Travel and rest

[kingslug]

Aleve is your friend.

 

[SkiFanE]

Tahoe is at a much lower elevation than Colorado/Utah for the most part and skiing 7 days in a row in the East is much different than skiing 7 days in the west

Why is 7 days in west harder? I only ski a groomer when forced here - and usually I'm in bumps that are half iced up - I seem to tolerate crust more than the next skier. So a few runs downs soft bumpy west run sounds a hell of a lot easier than what I deal with here. And long floaty lines through deep champagne powder...yawn....give me an umbrella drink to carry. (Maybe I've watched too many YouTube vids but pow looks easy as pie lol).

 

[Jcb890]

Why is 7 days in west harder? I only ski a groomer when forced here - and usually I'm in bumps that are half iced up - I seem to tolerate crust more than the next skier. So a few runs downs soft bumpy west run sounds a hell of a lot easier than what I deal with here. And long floaty lines through deep champagne powder...yawn....give me an umbrella drink to carry. (Maybe I've watched too many YouTube vids but pow looks easy as pie lol).

It is much less exhausting to ride groomed snow. Riding powder is exhausting. The biggest difference to me was the altitude. If you have no issues with altitude, you may have no problems and it may not be harder.

 

[SkiFanE]

Damn I love your attitude !! If I had to go shopping you might as well just shoot me and put me out of my misery.

. I live 2 miles from a mall in the flatlands, shopping is an expensive chore, not an event. Which is why my ski pants have tons of duct tape, so much easier to slap another piece of tape than actually get a new pair

 

[SkiFanE]

It is much less exhausting to ride groomed snow. Riding powder is exhausting. The biggest difference to me was the altitude. If you have no issues with altitude, you may have no problems and it may not be harder.

. Ahhh gotcha. I've been to Bogota a lot, which is 10k feet - have done some hiking to those lovely churches in the sky - once I was dehydrated and felt it - but next time I hydrated like hell and felt good. But yeah...I guess altitude skiing is the wild card to I need to figure out (someday soon..)

 

[BenedictGomez]

Why is 7 days in west harder? I only ski a groomer when forced here - and usually I'm in bumps that are half iced up - I seem to tolerate crust more than the next skier. So a few runs downs soft bumpy west run sounds a hell of a lot easier than what I deal with here. And long floaty lines through deep champagne powder...yawn....give me an umbrella drink to carry. (Maybe I've watched too many YouTube vids but pow looks easy as pie lol).

Powder skiing is tiring as crap. I skied Hoyt's High after the 44" dump a few weeks back on the lucky 13th chair after the lift opened, and while it was one of the best runs of my decade, I could not have done that all day long. I'm not in great shape anymore, but I'm not in bad shape either. Granted that was not "champagne powder", but it rarely is. Powder skiing is much harder than lapping groomers or even skiing bumps.

 

[CoolMike]

Could just as easily do that, staying first 2 nights in Dillon, so the drive to either is the same. Why is AB tougher than Loveland?

Never skied Loveland but Arapahoe Basin was a great deal steeper on average than the other resorts in Colorado that I skied. At the end of a good day at A-Basin most of the other stuff at Breckenridge and Keystone felt flat to me. Either way it sounds like a great trip and I like the way you've aligned your rest days. I find that rest is an under-appreciated aspect of ski tourism. Also, sprinkling in rest days allows you to adjust your schedule as needed to chase the best conditions.

 

[CoolMike]

Thanks, this is just the sort of thing I need to start looking into.




Okay, Loveland then AB it is. Only reason I had them reversed is I thought AB would be busier on a Saturday. As for altitude, I've only skied out west a few times, but it's never affected me (knock on wood). I guess I'm just lucky and I hope that trend continues, but when I hear the numerous, "the altitude kicked my ***" stories posted here, I don't have an experience to understand or relate to it.

Altitude sickness is tough to predict I think. Stay hydrated. Don't booze to much the first few nights. Also, avoid hot tubs in my opinion. I spent 25 minutes in a hot tub at 10k feet once and got lightheaded and dizzy. Slept through dinner and woke up hung-over.

I was fine on the slopes though and even hiked a little. Good luck!

 

[Jcb890]

. Ahhh gotcha. I've been to Bogota a lot, which is 10k feet - have done some hiking to those lovely churches in the sky - once I was dehydrated and felt it - but next time I hydrated like hell and felt good. But yeah...I guess altitude skiing is the wild card to I need to figure out (someday soon..)

So you've got some experience with it and you may be OK. We did Copper and stayed in Frisco - Frisco is 9k while the summits at Copper are between 12-13k. Our 1st night in the condo and I was winded walking up to the 2nd floor bedroom! :lol:

 

[SkiFanE]

Powder skiing is tiring as crap. I skied Hoyt's High after the 44" dump a few weeks back on the lucky 13th chair after the lift opened, and while it was one of the best runs of my decade, I could not have done that all day long. I'm not in great shape anymore, but I'm not in bad shape either. Granted that was not "champagne powder", but it rarely is. Powder skiing is much harder than lapping groomers or even skiing bumps.

So don't you just have to get fatter skis?! JK. My only experience in 45 years in East of deep pow is probably 5 days lol. So this champagne powder stuff is marketing hype?!

 

[dlague]

I want to address A Basin Vs Loveland - both have similar elevation top of Chair 9 vs top Lenawee lift. Both have hike to terrain if you are into that (not suggested for first day). Both have areas that are challenging sections like runs off Chair 1 as compared to Pali Lift. Just more at AB. Both have moderate to easy runs from most anywhere. My sons girlfriend is a beginner/intermediate and she was able to ski all around A Basin including Montezuma Bowl. So A Basin is not that bad. It all depends on how hard you want to hit it. If you want to stay low that is feasible at both. Loveland is twice as big as A Basin and has many more lifts. We ski both and you can make each as easy or hard as you want.

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[Smellytele]

So you've got some experience with it and you may be OK. We did Copper and stayed in Frisco - Frisco is 9k while the summits at Copper are between 12-13k. Our 1st night in the condo and I was winded walking up to the 2nd floor bedroom! :lol:

Altitude can hit you one time and not another. Doesn't matter always what shape you are in either or how much liquid you drink. But that being said it could make it worse if dehydrated or you are a fat slob.

 

[deadheadskier]

Powder skiing is definitely tiring, but no, it's not as taxing on the body as spending a full day zipper lining bumps. This is especially true if you are skiing powder with the right equipment. Pounding down bumps all day puts far more stress on the core and quads.

Who looks like they're doing more work?

This: ignore the cliff hucks. I'm just talking about the normal footage

vs

 

[deadheadskier]

In this video ignore the airs and focus on the actual skiing

Skiing bumps at a high level you are making about five times as many turns as typical powder skiing and doing so on much more jarring terrain.

 

[Smellytele]

In this video ignore the airs and focus on the actual skiing

Skiing bumps at a high level you are making about five times as many turns as typical powder skiing and doing so on much more jarring terrain.

Bumps at altitude vs bumps at sea level is the real question

 

[SkiFanE]

Bumps at altitude vs bumps at sea level is the real question

So sea level (east ) most likely has more ice and rocks and stuff. Powdery bumps are nothing compared to conditions here. Eventually any good set of bumps has ice and keeping in control takes work. Recent powdery bumps here were like bouncing on a mattress haha. So fun. Next weekend it was work on same trail. Pitch also affects it. So does the ice potential in East make up for altitude out west? Can't say. My kids BF from Bogota that visits us for months at a time loves running here - he says he feels like superman compared running in Bogota lol.

 

[SIKSKIER]

There is certainly more effort used in chopped up deep powder vs untracked.Untracked is pretty easy on body if you have the proper technique.For many years in a row we would have a group of friends take a whole cat for catskiing in BC.Each year the group changed a bit and it was interesting to see some that were very good eastern skiers in my mind struggle a lot in the bottomless.They were spent before the end of each day.It was mainly because they were sitting back which is very tiring.

 

[dlague]

People should ski and rest based on their situation. Some travel with none skiing family members. Or spouse (male or female), friends or children may not ski as hard or as long. Some may be curious about the area and like sight seeing. Who cares, just take what the vacation gives you.

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[4aprice]

So don't you just have to get fatter skis?! JK. My only experience in 45 years in East of deep pow is probably 5 days lol. So this champagne powder stuff is marketing hype?!

You got me torn between telling you to get out there or letting you remain in blissful ignorance (I don't say that to be mean, but you yourself have written your not that interested in finding out) Three words, Mountains, snow and weather, all superior to anything you have ever experienced in Maine. "Champagne Powder" may be a marketing slogan for some ski area (Steamboat?) but they aren't lying when they call Utah the "greatest snow on earth". You can pound moguls on White Heat all season, all day and Snowbird will still kick your ass.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[SkiFanE]

You got me torn between telling you to get out there or letting you remain in blissful ignorance (I don't say that to be mean, but you yourself have written your not that interested in finding out) Three words, Mountains, snow and weather, all superior to anything you have ever experienced in Maine. "Champagne Powder" may be a marketing slogan for some ski area (Steamboat?) but they aren't lying when they call Utah the "greatest snow on earth". You can pound moguls on White Heat all season, all day and Snowbird will still kick your ass.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Yes- ignorant bliss suits my current lifestyle just fine