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What resort should I go to for my ski trip this winter?

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silent_giraffe
Posts: 1290 - Karma: 2,116
I can't choose which resort I should go to for my ski trip this winter. I live on the west coast and I'm not super rich so I can't go to Utah or any farther east. I can go to southern canada (not whistler) Washington, Idaho, Oregon, maybe western Montana, and northern California. I would be going either Christmas or spring break. The ideal ski resort would be: two GOOD terrain parks, good backcountry pow stuff, steep, and powdah. I have narrowed it down to Stevens Pass or Schweitzer. Would Sun Valley have good weather at the times I can go?

Thanks for any input.
Aug 17 2012 7:13PM
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bakedpow
Posts: 8770 - Karma: 10,467
Whitewater, kicking horse, revelstoke

Aug 17 2012 7:15PM
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J_Christoph
Posts: 2519 - Karma: 8,752
I love sun valley. Staying there for a while is pretty spendy though
Aug 17 2012 7:25PM
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SelfTitled
Posts: 39 - Karma: 11
This. I've heard good things. Also I've always wanted to go to Fernie and Sun Village.
Aug 17 2012 7:36PM
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GANDALF
Posts: 6302 - Karma: 6,567
just stay the fuck out of washington. unless you wanna get rained on.
Aug 17 2012 10:19PM
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Mr_Mackey
Posts: 591 - Karma: 22
Yah it doesent ever snow here.
Aug 17 2012 10:23PM
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bakedpow
Posts: 8770 - Karma: 10,467
especially this season, el nino en route...

Aug 17 2012 11:18PM
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PJS.
Posts: 11943 - Karma: 895
Ding ding ding ding.
Aug 17 2012 11:19PM
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Drail
Posts: 14012 - Karma: 10,010
good thing you read the op. none of those have two good parks, revelstoke doesn't even have a park at all.
Aug 17 2012 11:52PM
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ktd619
Posts: 927 - Karma: 96
Alpine Valley, Ohio
Aug 17 2012 11:56PM
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50Kal
Posts: 2828 - Karma: 5,373
Park city, UT
Aug 18 2012 12:52AM
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-emile-
Posts: 6613 - Karma: 8,592
Holly shit you are dumb
Aug 18 2012 1:08AM
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MothaHucker
Posts: 4678 - Karma: 2,591
Dear lord this. Why everyone always wants to flock to WA baffles me to say the least. I'd say tahoe
Aug 18 2012 1:31AM
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GANDALF
Posts: 6302 - Karma: 6,567
Aug 18 2012 1:56AM
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Flacker
Posts: 584 - Karma: 1,331
Soldier Mountain in Idaho is a hidden gem and very cheap for a very high chance of great pow. Brundage in McCall Idaho also beast.
Aug 18 2012 2:19AM
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stupendous-man
Posts: 8637 - Karma: 13,293
gO to wHisTLer Br0
Aug 18 2012 3:24AM
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snakerton
Posts: 2434 - Karma: 1,977
schweitzer is the best. i was there last year for 5 days. the first 3 days got 10 inchs at night and since there are so little people the snow lasted for all 5 days. also there are never lift lines. the cat skiing is dope. its worth the 250 bucks. selkirk powder company all the way. I'm happy to answer any questions you have
Aug 18 2012 10:39PM
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skier_boy26
Posts: 11295 - Karma: 502
It rains in Washington. A lot. Schweitzer sucks (100% serious).

If the split jet stream forecast holds, go to the Sierras or the Revelstoke/Kicking Horse area of BC.
Aug 18 2012 11:04PM
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Drail
Posts: 14012 - Karma: 10,010
if he really does care about good parks (two of them even!), people need to stop telling him to go to the Kootenays. There is not one good park in the entire Kootenay region. Red's is OK, at best, but there are no good terrain parks in the Kootenays.

If you really want park, don't come to the Kootenays, if you are willing to say fuck park and wanna ski some really fun terrain with (relatively) no crowds, come on up!
Aug 18 2012 11:08PM
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stupendous-man
Posts: 8637 - Karma: 13,293
To clear things up here, our travel budget is limited and we'll be going at the end of march. not looking to venture up into the kootenays for insane pow, we want a place that will have a good chance of freshies given the late date, or a good park(s) if the weather isn't going our way.

trying to keep the drive under 10 hours as well. given the mid season, are there any other resorts that we should consider that are within our range?

+k for quality posts
Aug 19 2012 2:06AM
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bakedpow
Posts: 8770 - Karma: 10,467
Stevens, schweitzer, whistler, grouse/cypress (dunno how the parks are here), big sky/moonlight (longer than 10 hours)

you could go for sierras too if you wanna make a road trip out of it
Aug 19 2012 3:10AM
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SketchyVan
Posts: 26 - Karma: 3
my ass
Aug 19 2012 11:40AM
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50Kal
Posts: 2828 - Karma: 5,373
Whitefish resort. I know they can be sick on a powder day. Not sure how their park stuff is these days. Back when it was called Big Mountain their park was really good and big.
They also got Amtrak station so you could Ride the train cheap instead of driving. You might need to crunch numbers to see if Its worth it.

Also Whitefish is like 11-12 hours from portland. might be out of the range You want.
Aug 19 2012 12:44PM
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silent_giraffe
Posts: 1290 - Karma: 2,116
thanks for all of the input guys.
Aug 19 2012 9:17PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
had a season pass to shweitzer during my college years, and i can tell you that it cannot even come close to competeting on a level of squaw/alpine/kwood/whis/mammoth...or really any big name resort.

plus, stom days suck there cause of the super duper thick fog, and pussy lift operators who shut lifts down in 30mph winds.

its not really big, is pretty flat(some steep pitches with super long, flat runouts), and generally doesnt get all that much snow. the park is also extremely Meh.

there are many more places i would rather ski
Aug 20 2012 12:00AM
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PartyHon
Posts: 2019 - Karma: 425
not sure if serious but enough with the schweitzer hate. you and californiagrown. its a fine mountain.

but id just say go to Revelstoke
Aug 20 2012 1:07AM
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Uah
Posts: 1104 - Karma: 176
!
Aug 20 2012 6:51PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
i have had 50+ days at schweitzer. there is no hate, just an opinion formed from someone who has skied all over the west.

what did i say that was hateful?


Is the terrain rowdy? Are the steep pitches long? Does it get tons of snow? does it get super foggy? Is the park awesome?
Aug 21 2012 12:01AM
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PartyHon
Posts: 2019 - Karma: 425
damn man i should have seen you up there. I know where you are coming from cause ive skied all over as well

all things considered i think its a pretty good mountain. real down to earth. plus the fact that im 20 minutes away from the chair is nice. i know it cant really compete with other top resorts listed above. but i'd recommend it for sure. better than nothin!
Aug 21 2012 3:30PM
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stupendous-man
Posts: 8637 - Karma: 13,293
Is it worth it to drive all the way from hood?
Aug 21 2012 4:18PM
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PartyHon
Posts: 2019 - Karma: 425
it really depends on when you go. around feb/ early march when there is enough snow is usually the best time. but in all honesty i dont know why you would leave hood unless its shitty conditions

if the conditions are good and the coverage is aswell hell yeah its worth it!
Aug 23 2012 5:03PM
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Spiri7o
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 1,100
Alta or jackson
Aug 23 2012 5:31PM
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TheBigOP
Posts: 134 - Karma: 66
I don't think anything is going to be better than hood or bachelor within your range, and bachelor is only four hours away (compared to 10). If you can't go to whistler i don't think you're going to find something better within 10 hours than bachelor or hood.
Aug 23 2012 5:55PM
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Sleepercell
Posts: 166 - Karma: 25
Taos Ski Valley.
Aug 23 2012 6:04PM
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Drail
Posts: 14012 - Karma: 10,010
not totally true. Google maps says it's 8 to 9 hours to get to Red Mountain and Whitewater in BC, under 5 hours to Crystal, just shy of 10 hours to Sun Valley. There are options out there.
Aug 23 2012 6:16PM
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J-Dubb
Posts: 438 - Karma: 3
GO TO BIG SKY. There's no question about it. It is a little bit more of a drive then some of the Eastern Washington/Southern Canada/Idaho places but it is super worth it. No lift lines, the pow stays fresh for weeks and the terrain is fucking amazing. Go there.
Aug 23 2012 7:38PM
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stupendous-man
Posts: 8637 - Karma: 13,293
I would agree with you, but we have skied hood for the past few years (and will continue to) and we want to try something new. Bachelor had a pretty shitty snow season this year anyway, and we usually take a short trip there anyway. At first the dream was heli skiing in AK or powslaying in revy, but seeing as our families are all middle class citizens, and only a few of us ski aggressively, that wont be happening. It's technically a "family" vacation, and some of us aren't good with drives >10 hours.

Would anyone recommend the tahoe area? I dont know much about it, but northstar has a killer park i think and squaw has big mtn.

Glad to see ns can be helpful
Aug 23 2012 8:34PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
Tahoe has terrain as/more gnarly than anywhere outside of JHole. And Northstar's park is world class.

Also gets tons, and tons of snow, and its bluebird 300 days a year.

my favorite place on earth.

Aug 23 2012 9:21PM
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MothaHucker
Posts: 4678 - Karma: 2,591

but that snow is heavier then what you would find in the pnw.

everyone knows cascade concrete is bad but sierra cement is worse.

I would hit up the kootenays like i said earlier

Aug 23 2012 9:37PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
lol, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Ive had 200+ days in both regions FWIW.
Aug 24 2012 3:28AM
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MothaHucker
Posts: 4678 - Karma: 2,591

well I can't say I've had over 200 days in tahoe, but I did used to live in northern california and skied tahoe as much as i could

and i have had plenty of days where I live now

Aug 24 2012 4:21AM
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