Skiing 2014-2015

[Sliver]

Louise was great on Saturday and virtually empty for some reason. Fresh tracks (not deep, though), blue sky, warm weather...so much fun.

[cammy13]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

We are considering putting together a trip to Colorado for next season. If anyone has been down there I would like to hear comments and recommendations. We will rent a 4+ bedroom place via VRBO. Which area would be best? Vail, Beaver creek, Cooper, Breckenridge? Obviously conditions vary but is there a specific time of year that would be best? December, January, February, March? Does anyone have any experience with specific rentals that are 4+ bedrooms that they would recommend?

I was there last year with a group of friends and rented a condo through VRBO. We found Arapohoe Basin was the best price for the terrain. I think it was around $66/day if you bought a pass online. Breck and Copper are amazing mountains with so much terrain but you are looking at $150/day and you will never get through the whole place in one day. We were there this time last year and the snow was pretty decent.

[Northendzone]

^ wow $150 per day seems stupidly expensive ~$400'ish for a family for a day

i wonder if the costco's in the state have discounted lift tickets similar to what is offered by the costco's here.

[troutman]

Nakiska was ok on Sunday, and not that busy. Lines for Silver Chair not long at all. The main runs were groomed and had enough coverage. Some hard icy sections on the steepest parts. They must have had a small amount of snow on Fri-Sat.

Gold chair had a couple of ok runs. Glades not in great shape, but you could find lines without rocks. Talked to a long time Nakiska skier, and he thinks this is the worst year for snow ever.

Nakiska must be in a rain shadow. Mount Sparrowhawk would have been a better option.

[dubc80]

Castle Mountain is shutting 'er down.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1832857/ca...-lack-of-snow/

On another note I was in Fernie this weekend. Supposed to go CAT skiing on Saturday but trip was cancelled and we got a refund. Went to the regular hill instead. Not recommended. Decent coverage up top with crusty hard icy snow and lots of bare patches mid mountain and down low.

Snow host I talked to said it's their worst year in 40 years.

[Huntingwhale]

Castle Mountain is shutting down today for the season after receiving sweet #### all for snow this season

[polak]

Kimberly has terrible conditions.

Hard pack slush and ice on the runs, grass in the trees. Do not go. Kinda bummed that I already committed to going again this weekend. Might just drink.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Looks like I picked the wrong year to get back into snowboarding

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Looks like I picked the wrong year to get back into snowboarding

Louise is very good.

Man, those photos of Castle are depressing.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Why Colorado? vs Utah/Wyoming/NorCal/Washington?

I say, because I don't think the fall lines in Colorado, are anything to write home about, vs the other options out there.

It has just been high on my list of places to go snowboarding (Vail or Aspen.) Jackson Hole is a destination as well but considering my buddies and I are all intermediate level snowboards I'm considered that the terrain at Jackson Hole might be a little too advanced for us.

Park City, Utah is also on my list but I'm more drawn to and excited about going to Colorado.

I haven't had any real desire to go to California or Washington.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Louise is very good.

Man, those photos of Castle are depressing.

Have you been to Sunshine?

My daughter and I are planning a few days skiing once hockey season is done at the end of March/early April.

We are thinking of hitting the mountains.

[macker]

Originally Posted by troutman

Nakiska was ok on Sunday, and not that busy. Lines for Silver Chair not long at all. The main runs were groomed and had enough coverage. Some hard icy sections on the steepest parts. They must have had a small amount of snow on Fri-Sat.

Gold chair had a couple of ok runs. Glades not in great shape, but you could find lines without rocks. Talked to a long time Nakiska skier, and he thinks this is the worst year for snow ever.

Nakiska must be in a rain shadow. Mount Sparrowhawk would have been a better option.

Yep, we were expecting Nakiska to be very busy yesterday but in the morning there were no lineups and a few minutes wait in the afternoon lineups. The last few family days have been there were much busier and I think people were scared away by the lack of snow. They did pick up 3-5cms recently and it was noticeably better than last week based on the new snow and a great day of skiing with the warm temperature. It was +6 when we left the parking lot and dropped to 0 by the time we were back in Calgary.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Have you been to Sunshine?

My daughter and I are planning a few days skiing once hockey season is done at the end of March/early April.

We are thinking of hitting the mountains.

No, I'm not a big fan of Scumshine.

We were in Banff for a couple nights this past weekend and there is literally no snow there. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything for Sunshine, but it was a little weird.

I worked at Louise for a year (20 years ago...WTF!) so I know that hill so well. Sunshine is great, but I always feel like a bit of a tourist there compared to Louise, which feels like "my" mountain. Can always find good stuff no matter what the conditions are.

[brocoli]

Just came back from a weekend at Big White. Skiing was okay. A little hard and icey in some sections, but overall was good enough. Was basically spring skiing in February. Biggest change is the new system for getting onto the chair lifts with a card and it scans your body for your card (within reason). Was amazing to use (not sure what every other hill has as I'm a Castle guy).

Also talked with Castle Mountain today and they are sad. Worst year that any of them can remember. People came out this weekend and were happy to be there, but in the end they just couldn't justify staying open any longer and not giving people what they expect and deserve for their money. Just pushing the reset and hoping that next year turns around. But hey, at least the T-Bar pub is still open for a bit!

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

No, I'm not a big fan of Scumshine.

We were in Banff for a couple nights this past weekend and there is literally no snow there. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything for Sunshine, but it was a little weird.

I worked at Louise for a year (20 years ago...WTF!) so I know that hill so well. Sunshine is great, but I always feel like a bit of a tourist there compared to Louise, which feels like "my" mountain. Can always find good stuff no matter what the conditions are.

She is a new skier, and Sunshine, allows for a number of runs into the main lodge area. I am concerned that we will get to the far side of LL and she might chuck it in, and then we got to get back.

Also, I prefer SS over LL. Much like you and LL I know SS.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

She is a new skier, and Sunshine, allows for a number of runs into the main lodge area. I am concerned that we will get to the far side of LL and she might chuck it in, and then we got to get back.

Also, I prefer SS over LL. Much like you and LL I know SS.

I har' dat. I actually just stay on the frontside with my kids right now as my son can only do green and my daughter blue. Maybe we'll do Sunshine just for something different in the Spring.

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Have you been to Sunshine?

My daughter and I are planning a few days skiing once hockey season is done at the end of March/early April.

We are thinking of hitting the mountains.

Out of any of the hills within 5 hours of Calgary, Sunshine is probably your best bet for good conditions late in the year since they are so high up.

On a normal snow year, they have their Slush Cup (last operating weekend) on May long weekend. That's a hell of a long season.

[Northendzone]

i was at lake louise on thursday and thought that it was ok - although it was a little warm for my tastes in the afternoon.

Was also at panorama on friday and sunday - bottom of the hill gets real soft in the afternnon. i thought the middle and upper part of the mountain were ok.

overall enjoyed skiing in the morning versus the afternoon.

on a side note, my son (12), who was wimpering a bit on the gold chair at nakiska in november, was skiing some black diamond runs at panorama, and he was much more in control. happy to see him improve so much in a few months, but sad that i can no longer keep up with him.

also got my daughter to get out of her comfort zone as she skiied from the mile one chair at panorama

[polak]

Originally Posted by dubc80

Out of any of the hills within 5 hours of Calgary, Sunshine is probably your best bet for good conditions late in the year since they are so high up.

On a normal snow year, they have their Slush Cup (last operating weekend) on May long weekend. That's a hell of a long season.

Kicking Horse seems to be getting snow every day lately.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Jackson Hole is a destination as well but considering my buddies and I are all intermediate level snowboards I'm considered that the terrain at Jackson Hole might be a little too advanced for us.

Jackson has tons of stuff for intermediates. When I was there conditions on the advanced runs were #### so we stuck to pretty mid-grade stuff and didn't ski a whole lot of runs more than once.

If/when you go down there check out Grand Targhee too. I actually preferred the terrain there, but we had better conditions there so that might bias my opinion. If I were to go again I'd split the time 50/50 with JH and GT.

Jackson is by far the most fun I've had partying in a ski town though.