Why Go Out West?

First time poster, long time lurker here.

I will always love and continue to ski the east , but I strongly encourage all to at least experience one trip out west.

The snow quality/abundance, terrain and views are simply amazing. Hard to put into words being on top a western peak and staring down at a deep blue Lake Tahoe or the Jackson valley, etc.  I love killington like the next guy, but I don’t get the same feeling looking at the access road.

As a taller guy, being crammed in a economy isn’t fun, but i view it as part of the journey.

And if done right, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. For example, I paid $310 for roundtrip EWR - SLC earlier this year and scored a sweet midweek Ski&Stay deal at Alta-Bird. I tried pricing a road trip to NoVT for the same dates and it came within ~$200 without the wear and tear on my car. Incremental at that point.
Lastly, because it was Utah midseason,I never obsessively checked weather in the week leading up worrying about rain creeping in. I trusted the snow will be decent...and it was even though there hadn’t been a huge dump. True, I got skunked on a trip out to JH once but that was a risky late March trip to begin with.

JasonWx wrote

We used to take a family trip out west every year. Then my teenage girls started to complain that my wife skied  to slow.

Recent Chairlift Conversation:

8 Year Old Daughter - "Mom... how long have you been skiing?"
Wife - " I've been skiing since I was younger than you."
8 Year Old Daughter - "Then why are you the worst skier in the family"

8 & 11 year old daughters are ALREADY complaining that Mom skis too slow!

If you don’t go you’ll never know.

Or maybe that’s the point?

Powder skiing and skiing bigger lines is crazy addicting. It sure can be hard to get that fix out east.

Big Mountain skiing is the shit..  
Chutes - cliffs - steep ass glades - wide open bowls..   mmmmmmmmm    

Cool to hear everyone's take.

"where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talking about a little place called Aspen."

I couldn't agree more.  I'm very jealous you skied Alpental.  I hiked to Snow Lake there in October, and it snowed for the first time this season that day.  Just walking the base of that place and looking at the cliffs, you know it's a different beast.

More size and much more snow, that's why the West is best.

How come you guys don't move out there? Skiing is better but there is more to life than skiing? (gasp!) What is it?

Harvey wrote

How come you guys don't move out there? Skiing is better but there is more to life than skiing? (gasp!) Chicken shit? What is it?

My family is here - but I keep thinking about it

Where would you go PT? (Sorry if you already told, I forgot).

Bellingham, WA

Too many roots down in Saratoga Springs, for now a couple trips West per year keeps me somewhat satisfied.

Harvey wrote

How come you guys don't move out there? Skiing is better but there is more to life than skiing? (gasp!) What is it?

RE is too expensive, and the road biking sucks, which I do from April to November. Then there's the brain dead culture.

Harvey wrote

How come you guys don't move out there? Skiing is better but there is more to life than skiing? (gasp!) What is it?

I like where I live right now. Everything, everything I love to do I can do right from my house. There is more to life than skiing.

campgottagopee wrote

Harvey wrote

How come you guys don't move out there? Skiing is better but there is more to life than skiing? (gasp!) What is it?

I like where I live right now. Everything, everything I love to do I can do right from my house. There is more to life than skiing.

truth

I love where I live and I love skiing the east, but I go out west every year. In fact I just got back from Colorado where we skied Winter Park and Steamboat. I like these resorts, but I don't love them. What I do love is the big mountains, the dry air, blue skies and the adventure of going to these big majestic mountains. I freeze my butt off at Greek Peak at 25 degrees with lots of layers, hand warmers and toe heaters. Out west I don't need all that stuff and only need 1 or 2 layers under my shell. The skiing is steeper and the snow quality is so much better. It is not hard and icy. I get warm and comfortable and never feel like I need to go in and warm up like I do when I ski in the east. In fact, while we were away, the skiing out there was far superior to what we have here. I heard it was pretty firm, perhaps boiler plate on some days, even after 6" of fresh snow that didn't last more than a day anyway. I did not see any ice or anything firm and noisy. The skiing out west is soft and quiet. Also, out west there are hot springs. I skied 8 days in a row with 2 afternoons at hot springs. I think they revived me and enabled me to ski strong each day.

We got the Ikon Pass this year and that helped us choose where we would ski. I kinda wish we had gone to Jackson Hole, as they got 60" of snow while we only got about 12-15" while we were there. Maybe we'll go there next year. We also chose Colorado because we could get enough CBD and THC products to legally enhance our experience and help our bodies recover.

There's nothing quite like a vacation. It was a real getaway and it went by so fast. I feel quite satisfied and I'm not jonesing to ski the hard slopes of the east just yet. I'm happy to be back to wintry weather and I have been enjoying backcountry touring with my dogs while the conditions are nice.

I'm thinking about going to Mammoth in May when the skiing here is done and mud season is full-on.

Word!

Hmmm.....have you been to the PNW yet?  Other than the great resort skiing and backcountry a short drive from Seattle, it has other Colorado-esque attraction!

Nice to hear from you again PDQ. You've been missed!

I know I'm def in the minority here, but that's just how I look at it. If I were to go out west it would be to hunt Elk or something similar to that that I can't do here at home.

I'm just a simple guy who enjoys many different kinds of activities. All of which I can do right here at home. Besides, I need money to put gas in all my sleds

CBD FTW!!!!!!

Haha Camp, I wasn't really addressing that to you, I think I know where you stand Homie.  :)

Harvey wrote

Haha Camp, I wasn't really addressing that to you, I think I know where you stand Homie.  :)

No, I know you weren't. It was just my chance to give my worthless 2 cents  

Yeah, you know bro