Where to go first week in April

But the views...

no argument..
maybe next year for me

Another vote for UT.

 I did Easter last year which was late March to early April, hitting: Alta, Canyons/Park City, Deer Valley, Powder Mountain, Snowbird, and Solitude, and it was pretty great.  Had 12" two days before Alta and there was still powder, and got 15" the day we skied Canyons/PC, which was amazing.  Cheap places to stay too.

This year Easter is sadly MUCH later, so a trip would have to be April 14 - April 22, which has me thinking maybe Banff or Whistler might be the best bets for winter conditions (or at least non-crappy spring conditions).

Best bet is high Colorado. Summit County, Vail, Aspen, etc. Not Steamboat, lower and south facing. I'm a little biased, lived in Summit past few seasons. No tourists in April, and the Denver locals start to stay home down on the front range because they're, heh, bored with skiing and start to bike and hike. The workforce up in the mountains start to escape, too, before most mountains close around the second weekend of April. I've had some excellent powder days in early April up high (chair 9 at Loveland shines) with no crowds. Lodging is cheap and plentiful. Abasin is a sure bet all month. Bring your sunscreen!

JasonWx wrote

mattchuck2 wrote

I'm thinking about a Late March Early April budget trip, flying into SLC, staying in Sandy, skiing Alta, driving up to Ogden, skiing PowMow, then going up to Jackson Hole, staying there somewhere, skiing, then driving back to SLC to fly out. Jackson Hole usually closes after the first week of April, but it's not for lack of snow (Forest Service permit, I think).

Just remember that Jackson faces S.E.. It bakes out from Mid Feb on..

But March can be the biggest snow producer. It doesn't bake when it's been buried in a cloud for 3 weeks straight.

If you ski out of the boundaries all of Granite Canyon faces north. You could probably fit a dozen Whitefaces and a dozen Gores into that canyon alone.

billyymc wrote

Due to a recent major life change I am considering taking a solo trip out west, but can't go until about April 3.

Most of my previous trips out west have been Utah and CO, with the usual CO trip being a Winter Park / Steamboat combo.

While I love the WP/SB trip I doubt first week in April will be the best time to head to the boat, so am leaning toward Utah but could be swayed to go somewhere else too.

Thoughts?  I know I"m likely to encounter spring conditions just about anywhere I go - I"m ok with that.

Going solo I will probably do less tree skiing than normal, but how knows...it can be pretty tempting even when alone.

Hey
How did this turn out? I'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious....

I just skied my last days of the season, probably, in the first week of April in Summit, at Loveland and ABasin. Four powder mornings, (well, at the most, six inches, but a great base) with hardly anybody around, relatively speaking, even to the week before. Spring Break tends to last all of March, but April 1 is a real dividing line, with no spring breakers, and minimal tourists. It's incredible, because high Colorado just doesn't experience the intense thaw and freeze cycles that most other lower resorts do. Even the bottom of Vail can be a slush pit in late March. The competition for first tracks is much more mellow, especially at Loveland. Now, who knows, because, since I've left, it's been sunny and kinda warm, but, all I can say is that I've had some awesome snow days after April 1 there (weekdays) over the years. Worth the gamble.

Brownski wrote

How did this turn out? I'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious....

Unfortunately it didn't. The big life-changing event is still in process - sometimes things take longer than expected - leaving a lot of uncertainty with regard to free cash flow as well as other responsibilities. So I couldn't commit to a trip out west.

But I had a good trip this past weekend taking a solo drive up to VT to use a free pass I had at Okemo on Saturday followed by a great day at Stowe on Sunday. Sorta wish I'd headed over to Smuggs instead of Stowe after reading Harv's report. Have never skied Smuggs, and the vibe at Stowe seems to get worse every time I'm there.

Sorry you didn't pull off the trip but at least you got to ski. I'm not complaining I guess but we spent last weekend at a baseball field.

I can relate to a lot of this.

Thanks for reading billy.