My longest drive to ski ever

[BenedictGomez]

Door to door - with overnight stops in Ohio, Iowa, and Wyoming. Something like 29 or 30 hours of drive time.

I'll still check in here as I'll always want to know how all ski things are going out east!

 

[ss20]

Congrats BG. Welcome! Remember...95% of people's problems with Utah skiing are only relevant 5% of the days of the season. And a 60 minute drive that's supposed to only take 30 minutes is still better than driving NJ to VT!!

 

[jimk]

Good luck with relocation to UT. In Feb 2021 I was unvaccinated. In an attempt to minimize exposure to covid I drove from Wash DC to SLC in two days. 17 hrs, then 8 hrs in a motel, then 17 more hours. I got about five hrs of sleep in the motel as it took me a while to unwind from caffeine and sugar. It snowed for many hours on both driving days. I was alone and my eyeballs were hanging down to my kneecaps by the time I got to SLC. Will try my best not to repeat that drive in two days ever again, at least not alone.
If not already on SkiTalk, recommend the seasonal Utah thread on there for good local info on all the resorts. Here is last years thread. They start a new one each fall: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/202...-conditions-meetups.28356/page-97#post-889560

 

[BenedictGomez]

If not already on SkiTalk, recommend the seasonal Utah thread on there for good local info on all the resorts. Here is last years thread. They start a new one each fall: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/202...-conditions-meetups.28356/page-97#post-889560

Thanks for this, I was actually going to ask if there was either a "western Alpinezone" or a Utah specific ski forum.

As for the relocation, it's absolutely exhausting, I feel like I havent stopped working in over a month. Our stuff arrives tomorrow, so hopefully that's the end of the stress. I will say the drive was, in retrospect, a dream. Almost 2,200 miles, and not a single bit of traffic, not caught in a single accident backup, and not even construction delays. Thinking about it now, that seems almost impossibly improbable.

 

[Hawk]

That's a hell of a drive and commitment. The longest drive on my life was from Bryce Canyon to Purgatory Mountain Base with my buddy who lived there. 7 1/2 hours. I hated that so I can't imagine cross country. Nope I'm out!

Good luck to you though. Hope the powder is outstanding.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Best of luck and do pop in and say hello. Even if it is to show us how awesome Utah is!

 

[Tonyr]

Thanks for this, I was actually going to ask if there was either a "western Alpinezone" or a Utah specific ski forum.

As for the relocation, it's absolutely exhausting, I feel like I havent stopped working in over a month. Our stuff arrives tomorrow, so hopefully that's the end of the stress. I will say the drive was, in retrospect, a dream. Almost 2,200 miles, and not a single bit of traffic, not caught in a single accident backup, and not even construction delays. Thinking about it now, that seems almost impossibly improbable.

Good luck out there!

 

[Hawk]

What time of day did you hit the front range? Freinds have always equated it to old time exporers spotting the new world. Land Ho! or in your case Mountains Ho!

 

[thetrailboss]

Door to door - with overnight stops in Ohio, Iowa, and Wyoming. Something like 29 or 30 hours of drive time.

I'll still check in here as I'll always want to know how all ski things are going out east!

View attachment 58809

You made it. See you on the slopes.

 

[Smellytele]

My longest drive for one day of skiing was from Cleveland to Mount Bohemia. Then back the next day.

 

[ThatGuy]

What time of day did you hit the front range? Freinds have always equated it to old time exporers spotting the new world. Land Ho! or in your case Mountains Ho!

I’ve done i90, i80 and i70 across the country, in my opinion 90 is the most dramatic change from high prairie to mountain landscape. Montana SR2 is the most dramatic I’ve seen of all with Glacier NP slowly climbing into the sky ahead of you. It truly is an amazing experience….
Also a lot of time in the car. Drove 7500+ miles last summer around the US.

 

[Great Bear]

I've only ever driven to New England mountains. So probably Boston to Sugarloaf is about the furthest.

 

[BenedictGomez]

The longest drive on my life was from Bryce Canyon to Purgatory Mountain Base with my buddy who lived there. 7 1/2 hours. I hated that so I can't imagine cross country. Nope I'm out!

I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, like an adventure. But most of all just seeing bits of America pretty much nobody but truck drivers will ever see. Iowa really surprised me, I thought it would be flat & boring, but it was mostly rolling hills of really lush green. Nebraska was as flat & boring as I expected. And frankly, I expected a bit more from Wyoming, though parts were pretty.

 

[BenedictGomez]

What time of day did you hit the front range?

We're living on the back, so we stopped there, but I agree, the drive to SLC down Parleys Canyon is pretty (and fun to drive will all those high-speed downhill curves).

 

[jimk]

Longest day trip was 4 hours each way for 7-8 hours of skiing.

Have driven numerous cross country ski trips in recent years. In fact, nearly annually over the last 15 years, some just for 10 days and just to CO and back, some spanned 5+ months and all the way to California. Did a big, continuous driving trip in the month of March 2018 involving 7000 miles: Mid-Atlantic to UT, then north to Western Canada, then back to Mid-A. Got on I90 on that return trip, but only near Chicago, not out west.

 

[snoseek]

I've done this drive from nh or to nh well over 20 times over the years to the point where I know which towns are the good ones to stop overnight, get food ect. I actually miss it especially when the Front range comes in site after what seems like forever driving through corn fields. I've even explored the midwest a bit and rode mtb/camped in places to break it up. Needless to say I miss it but was ready to anchor down when the time came.

Enjoy your time exploring the new hood. Everything is new and when stuff is new time slows down a little bit in a weird way. We will be here skiing this sweet hard packed manmade so you dont have to.

 

[machski]

Did a week in Colorado with my brother right after college and his Freshman year. Took turns drive ng and built a sleeping slot in the Trail Blazer under our gear. Did it non stop from New England. Planned to stop on way back but got word our Grandfather had passed, so non stop again. Kind of fun, won't do that again though.

 

[4aprice]

Congratulations on your escape from the Peoples Republic of New Jersey. We don't need people like you leaving but they somehow succeed in driving them out anyways. Just over a year and a half for my own part time escape (Jersey is tolerable in Summer, horrible in WInter). Enjoy the exploring I'm sure you will do. Utah is a great platform for exploring the west. Good luck.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Congratulations on your escape from the Peoples Republic of New Jersey. We don't need people like you leaving but they somehow succeed in driving them out anyways.

I didn't leave New Jersey; New Jersey left me.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Utah is a great platform for exploring the west.

That wasn't part of our plans, but we're slowly starting to realize this. I'm not sure there's a better state to be located for exploring the vastness of the west, as it seems like just about everything's 6 hours or less away. The rest not more than about 10, which is still easily doable as a one-day roadtrip. I'm not sure we'll take a skiing road-trip this year as there's plenty here to become familiar with, but I've never skied places like JH, GT, Sun Valley, Aspen, Steamboat, etc.... It'll keep us busy.

Best of all, in NJ my wife wasn't allowed to take a full-blown vacation during the school year (only 3 days off), but here the schools get more vacation days and are allowed use multiples in a row, making a winter ski vacation possible.