Does anyone have any thoughts about going to Crested Butte in late January or Heavenly in mid February? I'm 61 years old and a pretty fair skier. The trips are the same price except I already have an epic pass so no lift tickets in Heavenly. I've never skied the sierras and don't have any intentions of hiking for turns.
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Crested Butte or Heavenly
the trip will always depend on the snow and weather so you can get lucky or unlucky.
but feb is peak season and everything should be opem. come to tahoe if your already on epic then you can also ski kirkwood and northstar depending on what vibe you are looking for. if you want to be a ski tourist you can also knock off other resorts (but you'd have to pay)
however you will need to avoid presidents day, and weekends will be a zoo.
but feb is peak season and everything should be opem. come to tahoe if your already on epic then you can also ski kirkwood and northstar depending on what vibe you are looking for. if you want to be a ski tourist you can also knock off other resorts (but you'd have to pay)
however you will need to avoid presidents day, and weekends will be a zoo.
Crested Butte has some of the best extreme terrain on the planet. Heavenly has some of the best views in North America. I have not skied CB so I will let others talk about that area. Heavenly, is not one of my favorite resorts, yes it does have awesome views but the mountain while it does have some pluses like Mott and Killebrew Canyons and some hidden tree treasures, the rest of the mountain is mediocre. The place feels like it is put together with mirrors. You could be on one peak and say, boy that looks like pretty good skiing over there..you take four lifts to get there..one of them you have to take twice...two hours later you get there and realize that it really that good...you look out and think, well that looks not too bad over there ...then realize thats where you just were. They say the best thing about Northstar is that you can see Squaw from it. Well, the best thing about Heavenly is that you can ski Kirkwood on the same pass.
"Pretty fair skier" can have a wide range depending on a persons modesty 
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If you like to ski extreme, technical terrain, then CB at the end of Jan to end of Feburary is pretty hard to beat. Awesome terrain, low crowds, great town. You can find lift ticket deals for a good bit off.
My SO likes CB just for the vibe and decent groomers. But they do feel sort of limited compared to other places. In my experience it doesn't have a lot of fun "exciting but not scary" terrain.
.If you like to ski extreme, technical terrain, then CB at the end of Jan to end of Feburary is pretty hard to beat. Awesome terrain, low crowds, great town. You can find lift ticket deals for a good bit off.
My SO likes CB just for the vibe and decent groomers. But they do feel sort of limited compared to other places. In my experience it doesn't have a lot of fun "exciting but not scary" terrain.
There are many places at Heavenly that can hold high altitude, dry and if you're lucky, untracked snow. And if the snow level (altitude, not depth) is low and the snowpack is decent there is a lot of good steep skiing off the Gunbarrel chair, even if the rest of the mountain is closed or over-crowded.
But the best thing I've done at Heavenly is Firebreak, a 3000'+ vertical foot side-country run from the top of Olympic Chair to the the road behind the Casinos. It's easily lapped from the gondola, but don't do it alone, especially if your first time. I got it 4X last winter including three times in mid-April when I didn't cross many tracks for the first 2K vertical the day after a storm. For some pictures, see http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12395 and http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12396
I've never been to Crested Butte, but have heard it needs a lot of snow to cover the steeps so the later in the year the better if you want to ski the steeps.
Well, I've skied Crested Butte (once) and Heavenly several times (though not recently). So take this with a grain of salt, and a prod to get the more frequent visitors to chime in.
Crested Butte:
It takes a lot of snow to cover the good terrain, and January is a bit early for that.
A lot of the good terrain requires a moderate hike to get into (a traverse with some climbing) or to get out of (psychologically much harder, at least for me). There is still plenty that doesn't require any hiking, though.
I think the view of the town from up on the peak is better than most "pure nature" views, though your taste may differ.
A really cool town. Good free seven minute shuttle from the town up to the hill. There is also an option to stay in the village at the base if you want, or in Gunnison if you want cheap (half hour? hour? I forget.) There is, or at least was, public transportation from Gunnison to CB available.
Heavenly:
As Phil said, a few pods of very good terrain mixed in a lot that isn't. It takes a long time to get around the hill, and is nearly impossible if the upper lifts are on wind hold. If you have to return home on the California Trail at the end of the day, there are a lot of unguided missiles to watch out for.
There is enough elevation difference between the town and the hill that you often have lots of snow on the mountain and very little in town, making walking around in the evening more pleasant.
I may sound a bit negative, but I wouldn't turn up my nose at the chance to ski either of them.
Crested Butte:
It takes a lot of snow to cover the good terrain, and January is a bit early for that.
A lot of the good terrain requires a moderate hike to get into (a traverse with some climbing) or to get out of (psychologically much harder, at least for me). There is still plenty that doesn't require any hiking, though.
I think the view of the town from up on the peak is better than most "pure nature" views, though your taste may differ.
A really cool town. Good free seven minute shuttle from the town up to the hill. There is also an option to stay in the village at the base if you want, or in Gunnison if you want cheap (half hour? hour? I forget.) There is, or at least was, public transportation from Gunnison to CB available.
Heavenly:
As Phil said, a few pods of very good terrain mixed in a lot that isn't. It takes a long time to get around the hill, and is nearly impossible if the upper lifts are on wind hold. If you have to return home on the California Trail at the end of the day, there are a lot of unguided missiles to watch out for.
There is enough elevation difference between the town and the hill that you often have lots of snow on the mountain and very little in town, making walking around in the evening more pleasant.
I may sound a bit negative, but I wouldn't turn up my nose at the chance to ski either of them.
never skied Heavenly, but the tale of two hills regarding CB is true. But I would say it has a lot of high advanced to expert terrain and beginner to low intermediate terrain. not a lot of high intermediate to low advanced... Town is great. scenery is great. vibe is great.
If you're looking for the feel of the Sierras I would choose Squaw and Alpine over Heavenly, if it's a matter of using an Epic Pass I would choose Park city and the canyons over Heavenly.
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I'd never choose Park City over Heavenly + Northstar+ Kirkwood if it comes to using an Epic pass (assuming Cali has snow). I agree with some of the observations on Heavenly - you can get stuck in commutes or in lift zones that get clogged but the past couple of years I've spent more time skiing there with folk who really know the hill and appreciate it a lot more doing the non obvious " tourist" lines.
But the real joy of Vail Resorts in Tahoe is maching GS runs down to Martis camp, pow in the trees on Northstar backside and dropping in off Thunder Saddle, creamy turns down Eagle Bowl and Sunnyside and all of Kirkwood palisades.
But the real joy of Vail Resorts in Tahoe is maching GS runs down to Martis camp, pow in the trees on Northstar backside and dropping in off Thunder Saddle, creamy turns down Eagle Bowl and Sunnyside and all of Kirkwood palisades.
I'd say late Feb is the best time to hit CB or any of the ski areas in that area. I've done a couple Feb trips up there the last few years and it has always been good and always had at least one pow day. As someone else mentioned CB does need a lot of snow to cover the rocks but it is unlikely to disappoint. You can also hit Monarch from CB or Gunnison and ski two places that are about as opposite as it gets but both awesome.
Oddly enough, three of the four visits I've made to Crested Butte have been almost the exact same days in different years, early in the second week of January. Two were off the hook, mountain almost totally open, and one was pretty bleak. But I don't have to plan ahead; the year we planned ahead was the bleak one.
CB is pretty much at the end of the road. You go there to ski Crusted Butt. It is a great area but that is the only one you will probably have for the week unless you want Monarch for a day (which is not a bad thing at all).
Heavenly would give you other areas within striking distance with or without your pass. It would also give you other towns to explore if you wish. You get better odds of decent snow depth here too.
I like the steep, I like the deep; but would go to Heavenly.
Heavenly would give you other areas within striking distance with or without your pass. It would also give you other towns to explore if you wish. You get better odds of decent snow depth here too.
I like the steep, I like the deep; but would go to Heavenly.
Hey Lonestar I agree with Phils first post 100% , though you do need to come to the sierras and ski Heavenly because it is definitely deserving of it but I think you will find that you spend a whole bunch of time riding chairlifts and really not getting much.
With that said if you were to meet up with a local he or she ( if your lucky she will be wearing low waisted pants and showing off a sweet tattoo, there's a thread about that going on right now) you would probably get some great turns in, it's just that kind of place.
The good thing is it's in Tahoe, lots of options.
Good luck.
With that said if you were to meet up with a local he or she ( if your lucky she will be wearing low waisted pants and showing off a sweet tattoo, there's a thread about that going on right now) you would probably get some great turns in, it's just that kind of place.
The good thing is it's in Tahoe, lots of options.
Good luck.
It depends on whether the traveler is staying at the destination or doing some driving while on the trip.
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Oh sure but the drives from South Lake to Northstar and Kweed are gorgeous in their own right in clear weather (if hairy in a whiteout).
I would disagree with this, as this seems a statement of the Skier's fault for taking a non-interesting way down. Overall heavenly's lifts are all high speed quads with lots of blue groomer zoomer runs. But the lifts are fast and you can easily rack a ton of vert. So it is Skier's choice to spend their day doing those runs and perhaps wasting their day traversing "uninteresting" cattracks if they keep feeling oh some other area is better. But there is plenty of offpiste ways down on the same lift that are more interesting then the obvious runs. Maybe it's not the MOST interesting in the world; but I don't think it's mindnumbing, and plenty for someone coming for just a short term trip. The point is if someone wants to do Groomer zoomers, the high speed quads at HV fulfill that desire and by no means is slow. (Crowds are a different story)
Take in comparison KW. There, I think there's an argument that you are forced to spend a whole bunch of time on the chair; and therefore forced to do interesting terrain to make the run worth that ride. If that fits what you want, great. But not all people are the best skier on the mountain.
I feel a little bit empathetic if you've reached a level where you get no joy on a plain blue groomer, and you feel nothing except on gnar runs.
I promised myself if I reached that stage, then perhaps it's time to take a day and try snowboarding or other snow device to make those greens/blues/single black groomers interesting again.
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Hey Ray I hear what your saying and like I told Lonestar he needs to ski Heavenly it's a quality resort. As far as my personal fun factor with the mountain or any other mountain, that's all in that days experience , I might get lucky and spend the day with some gal wearing low waisted ski pants you just don't ever know.
I see your from the Bay Area and I bet you've figured that mountain out.
I see your from the Bay Area and I bet you've figured that mountain out.
There is the "Top 5 Problem" with Heavenly, the crowds. These are not crowds of skiers....they are crowds of people who ski..they are out there oblivious to their surroundings and unaware that there are people there to actually ski and not just spend time between parties. Don't get me wrong, Heavenly should be on everyones must do list. When we had The Gathering out here, Heavenly was the least attended day and the people who did ski there that day, for msot it was to check it off of their bucket list. Please come to Tahoe especially if the Sierras are on yur bucket list but don't make Heavenly your focus resort, take a day..maybe even two and ski there but make sure you hit the other resorts and if you want to take in the Tahoe beauty, do not stay in South Lake.
