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a_burgerHave heard attitash and crotched also went to shit
Professor-Modelokeystone and breck
BingPowStowe. Used to have a sick park, now i only hear horror stories.
DummyBearsElaborate, I've been thinking of going out west and trying to weed out places there good and went downhill.
DummyBearsElaborate, I've been thinking of going out west and trying to weed out places there good and went downhill.
eheathWell Keystone and Breck shouldn't really be anywhere near the top of your list, they are crowded as fuck, far as fuck from a city and have pretty flat/average terrain compared to most resorts in the west. They are only popular on NS because of their parks and the only thing that has changed in 15 years at breck and key are less parks and more people.
DummyBearsIf you were an east coaster that’s primarily going for solid retain and spend like 10% of the time in a park we’re would you go. I was thinking somewhere Lake Tahoe but also want to visit kicking horse Canadian Rockies area. Even Colorado any of those big key places.
eheathI would skip Colorado completely, it gets hyped up but it's actually one of the worst places to ski in the west. Utah, Idaho, Nevada/Cali, Montana, Wyoming, PNW are all better.
Most resorts will be busy and my best advice would be to chase snow, otherwise just pick a place and go, hard to go wrong with most skiing in the west.
eheathThe IKON pass 100% ruined solitude, it was the best kept secret in the wasatch.
PC has barely changed since Vail, one less park and thats about it.
whatsamonadBro Solitude is on Ikon now?
Fuck man that was my go to hidden Utah gem… sad to hear that
DummyBearsHave places implemented seasonal parking passes? I know mount snow has began to charge for a bunch of lots but there's still free options available. It's not common in the east but I'm afraid it will be.
whatsamonadThat’s pretty fucked up… never been to a mountain that requires paid parking besides Killington during Covid (no longer a thing since they stopped requiring parking reservations).
eheathYeah it has been since the IKON pass came out, I was skiing solitude before IKON came in and it was so mellow, the next year it was overrun by people it was insane, the next year they added the paid parking, been downhill since.
tutipupswait alterra from subnautica is a company irl tf
a_burgerHave heard attitash and crotched also went to shit
d5rWildcat was absolutely ass vibes the last 3 times I made it there last year, haven’t been yet this season though.
eheathI would skip Colorado completely, it gets hyped up but it's actually one of the worst places to ski in the west. Utah, Idaho, Nevada/Cali, Montana, Wyoming, PNW are all better.
Most resorts will be busy and my best advice would be to chase snow, otherwise just pick a place and go, hard to go wrong with most skiing in the west.
eheathThe IKON pass 100% ruined solitude, it was the best kept secret in the wasatch.
PC has barely changed since Vail, one less park and thats about it.
Chubz.inb4 weastcoast & maimhelp bring up springs/bigboulder
theabortionatorAspen is pretty sweet. Highlands is one of my favorite mtns. Ajax is sick. Snowmass or bmilk for parks. Take the rafta bus if you can't get deal on hotel.
Also some sick mtns in other spots. Not everything is vail on i70.
Haven't been to Crested butte since vail bought it but thats a good one.
Between people moving ski towns to work remote, the big passes, everywhere is getting over run.
I guess it just depends what you're looking for.
Chasing snkw is a good bet if you dont need to book farther in advance.
cobra_commanderSteven’s Pass was real fucked at the start of the year - only 40% of the terrain was open due to staffing. Not totally a pay issue as they all got a pretty hefty pay raise when Vail took over. It was a culture and HR issue. Vail has changed out leadership bringing a long time local in and appears to be making an honest attempt to make things right.
Stowe and PCMR seem to be the most fucked of major areas regarding crowds and staffing
ikon just made everywhere crowded by reducing the cost of this luxury sport but actual operations seem to work.
PBraunsteinPC barely changed? Have you been there this season eheath? The lack of staffing is laughable.. trails that have been traditionally groomed every other year ive skied there haven't been groomed once this season. The parking/traffic has been an absolute shit show as well.. if you're not in the town of PC before 8, you're sitting in dead stopped traffic through the lights. I would say that vail has done a solid job of changing not only the town dynamic of PC, but also the mountain. As far as parks go, I dont need to remind you that we used to have 3 filmable parks on the mountain and thats been reduced to 1 (and the ugliest one of the 3 being the gully). The 'big line' is a joke this season and I woudn't consider it film worthy either. #stopbuildinghalfpipes #bringbackjonseys #theyarelitterallyturningKingsCrownintocondos
I would say that PC has changed a lot, and none for the better.
theabortionatorAspen is pretty sweet. Highlands is one of my favorite mtns. Ajax is sick. Snowmass or bmilk for parks. Take the rafta bus if you can't get deal on hotel.
DummyBearsIm in an interesting situation since I would likely have to either drive 6,000 miles round trip or cough up a 400$ flight which is more affordable but then probable have to get around by a bus maybe rent a car thats just so expensive for like 10 days. I was thinking to fly into reno and hit any of the big four there but really have no idea what would be ideal. I know nothing of kirkwood and heavenly although my off guess is its like deer valley. palisades and northstar seem fun tho. Any advice
a_burgerHave heard attitash and crotched also went to shit
BrandoComandoPalisades is awesome. It will always be the heart of skiing in Tahoe.
Northstar has a super legit park, but the rest of the mountain is groomers. Not much terrain and usually pretty crowded. Parking is fucked.
Heavenly is pretty, but the crowds suck and the mountain has a weird layout. The canyons on the NV side are fun though.
Make the trip to Kirkwood. It doesn't get a ton of hype because it isn't a big built-up resort like the other 3, but it's legit. My favorite mountain in Tahoe. There are so many gnarly shit-your-bib lines and some super unique terrain features. Best part is that it's less crowded than the big resorts
**This post was edited on Feb 16th 2022 at 11:51:39am
DummyBearsThe only Ikon that I've recently been to was Stratton and wow have they fucked it with the crowds. They run the same lifts although prices are fucked. Some of that issue is southern VT mountains get over run with NY MA CT and even RI skiers anytime its half decent because its close. Mostly they just choose a pass and hit Snow or Stratton it seems sometimes Okemo but fuck that mountain. Exactly what your saying.
cobra_commanderSteven’s Pass was real fucked at the start of the year - only 40% of the terrain was open due to staffing. Not totally a pay issue as they all got a pretty hefty pay raise when Vail took over. It was a culture and HR issue. Vail has changed out leadership bringing a long time local in and appears to be making an honest attempt to make things right.
Stowe and PCMR seem to be the most fucked of major areas regarding crowds and staffing
ikon just made everywhere crowded by reducing the cost of this luxury sport but actual operations seem to work.
skiermanIf you're talking about underpaid staffing mainly ski patrol leading to less of the resort being opened up and the destruction of the parks? Well then...
Park City
Breckenridge
Keystone
Sunapee
Crotched
Solitude
Stowe
Okemo
Attitash
Roundtop
Liberty
Big Boulder
Northstar
Yeah, fuck Vail.
eheathThis is a fair point, Aspen is great, it's just expensive, which isn't uncommon for any ski town but Aspen is just a little extra, but highlands is awesome, I've heard great things about ajax but I've never made it up there. Buttermilk is the PC of aspen, its not really worth going to IMO.
DummyBearsMy tentative plan would probably be to ski Kirkwood for weekends then and midweek to North Star for a day and the other two at heavenly Tuesday - Thur when it’s not as crowded. Thanks for the input
DummyBearsIm in an interesting situation since I would likely have to either drive 6,000 miles round trip or cough up a 400$ flight which is more affordable but then probable have to get around by a bus maybe rent a car thats just so expensive for like 10 days. I was thinking to fly into reno and hit any of the big four there but really have no idea what would be ideal. I know nothing of kirkwood and heavenly although my off guess is its like deer valley. palisades and northstar seem fun tho. Any advice
whatsamonadStratton has always been crowded as shit since it’s so far south like you said
theabortionatorKirkwood is one of my favorite places. Hit it. But def need a rental car. In general but def to get to kirkwood. Place is fun on a pow day or spring skiing.
If you have time and epic pass heavenly is cool enough good views and park actually looks decent this year. Really not a big fan of heavenly.
Northstar is cool. Parks are sick and there's some fun tree skiing and groomers.
Boreal, diamond peak, homewood, i like a lit and have cheap tickets. Kingvale just reopened with a tow rope park.
Squaw/pallisades is cool but a shitshow on a pow day getting there and even to a lift. But there is sick terrain. Parks can be pretty sick or meh depending on time of season.
Homewood, dp, and rose get slept on sometimes but they're sick.
Tahoe is a great bet. Lots of mtns. The lake is cool. Gambling and music at the casinos if anyone is into those things. Can skate all year too if skiing isn't enough.
Traffic can be bad but it really isn't terrible outside of really bad days. When it isnt a busy pow day or holiday pretty chill.
Tahoe is a great time. Reno is pretty easy to fly into. Small little airport but has some cheap flights.
In terms of great mtns close to one another, sick views, and all that it's hard to beat it. If it's not snowing it'll at least be sunny.
