Mid December Western Trip - Jackson Hole vs. Snowbird

[NYDB]

Seeking advice on western trip ideas pre Christmas break. I am thinking 12/15-12/21 or thereabouts. Maybe 4 days on the snow, 5 days total. Full Ikon passes.

Lets put all covid concerns aside for the purposes of this thread.

Should I just wait to see who gets dumped on and book as late as possible? ( I think this is the answer)

From what I have seen even pre covid this time frame usually has cheap flights and slopeside lodging is a bit less expensive.

Is either more of a sure bet on having more terrain open this early in the season?

Or assuming equal snowfall, is one more apt to have more expert terrain open?

 

[FBGM]

way more possibility of Cougars mad at their rich husbands to go to smash town on in Jackson.

 

[NYDB]

Hmmmmm......I wasn't considering the local cougar population. Clearly an oversight on my part. Perhaps I should add Aspen to the list of possible spots?

 

[jimk]

Typically Snowbird will probably have better early season conditions, but JH gets it too at times. And I agree to wait for late decision based on current conditions. Sounds like you're looking for slopeside, that should still be available at those times at both places. Of course, non slopeside in SLC area is very plentiful at almost all times.

Cougar?:razz:

 

[nhskier1969]

Depending what type of skier you are, I would go with Alta/Snowbird. More reliable snow, alot of their black runs(excluding the hike to terrain) only needs a few feet of snow to open. Jackson hole, blacks need about 5 feet to open up.

Also stay in Alta, you'll have a better shot going back to your room for lunch.

 

[Glade Monkey]

Seeking advice on western trip ideas pre Christmas break. I am thinking 12/15-12/21 or thereabouts. Maybe 4 days on the snow, 5 days total. Full Ikon passes.

Lets put all covid concerns aside for the purposes of this thread.

Should I just wait to see who gets dumped on and book as late as possible? ( I think this is the answer)

From what I have seen even pre covid this time frame usually has cheap flights and slopeside lodging is a bit less expensive.

Is either more of a sure bet on having more terrain open this early in the season?

Or assuming equal snowfall, is one more apt to have more expert terrain open?

Definitely wait.
The main problem with Ikon pass at JHMR is they open reservations for tickets to general public on October 5th, but don't open the Ikon to reserve spots until November 9th. So, that week might already be "sold out" by the time you can reserve days.

Snowbird requires parking reservations for all Ikon passholders and they don't plan to open until Nov 30th. That is later than normal for them so I'd expect more open terrain.

 

[NYDB]

Depending what type of skier you are, I would go with Alta/Snowbird. More reliable snow, alot of their black runs(excluding the hike to terrain) only needs a few feet of snow to open. Jackson hole, blacks need about 5 feet to open up.

Also stay in Alta, you'll have a better shot going back to your room for lunch.

I'm terrible at skiing. But I can snowboard pretty well. This trip will be me and my 12 year old who also rides pretty well.

So no alta, and no real desire to hit other IKON SLC areas as we visited there a couple years back.

So SLC will be the bird only. If we hit JH I might hit Grand Targhee for a day since we have some friends in Victor.

 

[NYDB]

Definitely wait.
The main problem with Ikon pass at JHMR is they open reservations for tickets to general public on October 5th, but don't open the Ikon to reserve spots until November 9th. So, that week might already be "sold out" by the time you can reserve days.

Snowbird requires parking reservations for all Ikon passholders and they don't plan to open until Nov 30th. That is later than normal for them so I'd expect more open terrain.

I doubt that a pre holiday week will be sold out at JHMR, but you never know since this is all new obviously. Another reason to wait.

If I hit the Bird I'll be staying at the mountain so no parking concerns. They have decent enough lodging deals pre 12/21