Northern Rockies/Alberta Thinking about spending the whole month of December somewhere

[David Chaus]

I haven't been to McCall yet, but I've heard the weather's roughly comparable to the Panhandle.

Almost, not quite. McCall’s elevation is about 5,000’, whereas Kellogg is 2300‘ and Coeur ‘d’ Alene is 2100’. McCall is much more likely to get early season snow as opposed to rain, and the snow is better, actually one of the best places to find powder IMHO, simply because a 6” snowfall lasts a while due the lack of crowds.

Thanks for pointing this out. I had missed it completely. Right now the lessons are until noon and then there is some homework to finish before 2 PM. So I think the plan to ski a couple of hours every day might not work out at all.

I'm getting a feeling this idea of spending December somewhere will only remain a dream.

While the school schedule is a valid point, the other thing to consider is how much of December classes will actually be held. If classes are out the 2nd week, that still leaves a lot of the rest of the month to ski every day.

Also, she might not have homework every day of class.

Then there is the variable of how long it actually takes your daughter to finish homework. The assignments can vary from day-to-day, and I can’t image there is a ton of homework for a 5 year old or 6 year old. If she is motivated to finish her homework because she just loves to learn because she just loves to ski, she may finish it pretty quickly, say done by 2pm MST/1pm PST, grab a snack on the 20 minute drive to the slopes and have a fun afternoon on the Bear Chair (which she would love).

Just enabling you here.......

 

[KingGrump]

I can’t image there is a ton of homework for a 5 year old or 6 year old.

My memories are fuzzy regarding my kindergarten years. Par for course at my age. It was a long time ago. More than six decades.

I do not recall doing AP calculus or Quantum mechanics while I was in kindergarten. Perhaps I was in the slow class. All I remembered from kindergarten was milk and cookies. Oh yeah, I was really good at napping also.

 

[tball]

I poked around on vrbo and found three weeks at Copper for a little more than $4K:

Copper Mountain Village, Copper Mountain Vacation Rentals: house rentals & more | Vrbo

Explore an array of Copper Mountain Village, Copper Mountain vacation rentals, including houses, apartment and condo rentals & more bookable online. Choose from more than 1,000 properties, ideal house rentals for families, groups and couples. Rent a whole home for your next weekend or holiday.

www.vrbo.com

That's a really good deal in a nice building that's a short walk to the beginner Easy Rider and Pitchfork lifts. Lifts close at 4 pm and it would be great getting her on skis for 50 minutes each day. She'd have a blast and the frequency would be fantastic for her skiing.

Those lifts are small but were perfect for our twins at that age. Here a video when they were six and spent most of a day there for some kid stoke:



What's awesome is with the condo's parking spot you'll be assured of skiing every day. Copper is limiting skiers with a parking reservation system, but those staying at the mountain are not affected.

And, I think you can still get a $599 season pass that includes a free kids season pass. They were supposed to stop selling passes outright on Sept 14th. Not sure, but I think they extended both. Ikon is also an option since it's unlimited but would be more expensive.

As for the altitude, spend a night or two halfway up. Also, I bet you could negotiate to stay for free the week before to acclimate. Copper delayed opening of the mountain until Nov 30th, so the condo will likely sit empty.

That's what I'd do, 'cause it's what I'll be doing in December, and have been doing this week for COVID school:

Colorado - 2020-2021 Colorado Weather and Stoke (and beer)

The Summit at Snoqualmie just put out their update on winter operations https://summitatsnoqualmie.com/summit-source/winter-2020-21-update No reservation system, but they did encourage people to ski on off days ... etc. and will be employing some crowd reducing tactics. My understanding is that...

www.pugski.com

 

[marjoram_sage]

I poked around on vrbo and found three weeks at Copper for a little more than $4K:

Copper Mountain Village, Copper Mountain Vacation Rentals: house rentals & more | Vrbo

Explore an array of Copper Mountain Village, Copper Mountain vacation rentals, including houses, apartment and condo rentals & more bookable online. Choose from more than 1,000 properties, ideal house rentals for families, groups and couples. Rent a whole home for your next weekend or holiday.

www.vrbo.com

That's a really good deal in a nice building that's a short walk to the beginner Easy Rider and Pitchfork lifts. Lifts close at 4 pm and it would be great getting her on skis for 50 minutes each day. She'd have a blast and the frequency would be fantastic for her skiing.

Those lifts are small but were perfect for our twins at that age. Here a video when they were six and spent most of a day there for some kid stoke:



What's awesome is with the condo's parking spot you'll be assured of skiing every day. Copper is limiting skiers with a parking reservation system, but those staying at the mountain are not affected.

And, I think you can still get a $599 season pass that includes a free kids season pass. They were supposed to stop selling passes outright on Sept 14th. Not sure, but I think they extended both. Ikon is also an option since it's unlimited but would be more expensive.

As for the altitude, spend a night or two halfway up. Also, I bet you could negotiate to stay for free the week before to acclimate. Copper delayed opening of the mountain until Nov 30th, so the condo will likely sit empty.

That's what I'd do, 'cause it's what I'll be doing in December, and have been doing this week for COVID school:

Colorado - 2020-2021 Colorado Weather and Stoke (and beer)

The Summit at Snoqualmie just put out their update on winter operations https://summitatsnoqualmie.com/summit-source/winter-2020-21-update No reservation system, but they did encourage people to ski on off days ... etc. and will be employing some crowd reducing tactics. My understanding is that...

www.pugski.com

Thanks.. I have read about Copper's beginner terrain being fantastic. How are the lesson plans/prices?

I saw some similar prices for Steamboat until 18th December. We have a slight preference for Steamboat as we can sleep better at lower elevation.

 

[raytseng]

I think you're going to have to pull the trigger on lodging and pass within the next month or so; unless you want to be staying in extended-stay hotel rooms.
Even if it's not perfectly optimized, you can still have non-optimal fun. Non optimal fun is still likely better than sitting at home. Even if it doesn't work out, it was still an "adventure".
This is assuming your finances and situation allow and this 1 month adventure means you're out on the street.
But time is not necessarily on your side to lock in an option for a month long or extended trip with a family.

My only extra advice in this post is for any truly extended stay, you should reach out by email or phone and get in contact with humans and leasing companies to ask about what options are available as a lease rather than a short-term rental.

 

[marjoram_sage]

Update: we have 99% decided to go to Targhee. First part of the lodging is booked until Dec 20th. Now trying to line something up from 20th Dec to Jan 2nd.

It was difficult to let go of the ski-in ski-out reservation at Kirkwood for Christmas. We will do Kirkwood some other time, not sure when we will be able to do Targhee again.

Lots of details to figure out next. I'm very excited.

 

[dovski]

Realize I am late to the thread but thought you might want to consider Park City or somewhere else close to Salt Lake City, lots of places you can rent and more importantly you can use your Epic passes

 

[pete]

Update: we have 99% decided to go to Targhee. First part of the lodging is booked until Dec 20th. Now trying to line something up from 20th Dec to Jan 2nd.

It was difficult to let go of the ski-in ski-out reservation at Kirkwood for Christmas. We will do Kirkwood some other time, not sure when we will be able to do Targhee again.

Lots of details to figure out next. I'm very excited.

you could consider alternate location the 20th to 2nd too depending how your pass situation or lodging situation aligns.

 

[marjoram_sage]

Realize I am late to the thread but thought you might want to consider Park City or somewhere else close to Salt Lake City, lots of places you can rent and more importantly you can use your Epic passes

I do enjoy PCMR as it's perfect for my skill level but I have doubts about whether it will be a good place to go next year due to the pandemic.

 

[dovski]

I do enjoy PCMR as it's perfect for my skill level but I have doubts about whether it will be a good place to go next year due to the pandemic.

From what I have heard Utah is Weathering the situation well in general. There are also lots of small towns and cabins within 15 minute drive of most of the hills that could give you added isolation if that is what you are looking for. You also have access to multiple resorts in case you want to change things up or cannot get access to one resort on a given day.

 

[tball]

Update: we have 99% decided to go to Targhee. First part of the lodging is booked until Dec 20th. Now trying to line something up from 20th Dec to Jan 2nd.

Sounds like fun. Glad to hear you are pulling this off!

How's it going to work for reservations or whatever to ski at Targhee? I'd be worried about access during the holiday period.

From what I have heard Utah is Weathering the situation well in general.

Not so much anymore:

Daily Testing Trends in Utah - Johns Hopkins

See daily changes in tests performed and positivity rates in Utah

coronavirus.jhu.edu

A challenge of planning a trip this season is it has been very difficult to predict where the next outbreaks will happen. Dr. Osterholm said on a recent podcast that they don't understand well why outbreaks are happening in some areas and not others, but no area is immune.

 

[Jerez]

Monarch is known for its kid friendly programs. No one mentioned Wolf Creek/Pagosa Springs but they typically get good snow early and have a good ski school and are not expensive. You will want a pass.
Caveat on both...if it a La Nina year as predicted they could be low snow and neither has big or any snowmaking.

Look into multi week locals kids programs rather than traditional ski school. Those tend to be better value and your kid will meet other local kids instead of just tourists. Thinknit is something like trailbusters at steamboat.