New to You in 2018-2019

[catskillman]

Aspen, Aspen Highlands and Snowmass for me. We had a friend that rented a house for a month out there. Looking at the weekly rental costs, I don't think I would go there on my own. But with a free place to stay, all good. We got the Mountan collectice 50% off deal. Thanks Win and Sugarbush. All three mountains are really nice but Highlands is the best with the longest sustained steep runs. That place is aesthetically one on the most beautiful places to ski with the Maroon Bells, Mt Pyramid and other 14ers all around. Also a really fun town. Not all Shee-Shee all the time. We found the local folks to be a real hoot to party with.

totally agree. Aspen Highlands is may favorite in the US so far. And I have skied most resorts except California, New Mexico, Arizona & Washington state.

Highlands is great. I have been there 6 times so far.......

 

[catskillman]

I picked up Jack Frost and Montage. First-time skiing in PA.Montage had some fresh Pocono Pow (the man-made stuff).

Outwest I picked up Loveland and Cooper this year.

The snow cat terrain at Cooper looks great , I wish Ithey could put a lift up there. LL was a bluebird spring day. Perfect. I loved the vibe

Cooper, often confused with Copper, is so laid back, untracked, cheap, old school, rustic, and wide open.

AND FILLED with history!!!! This was the home of the 10th Mountain Division. Down the street are their original barracks at Camp Hale.

 

[tekweezle]

I went to a few new places courtesy of the Ikon pass. Steamboat and Winters Park plus went back to Deer Valley after last skiing there in around 2003.

Also went to Val Disere /Tignes for 5 days Non Ikon pass. Previously had only gone there for 1 day.

 

[Smellytele]

Awesome! How did you manage to get up there?

I did manage to make it to Granlibakken today. I'm finally "Tahoe complete" Crazy day at Squaw, skied in rain, snow, hail, sunshine. Surface conditions were great though. Cut out at 2:45 and caught a courtesy shuttle to the car. We made from snow to Granlibakken in about 15 minutes. Spent about an hour on the poma and another hour on the sledding hill. Kids and I had a great time there. Funny thing is they ran that poma lift all day and we made the 3rd track down the hill at around 3.

Anyway that completes my 10 new ski areas that pretty much nobody will be jealous of. I'll have to check the stats, but I suspect their total combined vert is less than a number of North America's larger ones. We had a great time at ll of them, even with the lightning at Bear Creek and the craziness at Boreal.

I am in Cleveland for a month for training. I drove out here and have weekends free. I brought my skis (and road bike) for this reason. I left Cleveland (well just east of Cleveland) at 4:30pm on Friday. Drove until 2am Saturday, slept in the back of the company minivan got up at 7 and drove the last 2:15 to Mount Bohemia. Took my time getting ready to let things soften up and checked into the Hostel as well. Got on the hill around 10:15. Skied until 4:15. Had a good dinner at the hill and left the next morning to drive 12 hrs back to my hotel. It was well worth as the terrain, while only 900 vert was great - Steeps, trees, all natural and not a speck of ice.

 

[deadheadskier]

Very cool

And sorry about spending a month in Cleveland. I say this as someone who called Ohio home for a year. Other than the natives being very nice, I found few redeeming qualities about the place. Lived in Athens, which is a fun college town and the surrounding Hocking Hills are cool, but Midwest outdoor activities seems pretty JV compared to New England.

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[Smellytele]

Very cool

And sorry about spending a month in Cleveland. I say this as someone who called Ohio home for a year. Other than the natives being very nice, I found few redeeming qualities about the place. Lived in Athens, which is a fun college town and the surrounding Hocking Hills are cool, but Midwest outdoor activities seems pretty JV compared to New England.

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There wasn't many staying overnight - maybe 8 people. Any way the owner was out and talking to us about how we liked the place asking me about why and how I was there. He and the GM Vern were out measuring for a potential pool to go with the hot tub. Asked us our opinion about it as well. Then there was the crazy ski patroller Johnny Spirit - says it is his real name but he used to be the guy at Michigan State games all painted up and getting the crowd going. Also said he used to do Tigers, Wings and Lions games as well. He and Vern hung out in the hot tub early evening talking to a few of us about the place.

 

[machski]

Just added Mammoth, place is awesome! Love how nearly every chair has height adjustable terminals, one even has a height adjustable operator's cab. Nothing requires hiking for the goods except the Hemlocks on the backside and they were closed (not sure to lack of snow or conditions, because the cats were busy building one of their late spring/summer terrain parks back there).

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[BenedictGomez]

Coming back from Lake Louise in 2001 I got snowed-in in Cleveland for 3 days.

And they lied to me. I was in Houston for the connecting leg from Calgary, and I questioned whether they could really get me back to Burlington if I flew to Cleveland, as the radar looked horrendous. Oh, sure, the flight's scheduled with no delay...... Three days later I was able to finally leave Cleveland.

Valuable lesson learned that day. The airlines will lie to you to move you along on your already-planned route. Were that to happen to me today, I would have stayed in Houston instead.

 

[jaytrem]

Just added Mammoth, place is awesome!

What days were you there? Funny that 3 of us were there in the last week or so.

I'm tempted to book a flight now for another Cali trip in Feb. Still a couple SoCal places I haven't hit along with June. Prices (and mileage flights) are real good now, but you never know what you'll get out there this far in advance. Preliminary plan...

Fly Firday evening
Baldy
Mt High (need old Sunrise part)
Snow Valley
Big Bear Lake
Mammoth
June
Mammoth
Alta Sierra
Waterman (plus maybe a couple runs at Buckhorn Ski Club next door)
Sunday Night redeye

The earlier you book the more time you get to look forward to it!

 

[heiusa]

I lived in So Cal for 10 years and I have skied all the places you are listing;

Fly Firday evening
Baldy - Excellent ski area, but needs natural snow
Mt High (need old Sunrise part), Very small area and crowded, like mountain creek in NJ
Snow Valley - Very small area and crowded, like mountain creek in NJ
Big Bear Lake - Very small area and crowded, like mountain creek in NJ
Mammoth - One of the best ski areas in the US, I love this mountain
June - Close to Mammoth, good go to on a busy day
Mammoth
Alta Sierra - not familiar with this place
Waterman - A fun area only 45 minutes from LA (plus maybe a couple runs at Buckhorn Ski Club next door)

 

[cdskier]

I lived in So Cal for 10 years and I have skied all the places you are listing;
...

Alta Sierra - not familiar with this place

Maybe this is the wine I had tonight talking, but something doesn't quite add up here...

 

[jaytrem]

Alta Sierra was Shirley Meadows and I think maybe Trinity. It's up near Bakersfield.

Most of my plan has the crowded places on weekdays. But I put Mountain High on a weekend so that Sunrise is open. I've been to Big Bear on a power weekend, they seem to have the lift capacity for the crowds. The drive down was insane though. We saw over 30 cars off the road. Was never so happy to see rain we we got finally got low enough.

 

[machski]

What days were you there? Funny that 3 of us were there in the last week or so.

I'm tempted to book a flight now for another Cali trip in Feb. Still a couple SoCal places I haven't hit along with June. Prices (and mileage flights) are real good now, but you never know what you'll get out there this far in advance. Preliminary plan...

Fly Firday evening
Baldy
Mt High (need old Sunrise part)
Snow Valley
Big Bear Lake
Mammoth
June
Mammoth
Alta Sierra
Waterman (plus maybe a couple runs at Buckhorn Ski Club next door)
Sunday Night redeye

The earlier you book the more time you get to look forward to it!

We were there Easter Sunday through Wednesday ski wise. How did you go? We went to RNO and drove, pretty ride most of the way if a bit long. This time of year, airline options into MMH from the East are all but non-existent.

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[jaytrem]

We were there Easter Sunday through Wednesday ski wise. How did you go? We went to RNO and drove, pretty ride most of the way if a bit long. This time of year, airline options into MMH from the East are all but non-existent.

OK, you were there a few days after us. Hope we left enough snow for you. Pretty crazy this year. I have a pic from Diamond Peak with just the very top of a trail sign peaking through the snow.

I prefer direct flights, so we flew into Oakland and out of SF. For some reason it was about a third of the price if we dropped off the rental car from either Oakland or San Jose. Worked out well, on the way to Tahoe we went to the Jelly Belly factory then did half a day at Tahoe Donner. Went to Six Flags on the way back.

 

[abc]

We were there Easter Sunday through Wednesday ski wise. How did you go? We went to RNO and drove, pretty ride most of the way if a bit long. This time of year, airline options into MMH from the East are all but non-existent.

I was there the week before. So got lucked out with a 4" (officially, more up mountain). That was spread over 2 days, as the upper mountain wasn't open till the 2nd day. Then, it quickly turn corny. Very very nice corn, mind you.

For Mammoth, I've done it both from Reno and Vegas (or even LAX). Reno is shorter, and can be combined with skiing in the Tahoe mountains. So that's my preference. But sometimes, Vegas can have significantly cheaper flights.

To break up the boredom of the drive, I typically fit in a short hike or two along the way. (will finish my trip report in the other section and post picture of hike when I get home tonight)

 

[machski]

Yeah, no hiking on the drive down to Mammoth as Delta cancelled our morning flight out of BOS last Saturday. So instead of Reno at 430p, we got in at 9pm. That drive is rough at night when you are approaching 3am your body clock time! Plenty of snow left, nothing fresh but not what I was looking for this time of year. Tough the first 2 days the upper summit was pretty much frozen in, but it freed up last 2 days. So much terrain!

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[jaytrem]

Plenty of snow left, nothing fresh but not what I was looking for this time of year.

Same here, I was actually disappointed that it was snowing and not sunny. Most of the week was beautiful though.

 

[abc]

Plenty of snow left, nothing fresh but not what I was looking for this time of year

So much terrain!

Same here, I was actually disappointed that it was snowing and not sunny.

Definitely the case. But Mammoth is a special case, same like Whistler. It's so high that it CAN get fresh snow really late in the season (or some say, in the middle of summer!).

 

[skinowworklater]

New to me this past season Whisper Ridge Cat Skiing in Paradise (aptly named!) UTAH. Finally got back to Utah (after a 2 year absence) to use our WR vouchers given to us (thank you WR!) when our first try at back country skiing was rained out. If you never tried cat skiing it can't be beat when the snow is deep, and this is the place! Fortunately during our week in Utah over 3' of snow fell so fresheis were everywhere! Nothing like skiing vast expanses of untracked powder with friends old and new!
Definitely checked that entry off my bucket list for sure, though I'll be back again!