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Alta vs Powder Mountain vs Targhee
The replies to my "Advice for Father/Son Alta..." were great, but created
more questions! The reason I chose Alta was because last winter I received an overwhelming response to take my family to Alta for a great powder experience. Maybe Alta is not the best place to go with high hopes of experiencing powder skiing on a budget with a limited window of time. Maybe racing up to Lake Tahoe at the end of a storm in January and February for some skiing in 6 to 12 inches of, not quite as dry as Utah, powder is the way to go until we have more money, more experience, and more time. Still, I know my son would love me forever (once he finishes his adolescent years) if I were able to treat him to some knee deep dry powder. The hardcore skiiers/boarders in rsam/rsa might have higher expectations of powder quality than us intermediates. Although, I definitely enjoy skiing where there aren't any tracks! I definitely want to treat my son to some special skiing while he still enjoys my company. Airfare to SLC I can afford. Several day trips to Tahoe I can afford. A trip to Targhee, not as easy. JS |
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On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 10:53:09 CST, "John Smith"
wrote: //snip// I definitely want to treat my son to some special skiing while he still enjoys my company. Airfare to SLC I can afford. Several day trips to Tahoe I can afford. A trip to Targhee, not as easy. With an annual average snowfall of approximately 500", Alta/Snowbird/Solitude/Brighton average well in excess of 1 foot of new snow per week throughout the season. So if you have the freedom, keep an eye on the weather patterns and time your trip accordingly. During a good winter, I would say that a decent storm rolls through the Wasatch about every ten days, or so. If you just show up hoping for deep snow, then it's a hit or miss proposition. That goes for anywhere, not just Utah. Like yesterday, or even Friday, one could have looked at the short term forecast and come to the conclusion that the skiing over the next several days, starting on Monday, will probably be good. Based on my personal experience with Wasatch Front forecast accuracies, you can usually get a general feeling for what's going to occur about 3 days out. Here are a few Wasatch Front weather related planning tools: Salt Lake City Area Forecast Discussion: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/forecast/AFD.shtml Cottonwood Canyons Forecast: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/pro..._forecast.html Northern Utah Mountain Weather Forecast: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/snow/MTN.shtml Wasatch Range Avalanche Advisory: http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/advisory_w_glossary.htm If you need several weeks to make a trip happen, then I don't know what to tell you. But if you can make it happen on a short notice, two, three, maybe four days, then you shouldn't have any problem finding what you are looking for, regardless of where you end up going. -Astro --- maximum exposure f/2.8 http://www.xmission.com/~hound/astro/03-04/index.htm --- |
#3
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I'm planning on flying, so that means planning 21 days in advance not to
mention arranging time off from work. On the other hand, SLC is only a 14 hour drive from my house; I could do that on short notice! Thanks AstroPax wrote: On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 10:53:09 CST, "John Smith" wrote: //snip// I definitely want to treat my son to some special skiing while he still enjoys my company. Airfare to SLC I can afford. Several day trips to Tahoe I can afford. A trip to Targhee, not as easy. With an annual average snowfall of approximately 500", Alta/Snowbird/Solitude/Brighton average well in excess of 1 foot of new snow per week throughout the season. So if you have the freedom, keep an eye on the weather patterns and time your trip accordingly. During a good winter, I would say that a decent storm rolls through the Wasatch about every ten days, or so. If you just show up hoping for deep snow, then it's a hit or miss proposition. That goes for anywhere, not just Utah. Like yesterday, or even Friday, one could have looked at the short term forecast and come to the conclusion that the skiing over the next several days, starting on Monday, will probably be good. Based on my personal experience with Wasatch Front forecast accuracies, you can usually get a general feeling for what's going to occur about 3 days out. Here are a few Wasatch Front weather related planning tools: Salt Lake City Area Forecast Discussion: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/forecast/AFD.shtml Cottonwood Canyons Forecast: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/pro..._forecast.html Northern Utah Mountain Weather Forecast: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake/snow/MTN.shtml Wasatch Range Avalanche Advisory: http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/advisory_w_glossary.htm If you need several weeks to make a trip happen, then I don't know what to tell you. But if you can make it happen on a short notice, two, three, maybe four days, then you shouldn't have any problem finding what you are looking for, regardless of where you end up going. -Astro --- maximum exposure f/2.8 http://www.xmission.com/~hound/astro/03-04/index.htm --- |
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"John Smith" wrote in message om... I'm planning on flying, so that means planning 21 days in advance not to mention arranging time off from work. On the other hand, SLC is only a 14 hour drive from my house; I could do that on short notice! Bayarrhea? |
#5
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Yep.
pigo wrote: "John Smith" wrote in message om... I'm planning on flying, so that means planning 21 days in advance not to mention arranging time off from work. On the other hand, SLC is only a 14 hour drive from my house; I could do that on short notice! Bayarrhea? |
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"John Smith" wrote in message . com... Yep. pigo wrote: "John Smith" wrote in message om... I'm planning on flying, so that means planning 21 days in advance not to mention arranging time off from work. On the other hand, SLC is only a 14 hour drive from my house; I could do that on short notice! Bayarrhea? Sometimes Delta offers walk up fares that you grab Fri. night and return Sun. or Mon. Or do the drive. That's probably the most assured way. There will never be a time that you can't get reliable "suite type" rooms here in Salt Lake. Depending on timing, staying at the resorts might get tight. But probably not. If you decide to watch storms and make a run for it, let me know and I'll see what I can do to get you set up. I could do some footwork and have a property call you as you travel (provided you have a cell phone). pigo |
#7
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"John Smith" wrote in message
. com... The replies to my "Advice for Father/Son Alta..." were great, but created more questions! The reason I chose Alta was because last winter I received an overwhelming response to take my family to Alta for a great powder experience. Maybe Alta is not the best place to go with high hopes of experiencing powder skiing on a budget with a limited window of time. Here's a suggestion. I live near a small ski area called Monarch (www.skimonarch.com). It's on the continental divide and usually gets the second highest snowfall int he state (Wolf Creek is typically #1). Monarch is not fancy and there's not much to do there after the lifts close. They only have old double chairlifts and the total elevation gain is about 1000'. So what's the attraction you might ask? They get a lot of very dry and light powder. They have a snowcat operation that is inexpensive (compared to other snowcat operations) that would get you and your boy into the fluff. The cat skiing is right near the ski area, so you can even ski a half day inbounds and a half day out. Cat runs actually sometimes finish back at the chairlift which takes you back up to the waiting cat. Like anywhere else, for the best experience you have to hit it right, but when it's good, it's REALLY good. Here's a little video some friends and I shot last year on a good day (we've had better days, but I don't take the time to film on those days). This was only about an 8" day. On bigger days I've skied 30"+ that fell overnight. The Cat skiing is usually lots of really nice freshies even if the area is tracked out. http://64.74.186.223/mattb/Video/monarch1_big.wmv (note, this video is large - 38 Mb or so so you'll need broadband) Matt |
#8
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"MattB" wrote in news:br2ff4$26u60j$1@ID-
86156.news.uni-berlin.de: http://64.74.186.223/mattb/Video/monarch1_big.wmv I can't seem to get the file Matt, can't even get to the server, is the IP address correct? regards, Greg |
#9
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The address was right, but the server was not responding. I think it's
straightened out now. Thanks for letting me know! Matt "Greg Hilton" wrote in message ... "MattB" wrote in news:br2ff4$26u60j$1@ID- 86156.news.uni-berlin.de: http://64.74.186.223/mattb/Video/monarch1_big.wmv I can't seem to get the file Matt, can't even get to the server, is the IP address correct? regards, Greg |
#10
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"MattB" wrote in
: The address was right, but the server was not responding. I think it's straightened out now. Thanks for letting me know! Oooh - those shots of the Monarch lift line are niiiice. That's a fun run with the little drops on the way down. Looks like some nice pow. -T.O.M.- |
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