anybody ski?
 

I notice that board members have a variety of hobbies in addition to their os addiction. To keep from becoming totally depressed since the MI boating season is coming to an end, we are starting to plan the winter ski trip.
We are leaning toward Whistler, it's one of our favorites. I was just reading Ski mag. & they list the 60 top resorts. If you ski where's your favorite place?

Ms Patriyacht,

Can you give us some details about Whistler.


Dano

I thouhgt you where talking about WATER skiing!... sheeesh hehehe

I no longer ski. I snowmobile. I have been a snowmobile fanatic all my life. However, I have several friends that have been and or make an annual pilgrimage to Whistler. They say it is absolutely amazing. If you are qualified, they all recommend a day of heli skiing as well.

Group trip on the East Coast
 

I do a group trip every year to 7 Springs in PA. I know it's not west coast skiing but it is affordable and drivable from the mid atlantic. Around $200pp includes 2nights lodging, 3 days/nights lift tickets, and most of your meals. Third week in Feb.
Last year I had 38 people.
It would be fun to get some OSOers to go..

Jackson Hole - Wyoming

Questions on Whistler This could take all day, so just the highlights:
- It has one of the longest if not longest vertical in North America
- Tons of great skiable terrain (there might be more than in Vail
- Good lift system, lots of high speed quads, and they start from the middle of the village.
- Great village with lots of night life, tons of bars, restaurants, nd shops. There is no need for a car

Some of the downfalls
- Long trip from the mid west, first you need to get to Vancouver, then it takes about 1.5 hrs by bus to get to the village.
- Weather is iffy, since it is close to the coast you tend to get a lot of fog and not much sun. Often we have sun at the top, ski through clouds and then the bottom is overcast.
We think like most places it is the best in Feb. early March. They have a web site and there is a large adv. supplement in the Oct ski mag. issue.
Hope this helps, let me know if you are planing a trip there
Donna

I used to ski a lot. Love Summit County, CO (Copper Mtn, Breckenridge, Keystone and A Basin). Love Vail, too. And Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe.

Was very dissapointed in Mt. Bachlor, OR - too many narrow trails, not enough open spaces (bowls).

On the east - my favorite spot has always been Killington, VT.

My Dad and Stepmother have been to Whistler (got rained out:( ).

Patti

Whistler would be awesome, unfortunately I'm use to Michigan skiing. It takes 5 minutes to get to the top of the hill, 30 seconds to get back down (hopefully still standing) and a few hours in the lodge for drinks:D. At Whistler, after skiing down a little ways walking back up 40 yards for my skis and poles, skiing down a little further going back again etc.....:) by the time I finally made it to the bottom I'd be too damn tired to drink and since that's not acceptable I'll probably never ski there.:D:D

My cousin is on the Ski patrol in Breckenridge so the fun factor is huge. From skiing the back contry to having open doors to all the hot spots and best parties. Plus there is several mountains within minutes as 43Thunder mentioned.
Jackson Hole is way up on top. I havent been out there in several years but it was very low key. Not nearly as commercial and the Teton's are way impressive. Also snowmobiling in JH is un-real.

Started skiing at 15, switched to snowboarding at 18.
15 years later, I'm still snowboarding as much as I can. Looking forward to getting my daughter out soon.
Back to the original question - favorite places:
I spent a week heliskiing (Heliboarding??) at Tyax lodge in British Columbia, about 4 hrs. from Whistler. Best trip of my life.
Aside from that, Whistler / Blackcomb is definitely at the top of my list. Some others I really like, in no particular order:
Squaw Valley
Breckenridge
Arapahoe Basin
Mt. Tremblant - great village, park the truck in a heated garage, and never see it again until you leave.
Stratton Mt.
Killington, if not only for the nightlife and size.

snowbaord :D

We were at both Breckenridge and Jackson Hole last year. JH was so disappointing. We hit it in early March
unfortunately they had about 4 ft of snow the week before we got there, then they had a dust storm that blew in from Idaho. When we arrived the temps had dropped into the 50's or 60's with blazing sun. The snow turned into the worst rocky mt cement I have ever seen plus the mountain was covered in patches of dust which componded the problem. It was definitely not the best skiing. However the night life was pretty good, we loved the million dollar saloon, but the long bus ride to the mt. each morning sucked.

I raced in College, and teached at Sugarbush in VT, now we just ski either at Stowe or Sugarbush.

GLH
I'm with you, two great spots to ski and stay. Started going there in the early 70's and always go back.
Whistler is great but you are at the mercy of the weather.

Whistler/Blackcomb are deffinetly the shiz!
Been there several times, Last run of the day from the top to the bottom will kill you! It's not uncommon for them to get inches per hour days, on end, so there is always lots of fresh powder! Deffenetly 4 stars!
The clubs are fun, oh yeah, lots of shopping too!

http://www.whistler-blackcomb.com/

I have snowboarded all over the east coast and my favorite on the east coast, depending on weather which is a problem a lot, would have to be White Face, NY. Only been to the west coast one time. I was in Salt lake City Utah, Snowbird was by far my favorite in the area. If you really want a challenge and dont need all of the frills go there, park city and the canyons have better resort life but not even close as far as terrain. I want to go to Jackson Hole or Whistler this year.

Utah is awesome, best powder I ever skied was a few months before the Olympics at the Canyons and in Snow Basin. Snow Basin is great (near Ogden) it used to be a small local spot until it was recently developed for the Olympics (it's operated by the family that owns Sun Valley).
Driving from one mt to the next can be a pain and the
weird drinking laws are a hassle but the snow makes up for it all.

Bridger Bowl is awesome. A buddy of mine went to school in Bozeman.
As for Taos, you can guess what a snowboarder's opinion is on one of the last remaining resorts to not allow snowboarding. :D

Breckinridge but we are going to Snowmass this year. Dave

Jackson Hole is Cool! Not such a tourist trap and way STEEEEEP! Summit county has lots of skiing but has got way to commercial......I've been to St. Moritz once pretty cool too but not real user friendly hard to beat the good old U.S!!

Sun Valley

Big Sky

Tahoe

Sut drop a line next time coming up.

Anyone can ski out West come up here in the northeast and deal with boiler-plate ice and windchill. There are a ton of chicks that work as flight attendants for Delta back in the days that bruised there precious behinds on these hills after saying they were experts out West!!! :D:D:D

Re: anybody ski?
 

I am a VERY avid skier. My favorite has always been China Bowl at Vail however I have not yet been to Whistler.

Re: Group trip on the East Coast
 

I love seven springs. We should look at doing an OSO trip there.

Vail, at Xmas time is awesome!!!!! Will be there from dec15 to march 3

Well, doesn't YOUR life suk?:D

in the summer boating is life, in the winter skiing is life :D my fav's are:

best ski town - lake tahoe, lotsa great ski areas around that lake . gambling too if you like that sort of stuff.

best mountain - A Basin, this place rocks when conditions are right. hike the east wall (upper). got into a spur of the moment big air contest with some locals. hit this kicker for hoursbest day of skiing i ever had.

best night life - seven springs, holy cow . . what a party!

best snow- vail , champagne powder . . nuff said. (have
not ski'ed Utah yet)

best out east - jay peak, great snow on a challanging mountain. drop in under the tram, thats where the fun is :D

best scenery- wild cat, i just love Mt.Washington. what a view looking right into Tuckermans.


hey madcow, shah mat posts his seven springs trip every year. we need to jump in on that . i havent been down there in a while. oh by the way i have a climbing trip coming togather for this winter. 4 day traverse of the Presedential range. looks like the 5 days between christmas and new years. i will give you the details later.

Jay Peak, Vermont. Great place and no lines!

pretty cheap too :cool: :cool: i think my pass was like 32 bucks with my student ID. impressive mountain. they got a foot and a half of new snow both days we were there :cool: its the "Jay Principle" :cool:

Re: Re: Group trip on the East Coast
 

I will post the details in a few days, I just got the group trip packet in the mail last night.

Weekday trip Feb 18-20