Nobody skiing this year?
I went to Sutton locally yesterday and last week for my first outings this season. Conditions are passable at best. We need more snow.
Coming up very soon are a couple of days at Breckenridge and then Keystone. Never skied at Breck before.
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We have no time to ski this year again - and are going to Park City in May for event so no way I can get FKG to sneak off for a short trip (and definitely no long trip)
Mangiare hit the motherlode in Fernie.
I'm off to the Chic Choc's next week.
I skied Keystone and Breck at Thanksgiving time. I liked Keystone a lot. Breck was very crowded; although the town at Breck blows away Keystone.
As vinoevelo said, we got 2 metres of champagne powder in 3 days in Fernie. Freakin' stupid good conditions. Best I've ever skiied in my 45 years. Place was a ghost town. Our guide on day 1 estimated the resort sold 500 tickets which meant unmarked snow waist high or deeper on every run. Mind you it was -25 but after 1 run you didn't notice the cold.
Posted a couple pics. Take a look at the video to get a perspective on how much snow there was. And that was only day 1.
Off to Revelstoke the end of February with the boys and then Switzerland with family in March. Life is gooooood!
Now that is some powder! Amazing and hope you had fun. Powder skiing can be tough if you haven't done it before but lots of fun.
Got 14 days in so far in Tahoe. Not nearly the conditions as last year, but still ok. Heading to Utah next week to hit Alta/ Snowbird, Solitude, and Deer Valley. IKON Pass is a steal.
arsenal4ever posted:Got 14 days in so far in Tahoe. Not nearly the conditions as last year, but still ok. Heading to Utah next week to hit Alta/ Snowbird, Solitude, and Deer Valley. IKON Pass is a steal.
Yes it is. Unfortunately for me it has added some crowds to Deer Valley. Enjoy your trip.
Definitely added crowds, and I know there are locals upset. Went to Jackson Hole and Deer Valley last year and heard an earful. I understand completely. Squaw Valley also is impacted. The Epic Pass is also causing some heartache, especially in CO.
thistlintom posted:Now that is some powder! Amazing and hope you had fun. Powder skiing can be tough if you haven't done it before but lots of fun.
Even if you have done it a couple of times before it's still tough. That looks like too much powder for my liking. Reminds me of last year at Tahoe.
I've had those experiences as well but this was as light and fluffy as ever.
I will say that we progressively increased the width under foot of our skis each day and the final day with 130 under foot was the easiest and least taxing. The technology with the heavy rocker style makes them just float. FYI - we did 23,000 vertical feet of skiing/day in that stuff.
arsenal4ever posted:Definitely added crowds, and I know there are locals upset. Went to Jackson Hole and Deer Valley last year and heard an earful. I understand completely. Squaw Valley also is impacted. The Epic Pass is also causing some heartache, especially in CO.
The thing with Deer Valley is that they are a premium ski experience, or so they say. Season tickets are over $2,000 per year and people are paying a lot of money to ski here. When people can come here at little cost, then it really impacts those who pay premium dollars for the experience. I think some of the changes in attendance last year was due to an exceptional year for snow, but the Ikon impact was also significant.
Another interesting tidbit is that there were Ikon passholders that were brown bagging their lunches and tailgating in the parking lots. This is frowned upon by Deer Valley.
I think that Deer Valley is at risk at damaging their brand, and should be careful about how they deal with the Ikon people. I wonder if they will add a premium to Ikon passes for Deer Valley skiing.
We have also seen increased skiing at Park City due to Epic passes. I don't think the impact is as severe as Deer Valley as it is not a premium experience. The big problem however, is the lack of parking availability for those driving to the slopes. It will be interesting to see how this all evolves.
thistlintom posted:arsenal4ever posted:Definitely added crowds, and I know there are locals upset. Went to Jackson Hole and Deer Valley last year and heard an earful. I understand completely. Squaw Valley also is impacted. The Epic Pass is also causing some heartache, especially in CO.
The thing with Deer Valley is that they are a premium ski experience, or so they say. Season tickets are over $2,000 per year and people are paying a lot of money to ski here. When people can come here at little cost, then it really impacts those who pay premium dollars for the experience. I think some of the changes in attendance last year was due to an exceptional year for snow, but the Ikon impact was also significant.
Another interesting tidbit is that there were Ikon passholders that were brown bagging their lunches and tailgating in the parking lots. This is frowned upon by Deer Valley.
I think that Deer Valley is at risk at damaging their brand, and should be careful about how they deal with the Ikon people. I wonder if they will add a premium to Ikon passes for Deer Valley skiing.
We have also seen increased skiing at Park City due to Epic passes. I don't think the impact is as severe as Deer Valley as it is not a premium experience. The big problem however, is the lack of parking availability for those driving to the slopes. It will be interesting to see how this all evolves.
That's a shame - the relative lack of crowd is what has always set Deer Valley apart (and no snowboarders)
I wouldn't be surprised if Deer Valley made a change to the IKON Pass. Even though holders only get 5 free days there, I know of quite a few CA skiers who went there the last 2 years. It's such an easy flight and the slopes are only 45 minutes from the airport. I believe A-Basin opted out of the Epic Pass this year after feedback from locals.
We skied Park City yesterday with very little crowds, thanks to Sundance festival going on. Sundance people don't ski!
They don't ski, but they sure do party. Couldn't get into High West last year unless I was the guest of a celebrity or movie mogul
arsenal4ever posted:They don't ski, but they sure do party. Couldn't get into High West last year unless I was the guest of a celebrity or movie mogul
Yes. We don't even consider going into town during Sundance, it is just a zoo. Fortunately we live in Midway which is 15 miles south of Park City, so we can stay away besides skiing.
Taking the family to steamboat in March. 2nd ski trip for the kids. Sticker shock at lift tix and kids ski school. Almost double Crested Butte.
Summit County schools closed due to snow I heard
JBurman82,
Next year, get an Epic Pass for military veterans. It's an incredible deal. Saved me a fortune.
We go every other year. Too pricey to go every year for us public servants. I will remember that for 2022 though. $3600 just for lift tix and ski school for a Sat-Thu ( really Sun-Wed for skiing) made my jaw drop.
It seems resorts have jacked up daily prices, so it is necessary to buy tickets in advance and multi day passes are better. If you ski more than a week, then you really need to buy an Epic or Ikon pass.
We had two excellent days at Breckenridge. Saturday the 1st was really busy but the place is so big it can absorb that many skiers pretty well. (Superbowl) Sunday was amazing. 38º, not a cloud in the sky and not many people on the slopes. Almost worth the ridiculous prices of their lift tickets.
The 3rd day at Keystone was a step down. The mountain doesn't really compare to Breck, the weather started to turn on us and honestly after the first 2 days my energy levels were running on low.
The trip was marred by being stranded for 2 days in Charlotte on the return trip and of course AA hid behind the weather. Bad weather in Denver and Montreal on the day of departure to be sure, but they managed to get my suitcase home without me which made the 2 day layover even worse. I did get to know uptown Charlotte a little better and found a good wine bar. I couldn't have named the place better myself!
Well it is Presidents' Day weekend and the slopes are full of skiers. I am taking a break over this holiday, too many bad skiers out at this time. Deer Valley sold out at 9:15 am today.
IKON e-mailed me a survey after I skied Deer Valley and Solitude with 3 friends Mon-Fri last week. It was scripted in a way that made me believe Deer Valley is reexamining their relationship with IKON. We spent roughly $6000 over the week, not including airfare and lift tickets. I fully understand the issue (DV also sold out on Sunday). Whatever DV/ IKON's decision, we will be back next year, unless DV is no longer in the equation. Might just stay in SLC and ski Alta/ Snowbird and Solitude.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I have met quite a few people with IKON passes on the chairlifts at Deer Valley. A few days, it became busy because one of the canyons was closed due to an avalanche prohibiting people from skiing at the resorts there. A bunch of people with IKON passes came over and made it crowded at Deer Valley. Deer Valley needs to be careful to protect their high end status as many people pay a lot of money to ski there and want a high end experience. I have heard that the average Deer Valley family spends over $20 k for a week of skiing. Season passes for Deer Valley are over $2,000.
I don't think it is as bad with IKON skiers this year as it was last year. However, it is harder for Deer Valley to determine crowds and manage the parking when IKON people can come almost any time and for little cost.
Also, the last two days, Deer Valley was sold out by 10:00 in the morning. I expect the same today.
