Who made plans for a western ski destination this year?

I've been quite lucky in the past few years, scoring copious amounts of pow in Utah and BC. This year we decided was the year to go to Tahoe...go figure. Probably time to pay my dues.

Vail and Beaver Creek in one month - thinking of pulling plug on it - just posted that question on weather forum section

A week in Utah-- 2/4 - 2/12.  I might have to stick to skiing Alta for most of the trip if base depths don't improve significantly before then.  Wanted to get to Snowbasin this year.  Might not be worth the drive.

We are going to Breckenridge the first week of April. Maybe they'll get some snow by then. I'm glad that we didn't book this trip for Christmas week.

My Xmas trip worked out fine

I was in Park City last week, skied Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Two days at Park City and one day at the Canyons. Others I was with skied one day at Deer Valley. Of the three, Park City had the best snow by far.

There wasn't much terrain available, and what was open, was all groomed packed powder on beginner and intermediate trails. The one or two trails that had some bumps were EXTREMELY thin in the troughs. Did quite a number on my skis on one bump run. There wasn't any off-piste skiing available at Park City. The Canyons had the 9990 peak open, but we were afraid to venture up there, not sure what we might find.

That said, the groomed trails at Park City were ... East Coast Great. Even though we were skiing under blue skies and bright sunshine, with temps in the upper 40's, the snow stayed dry, and only a couple of South facing trails got slushy.

All in all, we had a good time ... not what we went out there for, but hey ... you get what you get and you can't get upset!

I have a deal for a really cheap time share at Heavenly in early March I'll probably do, because, hey, it's cheap, and I'm thinking of moving to Reno and I want to sniff around and see if that place is Benny material.
It will definitely snow by then, right? Sure it will. ....... Right.

edit: I just checked the ten day forecast for a few places in Tahoe. Should not have done that.

JasonWx wrote

My Xmas trip worked out fine

To use a Jason quote from a Plattekill trip a few years back, "those pix don't tell the whole story."

I may go to New Mexico in February, possibly March, I will be staying with a friend, and I have access to a free vehicle, so I should be able to wait to pull the trigger. I want to do the Snowsports Week at Taos. It sounds like fun, you ski with the same people all week, so there should be a sense of camaraderie, should be more fun than skiing alone. We shall see. I was thinking of that and a week with the friend I'll be staying with, probably mostly Santa Fe with him. I'd like to drag him somewhere else, Pajarito perhaps, he's pretty happy at Santa Fe. He skis there for free also, 70+.

Headed to SLC on Thursday morning.  We had a great time last year at powmow, snowbird, solitude, and brighton.  Thinking we may stick to cottonwoods this year.  I may have to strap on skis one day and hit Alta.

We were actually planning on Tahoe too - especially with the early season snow predictions, but the connections for everyone to get there were brutal.  I do a trip every year with buddies from college and you just can't beat SLC for getting direct flights and quick access to the mountains.  I feel bad for anyone going to Nevada or Colorado.  Utah is below average but still seems to be enough terrain to keep things interesting.  The other places are in DIRE straights.

Benny Profane wrote

I have a deal for a really cheap time share at Heavenly in early March I'll probably do, because, hey, it's cheap, and I'm thinking of moving to Reno and I want to sniff around and see if that place is Benny material.
It will definitely snow by then, right? Sure it will. ....... Right.

edit: I just checked the ten day forecast for a few places in Tahoe. Should not have done that.

The nice part about Tahoe is that it can "correct" it's lack of snow in about two days the way it snows (when it snows) out there. We almost canceled our trip last Feb. due to low snow totals, and we ended up with awesome conditions. (Including 28" of nice, light blower that fell in about 24 hours). One of the best ski days of my life... ahhhhhhh.

I hope you're thinking about moving to a sub-sub-sub suburb of Reno.

DARKSIDED wrote

Benny Profane wrote

I have a deal for a really cheap time share at Heavenly in early March I'll probably do, because, hey, it's cheap, and I'm thinking of moving to Reno and I want to sniff around and see if that place is Benny material.
It will definitely snow by then, right? Sure it will. ....... Right.

edit: I just checked the ten day forecast for a few places in Tahoe. Should not have done that.

The nice part about Tahoe is that it can "correct" it's lack of snow in about two days the way it snows (when it snows) out there. We almost canceled our trip last Feb. due to low snow totals, and we ended up with awesome conditions. (Including 28" of nice, light blower that fell in about 24 hours). One of the best ski days of my life... ahhhhhhh.

I hope you're thinking about moving to a sub-sub-sub suburb of Reno.

Yeah, ain't nothing like a Tahoe storm to erase bad memory from the hard drive of life.

Reno real estate is pretty sickly cheap right now. The best neighborhoods have some awesome deals. Foreclosures everywhere. No state income tax, temperate climate, easy drive even in storms up I 80 to Squaw. I'm still not sure that I'll move, though - can always rent for a month to a season. I like living in a green place.

If you are feeling OK and have already eaten, check out the Squaw cam at 8200 ft up in high camp:

  http://www.squaw.com/uber-cam 

Nasty, huh? That's going to need three or four storms. Time to sacrifice the virgins.

Benny Profane wrote

If you are feeling OK and have already eaten, check out the Squaw cam at 8200 ft up in high camp:

  http://www.squaw.com/uber-cam 

Nasty, huh? That's going to need three or four storms. Time to sacrifice the virgins.

That is just not right!!!

Yep, we'll be in Tahoe same as you as mentioned before.  Our friend works for Northstar so we'll ski there, and maybe a couple of the others.  It sucks going and knowing that there isn't going to be anything special, but we are going for our Friends, not the snow... wait, maybe thats a rationalization.

But just saw this on Unofficial...

http://unofficialnetworks.com/snow-week-tahoe-65610/

..."Watching each run of the forecast models has been maddening as the go back and forth.  Yesterday’s GFS had the storms while the European and Canadian models were dry.  Today they are flipped the other way with the GFS now dry and the Euro showing some big storms next week starting on Tuesday.  Here is todays 12z deterministic run of the Euro for next Wednesday in the heart of a storm that would drop 3-4 feet in a 36 hour period...."

I'm not banking on it, but it's nice to have a shimmer of light

The Squaw Cam is some major awful. Thanks for that.

Benny - You should also look at the areas around Carson City. There are some nice areas around the city that are a little less brown than the high desert of Reno. I would love to move and retire to this area but I doubt I will be able to sell the wife. Good luck with your hunt.

x10003q wrote

 I doubt I will be able to sell the wife.

Yeah, I know. My girlfriend gives me that silent look when I mention the place. Me, I could live in a man cave trailer with a dog if I didn't need love.

Benny needs a whole lotta love.

That Squaw Cam... I have no words...

Benny Profane wrote

yeah, I know. My girlfriend gives me that silent look when I mention the place. Me, I could live in a man cave trailer with a dog if I didn't need love.

Isn't that what the dog is for? Or are we talking about the bangin kinda love

Been to Solitude, Alta, and Bird In the past 3 days. 4-8 inches of snow throughout the canyons made it pretty soft, but nothing else in the forecast really.

It's still super bony out here. I got a few POV shots from each day so far. May take some real pictures tomorrow.

Groomers are skiing really nice in the morning. It gets to the point where I can't even hold and edge be 2pm though, but that's probably because I haven't tuned my skis since June (aside from filling in that nasty core shot).

North to Northeast aspects are still skiing really nice aside from some windcrust. Anything South facing is getting BAKED on and super sun crusted.

Going to cali last week in feb. hopefully it dumps out there before then. If not, I'm sure we'll find ways to have a good time.