Suggestions for out West next season

[kimmie01485]

Hey all,

I really want to head West next season so I was wondering if anyone has suggestions on places to go that either have good deals or are generally less expensive to go for a week. I just graduated from college and still working part time until I find a job that fits with my major so I can't afford a huge trip.

Any insight is greatly appreciated

Much thanks in advance!

 

[snoseek]

Utah can be done very affordably. Find a cheap flight, stay near 7200 and take the bus everywhere. At night go downtown and eat real cheap. There is a little thai joint next to the city center Marriott with good food under 10 dollars and five dollar pitchers of micro brew. Buy tickets at canyon sports for discounts.

 

[Geoff]

Yep. Utah is the place to go if you are on a tight budget. You can get a cheap hotel room on the bus line in Midvale. (That's at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon around 7200 street).
Google on "Midvale Utah Hotels".

Here are the bus schedules:
http://www.rideuta.com/ridingUTA/schedules/routeSchedules.aspx?routeGroupID=8
Click on bus routes 992 and 998

You can also stay on the bus routes in Sandy a little farther south around 9400 street.
Google on "Sandy Utah Hotels"

The bus route to Snowbird/Alta is 997. They run less often than Midvale.

A round trip bus ticket also lets you ride the TRAX light rail to downtown SLC that goes right by most of the hotels.

Life is easier if you rent a cheap subcompact car. If you rent off-airport, you save the airport fee and prices tend to come in at not much more than $100/week including taxes if you shop hard. On powder days, you can park in the lot at the bottom of Big Cottonwood Canyon and take the bus up. It allows you to stay at hotels that aren't on the bus line and gives you the option to go elsewhere when the Canyon roads are closed for avalanche shelling and to check out places like Powder Mountain.

 

[Talisman]

Some great advice on UT above.

Another place to consider is Lake Tahoe as there are cheap flights to Reno, cheap motels to stay in, great skiing and some cheap places to eat. You have options in South Tahoe or in Reno. I usually stay in Truckee and ski North Tahoe, but my budget isn't that tight for skiing.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

GSS suggests Jackson Hole...great terrain, easy access from airport, great nightlife, restaurants and many unique non-ski activities plus new tram.

 

[RISkier]

In planning trips we've generally found that UT is about as inexpensive as we can find. Lots of hotels in the Sandy/Midvale area offer ski and stay packages that include lift ticket to any of the big or little Cottonwoods Canyons resorts, plus breakfest, plus use of the bus up to the areas for < $200 for two persons per night. Less expensive accomodations can be found, especially for larger groups. There are "Extended Stay" places with kitchenettes that can be a real bargain, especially if you cram a few folks into them. Lift tickets tend to be less expensive in UT as well. That said, I do think that airline tickets tend to be more expensive to SLC than to Denver. I'd also take a look at the Summit county area of Colorado. You could probably find pretty good deals staying in the Frisco/Dillon/Silverthorne area. A potential advantage, but also a potential disadvantage of the Summit County CO skiing is higher elevation. And I think you might also be able to find pretty good deals in the Tahoe area.

 

[MikeTrainor]

CO can be reasonable as stated above if you stay in the Dillon area and stay away from the Vail resorts. Local supermarkets sell A-Basin lift tickets for $74 for a two day pass. That break down to $37 a day. Loveland deals can also be found.

I rented a one bedroom condo for $829 for a week and put three people in it. We ate in a few nights and there are plenty of average price dining places in Dillion.

The rental car can be a killer, we were on a bus line that ran quite often to Keystone and A-Basin but I never took it.

 

[tekweezle]

Utah definitely gets the nod as the most "user friendly" bargain out there. 9 resorts within 30 minutes of a international airport with lots of direct flights gives you plenty of skiing variety and fairly dependable snow-especially in march/april. well the direct flight issue may or may not be a big deal depending on where you are coming from.

other areas can certainly match or exceed Utah in many categories(lift ticket costs, accessibility, nightlife, challenging terrain) but few have the overall value.

 

[dmc]

CO can be reasonable as stated above if you stay in the Dillon area and stay away from the Vail resorts. Local supermarkets sell A-Basin lift tickets for $74 for a two day pass. That break down to $37 a day. Loveland deals can also be found.

I rented a one bedroom condo for $829 for a week and put three people in it. We ate in a few nights and there are plenty of average price dining places in Dillion.

The rental car can be a killer, we were on a bus line that ran quite often to Keystone and A-Basin but I never took it.

Aggreed.. Also Tahoe can be done cheaply..

 

[kimmie01485]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Looking forward to other input

 

[Puck it]

JHMR can be done cheap. Flights there , were cheaper than SLC at times.

 

[MikeTrainor]

Kim another thing I left out of my prior post, it's a little more expensive but if you are looking to ski at the Vail resorts A-Basin offers a plus pass, which is a season pass to A-Basin and gives you 5 days a Breckenridge and Keystone and 1 day at either Vail or Beaver Creek. Last year it was $329.

 

[snoseek]

Consider going in January. Everything is cheaper, very few people and the lightest snow of the year. Right after New Years right up till Feb vacation is all good. March is insane and yes the sun is nice but crowds are crazy all month here in Colorado and even in Utah. Also Hotwire is a cheap way to book cars, hotels and flights.

 

[Andrew Caffrey]

if you go to jackson, targhee is quiet and can be done cheaply on its midweek internet specials. plus in jan and feb they got silly amounts of pow.
crested butte has a hostel right downtown and there is a free shuttle to and from the mountain.
the lodge at the base of brighton is super cheap, too, with dorm style bunking. almost nothing up there after dark, tho.

 

[ccskier]

To keep costs down, take the red eye fight home. That is what I do, cheaper and you don't waste precious ski time traveling.

 

[nycskier]

If you go to Tahoe you can stay in the Casinos on the Nevada side and the rooms there are usually way cheaper (if you don't lose all your money gambling). I just got back there and stayed in a really nice place for only $60 a night!

 

[twinplanx]

Consider going in January. Everything is cheaper, very few people and the lightest snow of the year. Right after New Years right up till Feb vacation is all good. March is insane and yes the sun is nice but crowds are crazy all month here in Colorado and even in Utah. Also Hotwire is a cheap way to book cars, hotels and flights.

I always thought airfare more expensive in January and somewhat cheaper in March? But the lack of crowds is priceless in comparison :-?

 

[snoseek]

I always thought airfare more expensive in January and somewhat cheaper in March? But the lack of crowds is priceless in comparison :-?

It drops off a lot after the 5th or so, at least on non-peak travel days.



anyways this site has given me good luck with cheap flights, just keep your eyes out. Combo that with using hotwire for hotel and car and you will save money. This will sound crazy but I once flew into vegas to ski in SLC area (4 and some change driving warp speed) because the tickets were silly cheap. The difference paid for a rental car for ten days, plus I got in the mandatory liquor stop.
http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/

 

[snoseek]

JHMR can be done cheap. Flights there , were cheaper than SLC at times.

Don't 90% of the flights route through SLC? Also are there any kind of deals on Jackson Hole lift tickets?

 

[dmc]

If you go to Tahoe you can stay in the Casinos on the Nevada side and the rooms there are usually way cheaper (if you don't lose all your money gambling). I just got back there and stayed in a really nice place for only $60 a night!

Yup - did the same thing one year.. Got the cheap egg breakfast and prime rib dinners each night too...