Going to US to ski

I would fly into Denver and go to Summit County to start (and base yourself). Getting around this part of the world is super easy with a car and you can shred at so many different places – pretty much anywhere in the southern rocky chain….   Even down into New Mexico (Taos etc)… all achievable within half a day – day driving.  Direct flights into Denver from London are reasonable too.

You can buy an Epic Pass for $599 – which is probably the best and biggest deal in skiing anywhere right now – this gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to Breckenridge, Keystone, A Basin, Vail, Beaver Creek and Heavenly in California (basically all the resorts owned by Vail Resorts… ) but it’s an awesome deal – considering it costs about $100 a day at vail, you only need to ski six days and it’s paid for itself.

The parks in Summit County need no introducing…. Keystone / breck both have world class parks….  But, also on Pow days, they can be great fun – but within a short drive, you can be in Beaver Creek when it dumps for sick tree skiing… 

If you can get a car – then you can pretty much ski everywhere from Breck….   Even road trip down to Utah…   I personally think to get the most riding in, across as many different places as possible, you should head for Colorado.

Also worth noting, internal flights can be pretty cheap in the States, so you can do trips out to California or even up to Canada. I wouldn’t spend months in Whistler when you can spend months down in the the US and Ski at so many different places….   

I’m British by the way, and live in the US now….   I have spent a season in Whistler, and I prefer the variety on offer in the states…  some place ,somewhere always has decent conditions… 

One thing though, Colorado isn’t like the Alps…  it’s all very high and therefore doesn’t have the dramatic scenery of the alps…. It’s very much Rolling hills as opposed to big Chamonix style peaks….    But the sick thing is the tree skiing… so unlike the alps, when the weather is sh*t you can still have an epic day in the trees skiing pow….  

You’ll have a blast….  Just plan a giant road trip…

I would definitely look into basing your travels out of Salt Lake, as you have tons of different options within 30 min to an hour from a big city. Plus its also centrally located from other places might want to look into traveling, with CO not even a full day's drive to the east and Cali, WA and hood to the west just a day's worth of driving away. If you base a season out of Utah you are guaranteed to get your pow fix as well.

this...Great Advice. Guess you've done it already though eh?

ill second  the epic pass, the BEST deal, most mountains (MOUNTSNOW) will charge more than this for just one mountain.
if you rent a car out of denver, you get unlimited millage so take advantage of this and DRIVE. go  through summit county and use your pass alot. then head through the rockies, and get to SLC. Utah is sick and is on the way to lake tahoe, mammoth and southern California, which i recommend most of all. skiing in california isnt the best, but its  the most fun you'll ever have.  Cali is the shit, even big bear down near LA is a blast. Drive from LA back to denver and you go through VEGAS, which is must for any traveler, especially tired ski bums.
So the flight and the rental car are costly, but once your going you will meet people, crash on floors, sleep with  girls, sleep in the car, and poach mountains that you dont have passes. you can also buy passes from gapers that only skied half day. good luck.

Yeah man - I love it ....  Nothing like an awesome US Road trip shredding....  but as i said, i live over here now.... best thing ever...  by the time things start to open in the alps youve been skiing for a month or two in summit....

Siiick! ++K
I'm already excited about it :D Propably going to get the epic pass (colby west ftw). I think US is one of the best places to go; Its MUCH cheaper than Europe (alps etc), better parks (i've heard) and I already know the language (we have exchange student from Oregon at our school).

I've been seriously thinking about such a trip for some time. having tried so hard to a season in crested butte i had to resort to actually thinking about getting a career here in the UK. thing is im not having much luck at the mo, and if i do hit the jackpot, most jobs start in september. might well be down!!

Oh yeah and one more thing! How many friends were there with you? I think it would be cooler to have more than one friend to go with...Sadly my other friends are not that excited about going to US for couple months :S Dunno why because it would be the coolest thing i've done in my life so far.

Sweet – yeah a road trip across various US skiing areas is epic fun – you’ll have a blast…..  most roads are freeways so getting about is not like in the alps with small windy roads under 10 ft of snow… although some can get interesting when it’s dumping…

Things to bear in mind though – you’ll be coming to the US as a tourist, and therefore on a tourist Visa Waiver…  this has a maximum duration of 3 months… so essentially, your trip has to be < 3 months…. And I wouldn’t f**k with that….  If you ever want to be allowed back into the states. There may be other travel visa’s available, but I’m pretty sure you’re looking at a 3 month visa waiver…. Which obviously means you cannot legally work or anything, so you need to be self sufficient for that duration.

It’s not super cheap, remember places like Vail and Beaver creek are quite Gucci places… – I know it’s cheaper then some places in Europe for sure, eating out isn’t too bad etc etc but lift tickets in America are the most expensive anywhere…. On average, I’d be prepared to pay probably $65/70 a day at a bigger hill….  But the thing with America is there are lots of little ski hills in the middle of nowhere… 

All I can say is you’ll have a blast….  And def go with a group….   It would still be awesome with 2 of you, don’t get me wrong, but rooms are generally good for 4 people, so it makes things a little cheaper at motels etc…    you could almost fly in to Denver then say set your return home from somewhere random like Vegas etc…   what happens in between is up to you, but you’ll have a blast getting there…

Also – try not to get into trouble with Cops and stuff….   America is not a place to f**k about if you’re a foreign visitor…   but that said, it’s a MILLION times more friendly then most places in Europe and everyone will look out for you… f**k most kids on NS will hook you up and help you out, where ever you end up shredding in the States, there will be some NS’ers about… just hit up the regional forums and you’ll get loads of local help….. have fun planning dude…. it’ll change your life, it did mine and I now live in the states!