joelb wrote: Have spent a decent amount of time in CO and a couple other places with big mountains. Great memories, great views and great frustration with how much of an expensive pain in the ass the big resorts have made it to go there. Unless you buy a season pass in June, you are basically lighting money on fire in Colorado. Which I confess I have done a few times.

A-Basin has been a favorite. I hope it stays solid despite being sold to Alterra.

It looks like IKON is still limiting the number of days pass holders get at A-Basin despite having bought the resort. But you now have to make parking reservations. Makes sense I guess with the limited space up at the divide. But honestly, I kind of said goodbye to that mountain after my 2 days there this year. It's absolutely mobbed because of its proximity to Denver. Cool as hell terrain though. Pallivicini on a powder day is a FUCKING BLAST!!!! In 2023 I actually passed out at the top of the Zuma bowl because I didn't even attempt to acclimate. Flew into Denver late, went drinking, woke up at 5am and immediately hopped on the lift to 12,600'. Doh. I was only out a couple of minutes tho.

Affordability...yeah, you have to commit to it if you don't wanna get gouged. I will say that the Mountain Collective pass is an outstanding deal if you're able to make a road trip out of it! I paid $579 for 2 days at each of their mountains (plus one 3rd bonus day). And their lineup might be the best of any pass. When you consider that lift tickets have shattered the $200 per day barrier and are closing in on $300, I got outstanding value for my money. It ended up coming out to $35 per day. This was my itinerary:
2 days at Taos, 2 at A-Basin, 1 at Snowmass, 1 at Ajax, 1 at Highlands, 1 at Alta, 2 at Snowbasin, 2 at Snowbird, 2 at Grand Targhee (without a doubt, the coolest mountain there is), and 2 at Jackson Hole. Buying day passes at the ticket window, this would have cost almost $4000.

There are still some great, affordable options out there with no lift lines and amazing terrain. Wolf Creek ($89 per day). Monarch and Sunlight are both very low key and affordable too and in no way lacking.

And here's my assessment of that trip:

Overrated: Alta, Snowbird. Aside from the hassle of getting up the canyon and parking, I found the terrain (especially at Alta) to be limiting for its size, the natural fall line and separation made getting from one part of the resort to another a real pain in the ass. TONS of open space but accessing most of it requires a hike (not necessarily a bad thing, but it results in a lot of high traffic areas).

WAY, WAY UNDERRATED: Snowbasin. Wow, an incredible, beautiful mountain that I'd barely heard of before. They really seem to give a fuck about crowd management and the overall vibe. Excellent mountain. Absolutely beautiful facilities. To the point that I thought I was crashing a fancy wedding when I entered the lodge in my gear.
Grand Targhee is just such a badass, fun mountain. Isolation keeps the big crowds away. Will always be a favorite since I first spent the season there in '00-'01.

Surprising: All of the Aspen resorts, particularly Ajax and Highlands. Didn't hurt that we got 20" while I slept. Absolutely some of my best days ever. Best tree skiing I have ever experienced. Once you get through the rich people bullshit in town, the mountains are all empty! Incredible terrain.

Jackson Hole and Taos are both great when the conditions are great. For my skill level, they got super gnarly when the powder was scraped off.

jeff fox wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 11:31 am
Former FM Jason A frequents Mount Bohemia- supposedly it's gotten a little overrun in recent years but if you time it right it can still be unspoiled. The $99 season pass is pretty ridiculous.

Fuuuuuccckkkk 7.5 hours from Chicago

What are some good Chicago-adjacent spots? I’m thinking leave on Friday and crash Friday and Saturday nights, getting a good 1.5 days in. But sometimes we’ll need to just crash somewhere Saturday night.

Best Chicago-adjacent experience I’ve had is Devil’s Head, WI.. midweek. Might still be okay on the weekend but like everywhere it’s going to be busier. Less bad if you don’t have to rent equipment.

Keeping in mind that I’m a shitty skiier and don’t mind things a bit run down.

And stay at one of the hotels nearby, not at the resort.

Also: I live 20 minutes from Wilmot. Might be tempting to go there because it’s close. Just don’t.

jfv wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 6:59 pm Also: I live 20 minutes from Wilmot. Might be tempting to go there because it’s close. Just don’t.

Bought by Vail to justify midwesterners buying the Epic Pass. From what I’ve heard Vail hasn’t put a cent into improving it. Fuck them.

Alpine Valley is still decent for getting turns in to prepare for a bigger trip. They’re independent and still use the metal wickets with stickers for lift tickets!!

jeff fox wrote: Fri Oct 18, 2024 7:34 am They’re independent and still use the metal wickets with stickers for lift tickets!!

Every place around Detroit still does this. What are other places doing? QR codes or something? RFID?

Mostly rfid gates and handheld scanners.

Leaving in a week for my annual big dirtbag trip. NY/New England this time. Indy Pass is super great out there (and generally a great thing to support). I’ll be out most of February, car camping and hitting as many places as I can. Splitting time between snowboarding and Telemark. If anyone is out there, hit me up! I also found a super limited Vermont pass that gets you 4 days of skiing and is valid at every mountain in VT for 200 total. So I’m covered for the places not on Indy. Sells out immediately.

Exact route depends on snow, but the idea is to plan around a storm at Jay Peak which is the best bet in the east (They recently passed 200” for the season and are well ahead of many western areas.)

On my list:
Greek Peak (quick stop on the drive out)
Hickory (NY)
West
Berkshire East
Magic
Bromley (my home mountain growing up)
Sugarbush
Mad River Glen
Bolton
Burke
Smugglers Notch
Jay
Cannon
Waterville Valley
Saddleback

Let’s shred!

Also, timely discussion topic: Vail resorts ski patrol went on strike over the holiday season- they were asking for a salary increase: fucking 21 to 23 dollars. For lifesaving, often brutal work. Vail would sooner fuck over the holiday guests and, as a result, their stock took a dive. Good. Fuck them. They ended up agreeing in the end anyway. Ha.
Their rationale is that they’re allowing these people to ski every day so they shouldn’t have to pay them as much.