Western Trip Planning

Every year I take a gamble. Sometimes I score big and other times it's just ok, but never has a western trip ever been bad.

The PNW has been on my sights as a "must-return" destination.

My best trip in terms of powder, terrain and vibe has been to Interior BC...skiing Red and Whitewater with a day of catskiing thrown in. Given the current weather conditions, I'm thinking that this year may be a good year to make that return...especially now that I have found my long lost ski family...Brother Rochester Mark and Sista Rippa.

So we are wondering if we should pick a week and just set out and book it to secure lodging and a spot on the cat? or should we wait and see where the snow falls, and book mid-season, and make the decision to travel when/where the snow falls.

There are pro's and cons of both strategies.

Waiting until the snow flies can mean expensive plane tickets and not being able to get preferred lodging.

Booking early could risk getting skunked, or wishing we were going elsewhere.

It's always a tough call. I'm wondering which route to take.

Hmmm, Ouija board? Magic eight ball? Tea leaves?

PDQ ... I have more questions than answers for sure. Actually I have no answers, just questions.

What is the difference in cost booking now, in December or at the absolute last minute?

Is it fair to assume that "preferred lodging" means closer to the action?

I was checking out Tony's Crockers website to see what I could see. The only two PNW areas he is tracking are Fernie and Whistler. (Because his site is fully dynamic you can't link to the precise PNW page.)

Not sure how close they are to your destinations, but over the last 5 - 10 seasons those two resorts look pretty consistently sweet late Feb into early March.

If "preferred lodging" does mean proximity (I could basically care less about amenities etc) and you could save $500+ ... I would probably go for it now.

I know Jason doesn't buy the long term forecast stuff. But most meteos agree this is a La Nina year, which is bound to be a 50/50 scenario (did I say that?).

If I had your flexibility I'd go for it early.

Would love to hear what somebody who really knows, thinks.

For me, some amenities are important. One is a hot tub.

And if we are traveling with a few people, it could cost more if we couldn't get a room for 4, but had to get two rooms. Lodging can get booked up at peak times. Airfare can cost 100s more and if you are using frequent flier miles, it could be difficult to get flights. United is ridiculously difficult to get good flights.

Also, cat skiing could get booked up too.

I'm of the mind that I would like to make the reservation, but I've always been like that and sometimes I've wished I had waited.

Like PDQ said, It's a crap shoot picking a week. B.C. offers some of the best skiing in the world , but there is also a good chance of fog and rain too.

After doing some research, the biggest cost this year is airfare. As of now the prices are insane. You can always find cheap lodging and a reasonably priced rental car.

So I would try to hold off till the last minute before booking and check out who has the best or potentially the best conditions.

My typical advice is, if you're not comfortable rolling the dice and booking ahead, to use FF awards and pay the $75-100 fee for booking within the last two weeks.  That's always worked for me because I live near a big airport with mostly nonstop flights.

For PDQ -- leaving out of Ithaca, Syracuse or Rochester (I assume) -- that may not work because there'll probably be an additional connecting flights and one of them may be out of award seats.

yes, this is a problem for me, though going to Spokane shouldn't be too difficult on short notice (I hope)

If I can get Rochester Mark, Sista Rippa and Pammy to get on board with this trip and pick a week, then I would make the reservation.

There's a slopeside cabin I'd like to rent, but there are just 2 weeks left available. I know if we wait, we won't get it. But, if we wait, we may improve our chances for good snow. But, in my experience, late Feb is usually prime powder time there and on the NWS maps, it is in the blue.

Roll the dice. As you said, you've never had a bad week of western skiing. You'll always find skiing out west that is better than the east. Also, a ski week is really much more than just skiing. Skiing is the focus, but relaxation and social are major components (at least for me) so I'd book to assure decent airline connections and prices and to make sure of getting comfy lodgings with the amenities.
the odds of encountering really bad conditions are low. The odds of spending too much or having a miserable travel experience increase exponentially the longer one waits to book!

adkskier wrote

 You'll always find skiing out west that is better than the east.

Not sure how you can state this not knowing what the conditions would be on either coast

...or who has more hotties.

Harvey44 was looking at this page: http://bestsnow.net/fernhist.htm.  Perhaps he wanted to find this one also: http://bestsnow.net/crocnet.htm.

The La Nina is promising for the entire region.  Spokane is likely the cheapest gateway airport for catskiing choices.  Kelowna is most convenient for places around Revelstoke.  Delta connects through Salt Lake to Cranbrook.

Catskiing last year I reserved one far in advance, scored discounts at 2 others 2-3 weeks ahead. I took that chance based upon the economy (and El Nino, which is negative for the region). In general you need to book ahead at the best catski places. If you don't care which one you get, you'll probably come up with something. For the Spokane-accessible places Baldface has the best reputation.  I blocked out 2 weeks last year since I was hoping for the last minute deals.  Only 1 week limits your flexibility, particularly with the potential tough driving involved.

Nearly all of you on this thread are on FirstTracksOnline. The question is of national, not just New York State, interest and IMHO should have been posted in FTO's Western Forum. You would obviously be much more likely to get responses from people like me with direct experience on a national forum than a New York forum.

Even FTO is often limited by its size, despite its favorable "signal to noise" ratio. Patrick got more immediate and detailed responses to his inquiry about Morgane's race program on TGR than he did on FTO.

No criticism intended of Harvey Road. it's undoubtedly the go-to site for inside info on Gore and useful for other developments in the immediate region.  But for any question, it's most effective to take it where you're likely to find the largest number of people knowledgeable on the subject.

I took some of your advice (ADKskier, Harvey). After much ponderance of circumstances I decided that the cost of booking now would save me a lot of money...in fact $100s. The slopeside cabin at Red Mtn is now booked out for the prime season. I got the last week of prime time (First week of March), as my earlier choices booked up before I could nail it down.  So I jumped on the dates and was able to get 3 others on board. Sharing this space and having a kitchen will save us $$. Otherwise rooms in the lodge cost more and we'd have to buy all our meals out. If I waited another day I would not have been able to get the flights I wanted with my frequent flier miles and there was only one ticket left to Spokane during that time period. If i missed it, I would cost me $500 and, I would have had to take 4 planes to get there. The best I could do was 3 planes and I got reasonable times and connections! I think for all of these reasons, booking this trip now was essential and supremely cost-saving.

We could have gotten cheaper digs in town, at the hostel, with no hot tub, but for us, being slopeside for a week with our own kitchen, makes life so much easier when you have a group. People can come and go as they please on the days we ski at Red. We have one day of Cat skiing planned with Big Red Cats, with an option for another if we need another fix while we are there. (We'll see how addictive that crack is). We plan to go to Whitewater one day and hopefully we'll get to Ainsworth Hot Springs while we are there as well. At least our cabin is just a few steps to the outdoor hot tub at a fun lodge where other like-minded people will be staying. I think that is a big attraction, the social aspects as well...hanging out with like-minded skiers.

It's a gamble with the low elevation in March, but we are betting on the La Nina to deliver the goods.

I've been to Red Mtn. It's pretty sweet. But if the weather gets warm, we'll just go over to Whitewater (higher elevation) or splurge on another day in the high country cat skiing. Worst case....spend the day in the hot spring!

We went and booked our trip to Utah already. I think part of that is my brother and dad (who are planning/funding the trip) aren't exactly concerned about the weather. They're just throwing darts, and trying to save some money.

Before my trip to Tahoe last year, I expected any skiing out West to be amazing. Unfortunately my first day out there I experienced some of the worst skiing in my life . Luckily they recovered quickly. I heard March is a pretty solid time to get to Utah though.