Why Go Out West?

WoolyBugger wrote

Smuggs has 313" of snow as of 3/1

How many times has it rained during the course of those 313"?

And, there's definitely good skiing in the east, but its just better out west. Hands down!

Yeah, nobody’s a bigger Easter then me. I am a day tripper but it doesn’t mean there isn’t way better skiing out west and in Europe. There just is. Bigger, higher mountains in general maker better ski resorts. I love the east coast places I ski but I can admit it’s a bit of a “If you get lemons, make lemonade” thing.

Brownski wrote

Yeah, nobody’s a bigger Easter then me. I am a day tripper but it doesn’t mean there isn’t way better skiing out west and in Europe. There just is. Bigger, higher mountains in general maker better ski resorts. I love the east coast places I ski but I can admit it’s a bit of a “If you get lemons, make lemonade” thing.

lately there hasn't been enough sugar..

JasonWx wrote

Brownski wrote

 I love the east coast places I ski but I can admit it’s a bit of a “If you get lemons, make lemonade” thing.

lately there hasn't been enough sugar..

There is certainly a case to be made that you’re right but I’ve still had lots of fun this year. I guess my palate is open to many styles of lemonade.

Why go anywhere?  Why even leave the house?

Still wondering why I went ALL the way to Kashmir to snowboard...   No I'm not - it was awesome..
Japan next year..  Enjoy the east!!!

dmc_hunter wrote

Why go anywhere?  Why even leave the house?

Reminds me of argument that "tele is harder." If ease is the goal ride the lift up and back down. Or like DMC says stay home.

Marcski wrote

How many times has it rained during the course of those 313"?

It's not like it doesn't rain in the winter out West.  The PNW and Tahoe are often cursed with multiple warm storms throughout a typical winter.  Extended droughts are fairly common also.  When there's no snow, it doesn't really matter where you are, East or West.  It sucks particularly bad in the PNW.  There is not a ton of snowmaking capacity.  In 2005, 2007, 2015 most of the areas were barely open in WA and OR.


I'd be interested to hear how many people encounter timing issues when they travel.  Driving somewhere to ski shitty snow is much cheaper than flying somewhere to ski shitty snow.

I was at Mt Bachelor during a mid winter monsoon..Then again I was at Whiteface during a monsoon too...

Shit happens everywhere, but it sure seems to happen in the east a awful lot..

nepa wrote

I'd be interested to hear how many people encounter timing issues when they travel.  Driving somewhere to ski shitty snow is much cheaper than flying somewhere to ski shitty snow.

When and if the time is right, I don’t think I’d have too much of a problem booking a family western trip in advance, roll of the dice and all.  Statistically speaking, probably a better chance of ending up with better conditions in the west than the east for any given week in the future.  A lot of the pluses to western skiing still apply, even if you get a bit skunked.

Of course, unless it HAS to be SLC, you can still do ok booking a couple weeks out, and that’s a short enough window to up your chances at good conditions.

For now though, just me, and I’ve been pretty successful at booking the right locations less than two weeks out.

nepa wrote

Driving somewhere to ski shitty snow is much cheaper than flying somewhere to ski shitty snow.

I think that is what Riverc0il was saying.

I believe in places like Utah and Colorado the issue isn't rain as much as extended periods of high pressure that does a number on surfaces with suncups etc.

IMO the hot set up would be to live near Smuggs and be retired or independently wealthy. Great mountain right there and Quebec close. All that said, I'm retiring to NY.  I'll be 250 miles closer to the snow, I'll get far more pow then now, and I've got tons of wilderness down the street.

Re traveling out west, I just have an abnormal thing about flying. I'm not scared of dying or anything, I just feel a lot of pressure to be organized, and I also feel trapped in a germ container on a plane. It's not pleasant for me.

Given my neurosis and family situation, sneaking out for days at Plattekill, Magic, McCaulley, Killington, with weekends at Gore works better for me.  My family doesn't ski really anymore, so now when I am skiing I am away from them.

I could throw in a destination trip like JT, but it feels to me like you've really got to have the time to pay attention, to make sure your money (and time) is well spent. 10 minutes on the NYSB weather pages and I know where I am headed for the weekend in the east.

nepa wrote

Marcski wrote

How many times has it rained during the course of those 313"?

It's not like it doesn't rain in the winter out West.  The PNW and Tahoe are often cursed with multiple warm storms throughout a typical winter.  Extended droughts are fairly common also.  

Agreed.  But it rarely rains in winter at Alta/bird, nor at other places in the high Colorado mountains.  If you have to make long distance plans, I think those places are playing your best odds for snow conditions.

 

IMO, MC2 and JTG hit it on the head.

I have very limited experience skiing out west (2 trips in 9 years, but one of those was an awesome one 6 weeks ago).  

This is what I noticed about Copper (base 9700):  
-  Snow quality:  Incredibly soft and kept its character even though it had not snowed for a few days; the ungroomed snow was softer than probably all east coast powder I have skied.  It was actually so much lighter than east coast snow, that I had to focus on more even pressuring of my skis.  The corollary point:  my first day back east, I noticed that wierd screech-swish sound made when you turn on EC packed powder groomed trails.  You don't hear that out west.  

-  Views.  Really breathtaking.  Gore and WF and Stowe are beautiful, but the Summit county rockies were better.  

-  Size and Skiability.  Mentioned by others.  These places are 8-10 x bigger than WF, and you can ski almost everything you see, including hundreds of acres of hike-to that run out eventually into a lift.  

Of course, these involve flights, which involves hassle.  Coming from the metro area, it is more time but less brain power than a drive to Stowe or WF.

Another benefit of EC resorts - no altitude sickness.  I was lucky, but it is a real issue for many.  

Either way, a bad day skiing is still fun!  

Harvey wrote

My family doesn't ski really anymore, so now when I am skiing I am away from them.

This has me conflicted. It sounds incredibly freeing but somewhat sad.  Spouses are tough, and the dynamic is none of my business.  But your kid is young.  Surely there is time for her to love skiing.

The last year or so, now that I’ve had a few years to be stupid on my own, I’m want to bring one of the boys (now 15 and 17) with me to share the experience of one of my western trips....but you quickly realize time is running out on those opportunities.  Sure, when they are working adults maybe they could go with, but we all know how life gets in the way.  With my wife not being a skier I’m destined for plenty more alone skiing, especially once the kids fly the coop.  That’s ok, however.  I’ve met some pretty cool people, skied with many locals, and done some great stuff out there I wouldn’t have if I was travelling with the fam, so it’s a good with the bad kinda thing.

That said, even the locals I’ve skied with places out west want to know the next time I’m coming, given how well I’ve hit absolutely mind blowing conditions.  Anyone from here wants to tag along in the future I’m pretty good at the picking and planning!

Especially after posting this, I think I’m going to take the advice of the guide I was with at Snoqualmie.  Look for a ten day window in April of nothing but sun and book a trip....and I’ll take my 17 yo with me, before he heads to college.  We all know how great spring corn is, and it gets epic out there, and it would be a good time to tour the backcountry because stable conditions open up endless possibilities.

witch hobble wrote

Harvey wrote

My family doesn't ski really anymore, so now when I am skiing I am away from them.

This has me conflicted. It sounds incredibly freeing but somewhat sad.  Spouses are tough, and the dynamic is none of my business.  But your kid is young.  Surely there is time for her to love skiing.

My twelve year old (13 soon) likes to ski, but has found gymnastics as her passion. Three hour practice 3 or 4 times a week. She does not want to miss the Saturday practice, as the evening practices are harder with the homework load.

I don't know if I agree with the incredibly freeing part, but somewhat sad I get.

Incredibly freeing meaning your choices of where to ski (both what ski area for the day, and what part of a certain ski area) are not affected by the context of your family.

We live closer to the mountains we ski, so I am constantly having to pick up a friend at their house before heading to a mountain (one that I may or may not choose on my own).  I take many more groomed cruiser runs on days I’m skiing with my wife. The pace is not always my own.

I would not trade it, don’t get me wrong.  But I’m looking forward to more autonomy in the future.

Also.....most girls wash out of gymnastics by age 14 or 15. But the core strength, spatial awareness, and determination learned are tranferrable to all sports, especially skiing.

We used to take a family trip out west every year. Then my teenage girls started to complain that my wife skied  to slow.
My wife now refuses to take a ski vacation and has totally given up skiing..

She also thinks it selfish of me to use family vacation money on a solo trip out west. Hence I doubt I will  ever slide on a western mountain again.. At least on warm weather trips around the US , I get of MTB..
Ya win some , lose some.

We have been taking a western or European trip each year with our kids, and they have been some of the best family times that we have had. Sadly, this Feb. was our last family ski trip for a while, as our youngest is leaving for college, and Christmas break is not a time I want to try a big ski trip. He was a good sport to ski with his old mom and dad during this trip, but there was certainly a lot of complaining about how slow we were. Fortunately for us, it meant skiing terrain we normally wouldn't have had the nerve to try on our own. He did mention during this trip that he enjoyed western skiing way more than eastern skiing, having grown up on the trails at Gore.  Now CMR and I are looking forward to being able to do trips outside of school holidays.  I noticed that the Ikon and Epic passes just came out for next year, and the Ikon pass looks very tempting.

witch hobble wrote

But I’m looking forward to more autonomy in the future.

I am probably taking that for granted a bit.  Saturday I had an awesome day at Gore (apparently I was the only one) and that would never have happened if I was with my "Rules Girl" daughter.

witch hobble wrote

Also.....most girls wash out of gymnastics by age 14 or 15. But the core strength, spatial awareness, and determination learned are tranferable to all sports, especially skiing.

No question about it. All of it.  She looks like a superhero, totally fit.

Harvey wrote

Re traveling out west, I just have an abnormal thing about flying. I'm not scared of dying or anything

Meh, if you fly out west and your plane crashes, there's a 50% chance you got your ski days in.