Think about it.

We had a very small window when my son didn’t have any races and my wife and I could get away with our best friends so it was that week or nothing.  I also had a credit to use at PowMo that is been kicking around for years so that led to the location.  Maybe it was a boneheaded choice to start with.  

Not a bonehead choice at all. Juat (bad) luck of the draw. I've bad many good trips to Alta in early to mid-January. I went the same week for almost a decade.

Z hasn't mentioned when in January his planned trip is. I personally find it very hard to believe that there won't be a serious market correction by then and wouldn't cancel.

For the record, I was in the Wasatch during the second week of December 2011, which is widely considered the worst early-season conditions there going back 30+ years. Here's what it looked like -- full coverage but no recent snow so it was scratchy on-piste and pretty unpleasant off-piste. As you can see, given that the High T was out of commission, we resorted to an unusual measure to score fresh tracks, but I'll be damned, we got 'em on Gunsight and further down.

Right now is looking considerably worse than 2011, so I'm planning to head north to GT/JH if there's no change for my Dec 14 arrival.

Well they are getting snow right now and might get uup to 2 feet but that's on top of nothing and then later this week it goes back to high and dry with temps exceeding freezing for the afternoon highs.

Given the high and dry forecast for the west (even Grand Targhee isn't supposed to get anything for the next two weeks) I called an audible -- bailing on SLC and cashing in a FF award (at the cheapest rate, fortunately) to fly to Zurich next Weds for five ski days. The opportunity cost is my fare to Utah ($270), which is nonrefundable/non-changeable. Oh well, you only live once and it's great to once again make use of the only ski-related advantage I can claim living in northern NJ: a global airport hub only 15 minutes away.

Because it'll be pre-holiday season, no need to make lodging plans in advance. I'll wait until a day or two ahead of time to decide where to go. That'll make three trips to the Alps this season, hah. Thank god for frequent flyer miles.

I heard Japan is off the hook right now......for your next audible maybe.

JTG4eva! wrote

I heard Japan is off the hook right now......for your next audible maybe.

I would love to go to Japan; I've seen so many great TRs. That said; it looks like something best reserved for the R-word (when I could stay a month), which is many moons away.

What's nice about flying to Geneva or Zurich and skiing somewhere relatively close is that you can ski five hours on both arrival and departure days, just like going to SLC or Denver. I've said it many times; if you live near JFK or EWR and are playing the FF-award game, going to the Alps is completely doable/pretty much the same cost as going west.

I don't know, man. I just flew back from Europe, and it took me a few days to feel normal. I really don't think I would want to do all that travel, including transport from Geneva to the mountain, and then just scurry out and ski. I'd probably just want a few glasses of wine and sleep, and start fresh tomorrow.

Btw, I was driving around in the Dolomites north of Verona. Arabba, Cortina, Val Gardena. Incredibly beautiful place. Looks like the base is good, they're going to have a decent start. Lord, its pretty there. I was there mid November, no skiing,(for me, some stuff was just opened), just enjoying the scenery. Big MTB destination in warm weather.

Benny Profane wrote

I don't know, man. I just flew back from Europe, and it took me a few days to feel normal. I really don't think I would want to do all that travel, including transport from Geneva to the mountain, and then just scurry out and ski. I'd probably just want a few glasses of wine and sleep, and start fresh tomorrow.

Totally the wrong way to go.  You need to sleep as much as possible on the plane then go be active and stay up to at least 9 pm Local time.  Get 9-10 hours sleep and get up a 6 am and you will be adjusted.  Europe is pretty easy.  China or India totally sucks as it hits you the 2nd day like a sledge hammer.

If you sleep say in the afternoon when you get to Europe you are screwed and won’t adjust at all.

Z wrote

Benny Profane wrote

I don't know, man. I just flew back from Europe, and it took me a few days to feel normal. I really don't think I would want to do all that travel, including transport from Geneva to the mountain, and then just scurry out and ski. I'd probably just want a few glasses of wine and sleep, and start fresh tomorrow.

Totally the wrong way to go.  You need to sleep as much as possible on the plane then go be active and stay up to at least 9 pm Local time.  Get 9-10 hours sleep and get up a 6 am and you will be adjusted.  Europe is pretty easy.  China or India totally sucks as it hits you the 2nd day like a sledge hammer.

If you sleep say in the afternoon when you get to Europe you are screwed and won’t adjust at all.

Agree with Z 100%.  Used to do business trips to Europe.  Arrive early in the morning, work a full day, nice dinner, then sleep.  Was easy the years there were direct flights to Paris or London from RDU.

These days I take No Jet-Lag or No Jet-Zone for flights over an ocean.  Helps in both directions.

I use melatonin to sleep when your body does want to.  Europe is pretty easy for me.  Asia is much harder.

Yes, what's mentioned above is my Euro MO:
-- Sleep at least four hours on the flight with the help of melatonin and drinks (i.e. EWR United Lounge).
-- If possible, try to get three seats across on the plane so you can lay down (reserve the seat in the middle to keep people from sitting next to you)
-- Go skiing on Day 1, crash right after dinner, and you're ready bright and early for Day 2

Obviously, your mileage may vary.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

Yes, what's mentioned above is my Euro MO:
-- Sleep at least four hours on the flight with the help of melatonin and drinks (i.e. EWR United Lounge).
-- If possible, try to get three seats across on the plane so you can lay down (reserve the seat in the middle to keep people from sitting next to you)
-- Go skiing on Day 1, crash right after dinner, and you're ready bright and early for Day 2

Obviously, your mileage may vary.

Why not fly to SLC. Where the snow is better, anyway..

Flying sucks. And Euro adds more security. I don't know about you guys, but, subjecting myself to the whole experience of dragging a whole bunch of junk to JFK two hours before I stuff myself into a little chair in a metal tube that then hurtles through the air over the Atlantic and Europe for 8 hours while I try to sleep sitting up in said metal and plastic tube, then landing, gathering all my junk, and getting transported to a ski town in the back of a cramped van for an hour to three hours is not my idea of a good, healthy time. The only thing I want at the end of that is a stiff drink and sleep.

Again, flying sucks.

Benny
Put down the weed and pay attention.  James is going in like a week and I’m going in a month. There is no snow in Utah currently.

I was talking about a general comparison of Euro vs SLC fly and ski. Kind of absurd to say that Europe is as easy as hitting Newark airport for the 6am direct flight, and then on the slopes by the afternoon. Same on the back end. Ski the morning, fly home in the evening.

Z wrote

Based on the refund date on the condo we booked with some friends we have to make a decision in about a week or so.  Becuase it’s not solely my decision and the others voted to pull plug lookslike we are going to ski a day in Utah right after arriving and before departing and do 4 days at Targhee. Kind of hedging our bets this way.

OpenSnow has split the Teton report into GT and JH.  Sounds like folks who are local to GT are pretty happy right now.  As of 12/7: "Our season total (since October 1st) is 143 inches, with a base depth of 65 inches. 100% of the mountain is also open so we couldn't ask for better early December skiing and riding conditions."

Benny Profane wrote

I was talking about a general comparison of Euro vs SLC fly and ski. Kind of absurd to say that Europe is as easy as hitting Newark airport for the 6am direct flight, and then on the slopes by the afternoon. Same on the back end. Ski the morning, fly home in the evening.

Apples and bowling balls.

A while back, both Delta and United discontinued early morning nonstops from Newark to SLC that would allow you to ski on arrival day. There is an early-morning flight from JFK, but that would mean waking up at 3 am, followed by a long drive or an expensive Uber to JFK: a big PITA. For the Alps, I take an early evening nonstop, have a relaxed dinner with a few drinks, sleep on the flight, grab a rental car in Zurich, and am on the chair by no later than 11 am, often earlier. My return flight leaves at 5:15 pm, allowing me to ski until almost 2 pm on departure day: same as SLC.

If jet lag is a major problem; obviously, the above SOP is not for you but as Z and marznc mention: proper planning prevents poor performance.