How late is too late for out west?

[chrisrunsi]

So, the girlfriend is an accountant and her busy season is starting up in January. Essentially she has 1 day on the weekend to ski and I feel bad because this is the one thing she really looks forward to (I know, bad profession choice lol). Her busy time ends at the end of March and she can book time off after then. My question is, will we be getting the full benefit of western skiing during that time of the year (end of march early april)? What would be the best choices for say a 5 day trip? Trying to not rent a car so maybe somewhere that is close to an airport that can satisfy us for 3 days of skiing? Thanks in advance.

 

[wa-loaf]

Usually it's not too tough to book stuff for April. I'd wait and see how everyone is doing snow wise and then make a decision. Spring in NE can be pretty good.

 

[dmc]

I've been out west a bunch of times late season.. It can go from 60 degree days to a foot overnight..

Snowbird or Whistler may be a good option for no car...

 

[kingslug]

Last Mrch and April Alta got 148 inches...I find these can be the best months.

 

[Geoff]

I've been out west a bunch of times late season.. It can go from 60 degree days to a foot overnight..

Snowbird or Whistler may be a good option for no car...

Whistler is a good no-car option but it's not exactly close to the airport. On Perimeter Bus, it's about 3 hours (they usually stop briefly in Squamish) depending on whether you get caught in Vancouver city traffic. You burn a travel day coming and going unless you are willing to take a red-eye.

Utah does have the drawback that it's not particularly high elevation. From mid-March onwards, you really can't predict what you're going to get. Otherwise, it's certainly a very viable no-car place where you can go uber-cheap on the lodging if you want.

New Yorkers might be able to find dirt cheap flights to Geneva at that time of year. Chamonix is really close to the airport. There are all kinds of bus options to places like Tignes/Val d'Isere and Les Trois Vallees.

 

[chrisrunsi]

Last Mrch and April Alta got 148 inches...I find these can be the best months.

I like the way you talk. I guess will have to wait another month before I can really evalute what the conditions will be. I'll be sure to use a site with no cancellation fees lol.

 

[andyzee]

I like the way you talk. I guess will have to wait another month before I can really evalute what the conditions will be. I'll be sure to use a site with no cancellation fees lol.

You do have to be careful with Utah, regardless of condition mountains close by a certain date due to lease agreements with the state, Alta would be one of them, Snowbird is not. I'm seeing April 18th for Alta this year

 

[kingslug]

I went to Utah last Jan and Feb...and got about 8 inches of pow between the 2 trips......and then read the reports come in from March and April when they got 2 and 3 feet at a clip... this year ...I'm waiting.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Lake Tahoe area is notorious for late season mega dumps on the order of 3,4 even up to 10ft in a week during March.Keep an eye on the prize and wait to book something later when you see where the goods are.

 

[Dr Skimeister]

I did a spur-of-the-moment trip to Summit County, CO, a few years ago for the second week in April. Skied Breck, Loveland and Vail while out there-none of which was anything less than 75% open. Got lodging in Silverthorne. A 2 BR condo for $50/night! Conditions were stellar and no crowds at all.
Cheap lodging more than made up for the cost of the car rental. And the condo owner got us comp lift tickets for Loveland.

 

[chrisrunsi]

Got lodging in Silverthorne. A 2 BR condo for $50/night! Conditions were stellar and no crowds at all.
Cheap lodging more than made up for the cost of the car rental.

That's a good option as well. Personally I prefer to have a car for many reasons but since I will be paying for the trip (kind of a surprise) I was tryin gto cut corners lol

 

[snowmonster]

I was out in Whistler on April 19 and 20 and that was right smack in the midst of their TELUS music festival. Cover was great though the locals were complaining how rotten the snow was (it wasn't). A week later they switched to a part-time schedule on the lifts. Hotel rates were reasonable and you get good discounts on lift tix through the hotel. Getting to Whistler from Vancouver airport can be a pain. The bus is a good option but I had to nix this option because my flight left at noon and the earliest bus left at 7. Cutting it close. The bus schedule changes late season. I rented a car and got a reasonable rate. It's a good option since you can break the trip and explore BC and Vancouver.

 

[millerm277]

Depending on when you go, there are some amazingly cheap deals in the Tahoe area late season. Rented an entirely renovated (HDTV, new appliances, new floors, hot tub, nice everything) 3 Bedroom 2 bath house for $110 a night, in South Lake Tahoe 5 minutes from the CA base of Heavenly. Heavenly had pretty good cover the last week of March, Kirkwood had a ton of snow, and it was 60F and sunny there.

I'd consider Tahoe a good option, but I'd wait until you see how the snowfall is shaping up before booking, regardless of where you're going.

 

[dmc]

I spent my 30th bday in Tahoe and the end on May..

Skied Squawllywood and Alpine... Tons of terrain open..

 

[Geoff]

I spent my 30th bday in Tahoe and the end on May..

Skied Squawllywood and Alpine... Tons of terrain open..

That's the good old days. Alpine Meadows now closes really early. Squaw used to run into June up on Granite Chief but now seems to close mid-May. Their scheduled closing date this season is May 10th.

If you want lots of skiing late, you do places like A-Basin and Whistler. Even Snowbird drops down to weekends-only in much of May.

 

[snoseek]

April is my favorite month in Colorado. Even if it doesn't dump the snow preservation at places like Loveland, Abasin, even Breck are great. Best part is the mountains slow right down right around the beginning of April so you have it all to yourself. Stick with Summit or the San Juans and avoid Steamboat or Vail due to lower elevations. My two best powder days in Colorado were both well over three feet, both blower pow, and both at the end of April.

Utah can go either way. I had an entire April one year that I will never forget (it just snowed and snowed)and two that were kind of spotty, good base, some snow but worked hard by the sun in between. Elevation and humidity are big factors. No snow=still fun playing on Pali face/East Wall. New England is at it's best then, particulary Sugarloaf

 

[bigbog]

Over on Epicski.com there's a fellow, Bob Peters, excellent skier...also a real estate guy...lives around JacksonHole...routinely takes pics to spite us all...on July 4th..getting turns up on the Divide that are equivalent to our April springtime turns @Tuckerman.... (*Not any affiliation...just a friendly guy out West).
**Aside from all previously mentioned...it might be interesting to check now & then for any deals out at Whistler after the Olympics....they're having a bumper winter at present....

 

[snoseek]

Maybe to difficult to get to but Mammoth will likely be real good the way the patterns seem to be setting up. I personally would go with regions that benefit from a southwest flow because that seems to be the recent trend that will likely continue.

 

[abc]

Whistler is a good no-car option but it's not exactly close to the airport. On Perimeter Bus, it's about 3 hours (they usually stop briefly in Squamish) depending on whether you get caught in Vancouver city traffic. You burn a travel day coming and going unless you are willing to take a red-eye.

Utah does have the drawback that it's not particularly high elevation. From mid-March onwards, you really can't predict what you're going to get. Otherwise, it's certainly a very viable no-car place where you can go uber-cheap on the lodging if you want.

New Yorkers might be able to find dirt cheap flights to Geneva at that time of year. Chamonix is really close to the airport. There are all kinds of bus options to places like Tignes/Val d'Isere and Les Trois Vallees.

Utah low altitude??? Salt Lake City is a lot higher than Whistler!!!

For just 3 days of skiing, I'd fly to Salt Lake City, take the airport shuttle up to the lodge at Snowbird and ski there. No fuss, no stress.

Snow condition in early April at high altitude resorts are generally excellent. The problem the OP would likely run into on the other hand, is the "no car" requirements. April being "late season", a lot of the regular ski season transports stop running. Chamonix and 3 Vally, for example, have lots of bus/shuttle to Geneva airport but many of them stop running after Easter (1st weekend of April). Same situation with the ski shuttle at Salt Lake City. I ski Utah a lot, especially in April. And I often had to rent cars because the shuttle had stop running...

 

[bigbog]

.Yep..I agree totally with SLC abc, .....didn't read orig posters wishes enough...just some of it...