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JacobthesadskierEurope based skier, never been to the u.s before, I've got an epic pass for the season and was planning on maybe getting an amtrak pass for the month and exploring a few different resorts, was just wondering if anyone had any good recs for some resorts that're accessible via train. Cheers.
StaticIf you go to the major ski centers, like Colorado or Utah you can take buses from the international airports right to the ski towns, there are buses and shuttles that run all over the towns. You absolutely do not need a car for a ski trip in america.
eheath"Right to the ski towns" is a bit generous, more like take one train, then take a bus, then take another bus. And if you're not in the perfect window to catch all of these busses, it's gonna take you a full day to get anywhere.
Maybe it's better in Colorado (doubt it) but public transit in Utah is made for people going to work, not going to ski.
It's possible to not have a car, but it's pretty inconvenient.
Staticshared shuttle busses are like $50 pp and take you right from the airport to your lodging
hi_vis360I have bad news for you. Americas passenger rail infrastructure is complete dogshit. It is an embarrassment to the nation. Way worse than pretty much everywhere in Europe and Asia. They are slow, overpriced, and often delayed. And I am saying this as someone who loves traveling by rail and takes any opportunity to do so. I can’t think of a single ski resort that can be accessed by train.
PsychicMigrationThis seems like a waste of time on the east coast. Probably more cost effective for both time and money to rent a car. You can get reasonably close to most places in VT but its going to require at least some driving mostly at least a half hour or more but its possible to do.
eheathnobody is going to the east coast from europe haha
partyandBSi was thinking the same thing lol. when i was in vermont there would be the occasional group from the uk that would fly into montreal and drive down to stowe because it was significantly cheaper but that’s an outlier for sure. if your spending the money to come to america your gonna go somewhere with better
JacobthesadskierThanks for the reply mate, if you're talking about shit rail networks and want to go down a rabbit hole, may I introduce the UK's rail network, quicker to use in 1920 than it is now, it's cheaper to rent a fucking Mercedes benz than buy a train ticket, and 100 million spent on a train shed for a line that's never even going to go into service, not to mention there's strikes every other week.
hi_vis360I’m telling you it is even worse than that here, you have no idea. I’m going to Boston this weekend, can’t wait to hear the T make a bunch of squealing noises while it goes 5mph through a completely indecipherable network
Goretex_VidalIt’s faster for me to walk anywhere the T goes most days, especially when you’re taking the Orange Line
JacobthesadskierThanks for the reply mate, if you're talking about shit rail networks and want to go down a rabbit hole, may I introduce the UK's rail network, quicker to use in 1920 than it is now, it's cheaper to rent a fucking Mercedes benz than buy a train ticket, and 100 million spent on a train shed for a line that's never even going to go into service, not to mention there's strikes every other week.
eheathWell thats a bit different than taking public transit lol
eheath"Right to the ski towns" is a bit generous, more like take one train, then take a bus, then take another bus. And if you're not in the perfect window to catch all of these busses, it's gonna take you a full day to get anywhere.
Maybe it's better in Colorado (doubt it) but public transit in Utah is made for people going to work, not going to ski.
It's possible to not have a car, but it's pretty inconvenient.
hi_vis360I’m telling you it is even worse than that here, you have no idea. I’m going to Boston this weekend, can’t wait to hear the T make a bunch of squealing noises while it goes 5mph through a completely indecipherable network
Goretex_VidalIt’s faster for me to walk anywhere the T goes most days, especially when you’re taking the Orange Line
My daily commute is a 24 minute bike ride or a 42 minute green line trip.
**This post was edited on Nov 8th 2024 at 7:54:09pm
Farmville420Denver has a train that drops you off right at the base of Winter Park, and Boulder has a bus that takes your right to the base of Eldora. There is also a bus from Denver to Frisco which is pretty damn close to copper. I've met a couple people with no car that just walk over to union station at like 8am and they are skiing by 9:30 AM, it is not that bad just kind of expensive if you already own a car. (Also definitely more catered towards ikon mountains than vail mountains, which was probably part of their acquisition strategy tbh)
partyandBSi was thinking the same thing lol. when i was in vermont there would be the occasional group from the uk that would fly into montreal and drive down to stowe because it was significantly cheaper but that’s an outlier for sure. if your spending the money to come to america your gonna go somewhere with better
Goretex_VidalIt’s faster for me to walk anywhere the T goes most days, especially when you’re taking the Orange Line
My daily commute is a 24 minute bike ride or a 42 minute green line trip.
**This post was edited on Nov 8th 2024 at 7:54:09pm
hi_vis360Honestly I kinda enjoy it for purely for the comedy, it was the first train I rode after studying abroad in Japan and I was laughing the entire ride it’s so clickity clackity
JacobthesadskierThanks for the reply mate, if you're talking about shit rail networks and want to go down a rabbit hole, may I introduce the UK's rail network, quicker to use in 1920 than it is now, it's cheaper to rent a fucking Mercedes benz than buy a train ticket, and 100 million spent on a train shed for a line that's never even going to go into service, not to mention there's strikes every other week.
foolmetwiceLike other folks already said, the train system in America is significantly worse than what you have in the UK. Sadly, our country has been designed for cars and there is little political motivation to change that. That said, there are actually a few resorts that sort of (emphasis on sort of) meet the criteria of being accessible by train. Whitefish Montana and Winter Park Colorado have trains that go pretty much right up to the resort. You can take Amtrak to Denver Union station and then hop on the train to winter park or buses (bustang) to many other Colorado resorts. Amtrak also serves Salt Lake City, Utah, and you could take the free HVT (high valley transit) bus from the amtrak station there up to park city, or take the blue line Trax (light rail) to connect to the ski buses that go up to Snowbird, Alta, Brighton, and Solitude. Or take frontrunner (commuter train) from the same place and go north to Ogden where you can connect to the ski bus that serves snowbasin. Truckee California has an Amtrak stop where you could connect to free buses going to either palisades or Northstar. You could also get off in Reno and take the bus from there down to Mammoth. Portland Oregon has Amtrak service which you could eventually connect with a few buses to get up to Timberline (mount hood). Seattle is also served by Amtrak but not sure if any of the Seattle area resorts have public transit access. You could take the Amtrak cascades line from Seattle up to Vancouver and connect to buses going up to Whistler. That’s all I can think of. There are likely more (and more feasible) options closer to the east coast but the skiing would be far worse.
foolmetwiceI think a dope, semi feasible US ski train/bus trip with only Epic pass resorts would be to fly into Denver, A line light rail from the airport to Union station, bustang up to Frisco, use local buses to get to Breckenridge, Keystone and vail, bustang back to Union station, Amtrak from Denver union station to Salt Lake City Amtrak station, HVT bus to Park City, local buses to get to park city mountain, HVT back to SLC, Amtrak from SLC to Truckee, local buses to Northstar and Heavenly, might have to hitchhike to Kirkwood (up there with best in bounds freeride terrain anywhere in the world), make your way back to Truckee, Amtrak to San Francisco, Amtrak from San Francisco to Seattle, maybe try to get up to Stevens Pass if you can find a way, Amtrak from Seattle to Vacouver, local buses to connect to Whistler. Fly out of Vancouver to get back to wherever you came from
