ABC's ski bumming season 2017, Part II, North America

[abc]

As I mentioned in earlier post, I was originally planning to go to Jackson last week, right after my little break back home. But weather pattern was such it favors staying in Utah. I changed my plan and was rewarded with 2 glorious days of full on powder in Park City/Canyons! http://forums.alpinezone.com/showth...2-24-2017-Park-City-UT-Bonus-days-Powder-Daze

Deciding not to fight the Salt Lake city crowds on the weekend, I moved on. forecast was calling for daily snow fall in Jackson, adding up to almost a foot. I made my way there.

Saturday was my travel day. I made my lazy way over to Jackson, stopping to check out Lava Hot Spring. It was refreshing to soak my tired muscles from the 2 days of "hard work" lapping powders.

After the hot spring, I expected the next 2 1/2 hr of easy driving to Jackson. Instead, I found myself driving white knuckled on a road that's got several inches of blown in snow, courtesy of my in-car navigation system. At one point, I started to doubt if I were on the right road! I stopped to check a REAL map (paper map). That's when a couple cars (I mean trucks) came by. And after a quick consultation to reaffirm that I was indeed driving in a well-established state route (which just had a lot of snow on it!), I proceeded slowly and cautiously through that snow field. It took much longer than the distance would indicate. And that's on a good weather day.

 

[dlague]

Enjoy!

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[abc]

After 4 picture-less but NOT powder-less days in Jackson, during which nearly a foot of new snow had fallen (http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/139109-Jackson-2-26?p=973109#post973109), I'm moving on toSun Valleynext.

So yesterday (Tuesday) right after the lift closes, I drove straight towards Idaho Falls. It was "only" 90 miles away according to both google and my in-car GPS. I kind of expected to make it there before night fall. But what neither navigation system took into account, is the winter road condition!

I made the infamous Teton pass in good time. There's still an hour of daylight and only 60 miles to Idaho Falls.

An innocent left turn at Victor found me in another well-marked state route that hadn't seem to have seen a plow since Christmas! There's so much snow on the road I couldn't even see the edge!!!

Remembering the white knuckled drive from Lava Hot Spring to Jackson 4 days earlier, I was in no mood to repeat the same experience. But even turning around was not an easy task when one can't see the edge of the road! Finally, after nearly 1/2 mile, a lonely structure appeared on the side of the road. Some kind of business. I couldn't care less what it was. It was a place for me to make a U turn!

Taking a careful look at the map (with terrain info turned on), I decided I would go the long way around on a route which, unlike the one I was on that went through the middle of nowhere, the alternate route appears to connect many villages every 10 miles or so (as opposed to 25 miles of no civilization!). I figured there should be more traffic on it and the road better maintained.

It was 20 miles extra in distance. But that's just 20 extra minutes if the road condition is good. It beats crawling along at 15 mph on a road that I can't see the edge of!

My guesswork turned out better than I dare to hope. The road were well cleared of snow. And there's just enough traffic on it that I could easily follow them along, at about 75mph average! So I made it to Idaho Falls not much later than originally planned.

Spending the night at Idaho Falls splits the distance between Jackson and Sun Valley. More over, there's absolutely NOTHING beyond Idaho Falls for the next 100 miles! I didn't fancy driving till 9-10 o'clock in a road that has ZERO traffic (I drove that stretch last year, in opposite direction, but during daylight hours, it was an extremely lonely road!)

 

[abc]

This morning, I had to do an hour long phone interview before I can hit the road to Sun Valley. I picked the hour of 9 EST, which is 7am in Idaho. So I was on the road at a reasonable time.

The stretch from Idaho Falls to Arco is just as lonely as I remembered it. Only 2 notable landmarks: Crater of the Moon National Monument and the Atomic Museum across from INL (stands for Idaho National Lab, it turns out). Both were closed in the winter. So you got the idea of the landscape I was driving through.

Arrived at Sun Valley in good time and skied a good part of the day.
http://forums.alpinezone.com/showth...-with-posh-bathrooms-quot?p=973454#post973454

 

[abc]

The lonely Moon like landscape:

 

[dlague]

That is cool!

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[benski]

Next time use waze. It crowdsources road conditions from its users so there is a chance it would have none better than to send you on such a bad road.

 

[abc]

Next time use waze. It crowdsources road conditions from its users so there is a chance it would have none better than to send you on such a bad road.

I found the best source is actually a map with topo information. Strangely, majority of maps don't offer that information up without one having to hunt for it!

The route I ultimately choose to take skirt around the hills. The roads are straight, except to hit nearby villages. not wiggly as the one google/garmin try to sent me over! Was able to fly at 70-80mph average. Pretty much make up the difference in distance in no time (penalty)

I'm a big fan of crowd sourcing, when appropriate. But by nature, it's not the best in predicting non-routine event such as winter road condition which changes from day to day. Relying on navigation software of any sort in winter is only for those who don't know how to to it themselves, or are too lazy to find routes using available information. I got burned once for being too lazy. Not going to let google/garmin to take charge of my life going forward.

 

[benski]

I'm a big fan of crowd sourcing, when appropriate. But by nature, it's not the best in predicting non-routine event such as winter road condition which changes from day to day. Relying on navigation software of any sort in winter is only for those who don't know how to to it themselves, or are too lazy to find routes using available information. I got burned once for being too lazy. Not going to let google/garmin to take charge of my life going forward.

What is your strategy? I all I do is try to avoid very windy roads though I have very little experience.

 

[abc]

Here's a real time example. Right now, there's a storm between me and my destination (Whistler).

It took me a bit to find out there is a mountain pass that I have to cross. (Again, I wish all maps have elevation information, but sadly, few does). Will that pass be treacherous when it snows?

As luck would have it, I shared a chair with a guy from Seattle. They too, will be driving from Sun Valley to Seattle tomorrow. They too, are concerned about the storm. Fortunately for me, he gave me some local tips on where to look for information about the condition on the pass.

In the worst case, the pass will be closed! And I would have to head west to Oregon first. That adds like 100 miles! But compare to getting stuck with no way across for 2 days, it's still the lessor of 2 evils.

So first thing tomorrow morning I will be checking the condition of the pass.

 

[abc]

Just crossed into the state of Washington!

So it turns out my luck was good with the weather. There's a break in the storm, the pass was clear in the afternoon and early evening. I crossed it late afternoon. By then, the road had been cleared of any residual snow from the overnight accumulation.

I'm now north of the border, about 2 hrs from Whistler. Up early tomorrow, hope to be on the slope not too late.

 

[abc]

I made a big boo-boo yesterday.

After skiing at Sun Valley, I moved on, intending to spend the night at Boise, about 2 to 2 1/2 hr away.

Why Boise? Because it's a decent size city, have many hotels and restaurants. What I didn't count on, was the Idaho state high school basketball championship at Boise this weekend. So all hotels/motels within 50 mile radius were booked solid!

Now, I didn't just assumed there are many hotels and motels at Boise, I actually went online to get a sense of the availability and price earlier! Only problem was, most online "aggregator" sites don't just tell me all hotels were booked solid. It simply listed hotels 50-100 miles away!!!

Not familiar with the name of places, I didn't catch on the fact the hotels listed, with reasonable pricing, were actually 60 miles away!!!

So when did I find out? By the time I got closed to Boise, around 7 o'clock, I started seeing hotels on the outskirt of the city. I then called them to ask for their availability and price for the night! That's when I found out about the basketball tournament and no room within 50 miles!

There's no much I could do but to drive on for another hour and found the last room at Ontario, Oregon!

The good thing about that boo boo is, the combination of an hour extra driving last night, and the pass being clear of snow, I managed to make it all the way across the border, within striking distance of Whistler to ski tomorrow.

(the Canadian immigration officer was quite impressed by my New York state plate. A relatively long conversation on how I ended up in the other side of the continent!)

 

[abc]

Storm!!!
(fortunately, this is the tail end of it, and it caught me in the flatland -- rain & slush instead of snow).


Colorful map showing terrain (mountains & wiggly roads -- we're talking interstates here: I-90)

 

[abc]

So I lucked out with the weather. Sneaking through the mountains in dry Roads

imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and look out of my window:

View attachment 22062

 

[abc]

So, the week of skiing at Whistler past like a blur...
http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/139143-Whistler-BC-Canada-3-5

The forecast for Sunday was an unappetizing wet up to 1800m. So instead of paying through my nose for lodging at Whistler on a Saturday night, I left in the driving rain. Being the ultimate optimist, I only drove down valley for 45 minutes. That netted me a room for C$80 (~US$60). I rationalize I'm in position to head back up to Whistler if the weather prove to be better than forecast predicted.

But the forecast was accurate. Early morning report from Whistler was kind of wet in the village and completely socked in top of mountain. I've seen enough of Whistler that I can pass on the rain this time around. Instead, I spend my last day in Canada pigging out on the best Chinese food in North America at Vancouver.

More importantly, I need to formulate a plan of attack for the rest of my ski bumming season, now that Whistler is in the pocket.

 

[snoseek]

So, the week of skiing at Whistler past like a blur...
http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/139143-Whistler-BC-Canada-3-5

The forecast for Sunday was an unappetizing wet up to 1800m. So instead of paying through my nose for lodging at Whistler on a Saturday night, I left in the driving rain. Being the ultimate optimist, I only drove down valley for 45 minutes. That netted me a room for C$80 (~US$60). I rationalize I'm in position to head back up to Whistler if the weather prove to be better than forecast predicted.

But the forecast was accurate. Early morning report from Whistler was kind of wet in the village and completely socked in top of mountain. I've seen enough of Whistler that I can pass on the rain this time around. Instead, I spend my last day in Canada pigging out on the best Chinese food in North America at Vancouver.

More importantly, I need to formulate a plan of attack for the rest of my ski bumming season, now that Whistler is in the pocket.

Maybe you should take a drive down to Tahoe, stay cheap in South Lake (there's tons of cheap rooms) and ski sunshine and deep base.

 

[jimk]

I met ABC in Whistler. Now I am even more impressed with the grand ski sabbatical. Amazing example of independence and determination to transit the continent solo and experience a big chunk of the ski world. This is a person facing a major disruption in work/career and took life by the horns to make it an opportunity for a great adventure! I wish I had made time to discuss your trip with you while we were both at Whistler, there were so many people in the group and so much action going on. Well done and safe travels as you continue your journey.

 

[abc]

Jim, thanks for the kind words. Sorry we didn't run into each other until the very last day. I would have loved to discuss with you on that topic since you've done pretty much the same last season.

While I travel alone, a lot of my skiing were done with friends at various locations. Further more, a lot of the stops were on familiar ground from my previous travels. So it wasn't quite as "epic" (i.e. scary) as it may seem. Still, I do have an inkling that my "ski sabbatical" does break quite a few stereotypes.

And I do enjoy the experience enormously, as well as many lessons I learned along the way.

It was great we got to ski together for a few hours, especially on that memorable day.

 

[abc]

So back to the plan of attack for the 2nd half of my season-bumming.

You see, the 1st half of my season had been simple: to enjoy as many of the Rockies resorts included in my 2 passes (MCP + Epic) as I made my way to Whistler to meet up with the gathering of the Epic "Bears".

But as the weather dictates, I ended up spending more days in Utah and Jackson, and skipping Banff and Revelstoke.

Here I'm in Vancouver, after recovering a little bit, I have to make a plan on where to go next.

I can either go as originally planned, which is head south along the pacific coast till I end up in Lake Tahoe. Tour some of the Tahoe mountains I haven't done or haven't done enough of. Or alternatively, I could double back east and hit Revelstoke and Banff that I missed earlier. But to do the latter would means I'll miss the Tahoe mountains.

Unfortunately, the whole of western US/Canada are under the blow torch this week. Revelstoke is expecting top of bottom rain on either Tuesday or Wednesday! How long will it take for it to recover from that? Banff seems to fare better. But no new powder every which direction I turn.

Then I remembered someone mentioned the new MCP pass for next year. Lake Louise and Sunshine will both get TWO days each for next year. So, rather than just doing 2 days in Banff this year, I decided I'll let it go and wait till next season to spend 4 days there, plus 2 more in Revelstoke.

Going to Tahoe is looking appealing also because my Epic pass will give me UNLIMITED access to THREE mountains: Northstar, Heavenly and Kirkwood. Two of the three I've not ski much: Kirkwood only 1 day and Northstar zero days. Since I'm unlikely to get the Epic pass next year, this is the year to hit those mountains in Tahoe.

I'm missing out on the lovely Canadian dollar discount. Though on the other hand, Tahoe lodging is cheap as chips. So the overall expense will likely be less going to Tahoe.

Tahoe is also under the blow torch right now. But at least there's no RAIN in the forecast! If I can't have powder, the least I could do is be dry!

Also, after a whole week In Whistler which I only saw the sun for at most 2 hrs altogether (on top of the previous week of non-stop snow in Jackson), sunshine and blow torch actually start sounding rather appealing.

So on Monday, I pointed the car south and started the grueling 2 day drive from Vancouver to Lake Tahoe.

At least this stretch of the drive will NOT be mind-numbingly boring as the 3 day from NY to CO through the featureless Midwest In fact, I'm driving alongside the spectacular Cascade range. Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot of time to detour to sightsee. So, only the occasional glimpse of the snow-caped mountains whenever I could take my eyes off the road (mind you, roads busy enough to almost rival the NY tri-state area)!

 

[dlague]

That photo must be a vision of something in the southern hemisphere.

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