Soliciting Western May Advice/Votes

So, I need to be in Oakland and San Fran for business on the 20th/21st.  Likely going to get in a weekend of skiing on the way out.

Choices are:

Colorado - Breck and A Basin.  A Basin (currently) has the highest percentage of terrain open (90+%), and Breck is ‘limited’ to (a high percentage of) high alpine terrain.

Utah - Snowbird, about 50% open.

Squaw Valley - Lowest percentage of open terrain.

Colorado and Utah expecting a foot or so this week.  Tahoe nada.

So, thoughts?  Advice?

Best skis on snow experience would be Colorado.  Colder temps, most available terrain, still getting snow this week.

Would love to get back to Squaw, see more of the hill, but is late spring bound to disappoint for that purpose?

Snowbird would be easiest (transportation logistics), expecting snow this week, and I didn’t explore much there last trip.  A little touring around Alta May be doable.

I guess I’ll check events calendars, see if anything fun non-skiing wise is in the cards.

Mammoth

Weekend trip, still looking for easy.  Not into a 3 hour drive from RNO, and connecting thru LA to Mammoth Lakes looks like a logistical pia.....

Give me a an easy way there and I’ll add it to the list of options!

I'll be in Squaw from May 29th to June 3rd.

My brother is getting married at the KT-22 base lodge on June 1st.

JTG4eva! wrote

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Would love to get back to Squaw, see more of the hill, but is late spring bound to disappoint for that purpose?.

I'm gonna say no.

High camp is a summer party, I hear (pools, hot tubs, etc.), and the skiing should still be good up high. I'm bringing skis & golf clubs.

JasonWx wrote

Mammoth

Mammoth was my first thought purely from a terrain open standpoint.  Have friends planning to meet up there in late May/early June.

Did a ski safari in early May 2018 that started in Oregon and ended with a morning at Squaw and three days at Mammoth.  Pretty good skiing 7:30am-noon at Mammoth.  My ski buddy and I were using the MCP so stopping at Squaw it didn't matter that we'd only get in a few hours on snow.  He'd never skied anywhere around Tahoe.

He went on to ski A-Basin before heading home to NM after dropping me off for my return flight from Las Vegas.  Since he lives at 5000 ft, the high altitude doesn't bother him.

Check and see which lifts are open at Snowbird.  I think the tram is offline for maintenance in May.

no easy way to Mammoth..

Rent a MTB and ride one of the world's great trails  "Flow Trail" in Santa Cruz..

No, the Tram at Snowbird won’t be running that weekend.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

High camp is a summer party, I hear (pools, hot tubs, etc.), and the skiing should still be good up high.

Agree, it is lots of fun.

Hot tub scheduled to open on May 10.  No current opening day indicated for the pool.

I hear the Sierra snow pack is about 2X normal for this time of year - go figure, Global warming.

JTG4eva! wrote

Hot tub scheduled to open on May 10.  No current opening day indicated for the pool.

My impression is that the pool is open year round.  At least it was open when I was there last May.  We had lunch at the bistro overlooking the pool before downloading on the tram.  I took a look in the locker room.  $15 for a day pass.  A small group was in the pool while we were there.  They were working on the roof and other stuff to get ready for the "green season" when there aren't skier/boarders around.  The bistro was breaking out new furniture.

Website says they are both closed, reopening in the spring.  I called and was told the hot tub opens on May 10.  Pool not currently open and they haven’t announced an opening date yet.  Assuming that was good info, but you never know...

Could be cool to check out, but I’d probably rather have a nice pool/hot tub at my hotel.

A Basin.

JTG4eva! wrote

Website says they are both closed, reopening in the spring.  I called and was told the hot tub opens on May 10.  Pool not currently open and they haven’t announced an opening date yet.  Assuming that was good info, but you never know...

Could be cool to check out, but I’d probably rather have a nice pool/hot tub at my hotel.

Ah, sounds like maintenance work.  With the limited lifts right now, probably not many people care that the pool isn't open.  More important to get it open for Memorial Day weekend.

Hey JTG, can't give you much advice on the Sierras (other than that their snowpack is super deep right now!) or CO but I can tell you that touring in the Wasatch will definitely be possible around that time. We still have a fat snowpack and lots of high alpine lines are skiing great right now. If you end up coming out this way shoot me a PM and I could give you some more detailed beta and perhaps even get out depending on the day and time.



This is from Saturday, one of the best tours of the year!

jjp.....thanks.  The ability to do a little touring kind of has me leaning (slightly) in the Snowbird direction.  I’ll def reach out if I end up there.

I vote for A-Basin. The May scene can be super fun.

Ski Shit For Brains. It’s a classic! Then lap the North Pole all afternoon.

PeeTex wrote

I hear the Sierra snow pack is about 2X normal for this time of year - go figure, Global warming.

Snow levels are moving upward now so approaches are getting more difficult.

Our hill here is forecasted for up to 11 inches this week. All I want to do is dig.