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Bang for Buck what are the best places to go skiing in North America?

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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
I am trying to decide where to go skiing at, and also how to keep my budget in line. 2 ski trips for winter out west, one from dec-26th to jan 3rd (SL,UT), and a second at an undecided location from Feb 27th till March 8th.

Back to the topic at hand really, where would you go skiing at if you had to factor in the hotels, flying, etc? I am trying to keep these trips down in cost and I can't pimp it slope side with the low dough. So where would you guys like spending a week or more if you were coming out to the mountains?

Oh yeah Im really considering whistler...if I can get this trip down to under $3000 for 2 people round trip with everything.
Aug 20 2009 11:43AM
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Shlogan
Posts: 4942 - Karma: 430
so i didnt ready the OPs post, but i remember northstar having season passes for locals at 270 or something which sounded like a sick deal to me.
Aug 20 2009 11:51AM
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mozzy
Posts: 1034 - Karma: 60
Sure you want to brave the post-Christmas crowds?

Maybe if you go to the same place(s), a pass might just be worth it. I found the A-Basin superpass to be worth the money, you get several days at Breck/Keystone/Vail in the price of the pass.

SLC is excellent value, you don't need a car, you can take public transportation to the slopes, and the hotels are reasonably priced. Get the discount tickets at the ski shops and rental places downtown- don't pay extra for the Snowbird tram, the Peruvian chair takes you nearly to the top.

So I'd say that for the terrain, snow quality, and convenience, Utah is hard to beat.

Whistler is expensive any way you see it- I go there once a year, and just can't really find an easy way to keep the costs down.

Also good value for the money- Mt. Bachelor, Taos, Kirkwood, their lift ticket prices are still in the $50-70 range, with multiday discounts.

Aug 20 2009 11:53AM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
i dont know if you care, but if you move your feb trip up a LITTLE bit you could catch some olympics action

i know whistler is expensive but im trying to road trip up there for a day or two this winter just to see maybe one or two events...should be worth it

otherwise guy is right about northstar and all of those other northlake resorts...

my advice, stay at the BEST WESTERN in TRUCKEE...cheap rates AND the lady at the front desk will sell you lift tickets at like 50% off...im pretty sure she sells boreal, northstar, squaw, and like homewood and some of the smaller spots
Aug 20 2009 11:57AM
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afrocentric
Posts: 707 - Karma: 29
The only way whistler is cheap is if you are a local (from Vancouver) and attending post secondary.

440 for Full season pass with Peak 2 Peak.. Insane deal... gotta be a full time student though (3 courses)
Aug 20 2009 11:58AM
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lineskier10
Posts: 11339 - Karma: 796
alta
Aug 20 2009 12:11PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
Oh yeah I can fly out of Chicago so I am near a major international airport.
Aug 20 2009 12:32PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
And I said bang for buck. The hotel rooms in whistler start at $200 a night from March 1st-March 8th. Any dates in Feb. are like 2x in cost because of the olympics.

They are also shutting down a portion of one of the mountains for the olympics.

So considering costs......Whistler isn't a cheap place to begin with (compared to maybe Colorado or Utah), but to go during the Olympics...mega bucks.

Aug 20 2009 12:38PM
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Beefcake
Posts: 378 - Karma: 10

bridger bowl MT fo da powda

Aug 20 2009 1:16PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
North Shore of tahoe.  You have alpine( best value in tahoe) and squaw literally right next to each other.  fly into reno, and stay at a cheap hotel on the north shore, there are tons.  You could easily make it real cheap, and there are busses to take you to the mountain. 
Aug 20 2009 1:22PM
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
i have done many of these trips. i will share my wisdom.

mt. baker. the mtn for obvious reasons. sleep in your car for 5 days in the parking lot, just move it so you dont get plowed in. bring lots and lots of beer and JD, and a little food (oatmeal and ramen noodles) and some money and reading materials. shit in the bathrooms in the morning when they are clean and take the leftover newspapers and pizza at 5 when the lodge closes.

wolf creek. however you get there, its a trip for sure. once there, enjoy your solitude at a econo-motel in pagosa springs or south fork. cheap. hot springs are there too for resting in. there wont be much to do except slay EPIC pow and get loaded at night.

SLC, although you have that. Powder mtn, get there. HUGE acreage, no crowds. otherwise, solitude. its called that for a reason.

or, if you want hedonism, whis. bring money to pay for a couch, and party your fucking ass off with whoever you can stay with up there.
Aug 20 2009 2:15PM
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
oh yeah, if you have the connections or a car lake tahoe is totally doable too. couch surf or car camp. i would suggest kirkwood myself. did that during an epic storm and it was second only to my mt. baker camping trip.
Aug 20 2009 2:17PM
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ninjahappy
Posts: 399 - Karma: 14

I'm not sure money wise but Whistler.

Try and make it as cheap as possible whatever ways you can and it's so worth it

Aug 20 2009 2:27PM
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freezed
Posts: 12973 - Karma: 500
yeah i was gonna suggest the same thing...alpine also sells (or they did, they probably still do) a spring season pass. It was only 99 bucks a few years ago, unlimited skiing for march-end of season, or something like that. if you fly into reno on the cheap, get a cheap place to stay, and get that pass, you can do a sick trip for real cheap. alpine is underrated, it's awesome. if you do want to ski squam though, it's right there too.
Aug 20 2009 2:30PM
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graciousstallion
Posts: 363 - Karma: 13
Squaw also sells a spring pass, but i think its $150 for march-end of season, its a really good deal. There are cheap motels/hotels all around tahoe and you usually meet chill people so you can crash on their couch or something, but you cant really beat alpine and squaw cause they are right next to eachother. If youre a full time student then you can get a $299(i think) pass for Alpine/homewood combo, so theres also that too.
Aug 20 2009 3:38PM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
This.

Plus, Sugar Bowl is putting in a lift on Mt Judah which will not only be epic but will be done by this ski season (whcih seems crazy since I was hiking there two weeks ago and they haven't even started yet).
Aug 20 2009 3:41PM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24725 - Karma: 29,944

If you want bang for your buck, Go to Montana. Period.

Lost Trail was featured in Realtime, and has like 29$ lift tickets. Big Mountain @ Whitefish is like 50 bucks and is effing huge, and you can ski all night in pow, and they have a pretty legit park. Discovery is cheap, and has an entire backside riddled with gnarly sick terrain. Big Sky and Moonlight are at least affordable, and DAMN they have crazy terrain.. and Red Lodge is off the chain.

Oh, and pretty much no matter what, you will never see a lift line.

Aug 20 2009 6:15PM
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Ski303
Posts: 468 - Karma: 22
1. Use Mom's Van
2. Drive to Berthoud or Loveland Pass
3. Ski
4. Build shit
5. Sleep in car + AC Inverter = Microwave
6. Eat Ramen (heat snow)
7. Sleep in -20 degree bag
8. Drive to vail
9. Get up at 7. 
10. Skin up front side
11. Ski on lifts that don't check passes

Assuming you have gear this trip will cost $200 for gas.  Steal ramen from pantry.
Aug 20 2009 6:24PM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24725 - Karma: 29,944

As for tahoe - if youre a full time student, you can buy a season pass for 300 bucks. Get a cheap ass hotel (I recommend a place in Kings Beach, or Truckee - typically the cheapest rates) and just shred Squaw the whole time. Yeah, Alpine's sick and Northstar has a pretty cool park... but if you're going to Tahoe, Squaw is the place to hit up. If you dont ski there, thats like going to SLC and not going to Alta or going to BC and not going to Whistler.

Aug 20 2009 6:25PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
I am a college student. My mom passed away so there is no minivan here bro....it's just me and myself wandering the world here.

Hence budget!


Tahoe sounds awfully attractive as well as Montana.... I even have a buddy who works at Mt. Baker if I recall....lives in Bozeman and all.


Aug 20 2009 7:50PM
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
in case im too drunk to read and all forgive me.

baker and bozeman=diff places
Aug 20 2009 8:17PM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
LOL Looks like I am off by a state or two guys...
Never the less a high school buddy lives in Bozeman and works at [insert ski place here] there in Bozeman.

Plus its Montana....how expensive can Montana be?
Aug 20 2009 8:36PM
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
bozeman is supposed to be sweet from what i have heard, i have never been there myself thats why i have not mentioned it
Aug 20 2009 8:39PM
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Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
HA good luck. Tickets are sold out and hotels have been booked up for ages.
Aug 20 2009 8:43PM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24725 - Karma: 29,944
Bozeman has Bridger bowl 15 mins out of town with super sick terrain and its very affordable. Big sky and moonlight are about 45 mins out of town, a little more expensive but very worth checking out.
Aug 21 2009 3:35AM
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factory81
Posts: 3967 - Karma: 63
My girlfriend is turned off by Montana. She honestly thinks she has a say in where she is going in spring break......

I am going to price out some trips, one to Tahoe, Whistler, Colorado, Montana, and Jackson Hole. And see which places have the lowest costs.

All of them seem to have ski areas worth checking out :)


Aug 22 2009 11:12AM
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