Rating Your 2021-2022 Season (or So Far....)

[Harvey]

I'm giving my season an 8 on a scale of 7 to 10, so average I guess.

The weather was crappy and I missed three weeks with an injury. And I'm sitting at 26 days.

But I had at least 8 powder days, a few good corn (love corn) and one new ski area (Titus).

The cherry picking worked for me.

Also I saw much of the new snow fell Friday - Sunday. Not ideal but I made it work.

What makes a great season?

For me, it's all about the feeling I have at the end of the day.

nyskiblog.com

 

[jaytrem]

Great read Jay. Very in depth.

Thanks, I knocked that out kinda quick, so I'm sure it's sloppy. Should probably go back when I get a minute and clean it up. Was fun remembering each day. One thing about going to a bunch of different places is it makes the days easier to remember. The 5 Blackcomb days are already blending together in my head and that was just a few days ago.

 

[Smellytele]

Jaytrem
See mt Bohemia on there. That place is cool. Went 3 years ago the last weekend they were open. Bumps and trees everywhere and a crazy ass ski patroller. Stayed at the bunk house and hit the outdoor pool. The place is literally in the middle of nowhere. More like the end of nowhere.

 

[Tonyr]

I got 32 days in. Started the year in Vail/BC over Christmas & New Years. Things looked bleak before we headed out but from the day we arrived it snowed for about 2 weeks straight. Even though only 70% of both mountains were open at the time, the conditions on what was open both places was awesome.

Next was a trip up to VT over MLK weekend with 1 day at Sugarbush and 3 days at Stowe. The conditions the whole trip were bulletproof except the last day at Stowe which made the whole trip. The weather in the morning the day we were leaving was so bad that we had to extend the trip a day. It snowed close to 20 inches that day and it ended up being the best day of our ski season.

Over President's week we skied Park City and Alta Snowbird. The conditions at Park City were not good with tons of bare spots all over the mountain. You wouldn't believe Utah could look like that in February. Our move over to LCC gave us the exact opposite experience. It snowed 3 out of 4 days and conditions all 4 days between Alta and Snowbird were perfect.

In early March we spent a long 3 day weekend back in VT hitting Okemo, Mt Snow, and Magic. It was bitterly cold and conditions weren't particularly good. Could have skipped that one!

Our last trip was over Easter week at Aspen Snowmass & Winter Park. We had never done spring skiing out west before but as long as you got the timing of when to be out the conditions were near perfect for that kind of skiing. It was bluebird skies everyday while we were out in 45 to 55 degree weather, loved it.

I'd estimate that we got in 5 miserable days, 11 average days, 6 outstanding spring days, then roughly 10 powder days equaling atleast a B+ or better for the season.

 

[jaytrem]

The place is literally in the middle of nowhere. More like the end of nowhere.

Oh yeah, but what a view, I think I forgot to mention that for both Bohemia and Lutsen. Ride from the Porkies was also quite beautiful, lots of ice smashed up against the shoreline in places.

 

[Kingslug20]

They used to have a funny vid of ski patrol tackeling a guy and taking away his skis and poles because he was a newbie...you won't be needing these...i

 

[Tonyr]

Big trip #3 Crystal/Whistler with the wife and kids.

Crystal - NEW finally!!! - Such a great place! Steeps everywhere (which surprised me), fresh powder and sun. Couldn't ask for a better day!!!!

Whistler - With the girls spring break being so late, the usual ski safari was not a reasonable option. Plus my wife was willing to come along if we stayed mostly in one place. I decided to roll the dice and book a slope side condo right by the Blackcomb gondola. Wasn't sure how much of a pain it would be to get in to Canada at the time. But it paid off and most restrictions were lifted. Border crossing both way was smooth. Spent the first 2 days on the Whistler side since those were the last 2. No lines either day, skiing was just about perfect. Storm total for the day/night was about 20 inches, 8 inches during the day. Had a really good time the Garbonzo area, seems like nobody goes there. Also got a few really nice runs at Blackcomb at the end of day 2. I guess everyone really was at Whistler, but we need to head over via the Peak to Peak to get to our condo. Place was deserted.

Blackcomb - Did 5 days on the Blackcomb side, first day was prefect powder, but of course a good amount of people. 7th Heaven brake that day and we never got up it. That worked out well though, they ran Glacier for the week instead. So the next day it was all still untracked up there. Spanky's also opened, so we got a bunch of nice runs in the Gem Bowls. The rest of the week was a combo of snow and sun, so couldn't ask for anything more. Kids did great, they skied opening+ to closing+ every day. Not sure why they open so early and close so late compared to the posted times, but I wasn't going to complain about that one.

Guess I gotta give the season an A. All trips were just about prefect, but definitely room for improvement with the Southern weather/conditions.

Wow, you didn't mess around this season. Looks like an A+ to me!

 

[thetrailboss]

The meteorological assessment for Utah:

The Weather Whiplash of the 2021/22 Season

I hope you enjoyed the Gift from the Gods last weekend. What a long strange trip this season has been. It was the best of times. It was ...

wasatchweatherweenies.blogspot.com

 

[Ski2LiveLive2Ski]

Can't complain honestly though the weather wasn't great, particularly early season. Got in 31 days - which ties the second most I have skied. Last year was an outlier at 41, but there was so little else to do last year. Skied in VT, NY, MA, PA, CO. Managed to avoid any terrible crowds apart from a couple days at Hunter - but learned how to dodge them there by only returning once (for lunch) to base after 930 am.

Thanks to IndyPass (which I coupled with Epic) - got to check out a bunch of new places to me - Jay, Bolton, Magic, Greek, B.East - and got an awesome uncrowded pow day in at Greek Peak on MLK Day.

Though I know Matt is unpopular here, I gotta credit his Skiology Northeast posts for helping steer me to good conditions and away from problematic conditions quite a few times, so he can count me as a fan.

 

[Mum skier]

We achieved our goal of skiing 6 months of the year from November to April. Mostly all on Epic Local pass.
Thanksgiving 2 days at My Snow, cold, wIndy, crowded, mostly icy, we had a great time.
Christmas, 2 days at Hunter, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so no crowds. Rained both days meaning even less crowds. While terrain was limited by Hunter standards it was much better than the offerings at the time on Epic in NH. We had a great time.
Jan to March, about 9 Saturdays at Mt Sunapee. Kids were in a development group so despite the crowds they were able to skip the lines and get plenty of skiing in. For the most part by using singles lines and sticking to sun bowl or the north face triple the adults were able to void the worst of the lines. Two days the adults gave up due to lines and did the hike to the summit instead. We always had a great time. Though trying to buy food was a nightmare.
Presidents week vacation. 6 days at Park City, starting on Monday as Local pass was blacked out the weeken. Despite the lower than average snow year it snowed the first few days which kept the crowds down and gave (by our standard) good conditions. Crowds increased later in the week and were bad in the final Saturda, but by then we had figured out the quiet lifts and pretty much had no lines. We had a great time, though noted a lot of closed lifts and lodges due to staff shortages.
January and March 2 days at Loon on our 5 day restricTed New England ticket pack. Definitely better staffed than the Epic areas. We had a great time.
March 1 day at Crotched. Horrid grabby snow. Every time I ski here I think, just drive the extra 20 minutes to Sunapee. But still we had a great time.
April 4 days at Vail and 1 day at Breckenridge for some late spring skiing. We had a great time.

So I think about 22 days on Epic Local pass.
Only managed to use 2 of our 5 days on NE pass. Had been planning SR for a long weekend but never made it.

For us the best season since pre Covid. And pre Covid we still had to take into account the kids abilities when planning runs. But now we have to worry about the adults abilities as we can’t keep up with them.

 

[jimk]

1 May 2022, closing day at Solitude, UT. It was rather wintry, about 40 degrees with some wet snow late in the day. Good times.

The new President and COO at Solitude is Amber Broadaway. Previously she was a VP at Sugarbush. She made a bold pronouncement about a month ago that Solitude was going to stay open until May 1 if at all possible. Utah then got a very snowy April and sure enough Solitude stayed open until May 1. First time it's ever offered lift served skiing in the month of May according to their website. Nice! My friends that ski Solitude a lot like Amber and think she's going to be good for this place.

 

[jimk]

Yesterday cool and snowy up at Solitude (center background), today 70 degs on Ensign Peak near the outskirts of Salt Lake City:

 

[thetrailboss]

Yesterday cool and snowy up at Solitude (center background), today 70 degs on Ensign Peak near the outskirts of Salt Lake City:
View attachment 54448

And snow today!

 

[Smellytele]

Got 26 days so far on my Ikon, plus 3 days at Cannon, 7 race days plus about 15 skinning days and 1 day in Tucks. So over 50 days on skis.
Not going into a deep grading here but all in all I would rate it a C+. If I didn't have to cancel my CO trip this year it would have been higher (I think anyway).
Lack of snow fall didn't help but made the most of it.
Only 1 day on xcountry this year as well.
hope for 3 more days on skis - 2 at killington and another day in Tucks.

 

[Hastur]

overall B

c- for SoVT this year.
A+ Colorado spring break trip.
25 days. all lift served. no good touring available all year in SoVT.
i would have 5 more days but early season blew.

Superstar looking thicc so I hope to get 1 or 2 more days. depends on kids sports/weather lining up.

 

[jimk]

And snow today!

Yesterday joggers with no shirts on in SLC. Today 3 May this:

 

[parahelia]

Well, I guess it's time to admit I'm not getting out again; April 29 at Sugarloaf was it for me. No grading in this season's reflection; I have enough of that to do for my day job.

The basics: 44 days, which I think is a new high - not bad for a weekend warrior. 40 at Sunday River, 2 at Sugarloaf, and 1 each at Jay and Saddleback. With an on-mountain condo & kids in programs at SR, we don't get out much. Next year my oldest will be in the Gould freestyle program so maybe we'll roam a bit more on event days.

The good: Even in a poor snow year, skiing is always more fun than not skiing, full stop. There were some great moments. The big powder dump in early February. Finding new unmarked woods lines at SR even after all these years. Meeting and skiing with new people. Awesome spring bumps (just wish there had been more of them). Improving to the point where I can lap trails that used to take it out of me like Shockwave and Top Gun. Having something to look forward to each weekend! Spending time outside with my family and seeing my girls continue to rip it up. Watching my youngest pond skim!

The bad: It was a bad snow year for western Maine, no two ways about it. The woods season was too short (though I guess it always is). We had more sketchy drives than I'd like. The drive from SR to SL during a freezing rain event was a slow white-knuckle crawl from Farmington north that left our car encased in ice and us shaking. Driving to Saddleback from SR and finding that Rt. 17 over Height of Land was NOT the right choice, even though 24 hours had passed since an elevation-driven snowfall in mid-March. I won't make that mistake again in a rental car.

Looking forward: We got the IKON add-on to the Boyne pass for next year. My sabbatical means we can finally travel west during school vacation weeks. We have been waiting for this for years! Leaning towards Big Sky for the Feb break though would like to have the flexibility to audible to somewhere else if they're getting the snow. Maybe a quick hitting trip somewhere else, too; we've been dreaming about interior BC for years.

Some highlights...

Early February snow that finally got the woods really going

Could not stop trekking out to Muleskinner after the aforementioned snow event at Saddleback - a schlep but well worth it

The best spring bumps I had were in March for some reason

 

[ss20]

My story is pretty well known.... this was my first year in Alta as a ski instructor. This was my 8th year teaching in total, first on the West Coast and first full-time. It was so awesome to be able to finally bring my passion to the big leagues!

A lot of people would think "skiing" would be what this post is about. All the big lines. The powder days. Learning the secrets of one of skiing's most holy temples.

But anyone who's worked in this industry knows that's not what it's all about. I came to Utah knowing no one. I end this season with a locker room of friends. You work in this industry and it becomes more about the people than the skiing. I will never forget my first trip to the Peruvian bar. Or doing trivia night with friends at the GMD. Or the long rides up and down the canyon in the snow yelling/laughing at disabled vehicles, listening to podcasts, and when you're a passenger....passing the flask around. So many parties, bar visits, and good times. Skiing with other instructors after we end between 3pm and 4pm for a final lap or two on Collins. Slow days without an assignment where I can live like a tourist and explore. Getting stuck at Alta on a stormy night at the cafeteria that stayed open for the 50 or so people still stuck.... more than half of which being employees who camped out in a corner and drank pitcher after pitcher of beer. Watching the CRAZY shenanigans of Closing Day of which I said I would only spectate but I turned into a willing participant in the festivities meant for the young people!

133 days down. Over 1,000,000 vert at Alta. Going to get one more day at the Bird. A rare solo ski day for me... reflecting and thinking about this amazing season, and this amazing life. Only able to smile in wonder at what's gonna happen 6 months from now.

 

[Tonyr]

Well, I guess it's time to admit I'm not getting out again; April 29 at Sugarloaf was it for me. No grading in this season's reflection; I have enough of that to do for my day job.

The basics: 44 days, which I think is a new high - not bad for a weekend warrior. 40 at Sunday River, 2 at Sugarloaf, and 1 each at Jay and Saddleback. With an on-mountain condo & kids in programs at SR, we don't get out much. Next year my oldest will be in the Gould freestyle program so maybe we'll roam a bit more on event days.

The good: Even in a poor snow year, skiing is always more fun than not skiing, full stop. There were some great moments. The big powder dump in early February. Finding new unmarked woods lines at SR even after all these years. Meeting and skiing with new people. Awesome spring bumps (just wish there had been more of them). Improving to the point where I can lap trails that used to take it out of me like Shockwave and Top Gun. Having something to look forward to each weekend! Spending time outside with my family and seeing my girls continue to rip it up. Watching my youngest pond skim!

The bad: It was a bad snow year for western Maine, no two ways about it. The woods season was too short (though I guess it always is). We had more sketchy drives than I'd like. The drive from SR to SL during a freezing rain event was a slow white-knuckle crawl from Farmington north that left our car encased in ice and us shaking. Driving to Saddleback from SR and finding that Rt. 17 over Height of Land was NOT the right choice, even though 24 hours had passed since an elevation-driven snowfall in mid-March. I won't make that mistake again in a rental car.

Looking forward: We got the IKON add-on to the Boyne pass for next year. My sabbatical means we can finally travel west during school vacation weeks. We have been waiting for this for years! Leaning towards Big Sky for the Feb break though would like to have the flexibility to audible to somewhere else if they're getting the snow. Maybe a quick hitting trip somewhere else, too; we've been dreaming about interior BC for years.

Some highlights...
View attachment 54461
Early February snow that finally got the woods really going
View attachment 54464
Could not stop trekking out to Muleskinner after the aforementioned snow event at Saddleback - a schlep but well worth it
View attachment 54465
The best spring bumps I had were in March for some reason

Awesome photos! We hiked SR but have never skied there, looking at your photos we will have to get up there again someday during the winter.

Big Sky, Alta Snowbird, Jackson Hole, & Aspen are the best resorts in the US on Ikon as you probably could assume. You can't go wrong with any of those 4 locations for your trip/trips next year.

 

[Tonyr]

My story is pretty well known.... this was my first year in Alta as a ski instructor. This was my 8th year teaching in total, first on the West Coast and first full-time. It was so awesome to be able to finally bring my passion to the big leagues!

A lot of people would think "skiing" would be what this post is about. All the big lines. The powder days. Learning the secrets of one of skiing's most holy temples.

But anyone who's worked in this industry knows that's not what it's all about. I came to Utah knowing no one. I end this season with a locker room of friends. You work in this industry and it becomes more about the people than the skiing. I will never forget my first trip to the Peruvian bar. Or doing trivia night with friends at the GMD. Or the long rides up and down the canyon in the snow yelling/laughing at disabled vehicles, listening to podcasts, and when you're a passenger....passing the flask around. So many parties, bar visits, and good times. Skiing with other instructors after we end between 3pm and 4pm for a final lap or two on Collins. Slow days without an assignment where I can live like a tourist and explore. Getting stuck at Alta on a stormy night at the cafeteria that stayed open for the 50 or so people still stuck.... more than half of which being employees who camped out in a corner and drank pitcher after pitcher of beer. Watching the CRAZY shenanigans of Closing Day of which I said I would only spectate but I turned into a willing participant in the festivities meant for the young people!

133 days down. Over 1,000,000 vert at Alta. Going to get one more day at the Bird. A rare solo ski day for me... reflecting and thinking about this amazing season, and this amazing life. Only able to smile in wonder at what's gonna happen 6 months from now.

So glad you had a great season out there. Alta Snowbird is such a special place, doesn't get any better!