OT: Ski slopes from old rivals site

[vacock]

Dec 6, 2021 #2

Sugar, Beech, and Appalachian are relatively close, but have very little in terms of terrain and snow. Winterplace is 5hrs - ishinto WV, and then Snowshoe another 2hrs from there. As much skiing as I have done it's worth it to me to make a long weekend trip to Snowshoe and be done with it, or better yet head west for powder.


Dec 6, 2021 #3

When I grew up in Anderson, we used to go to Sugar Mountain. That came the closest to resembling anything that I now know as skiing. We could leave the house around 6am, ski mostly all day, and be back by 8 or so at night.

I know you said "without spending a lot" and it sounds like you're just trying to see if you "still have it," but if you conclude you do and want to take it to the next level, I think United has non-stop flights from Greenville to Denver now.



Dec 6, 2021 #4

Ricky, I agree. Couple others are Wolf Ridge between Asheville and Mars Hill and Cataloochee. Expect long lines at all of them



Dec 6, 2021 #5

Agreed. We go to Appalachian for a quick trip. Snowshoe if we have more time but it's a haul from Columbia.



Dec 6, 2021 #7

Ober Gatlinburg...

Ober Gatlinburg - Ober Gatlinburg

obergatlinburg.com

I live 15 minutes to Wolf Laurel...been a couple of times but prefer Gatlinburg...

45 minutes to Beech...been once with family and enjoyed...been years though...



Dec 6, 2021 #9

Was at Appalachian last week. They were making snow and it was blowing everywhere. No lines at all.



Dec 7, 2021 #10

Beach mountain hands down but finding a place to stay last minute is a pain



Dec 7, 2021 #11

I'm not a skier but Cataloochee in Maggie Valley seems popular and it would likely be the closest to you, I think.


Dec 7, 2021 #13

What Ricky said. Appalachian in Boone, NC may be your best bet because it won't stress your knees like Sugar or Beech will. Winterplace is good too but a longer drive. Pick your slope at Snowshoe - there's plenty of slopes with different degrees of difficulty. My favorite "local" is Beech but Snowshoe is my favorite slope this side of the Rockies. Haha just realized I'm talking like an active skier! I see knee replacements in my future too. I put away my gear a long time ago but like golf courses, slopes don't change their shape, so my info is still legit.



Dec 7, 2021 #15

Would Laurel or wolf ridge was always icier because the temps were higher than Beech and sugar and the surface went through many freeze cycles. I am thinking you will want beginner slopes to try those knees out. Sugar or Beech would be your best bet. I lived in Greenville and we would do both as day trips. Leave in the dark, get back in the dark but doable. Go to Spartanburg and take Hwy 221. Follow the signs. Use a rental shop in Banner Elk before Sugar. Usually better equipment and less wait. Can rent bibbs too if you need them. Good luck



Dec 7, 2021 #16

Appalachian is the best of the NC slopes if you are into terrain parks. That is why we choose Appalachian. If you are not into terrain parks, sugar or Beech would be best.



Dec 7, 2021 #18

My kids are boarders and love Appalachian terrain park. They would prefer it over snowshoe. The lift taking you to the park at Snowshoe is painful.



Dec 7, 2021 #19

I think if I was just getting back in to it and wasnt sure how my body would react, I'd probably pick Sugar. Just feel that's about the best place to gauge myself and see what I could and couldntdo.



Dec 7, 2021 #21

Our "local" favorite to Columbia is Winterplace. Its exactly 276 miles door to door up I-77 from columbia. Drove it o a fridayafternoon for night skiing many times. Would hotel stay 1 night, ski on saturday, and around 5-6 PM, trek back to Cola. Home before midnight but dead *** tired.

Its about 2.5 times the size of beech. However, if you're looking to rent a slope side cabin for a group or family, cant do that hardly at winterplace. Theres VERY few, and I never figured out how to find those cabins on the backside of the far right slope.

If you want to rent a place, Beech has the most around close.

I never went to Showshoe but have wanted to badly. its 100 miles further than winterplace, butyou basically go to winterplace almost, exit off, and another 120 miles off the highway so 2x the time.

I've gotten out to Colorado twice and that is AMAZING. I'd like to live and ski there. Breckenridge is the best we've found. Just vast ski terrain. Makes east skiing feel like a joke.


Dec 7, 2021 #22

I'd really like to take my boys and see if they can do it, and get them in wee ski school. But I'm terrified of the time, and money committment and then go straight out there, clip ontehri little skis, fall down, start crying, and the whole weekend is ruined.

With that said, they want to go tubing again. We didn't go last season due to covid. Thinking of going this season. We'd love to find a day trip to tube only from Columbia.

Can anyone recommend tubing around asheville that we could drive up, do tubing and trek back home same day? Boys are 6 and 4, and they ride a tube with us since they cant stop. S eemslike some places we looked at had rules about not sharing a tube, or min height requirements or something.

Help appreciated.

 

[vacock]

Dec 7, 2021 #23
Just my opinion. If you are going to drive to Winterplace. Drive the extra couple hours to snowshoe.
The problem with all of these places is that you don't know the condition until several days before and it's nearly impossible to find a rental last minute at snowshoe.
Here is my solution since I'm a morning person. I leave west Columbia at 1:00 am. Drive straight there. Kids sleep all the way there. Ski all day and drive to Marlinton for a short notice room. It's only about a 20ish mile drive but takes about 45 minutes. Eat at Alfredo's. Ski the next day all day. Eat at Alfredo's. Ski until 1 or 2 the following day and drive all the way back that evening.
I've got it down. It's not ideal to stay in Marlinton but you don't have to plan 6 months in advance over the holidays to find out the conditions stink. It works for us.
We go out west boarding several times per winter but take shorter trips to Appalachian or snowshoe.

Dec 7, 2021 #24
I have been to all, even the Ober Gatlinburg, Ski Beech is by FAR the best, they have one slope around back, that NOONE skis, it isnt always open however.

Dec 7, 2021 #25
Yes, skiing in the west really is like a completely different activity altogether. I grew up skiing the NC resorts, Ober Gatlinburg, and Snowshoe, WV, etc. I loved it. When I got married, we honeymooned in Jackson Hole and that was my first experience skiing the Rockies. It was like a paradigm shift for me. I never skied in the southeast again. From then on, we flew out west every year for our ski fix until we were finally blessed to have the opportunity to move out here.
When I describe it to my friends in SC, I use a golf analogy. It's like spending the first 20-something years of your life playing all your golf on Columbia's old Sedgewood golf course. Then, one year, you fly to another part of the country and discover every course in that region is the equivalent of a PGA tour stop. Only, they are less crowded than Sedgewood and, in many cases, less expensive.

Dec 7, 2021 #26
I agree snowshoe has awful lifts, but nobody on the middle east has anything better. Just shorter runs.

Dec 7, 2021 #28
I had skied all my life in the South east. We got up a trip to Jackson home and were riding the tram to the top. we were excitedly talking about skiing and a guy riding the tram with us was grinning. We were talking about making 10-15 runs from the top. What we didn't realize is that the longest run was about 4 miles long and 4k vertical drop. It didn't take us long to find out the skiing technique is vastly different for powder. Skiing wasn't the same after that trip.

Dec 7, 2021 #29
It's not all of snowshoe. The lift at the western territory is high speed and the lines are normally short. We stay over there in the afternoon when the slow lifts and crowds are on the other side.
You have to hit the terrain parks early or late because the lines are awful and they all have the slow lifts.
We were at snowshoe over Thanksgiving. Terrain park was in good condition but they only had one of the three lifts open near the bottom of the park. Long lines in the afternoon.

Dec 7, 2021 #31
Have to get your weight back in powder. It's a lot different than the ice on the east coast. Love boarding through the trees out west, especially in powder.

Dec 7, 2021 #32
I pretty much only do western territory and then silver creek in the evening.
Only been there like 2 or 3 days in the past five years though as we have been going out west instead.
This year though we are spending a whole week there so the kids (5&3) can go through their camp. I'm just hoping to have decent conditions. I shudder thinking about those lift lines.

Dec 7, 2021 #33
You'll be glad you started them young. I started mine on ski's at age 5. They transitioned to boards at 7. They will never go back to ski's. They are one-plankers for life. They will pass you up at about age 13.
One downfall of snowshoe is the lack of cell service. I normally let my kids go alone for a bit but it's nearly impossible to communicate at snowshoe.

Dec 7, 2021 #34
Sounds like a good trip. I’m afraid I’d fall asleep if I drove that far that early and skied 3 days and drove back.
However I also don’t think I could convince my wife to wake and leave at 1 am.
Nonetheless what is the place you stay at that has short notice rooms ?
What kind of situation we talking about there? Hotel?

Dec 7, 2021 #35
I’m not a golfer but your analogy is pretty good.
it’s like those places are so
Big. And to go from one side of the mountain to the other you might need to plan your path back an hour and a half before the lifts stop because there might be 4 slopes and 4 different lift rides you need to take to work your way across to the slope where your car or room are.
My wife turned her ankle once and she wasn’t hurt bad but it caused us to miss the last lift. Had to get ski patrol to take her down and they drove me to my car to come back and get her. Crazy but they were super helpful.
mind me asking what you mean about it being sometimes cheaper out west?
I’ve never been able to commit enough time to buy season passes. Abs it seemed like daily slope passes out there ran $100-$120 a day whereas around winter place and beech lift passes were like $55-$70 a day. Plus winter place is open till 10 PM whereas every slope out west closes at 4:30 I think.
What’s the secret to better pricing out west?

Dec 8, 2021 #36
Moonshine mountain in Hendersonville and Tube World at Maggie Valley are probably your closest. However, this weather sucks right now. I'm honestly shocked some of the slopes are even open. Tahoe in California is losing a ton of money right now. Most are just now starting to open out there.

Dec 8, 2021 #37
This is not a trip for the wife. My wife will only go if her friends go and there's lots of partying involved.
I have stayed at several places in Marlinton. Several nice places but have also stayed at the Marlinton motor Inn if nothing else is available. My wife wouldn't stay there in a million years. On short notce, the kids and I don't care.

Dec 8, 2021 #38
We don't party and my wife loves to ski. Not quite as much as I do, but she really likes it. No partying necessary. Just getting her up would be the challenge.

Dec 8, 2021 #39
I'd like to take my boys just to tube somewhere close. Is there anywhere around Asheville that does tubing? Thinking if we could just do a day trip to tube with the boys from Columbia. Asheville isn't too far away, could tube for the session, get some dinner and drive back home.

Dec 8, 2021 #40
We don't party and my wife loves to ski. Not quite as much as I do, but she really likes it. No partying necessary. Just getting her up would be the challenge.
Partying = hanging out with friends and socializing. Not necessarily drinking. That said, skiing is not her priority when she joins us.

Dec 8, 2021 #41
5 years ago with flights and everything for two people it was cheaper to spend a week in park city than it was at snowshoe.
That's not the case right now. Lodging anywhere out west is crazy.
Investors bought a TON of properties and the prices are more than double what they were two years ago. Snowshoe is a bargain right now.

Dec 8, 2021 #42
Tube World in Maggie Valley. My wife and I sometimes park across the street in the old Ghost Town parking lot and watch them for a little while if we have some time to kill.

Dec 8, 2021 #43
Agreed. You can get a Frontier flight to Denver or SLC very economically. I plan two trips out west each winter. I get the icon pass which is good for a good many of the Utah, Colorado and Snowshoe slopes. Much less expensive than paying daily.

Dec 8, 2021 #44
How many days do you need to ski to make a “pass” worthwhile? Cause we did daily before and it was terrible. But we only went once per year. Honestly I haven’t been out west to ski in prob 5 years and I thought lodging was pricy then. Good lord help me if it’s double.

How many days do you need to ski to make a “pass” worthwhile? Cause we did daily before and it was terrible. But we only went once per year. Honestly I haven’t been out west to ski in prob 5 years and I thought lodging was pricy then. Good lord help me if it’s double.

Dec 8, 2021 #45
Very troubling that you say losing has doubled. I thought it was high 5 years ago. We had a little condo slope side at Breckenridge. Wow if it’s double. That hurts my soul.
I get s
About buying the epic pass. Not sure how many days I need to ski to make that worthwhile. It high per day like $100-$120 a day for a lift ticket as I recall

 

[vacock]

Dec 8, 2021 #46

I get s

About buying the epic pass. Not sure how many days I need to ski to make that worthwhile. It high per day like $100-$120 a day for a lift ticket as I recall

Buying same day lift are a thing of the past. You need some sort of pass. Even if it's just a four day pass. You have to buy those in advance.

Breck was still pricing out pretty good if you skip weekend nights. Been a couple months since I checked.

With two kids in ski school it just wasn't worth the extra cost right now. We are doing a week at snowshoe with two kids in ski school for just over $2k.

The condo we stayed in park city three years ago was $1600. This year it was almost $4k.



Dec 8, 2021 #47

Depends on where you go. I would say on average lift are $175 per day out west. If I remember right, the icon pass is $699 for an adult so you need to be skiing at least 5 days. We normally go out west for at least 10 in addition to several trips to snowshoe.

The downside is that the icon doesn’t include Jackson Hole but included Big Sky and I believe Targhee last year for x number of days.



Dec 8, 2021 #48

You’re saying. Accommodations lift and two ski schools for ….what 5 days of skiing and learning? For $2000? That seems pretty good. I assume you all own equipment and aren’t having to rent anything for anyone?



Dec 8, 2021 #49

Wife and I have our own gear. Rentals are included with the kidspackage. But yeah 5 days with everything.



Dec 8, 2021 #50

Damn, that Snowshoe deal is definitely a steal, especially if you have a decent place to stay. Some of their lodging is pretty rough - first hand knowledge of that during last year's trip.


Dec 8, 2021 #51

This was including some accommodations you found in that other town a little ways off or did they have some kind of package deal?



Dec 8, 2021 #52

Haha. Neither. Put it together myself. Booked on VRBO which I normally avoid. Ikon has a snowshoe 2 for ticket deal. So two days for $100.

We are staying at Mountain Lodge. It's not super nice but it's my favorite place to stay. I've pretty much stayed in every type of unit there other than houses. For me ML is best with the full kitchen and slopeside right next to the kids area.



Dec 8, 2021 #53

It's a decently updated spot in Mountain Lodge. That is my go to if I know the status of the unit I will get.

I've stayed pretty much everywhere there. I just prefer ML. Especially with the kids and being able to bring your gea



Dec #54
It’s probably worth clarifying that when I say “in many cases,” skiing in the west is cheaper, I’m referring simply to my experience with lift ticket prices. Obviously, once you factor in the cost of airfare, it’s hard to say it’s “cheaper” than skiing in the southeast (although it’s still a better value). While season passes and multi-day passes can make skiing cheaper, the best values in skiing are found in the less-known “local” ski areas around the west that are not tourist destinations. These local ski areas offer some big terrain that is on par with many of the popular destination resorts and, at a minimum, will dwarf anything in the southern Appalachians. What they won’t have are big resort towns at the base area with some of the most expensive real estate in the country, art galleries, lots of lodging options, heated chair lifts, underground parking garages, or active nightlife options. But they also won’t have ANY crowds or an expensive lift ticket.

I did some quick comparison shopping online, looking at a few resorts in the southeast and in the west that I am familiar with. Since I live in Montana now, this list is Montana-heavy, but I have found some great “undiscovered” ski mountains most everywhere I’ve been in the Rockies. For apples-to-apples purposes, the list below is for a one-day adult lift ticket on Saturday, January 8th, purchased online today. Obviously, purchasing multi-day passes or mid-week will usually get you a better deal at each place, but this is a pretty good starting point for comparison purposes. I included the total acreage and total vertical drop of each are for context.

Sugar Mountain: 115 acres with 1200’ of vertical. $80

Beech Mountain: 95 acres with 830’ of vertical. $75

Snowshoe: 244 acres with 1500’ of vertical. $128

Whitetail Ski Area (just Northwest of DC in PA): 109 acres with 935’ of vertical. $84

Whitefish Mountain, MT: 3000 acres with 2353’ of vertical. $89 (Unlike the others on this list, Whitefish really is a “destination” resort with a nice ski town full of lodging, restaurants, retail, galleries, etc. This also happens to be @Hi Cock's home ski area)

Red Lodge, MT: 1600 acres with 2400’ of vertical. $53

Discovery Ski Area, MT: 2200 acres with 2388’ of vertical. $68 Discovery has a midnight-madness sale each year in March when season passes can be bought for about $399.

Bridger Bowl, MT: 2000 acres with 2700’ of vertical. $69 Bridger is just north of Bozeman and is the locals’ cheaper alternative to Big Sky.

Grand Targhee, WY/ID: 2600 acres with 2270’ of vertical. $103

Every one of those resorts is bigger than all the NC and WV resorts combined and none of them can be fully skied by the average skier in one day. Best of all, there isn't a metro area the size of Greenville/Spartanburg, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, or Charlotte within 200 miles of any of them, so lift lines are practically non-existent.

You mentioned night skiing as an added value. I don't think any of the western resorts I mentioned offer night skiing. Night skiing is not very popular out here. Part of that may be because people don't like skiing in sub-zero temps once the sun goes down. haha. But, honestly, after skiing all day at a western ski resort, most people don't have anything left for a night skiing session anyway. You probably recall from your Colorado skiing that you will traverse more miles on your skis in 2 or 3 hours at any Rocky Mountain resort than you would in 12 hours at Winterplace because you will spend all of that time actually skiing rather than sitting on lifts and standing in lift lines. Like I said earlier, it's a paradigm shift.

Dec 8, 2021 #55

Outside the long *** flight, Alyeska is fairly reasonable, $75 mid week and $85 weekends and generally has some insane snow depths. Last season they got over 500 inches and so far this winter they have received about 105 inches up top. I know its not practical for most but if you ever want to see Alaska in the winter this place is really good. Bonus is you get to look over the Gulf of Alaska all day long.



Dec 10, 2021 #56

If any of you rednecks come out this way, let me know. I can get a few lift at $57

Dec 10, 2021 #57

You'll recognize us. We'll be the ones wearing the insulated camo coveralls.



Dec 10, 2021 #58

I'll be the one in blue jeans.



Dec 14, 2021 #59

Yesterday I booked our flights for our ski trip. Round trip plane for 4.

$400 total which includes our skis / boards. Sale ends today on frontier.



Jan 12, 2022 #61

I don't ski, but if you're just looking for a quick trip to tryout you're new knees then a quick Google maps search says Cataloochee is the closest.



Jan 12, 2022 #62

My son lived just south of Denver in Castle Rock.His go to spot out there was Copper Mtn.We loved just being in Breckinridge,Steamboat and Vail.Never got to Aspen,Howver,the best ski area we went to out there was Crested Butte.Just a massive ski area.You are on your ski's so much more than the NC and WV areas bucause of the sheer length of the ski runs.



Jan 12, 2022 #64

Personally if it were me I’m making a weekend out of it and going to winter place. I live in saluda sc and usually can make it in 5 hours.



Jan 12, 2022 #65

Anyone remember the old Sky Valley ski place in northern GA? Tiny little place with a few runs we used to hit in my college days. Closed back in early 2000s I think.



Jan 12, 2022 #66

There’s some tubing in and around Hendersonville. I cannot remember the name. I bet my wife can. I’ll ask her when she gets home. We took our kids 8 and 5 last year. They had a blast.



Jan 12, 2022 #67

These threads always turn into how much better the rockies are. That's not even an argument. I don't have to work Friday and I can be at Beech in 2.5 hours and gonna do it. Just need a get away with the wife. Going out west in February and the lodging is stupid expensive.



Jan 13, 2022 #68

Silver Creek @ one time was good for me & family. Back then Snowshoe was the destination & Silver Creek was lot less crowded.

Haven't been back since the bride tumbled & tore her knee to shreds. 20yrs later & she still has the hots for the Ski Patrol guy who took her down the mountain.



Jan 13, 2022 #69

Hey, our west is better than NC : )

We are out west now for a week. The boarding is slamming. Lots of powder and small crowds (until Saturday).

 

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Me hitting your like button 1,000,000.

 

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Dec 8, 2021 #46

I get s

About buying the epic pass. Not sure how many days I need to ski to make that worthwhile. It high per day like $100-$120 a day for a lift ticket as I recall

Buying same day lift are a thing of the past. You need some sort of pass. Even if it's just a four day pass. You have to buy those in advance.

Breck was still pricing out pretty good if you skip weekend nights. Been a couple months since I checked.

With two kids in ski school it just wasn't worth the extra cost right now. We are doing a week at snowshoe with two kids in ski school for just over $2k.

The condo we stayed in park city three years ago was $1600. This year it was almost $4k.



Dec 8, 2021 #47

Depends on where you go. I would say on average lift are $175 per day out west. If I remember right, the icon pass is $699 for an adult so you need to be skiing at least 5 days. We normally go out west for at least 10 in addition to several trips to snowshoe.

The downside is that the icon doesn’t include Jackson Hole but included Big Sky and I believe Targhee last year for x number of days.



Dec 8, 2021 #48

You’re saying. Accommodations lift and two ski schools for ….what 5 days of skiing and learning? For $2000? That seems pretty good. I assume you all own equipment and aren’t having to rent anything for anyone?



Dec 8, 2021 #49

Wife and I have our own gear. Rentals are included with the kidspackage. But yeah 5 days with everything.



Dec 8, 2021 #50

Damn, that Snowshoe deal is definitely a steal, especially if you have a decent place to stay. Some of their lodging is pretty rough - first hand knowledge of that during last year's trip.


Dec 8, 2021 #51

This was including some accommodations you found in that other town a little ways off or did they have some kind of package deal?



Dec 8, 2021 #52

Haha. Neither. Put it together myself. Booked on VRBO which I normally avoid. Ikon has a snowshoe 2 for ticket deal. So two days for $100.

We are staying at Mountain Lodge. It's not super nice but it's my favorite place to stay. I've pretty much stayed in every type of unit there other than houses. For me ML is best with the full kitchen and slopeside right next to the kids area.



Dec 8, 2021 #53

It's a decently updated spot in Mountain Lodge. That is my go to if I know the status of the unit I will get.

I've stayed pretty much everywhere there. I just prefer ML. Especially with the kids and being able to bring your gea



Dec #54
It’s probably worth clarifying that when I say “in many cases,” skiing in the west is cheaper, I’m referring simply to my experience with lift ticket prices. Obviously, once you factor in the cost of airfare, it’s hard to say it’s “cheaper” than skiing in the southeast (although it’s still a better value). While season passes and multi-day passes can make skiing cheaper, the best values in skiing are found in the less-known “local” ski areas around the west that are not tourist destinations. These local ski areas offer some big terrain that is on par with many of the popular destination resorts and, at a minimum, will dwarf anything in the southern Appalachians. What they won’t have are big resort towns at the base area with some of the most expensive real estate in the country, art galleries, lots of lodging options, heated chair lifts, underground parking garages, or active nightlife options. But they also won’t have ANY crowds or an expensive lift ticket.

I did some quick comparison shopping online, looking at a few resorts in the southeast and in the west that I am familiar with. Since I live in Montana now, this list is Montana-heavy, but I have found some great “undiscovered” ski mountains most everywhere I’ve been in the Rockies. For apples-to-apples purposes, the list below is for a one-day adult lift ticket on Saturday, January 8th, purchased online today. Obviously, purchasing multi-day passes or mid-week will usually get you a better deal at each place, but this is a pretty good starting point for comparison purposes. I included the total acreage and total vertical drop of each are for context.

Sugar Mountain: 115 acres with 1200’ of vertical. $80

Beech Mountain: 95 acres with 830’ of vertical. $75

Snowshoe: 244 acres with 1500’ of vertical. $128

Whitetail Ski Area (just Northwest of DC in PA): 109 acres with 935’ of vertical. $84

Whitefish Mountain, MT: 3000 acres with 2353’ of vertical. $89 (Unlike the others on this list, Whitefish really is a “destination” resort with a nice ski town full of lodging, restaurants, retail, galleries, etc. This also happens to be @Hi Cock's home ski area)

Red Lodge, MT: 1600 acres with 2400’ of vertical. $53

Discovery Ski Area, MT: 2200 acres with 2388’ of vertical. $68 Discovery has a midnight-madness sale each year in March when season passes can be bought for about $399.

Bridger Bowl, MT: 2000 acres with 2700’ of vertical. $69 Bridger is just north of Bozeman and is the locals’ cheaper alternative to Big Sky.

Grand Targhee, WY/ID: 2600 acres with 2270’ of vertical. $103

Every one of those resorts is bigger than all the NC and WV resorts combined and none of them can be fully skied by the average skier in one day. Best of all, there isn't a metro area the size of Greenville/Spartanburg, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, or Charlotte within 200 miles of any of them, so lift lines are practically non-existent.

You mentioned night skiing as an added value. I don't think any of the western resorts I mentioned offer night skiing. Night skiing is not very popular out here. Part of that may be because people don't like skiing in sub-zero temps once the sun goes down. haha. But, honestly, after skiing all day at a western ski resort, most people don't have anything left for a night skiing session anyway. You probably recall from your Colorado skiing that you will traverse more miles on your skis in 2 or 3 hours at any Rocky Mountain resort than you would in 12 hours at Winterplace because you will spend all of that time actually skiing rather than sitting on lifts and standing in lift lines. Like I said earlier, it's a paradigm shift.

Dec 8, 2021 #55

Outside the long *** flight, Alyeska is fairly reasonable, $75 mid week and $85 weekends and generally has some insane snow depths. Last season they got over 500 inches and so far this winter they have received about 105 inches up top. I know its not practical for most but if you ever want to see Alaska in the winter this place is really good. Bonus is you get to look over the Gulf of Alaska all day long.



Dec 10, 2021 #56

If any of you rednecks come out this way, let me know. I can get a few lift at $57

Dec 10, 2021 #57

You'll recognize us. We'll be the ones wearing the insulated camo coveralls.



Dec 10, 2021 #58

I'll be the one in blue jeans.



Dec 14, 2021 #59

Yesterday I booked our flights for our ski trip. Round trip plane for 4.

$400 total which includes our skis / boards. Sale ends today on frontier.



Jan 12, 2022 #61

I don't ski, but if you're just looking for a quick trip to tryout you're new knees then a quick Google maps search says Cataloochee is the closest.



Jan 12, 2022 #62

My son lived just south of Denver in Castle Rock.His go to spot out there was Copper Mtn.We loved just being in Breckinridge,Steamboat and Vail.Never got to Aspen,Howver,the best ski area we went to out there was Crested Butte.Just a massive ski area.You are on your ski's so much more than the NC and WV areas bucause of the sheer length of the ski runs.



Jan 12, 2022 #64

Personally if it were me I’m making a weekend out of it and going to winter place. I live in saluda sc and usually can make it in 5 hours.



Jan 12, 2022 #65

Anyone remember the old Sky Valley ski place in northern GA? Tiny little place with a few runs we used to hit in my college days. Closed back in early 2000s I think.



Jan 12, 2022 #66

There’s some tubing in and around Hendersonville. I cannot remember the name. I bet my wife can. I’ll ask her when she gets home. We took our kids 8 and 5 last year. They had a blast.



Jan 12, 2022 #67

These threads always turn into how much better the rockies are. That's not even an argument. I don't have to work Friday and I can be at Beech in 2.5 hours and gonna do it. Just need a get away with the wife. Going out west in February and the lodging is stupid expensive.



Jan 13, 2022 #68

Silver Creek @ one time was good for me & family. Back then Snowshoe was the destination & Silver Creek was lot less crowded.

Haven't been back since the bride tumbled & tore her knee to shreds. 20yrs later & she still has the hots for the Ski Patrol guy who took her down the mountain.



Jan 13, 2022 #69

Hey, our west is better than NC : )

We are out west now for a week. The boarding is slamming. Lots of powder and small crowds (until Saturday).

Good job. I was hoping some of the old threads could be saved.

 

[vacock]

Good job. I was hoping some of the old threads could be saved.

Note that it would not let me post more than 10,000 characters so I had to make three posts.

 

[CockofEarle]

View attachment 180071

One of the all time classics! .