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planning now for trip out west for next season

lou12572

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Jan 30, 2012
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rhinebeck, ny
hi all
im new to these forums
i'm starting now on planning a trip out west for 3 adults 1 teen for next season.
i'm starting a dedicated account for this and was woundering about a ballpark figure for cost. i understand there will be increases b/w seasons it would be for 5 days late march. also would like suggestions for where to go. we are all advanced skiers and riders.
thanks much
lou
 

Puck it

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SLC is a good bet for conditions, but airfare is expensive. Lodging is cheap in Sandy and you can get anywhere from.

JHMR skiing is great, but airfare and lodging is expensive

Summit County Airfare to Denver is cheap but you need a rental car. Lodging can be inexpensive also.

Big Sky expensive all around (my next though)

Reno/Tahoe can be cheap for lodging but you will need to drive and airfare is reasonable.
 

kingslug

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The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Utah has good deals in March and April and if you don't mind just staying up there you don't need a car.
 

drjeff

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hi all
im new to these forums
i'm starting now on planning a trip out west for 3 adults 1 teen for next season.
i'm starting a dedicated account for this and was woundering about a ballpark figure for cost. i understand there will be increases b/w seasons it would be for 5 days late march. also would like suggestions for where to go. we are all advanced skiers and riders.
thanks much
lou

4 people. If you want to factor in everything from airfare to lodging to tickets to meals to transportation at that time of the year, if you really look around you can probably pull it all together for as little as $150 per person per day with a little flexibility as to the days you travel on and how far away you stay from the mountain(s) all the way up to literally many thousands a day per person.

I will totally admit a bias towards the Salt Lake City area. Having Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Canyons, Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley, Snowbasin, Powder Mountain and Sundance accessible within an hour of most places you'd stay, and an airport that is both pretty weather "safe" and also less that 50 miles (often less than 30 miles for most of the areas I mentioned) with a bunch of interstate highway between the airport and the ski areas is a good thing in my book. Plus, you've got a TON of restaurants across all price ranges and culinary styles available to you.
 

snoseek

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Wait last minute

book where its snowing via hotwire, priceline

ski powder

Are they still talking El Nino next winter?
 

lou12572

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Jan 30, 2012
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rhinebeck, ny
thanks guys for all the info keep it comming:-D
me and the wife are putting 100.00 each in to the fund
each payceck and more iff possible, got college fund also
needs funding. copying and pasting info for the folder too.
thanks much for all the info it is greatly appreciated.
lou
 

thetrailboss

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The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Utah has good deals in March and April and if you don't mind just staying up there you don't need a car.

+1. SLC is an easy airport to get in and out of. Very close to Snowbird and you can ge up there easily. Snowbird does run good deals and the Cliff is very nice.
 

Paul_M

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Feb 23, 2012
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Whistler.

It's an expensive deal might as well go big. It's 2 long days of travel on either end whereas SLC to NY is fairly painless. I've been looking around for the past month and flights are high to Spokane, SLC, and Reno right now. Use points and mileage and I would limit the trip to NLT the 2nd week of March. FYI Easter is earlier next year which always effects the date of spring break, flight and hotel availability and price.
 
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AdironRider

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4 Adults with lift tickets and slopeside lodging runs about 400 a day at Jackson, holiday periods excluded. These are decent digs and the best terrain in North America, but don't expect the Four Seasons. This will put you in the Village Center Inn, right next to the tram. The rooms have kitchens, but I personally dont like cooking while on vacation, and you'd have to take a cab into town, which is ridiculously overpriced and will run you 100 bucks minimum. At least the cabs here are Escalades and Tahoes for the most part.

Food is more expensive here than most other areas, count on at least another 200 a day for that unless you want to make pb&j's for yourself, which as I mentioned above, is not really worth it. Supermarket prices are pretty high due to how far everything is trucked in to get here.

So minimum you are looking at 3k plus airfare (5-600 per person round trip) for a 5 day trip to JHole for 4 people. Its worth it compared to the junk shows that are Colorado and Utah. Our lift lines are maybe 1/10th the size of those places.
 

RISkier

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In terms of costs and convenience it's very hard to beat SLC. If you stay in some of the Inns down in the Sandy and Midvale areas you can probably stay and ski for around $100 / person-day. You'd want (you could get by without but you'll want) a car, preferably all wheel drive. As others have said, there is a ton of skiing within an hour or so of the airport. A downside is that it doesn't really feel like a ski vacation. SLC is an urban area with some smog when there are inversions. The Sandy and Midvale areas, which are near the roads to Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, and Solitude are suburban with car dealerships, strip malls, chain restaurants, etc. There's often little or no snow in the valley. Park City is more like a real ski resort, and you can certainly stay in PC and get to almost any area within an hour or so. But, I think the skiing is better in the Cottonwoods, especially late season, and you'll pay more to stay in PC. You might also take a look at someplace like Frisco, CO. It's about 6 miles to Copper, 9 miles to Breck, 12-15 miles to Keystone and Arapahoe Basin, half an hour or so (assuming clear roads) to Vail and a little further to Beaver Creek. Main St. Frisco is lined with Victorian buildings. Quite a lot of dining and drinking options though it never felt really crowded or over the top. Kind of like a mini town of Breckenridge. My wife and I like Frisco a lot. Frisco is over 9k feet and the skiing is very high. Typically would mean good conditions especially later in the season (and A-Basin is known for Spring skiing) but altitude can take it's toll on some folks. Never stayed in Breck but it seems like a really cool town. I usually find plane fairs to Denver less expensive than to SLC but the cost of skiing and lodging will likely be higher (at least higher than what you could find in SLC). Lots of other great places but I generally find them harder to get to and pricier. I've looked at trips to Big Sky and Telluride and so on. And of course it would depend on your destination airport but I find travel time is generally longer, connections are often pretty inconvenient for the lower cost fares, etc.
 

40Berg

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I put together some rough numbers last week to help choose my 2013 trip. I'm not sure how accurate the "Nearest Mountain" column is - I've never been to most of these - but it should give you a general idea. Hopefully it helps.

The prices were based on an April 15 flight from Newark, so obviously flight pricing will fluctuate.

(PS - I think Jackson Hole is my winner.)

Flight.jpg
 

AdironRider

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458 is below average cost for a RT flight into Jackson. Ive gotten under 500 bucks twice in 5 years of living here and flying in and out 3-4 times a year. I have averaged more like 525-550.

Edit, just checked your dates. Jackson Hole is not open on April 15th. Will not be next year either. Also, its about 45 minutes from the Airport to the ski hill in the winter time when the Moose-Wilson Road is closed. 20 minutes will get you into town and Snow King, which is the closest ski area to the airport.
 

Paul_M

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I put together some rough numbers last week to help choose my 2013 trip. I'm not sure how accurate the "Nearest Mountain" column is - I've never been to most of these - but it should give you a general idea. Hopefully it helps.

The prices were based on an April 15 flight from Newark, so obviously flight pricing will fluctuate.

(PS - I think Jackson Hole is my winner.)

Flight.jpg

What's the source of those flight prices?
 

MadPadraic

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RT airfare to denver will be under $250. You can get liftopia tickets to a-basin or copper for $60, but will pay much more for the 4 vail resorts. Breck's town is awesome, but slightly pricey. Much cheaper lodging options exist elsewhere in Summit county.
 

lou12572

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Jan 30, 2012
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rhinebeck, ny
guys
thanks for all this info.
utah, summit county and jackson were
the one we are looking to do. all the information
is exactly what we are looking for.
lou
 

jaytrem

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guys
thanks for all this info.
utah, summit county and jackson were
the one we are looking to do. all the information
is exactly what we are looking for.
lou

To lower the price a bit you might consider getting a credit card/checking/investment account, that gets you enough miles for a free flight. I almost never pay for a flight anymore, and usually fly 4-7 times a year. It's a tiny amount of work considering the money saved. The rule of thumb on credit cards is 1 every 6 months so that you don't lower your credit score too much. That's not such a factor with checking/investment accounts.

Also, for a rental car. Even if I think there's a slight chance I'll be going somewhere I'll book a car immediatly. Then check back every so often and see if the price has dropped, if so rebook. If I don't end up going, I just cancel.

As for location, most of the time the easier a place is to get to the more crowded it is. I also like the "mom rule", if my mom has heard of the place it will probably be more crowded than a place she hasn't heard of. Depending on your groups preferences you can adjust accordingly. Some people don't mind longer drives in the morning to avoid crowds, others prefer staying slopeside. Happy medium type places could be New Mexico and Spokane (northern Idaho).
 
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