Snowboarding in North America

Hi,

I live in the french alps where I can
snowboard very often and cheaply. But
for a change, and in order to see different
landscapes, I'd like to go to north america.

What are the best places ? California,
Colorado, Oregon, British Columbia ?

It seems that there are many possibilities,
but very expensive.

What place and time would you advice me ?
I'd like to go to a idealy non-crowded, sunny place
with nice half-pipe, challenging slopes,
different landscapes that what i can find
in the alps...

Maybe something like Mammoth in March ?

Do you think such a trip is worthwhile for
someone that live in the alps ?

Thanks,
DG

"Doc G." wrote in message ...
Hi,

I live in the french alps where I can
snowboard very often and cheaply. But
for a change, and in order to see different
landscapes, I'd like to go to north america.

What are the best places ? California,
Colorado, Oregon, British Columbia ?

It seems that there are many possibilities,
but very expensive.

What place and time would you advice me ?
I'd like to go to a idealy non-crowded, sunny place
with nice half-pipe, challenging slopes,
different landscapes that what i can find
in the alps...

Maybe something like Mammoth in March ?

Do you think such a trip is worthwhile for
someone that live in the alps ?

Thanks,
DG

I highly recommend Summit County, Colorado. From there your 10 mins
from Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, both of which are world class.
You also are 10 mins from A Basin and Keystone, which can be quite
nice too. Vail is about 45 mins away for a day trip to another world
class mountain. Summit County is about an 1 1/2 hours from Denver.

Check out the Holiday Inn in Frisco, I've stayed there in peak season
for $75 US a night. It's 15 mins from Breck and Copper, right off the
highway. It's pretty nice for a Holiday Inn, indoor pool, 2 hot
tubs. Though you probably will want a car, you can get around the
area by bus too, which can be nice if part of a group wants to go
somewhere else. There are lots of places to stay slopeside too,
though they are more expensive. With a group, there are condos
available which can be a good choice. My best friend just bought one
there that he rents out. There are plenty of low cost food choices,
from chain restaurants to fast food. For nightlife, there are bars in
Breck.

Best month by far is March, when it's warmer and loads of snow. But
anytime from Jan on should be a blast. Of all the places I've been,
by far this is the place with the best powder, huge, wide, uncrowded
mountains, and relatively modest cost.

Hi

On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 19:28:39 +0100, "Doc G." wrote:

Hi,

I live in the french alps where I can
snowboard very often and cheaply. But
for a change, and in order to see different
landscapes, I'd like to go to north america.

What are the best places ? California,
Colorado, Oregon, British Columbia ?

It seems that there are many possibilities,
but very expensive.

USA is expenice for boarding, you sould rather go to Canada

What place and time would you advice me ?
I'd like to go to a idealy non-crowded, sunny place

Whistler is Crowded, foggy. New snow is wet, if you compare it to the
Rockies. Also differ the snow from the top to the base: from powder to
hard/ice to slushy. This condition can you have at the alps.

with nice half-pipe, challenging slopes,
different landscapes that what i can find
in the alps...

Maybe something like Mammoth in March ?

Do you think such a trip is worthwhile for
someone that live in the alps ?

Shure. I was at Canada last season.
Differnt people.
Also is the snow differnt. You find after 3 days still place with good
Powder, interior and at the Rockies.

Johannes

Johannes wrote in message . ..
Hi

On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 19:28:39 +0100, "Doc G." wrote:

Hi,

I live in the french alps where I can
snowboard very often and cheaply. But
for a change, and in order to see different
landscapes, I'd like to go to north america.

What are the best places ? California,
Colorado, Oregon, British Columbia ?

It seems that there are many possibilities,
but very expensive.

USA is expenice for boarding, you sould rather go to Canada


What's so expensive about the USA? You can stay at a Holiday Inn at
Summit County Colorado for $75 a night with world class ski areas 10
mins away. Lift tickets are about $50 at Copper Mtn or Breckenridge.
With the strong Euro, this is a bargain.


What place and time would you advice me ?
I'd like to go to a idealy non-crowded, sunny place

Whistler is Crowded, foggy. New snow is wet, if you compare it to the
Rockies. Also differ the snow from the top to the base: from powder to
hard/ice to slushy. This condition can you have at the alps.



Strange you think the USA is expensive and don't mention that about
Whistler. Whistler is widely recognized as one of the most expensive
places in North America. I like Whistler, but there is no comparison
in value with Colorado, especially considering the higher probability
of finding excellent conditions.


with nice half-pipe, challenging slopes,
different landscapes that what i can find
in the alps...

Maybe something like Mammoth in March ?

Do you think such a trip is worthwhile for
someone that live in the alps ?

Shure. I was at Canada last season.
Differnt people.
Also is the snow differnt. You find after 3 days still place with good
Powder, interior and at the Rockies.

Johannes

"Doc G." wrote:
It seems that there are many possibilities,
but very expensive.

Are you traveling alone? Taking a family? Are you referring to travel
cost, housing, and food, or everything?

What place and time would you advice me ?
I'd like to go to a idealy non-crowded, sunny place
with nice half-pipe, challenging slopes,
different landscapes that what i can find
in the alps...

What type of terrain are you missing that you'd like to find?

For less crowding, find something else to do on Saturday and Sunday and
board the rest of the week. Weekends are a mess.

If you want low room and lift ticket cost, wait until the discounts in
mid-March through April. For example, I went to Arapahoe Basin in late
April and had a great time (other than trying to breath vacuum at
13,000' :-). The package's price was a bargin: $54 a day for room and
lift ticket.

Dean

Chet Hayes wrote:
What's so expensive about the USA? You can stay at a Holiday Inn at
Summit County Colorado for $75 a night with world class ski areas 10
mins away. Lift tickets are about $50 at Copper Mtn or Breckenridge.
With the strong Euro, this is a bargain.

What you'll find is that prices in Canada are more or less the same as
prices in the US, just in Canadian dollars. For example, according to
Copper's website the window ticket price this year is $US64 (not 50)
during regular season. At Lake Louise they are $CDN60, which is only
$US48, even with the Canadian dollar stronger than it has been in years.
Hotel rooms and meals are the same, more or less - whatever it costs in
US dollars, about the same in Canadian. There's also even cheaper
places in Banff - I know you can get rooms at the Voyager Inn as cheap
as $CDN60/night.

Whistler is more expensive than Banff or anywhere in the BC interior.
Avoid it if budget is a concern. But I can also point out some US
resorts that are ridiculously priced compared to others (Deer Valley,
Stratton etc).

Neil

Neil Gendzwill wrote in message ...
Chet Hayes wrote:
What's so expensive about the USA? You can stay at a Holiday Inn at
Summit County Colorado for $75 a night with world class ski areas 10
mins away. Lift tickets are about $50 at Copper Mtn or Breckenridge.
With the strong Euro, this is a bargain.

What you'll find is that prices in Canada are more or less the same as
prices in the US, just in Canadian dollars. For example, according to
Copper's website the window ticket price this year is $US64 (not 50)
during regular season. At Lake Louise they are $CDN60, which is only
$US48, even with the Canadian dollar stronger than it has been in years.
Hotel rooms and meals are the same, more or less - whatever it costs in
US dollars, about the same in Canadian. There's also even cheaper
places in Banff - I know you can get rooms at the Voyager Inn as cheap
as $CDN60/night.

Whistler is more expensive than Banff or anywhere in the BC interior.
Avoid it if budget is a concern. But I can also point out some US
resorts that are ridiculously priced compared to others (Deer Valley,
Stratton etc).

Neil


The Copper Tickets I was going by was typical prices people actually
pay, not the one day window rate. You can get a two day online pass
valid for 1/4 - 3/4 for $96. There are discount coupons at lots of
area shops there too which can bring even a one day ticket down by $10
bucks or so. And if you get a Denver Entertainment Book, it's full of
coupons for Copper, Breck, even Vail. I've usually paid $35-40 for
Copper tickets the last couple years.

The only Canadian resort I've been to was Whistler, I know it's very
expensive, and I'm sure other Canadian places are more inline with US.
At Whistler, there didn't seem to be anyway to reduce the window lift
ticket prices, by coupons, etc. My main point was that it was
incorrect to think that the US in general is a lot more expensive than
Candada. It sounds like we agree on that.

Chet Hayes wrote:

The Copper Tickets I was going by was typical prices people actually
pay, not the one day window rate.

You can get deals everywhere, I'm comparing window rate to window rate
so at least it's apples and apples. And by the way, your "typical price
people pay" is still more expensive than the window rate at Lake Louise
($US50 is about $CDN64, Louise is $CDN60 this year).

The only Canadian resort I've been to was Whistler, I know it's very
expensive, and I'm sure other Canadian places are more inline with US.

Nope, they're cheaper.

My main point was that it was
incorrect to think that the US in general is a lot more expensive than
Candada. It sounds like we agree on that.

I don't think we agree. In general, you can save the exchange rate
(currently a little over 20%) by skiing in Canada. Which is why you see
hoards of British tourists in Banff on charter excursions. And why
we'll only ski in the states if we can find a killer deal or have some
other reason to go. Was awfully tempted to hit Aspen for the Summit
Expression Session this year but in the end it was just too far and too
expensive.

Neil

Neil Gendzwill wrote in message ...
Chet Hayes wrote:

The Copper Tickets I was going by was typical prices people actually
pay, not the one day window rate.

You can get deals everywhere, I'm comparing window rate to window rate
so at least it's apples and apples. And by the way, your "typical price
people pay" is still more expensive than the window rate at Lake Louise
($US50 is about $CDN64, Louise is $CDN60 this year).

The only Canadian resort I've been to was Whistler, I know it's very
expensive, and I'm sure other Canadian places are more inline with US.

Nope, they're cheaper.

My main point was that it was
incorrect to think that the US in general is a lot more expensive than
Candada. It sounds like we agree on that.

I don't think we agree. In general, you can save the exchange rate
(currently a little over 20%) by skiing in Canada. Which is why you see
hoards of British tourists in Banff on charter excursions. And why
we'll only ski in the states if we can find a killer deal or have some
other reason to go. Was awfully tempted to hit Aspen for the Summit
Expression Session this year but in the end it was just too far and too
expensive.

Neil


You keep focusing on the window lift ticket rates. In the end, the
lift tickets are only one part of the total cost. And I know for a
fact you can't get discount deals on lift tickets everywhere, as there
were none available at Whistler. In Summit County Colorado, discounts
are easy to get.

The bottom line is there are plenty of hotels in Summit County for
under $100 per night, peak season in March. Food costs are modest
with many choices available. Lift tickets can be had easily for
$35-50 to either Copper or Breckenridge which are among the top for
riding anywhere, with excellent conditions a high probability. From
there you can also drive 45 mins to Vail and you have other places
like A-Basin for late season riding there too. Everyone has to make
their own decision, if this is expensive. I don't think it's
expensive and considering what you get, it's an excellent value
proposition. As for Aspen, like Vail, it is more expensive than what
I recommended and I don't think it's a good value either.

I wouldn't make my decisions on what hoards of British tourist do.
This year in mid April I went up to Killington, VT for one last trip.
I only went because I had a season pass and could drive so I took a
chance that it might be worth it. The conditions were pretty crappy,
melting, slush and the place was packed with British tourists. And to
get there, they flew from London to Newark, changed planes and went on
to Boston for a total flight of 11+ hours and then drove a couple
hours more. Had they just taken a flight to Colorado, they could have
gone to A-Basin and had excellent conditions and the total travel time
would have been an hour or two longer, at most. And the lodging/lift
tickets are much less than Killington. Why they were there, I'll
never know. They likely went back and told everyone how expensive the
US was and how poor the conditions were.

Chet Hayes wrote:

You keep focusing on the window lift ticket rates. In the end, the
lift tickets are only one part of the total cost.

OK, found an internet deal in Banff for a 3-day/3 night package, double
occupancy is $CDN283 per person. If I value the lift tickets at your
minimum of $US35 each, that means I'm getting the hotel for about
$US76/night. That's across the internet, no special deal, anytime in
February or March, with a tri-area pass (Sunshine/Lake Louise/Norquay)
and resort transfers.

Food costs are modest with many choices available.

My experience travelling throughout the US is that, again, restaurant
food is the same price as here, only in US dollars.

I'm not trying to say that the US is outrageously expensive. It is, on
the whole, about 20% more expensive than Canada. For some people, this
isn't a big deal. For some people, it is. Especially already living in
Canada, the motivation to spend more money on travel and then pay a
premium on lifts/hotel/meals is pretty slim when we have some fairly
spectacular hills at home.

A few years ago, it was even more of a difference (the Canadian dollar
was under 65 US cents). There's quite a few Americans who bought condos
in Big White (near Kelowna, BC), for example, and commute on weekends
from Seattle or Portland, because the price difference at the time was
enough to make it worth their while. Probably nobody will do that this
year as our dollar is much stronger, but those guys that bought in cheap
still have a great deal.

Neil