Skiing; 2013-2014

[Fred not Lynn]

OK, So I am late starting this thread. I have been out 5 times, starting November 8 - All at Solitude, about a 40 minute drive from my home on the west edge of the Salt Lake valley.

There is an annual open-first pissing contest among the Utah resorts, and Brighton beat Solitude by an unannounced afternoon opening the day before both had announced.

I have a weekday only pass at Solitude, not a bad deal at $549, but a better deal at the $449 I should have gotten it for if I got off my ass and pulled the trigger 2 days earlier.

Anyway, at first there was pretty limited terrain, but as the mountain opens more, I am pretty impressed by the sheer amount of powder, and, since it is a pretty uncrowded resort, how easy it is to find it even late into the day.

By now you Eastern people should have some days in..?

 

[Burn Out]

I've gotten 3 days in at Mammoth Mountain. Decent conditions for a mix of natural and man-made. They opened 1 run from the top after Thanksgiving.

Hoping to get 20 days for the season.

 

[Stanley Steamer]

Rough start here at Red Mt. in Rossland, BC. They are really trying to make this place a successful resort, but we locals know it'll never happen. Which is good for us. They just expanded the resort to include another 1000 acres and another peak, Grey Mt, and have won various awards in the industry. Little old Rossland was ranked #7 in NYT's places to see in 2013.
But we are in a blind spot. Few people know where we are, nowhere near Vancouver or Whistler, and it's not easy to get to. The resort is always teetering on the balance of viability. They want to expand and develop to offer skiers the kind of services they are used to seeing at bigger resorts, but they don't end up getting enough visitors to foot the bill. As such, there are no high-speed quads here, no snowmaking. And early this year, no snow. Well, there's a little, but it's thin out there. In this industry, the holiday season is so important for the bottom line, and I just wonder how Red will fare. They've invested a fair bit over the past several years, and I just don't see them getting much of a return on it.
The second-to-last thing people around here want to see is the hill becoming so successful and crowded that it changes the character of the skiing and the town, pricing the locals out. But the last thing we'd want is to see the lifts stop turning altogether.
So, if you like to ski, or just like beautiful uncrowded mountains, consider a trip to the West Kootenays. It will snow eventually.

 

[DukeSox]

Where is the best skiing out west right now? (or more accurately, next weekend)

 

[Stanley Steamer]

Where is the best skiing out west right now? (or more accurately, next weekend)

We finally got some snow this week, making the mountain much more passable.
To find out how bases compare, and as a general guide, try onthesnow.com. Then match it up with short-term weather forecasts and you have a winner.