Spring break trip - Ikon suggestions

[Slim]

Yes...

+add natural hot spring visits to your Mammoth option. My kids loved that....and also at Mammoth we never really experienced crowds there...mountain is really spread out and lots of terrain for all abilities off most lifts....its wide open for lots of family options to keep an eye on all the kids.

Our kids (and adults would love the hot springs too! As far as crowds, were you ever there during the LA spring break week? That’s the reason I was fearing crowds, otherwise, spring is pretty quiet mot resorts.

 

[BC.]

I looked, but could find any flights to Mammoth that didn’t take 9.5 hours or longer...

Fly to Reno....it’s not a bad drive at all....even with a SUV full of kids....great views that even get the kids off their phones....lol....they keep asking when we are going back?

We have been there over Easter Break a few times (late March, early April, mid April).....so maybe not exactly the LA break...but it was over vacation days...

Once your up on the mountain....the mountain spreads the crowds very nicely......

 

[tball]

I don’t see the value in waiting longer here. What information would you have about the April snowpack in November? We are talking about an end of season trip. If it was an early season trip, then absolutely, but late season, every place has had an entire season to build up the snowpack, so week to week variations average out, and even in a low snow year, April snowpack is so deep, that even at 50% there is still a lot of snow on the ground.

What's the harm in waiting until Feb or March to decide? It's late season and there will be availability.

I've skied the CO and UT resorts on your list a bunch in April. They are usually great, but not always. There is an occasional anomalous year where one is substantially better than the other, and you'll know it's tracking that way 4-6 weeks out. I'd expect the same for Mamouth and Canada.

I'd wait until the last week of Feb to book, as there's a reasonable chance one of your four choices will get thrown out based on snowpack.

 

[martyg]

Yeah, unfortunately we do have to travel to ski DH in the mountains in April.

I don’t see the value in waiting longer here. What information would you have about the April snowpack in November? We are talking about an end of season trip. If it was an early season trip, then absolutely, but late season, every place has had an entire season to build up the snowpack, so week to week variations average out, and even in a low snow year, April snowpack is so deep, that even at 50% there is still a lot of snow on the ground.
View attachment 79771
As you can see from this graph, April snowdepth in a ‘low’ snow year is still deeper than and ‘average’ January year.

The only useful thing would be to wait until last minute and go for the spot with snow storms forecast, but with 8 people, flying and renting a nice place to stay, that is not viable option for us (but a great idea for a couple of adults).

I'd wait until at least Jan 1. By then you will see where storms are tracking. I used to do data analytics for most major ski companies and resorts as a director of SIA. I've been to every major area when it was full-on, and nothing but rocks & roots. Even places with super reliable snowfall - like Baker - have heinous snow years. Snow makes a huge difference in your experience. Go to Keystone, where the slopes are like golf courses in summer, and you can ski on 15". Go to Jackson or Baker, and you need a 100" base just to ski.

Every once in a while my wife and I get the bug to go ski somewhere, late season - like April. As soon as grass starts growing everyone forgets about skiing, and rates go way, way down. Once I retired from the industry we played that late season card.

One year we scored a week in Jackson, with lift tickets, lodging and airfare for $1,000, for the both of us. Universally - virtually any area is going to be a ghost town after spring break. Deals abound. It is easier for a couple. Last year we booked up to Telluride in April - a two hour drive for us. Options abounded. Town was empty - even with record snowfalls. Areas what heads in beds and the F&B revenue that comes with it to justify payroll, so rates go way, way down

Keep in mind that, for many in the West, big snow doesn't hit until Feb / March.

For me every area has its pluses and minuses. I don't care about the moisture content of the snow, but about my overall experience. And if I travel, and skiing is a bust and mtn biking is on the slate.... I could have stayed home and done that.

 

[river-z]

I go to Mammoth/June for Christmas Break and/or Spring Break every year and I don't think it's that bad. Maybe I'm just used to busy places from living in LA but the mountain is huge and if you're skiing difficult terrain it won't be crowded. There are about 10 really busy runs. Also, like King Grump said earlier, people kick off mid-afternoon and the last couple hours aren't that busy. Personally, I love California skiing because the sun is out so often and it's not very cold. And if the sun isn't out it's probably snowing which is also good.

June Mountain

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

Our kids (and adults would love the hot springs too! As far as crowds, were you ever there during the LA spring break week? That’s the reason I was fearing crowds, otherwise, spring is pretty quiet mot resorts.

What level skiers are the kids? If they can handle off piste and more advanced terrain, crowds won’t be a problem. As I said earlier, if Mammoth Mountain is too crowded, go to June the next day because it is never crowded. The upload lift at the base can get a big line, but I don’t know where all the people go because I never see them. As for the hot springs, they are great but undeveloped and maintained by locals. Everybody bathes au natural so it depends on how you feel about that. There are some smaller, more private pools if you hike in a bit farther but most are more 2 people sized pools. If you do decide on Mammoth, you will love it and we can all give you lots of tips how to work the mountain and avoid crowds.

 

[ADKmel]

I looked, but could find any flights to Mammoth that didn’t take 9.5 hours or longer...

But you gain some hrs via the time zone change, LOL I hear you, I have to fly out of Albany NY it's hard to go west in under 9Hr. and coming home unless I leave at 5AM I get home at midnight or the next morning. I did the red eye this past June coming back from skiing Mammoth, I was exhausted. I try and make my trips 10days, 2 for travel since in my mind they don't count as vacation.

Hmmm Ok maybe back to Colorado.. You haven't skied Aspen and others? Snowmass is an awesome Mt, my Favorite of all 4, Ajax is Classic but can be busy, Highlands will give you extreme and steep, Buttermilk easy warm up. I like to stay at Snowmass plenty of vrbo and hotels, we had one you could ski in and walk over to Assay lift. but was 100 steps up from parking lot then 3 flights up to condo (no elevator) I'd stay more slope side, it was nice to have drinks and fresh guacamole slope side après ski,(venge/venge) then ski home to our condo. And there is GREAT bus service you don't really need your car, there's even ski valet to whatever Mt you are skiing the next day! Some cool towns near by (w/car) with some awesome restaurants! We skied Snowmass on MLK weekend and never waited more than 2-3minutes in line.the mt is huge. Skiing longshot is a blast a big long blue off the top, worth the 10-15min climb. Plenty of terrain for all, nice lodges to meet up at. Go into Aspen for dinner at night it's beautiful.

So many Mts in CO, Denver is my least favorite airport so big for schlepping stuff and I-70 if timed wrong can be a nightmare, I'd never leave on a Sunday afternoon. Last winter we stayed at a VRBO on the Dillon Reservoir, bus stop was across the street. We skied Copper,on a Sunday, it took 2hrs to get from copper back to Dillion Res the roads were all parking lots, even the back way! On Monday we had a big snow day and friends advised i-70 was a parking lot (again) so we took the bus to keystone (4stops) got off, took a keystone inner bus to the day lodge at Peru lift and had a fantastic powder day, loveland pass was closed so it was a freshies all day! We then went to Vail (had discount tix) $50 to park by clocktower, we skied end to end plus runs in the back bowls, then drove up to Aspen. I'd suggest to go to A-Basin on a sunny day. I haven't been to Winter Park it's another IKON Pass you could ski?

 

[Dave Marshak]

...Denver is my least favorite airport so big for schlepping stuff and I-70 if timed wrong can be a nightmare...

Construction has made I-70 a nightmare between the airport and town as well. Luckily, the light rail works fine but that doesn't help much for a ski trip.

dm

 

[Slim]

Just to be clear, we can fly direct to Denver, Salt Lake or Calgary, so all of those are fairly quick. Reno would mean flying to SLC and changing there.

So travel time from MSP is:

• Mammoth: 5 hr plane + 3 hr drive. = 8 hrs makes it hard to ski those days
• CO: 2 hr plane + 1.5(Frisco) + 2 hr drive (Aspen) = 5.5 hrs total, but can ski on travel day
• SLC: 3 hrs plane + 0.75 hr drive = 3.75, very doable to ski same day
• Banff NP: 3 hr Plane + 1 hr(Norquay) / 2 hr Louise = 5 hrs total can ski on travel day

 

[Slim]

What level skiers are the kids? If they can handle off piste and more advanced terrain, crowds won’t be a problem. As I said earlier, if Mammoth Mountain is too crowded, go to June the next day because it is never crowded. The upload lift at the base can get a big line, but I don’t know where all the people go because I never see them. If you do decide on Mammoth, you will love it and we can all give you lots of tips how to work the mountain and avoid crowds.

Yes, the kids ski the ‘fun’ stuff, so that should be no problem.
Copper Mountain Tucker snowcat+hike:

Indeed, mostly the problem isn’t on the runs(except for the last bits back to the lift). Where busy days have bothered me is in the lift line, it just gets to be a very long wait sometimes.

So if your take is that the lift lines aren’t to bad, even during the LA spring break, then yeah, I’m not to bothered.

 

[mdf]

the light rail works fine but that doesn't help much for a ski

I've been wondering for a long time if it would be practical to take the train and rent a car in Denver. I Googled, and it looks like you could get all the way to skiing on mass transit if you are patient and at a time in your life when you have a high toleramce for hassle.

 

[Slim]

What's the harm in waiting until Feb or March to decide? It's late season and there will be availability.

I've skied the CO and UT resorts on your list a bunch in April. They are usually great, but not always. There is an occasional anomalous year where one is substantially better than the other, and you'll know it's tracking that way 4-6 weeks out.
I'd wait until the last week of Feb to book, as there's a reasonable chance one of your four choices will get thrown out based on snowpack.

I'd wait until at least Jan 1. By then you will see where storms are tracking. I used to do data analytics for most major ski companies and resorts as a director of SIA. I've been to every major area when it was full-on, and nothing but rocks & roots. Even places with super reliable snowfall - like Baker - have heinous snow years. Snow makes a huge difference in your experience. Go to Keystone, where the slopes are like golf courses in summer, and you can ski on 15". Go to Jackson or Baker, and you need a 100" base just to ski.
. As soon as grass starts growing everyone forgets about skiing, and rates go way, way down. Once I retired from the industry we played that late season card.
Universally - virtually any area is going to be a ghost town after spring break. Deals abound. It is easier for a couple. Last year we booked up to Telluride in April - a two hour drive for us. Options abounded. Town was empty - even with record snowfalls. Areas what heads in beds and the F&B revenue that comes with it to justify payroll, so rates go way, way down
Keep in mind that, for many in the West, big snow doesn't hit until Feb / March.
.

Agree that it’s always safer to wait longer to pick a destination.
Also agree that April is not busy season (although the grass certainly isn’t growing then yet here, we have to wait till late May for that, must be warmer where @martyg lives )

But in our case, we have to find 8 plane tickets and lodging for 8 people. Even in April, that seems to be quite hard. Last year we almost couldn’t find anything in Alta/Snowbird, and that was just with the 4 of us.
In my experience 3/4 bedroom condos/homes are hard to find(except for mega high end stuff).
Cheap plane tickets also tend to get snapped up quickly.
That being said, with Ikon we don’t have to worry about lift tickets, so in that regard we do have that flexibility to wait and see, as long as we can find the lodging and plane tickets.

 

[ADKmel]

Agree that it’s always safer to wait longer to pick a destination.
Also agree that April is not busy season(although the grass certainly isn’t growing then yet here, we have to wait till late May for that, must be warmer where @martyg lives )

But in our case, we have to find 8 plane tickets and lodging for 8 people. Even in April, that seems to be quite hard. Last year we almost couldn’t find anything in Alta/Snowbird, and that was just with the 4 of us.
In my experience 3/4 bedroom condos/homes are hard to find(except for mega high end stuff).
Cheap plane tickets also tend to get snapped up quickly.
That being said, with Ikon we don’t have to worry about lift tickets, so in that regard we do have that flexibility to wait and see, as long as we can find the lodging and plane tickets.

SLC is the easiest to get in and out of. I fly South West and buy my tickets w/points the day they go on sale. If the price drops you can rebook and get $$ credited for a year or your points back. SW Credit card gives you 50K points if you spend 3k in 3mo.

I AM an ALTAHOLIC--- Goldminers is a slopeside splurge but OH SO GOOD to be there and get lucky with 'inter-lodge" LLC road gets closed, wait for avy-blasting and then have your own private ski area. GMD rates include Breakfast, afternoon snacks, and nice dinner.

Deer Valley closes Early like April 7 or 8th, at least last yr it did, we went over from Alta on their last day, snow was softer than at Alta. Lucky us, We got Fresh snow at Alta the 1st week in April. We also enjoyed demo day First wkend of April at Alta. Lots of skis and people. This year we are staying in the Sugar house area in SLC and checking out the IKON Mts then Moving into GMD for several days. Don't need a car at Alta/Bird so we will drop the rental and get the shuttle up to Alta (70$Rtrip)
There are LOTS of Vrbo's in Sandy and all around SLC.. 30min to the Mts. I hope to go back in April maybe I'll see you.

 

[Dave Marshak]

I've been wondering for a long time if it would be practical to take the train and rent a car in Denver. I Googled, and it looks like you could get all the way to skiing on mass transit if you are patient and at a time in your life when you have a high toleramce for hassle.

I haven't found any car rentals near enough to the Denver light rail. In the summer I can walk to several Enterprise store but that's not practical if I have ski equipment. Even if you rent in town, they make you pay the airport tax or sign off that you didn't come from the airport.

A CME trip from a light rail station to Summit County or Winter Park should be a thing but I haven't looked for it.

dm

 

[Nathanvg]

From what I know so far this how it seems to stack up:

• Banff NP: fantastic scenery. Probably very quiet. Cons: so far, not seen any affordable lodging in Lake Louise itself, (don’t want to drive 40mins each way), way less chance of fresh snow.

To be clear, the drive to sunshine is only 20 minutes and norquay is even closer. The drive to lake lousie is pretty easy. (flat freeway) Nice hot springs in Banff too.

Can't go wrong with any of these trips though.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

So if your take is that the lift lines aren’t to bad, even during the LA spring break, then yeah, I’m not to bothered.

You all would be fine. The lines will be for lifts that hit areas with a lot of intermediate terrain. If you move to the peaks, or Lincoln Mountain, you will ski right into the lifts.

 

[Ski&ride]

I don’t see the value in waiting longer here. What information would you have about the April snowpack in November? We are talking about an end of season trip. If it was an early season trip, then absolutely, but late season, every place has had an entire season to build up the snowpack, so week to week variations average out, and even in a low snow year, April snowpack is so deep, that even at 50% there is still a lot of snow on the ground.

9 out of 10 years, there will be ton of snow on the ground by April. But for the once in a decade draught, you will see it by end of January. Like 2 years ago in much of the west. Or, last winter, when all of the US mountains got record breaking snow, the Canadian Rockies were very so-so.

And for a trip in April, it’s still plenty of time to book in January.

If your gang is anxious about fixing a destination, how about picking a primary destination, assuming normal snow pack, with a back up destination in the event there’s huge difference?

Make sure all you booking are refundable, or with a insignificant penalty. So there’s no resistance if the need to change to the backup destination.

 

[Slim]

And for a trip in April, it’s still plenty of time to book in January..

That doesn’t seem to be the case. Currently I am only seeing about 3 places in Little Cottonwood Canyon, nothing in Aspen, nothing in Lake Louise. A fair number in MammothLakes.

If your gang is anxious about fixing a destination, how about picking a primary destination, assuming normal snow pack, with a back up destination in the event there’s huge difference?

Make sure all you booking are refundable, or with a insignificant penalty. So there’s no resistance if the need to change to the backup destination.

That’s a great tip. I think we will do that. Thanks to all who suggested it!

 

[Mike Rogers]

That doesn’t seem to be the case. Currently I am only seeing about 3 places in Little Cottonwood Canyon, nothing in Aspen, nothing in Lake Louise. A fair number in MammothLakes.

I am finding most of the Lake Louise hotels on Trivago.ca

https://www.trivago.ca/?aDateRange[...t=20000&address=&addressGeoCode=&offset=0&ra=


Prices range from 68 USD to 282 USD per night.

There are no legal condo rentals in Lake Louise Village.

 

[dbostedo]

That doesn’t seem to be the case. Currently I am only seeing about 3 places in Little Cottonwood Canyon, nothing in Aspen, nothing in Lake Louise. A fair number in MammothLakes.

LCC doesn't surprise me - there isn't a lot outside of the resort places themselves. And Lake Louise was noted above. But Aspen surprises me - what kind of place or places are you looking for? I'd think in Aspen proper or Snowmass should have tons of places available..

It could be a little early still for everyone to have listed their winter rentals on AirBnB, Homeaway, Flipkey, etc. I suppose. So maybe more could pop up.