Western Skiing, Next February, Help with Destination

Opinions needed! Father and Son skiers, looking for a destination for
our first trip "out West". We have similar styles and abilities,
comfortable on all (Eastern) blues, and manage most blacks. We like
skiing in the trees. Budget is an issue, amenities/apres offerings are
not. We don't mind reasonable lift lines, but we do hate crowds. We
are leaning toward flying into Salt Lake City, and can tolerate a
day's drive to our final destination (this seems to offer a lot more
options than flying to Denver + we can probably fly to SLC much
cheaper, as SLC is a Southwest destination). We will be doing this
over February vacation week, which will be crowded I know, but that is
when my son is out of school. For any Westerners who know Eastern ski
areas, we (almost) always ski Jay Peak, as the mountain and the
attitude fit us very well.

You will love skiing in the west, the mountains are bigger and the
snow's softer than what you are used to. To avoid crowds that time
of year you should try for a less popular resort, try to go to Wyoming
or Montana to really get away. If you want to stay in Utah you need
to avoid Park City, Snowbird, Alta, Deer Valley and The Canyons.
Powder Mountain, Solitude and Brighton are
more of what you're looking for. Check out www.SkiTown.com for
complete information on all the resorts you're looking at, you'll even
find great lodging and other deals.


om...
Opinions needed! Father and Son skiers, looking for a destination for
our first trip "out West". We have similar styles and abilities,
comfortable on all (Eastern) blues, and manage most blacks. We like
skiing in the trees. Budget is an issue, amenities/apres offerings are
not. We don't mind reasonable lift lines, but we do hate crowds. We
are leaning toward flying into Salt Lake City, and can tolerate a
day's drive to our final destination (this seems to offer a lot more
options than flying to Denver + we can probably fly to SLC much
cheaper, as SLC is a Southwest destination). We will be doing this
over February vacation week, which will be crowded I know, but that is
when my son is out of school. For any Westerners who know Eastern ski
areas, we (almost) always ski Jay Peak, as the mountain and the
attitude fit us very well.

Greg wrote:

You will love skiing in the west, the mountains are bigger and the
snow's softer than what you are used to.

And if you're an eastern skier, rent some mid-fat skis and take a
powder lesson. Most people have some difficulty with their first
exposure to powder.

To avoid crowds that time
of year you should try for a less popular resort, try to go to Wyoming
or Montana to really get away. If you want to stay in Utah you need
to avoid Park City, Snowbird, Alta, Deer Valley and The Canyons.
Powder Mountain, Solitude and Brighton are
more of what you're looking for.

Good general advice, although Deer Valley is never really crowded
due to their limit on ticket sales. You also can drive from Salt
Lake City to Grand Targhee in about 5 hours.

Check out www.SkiTown.com for complete information...

Greg, you've mentioned that URL on every posting lately. You
wouldn't happen to have any association with that site? No problem
if you do, but you should state that up front.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://www.terrymorse.com/ski/