Snowboarding in the US

Hi,

I'm going to move to NYC in one month, for a year. I currently live in
the alps and like snowboarding very much (one or two days a week,
mainly freestyle). How are the riding condition on the east coast ? can
I find a decent snowpark around NYC ? are there any club I could join ?


In any case, I'd like to go in some resort for one week during the
winter. What are the best places / time to go in North America ?
Ideally, I'm looking for sun, a nice half-pipe and not much crowd...
any suggestion ? I thought of staying in Salt Like City and then
commute to a resort like snowbird. Mammoth is an other resort that
comes to mind...

Thanks for any advice,
Phil

In any case, I'd like to go in some resort for one week during the
winter. What are the best places / time to go in North America ?
Ideally, I'm looking for sun, a nice half-pipe and not much crowd...
any suggestion ? I thought of staying in Salt Like City and then
commute to a resort like snowbird. Mammoth is an other resort that
comes to mind...

Thanks for any advice,
Phil

Phil,

For a week, staying in SLC is relatively cheap and offers you quite a few
options. You can hit Snowbird, Solitude, and Brighton easily on one side and
the The Canyons, and Park City Mountain in Park City. Also within about 45
minutes is Snowbasin (I highly recommend for lack of crowds and a great lift
system) and Powder Mountain.

The other choice would be Tahoe which also gives you a good place to stay
and a great choice of places ( I like Northstars back side and Kirkwood).
Both give you a lot of choices.

Mammoth is about 3-4 hours from Reno. Haven't been there yet, others will
have to comment on it.

TG

Go to Tahoe. Several resorts to go to.

Definitely go to Kirkwood.


"tg" wrote in message
...

In any case, I'd like to go in some resort for one week during the
winter. What are the best places / time to go in North America ?
Ideally, I'm looking for sun, a nice half-pipe and not much crowd...
any suggestion ? I thought of staying in Salt Like City and then
commute to a resort like snowbird. Mammoth is an other resort that
comes to mind...

Thanks for any advice,
Phil

Phil,

For a week, staying in SLC is relatively cheap and offers you quite a few
options. You can hit Snowbird, Solitude, and Brighton easily on one side
and the The Canyons, and Park City Mountain in Park City. Also within
about 45 minutes is Snowbasin (I highly recommend for lack of crowds and a
great lift system) and Powder Mountain.

The other choice would be Tahoe which also gives you a good place to stay
and a great choice of places ( I like Northstars back side and Kirkwood).
Both give you a lot of choices.

Mammoth is about 3-4 hours from Reno. Haven't been there yet, others will
have to comment on it.

TG

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 14:22:00 -0500, "Howlee"
wrote:

Go to Tahoe. Several resorts to go to.

Better chance of better snow in Utah.

-- Robert, CA ex-pat so no bigotry there, just a fact

In the NYC area, Hunter Mountain is the closest decent place with a
moderate size mountain. It's about 2 1/2 hours north. There are
clubs and stores in NYC that run bus trips there, which is the easiest
way to go. Check Paragon Sports. They have trips that leave around
7am, get back around 6PM.

The other option is northwest New Jersey (Mountain Creek), or the
pocono area of Pennsylvania, which has multiple choices, of those, I
like Camelback the best. These areas have smaller mountains, shorter
runs.

About 5 hrs from NYC is Killington VT. Thats about how far you need to
go to get to a real mountain. It's really big and can be most
excellent, depending on the conditions. But like all east coast
riding, a lot depends on the weather. Last season it was awesome.
Amtrak runs a train service from NYC into Rutland, VT which gets you
within taxi distance. There is also a shuttle bus, so if you stay at
some of the common places, you can use that to get around. I think
you'll find bus trips from NYC too, which would be even better.

If you're going to get on a plane, my favorite is Summit County,
Colorado. In that area within 15 mins drive, you have Breckenridge,
Copper Mountain, A Basin, Loveland, Keystone. The first two are world
class areas, recognized as among the best anywhere. About 30 minutes
further west is Vail, which is another world class resort. The big
advantage to Colorado over the east coast is that the probability of
finding excellent powder is high. The best time to go is March, when
there is the most snow, and nice sunny days. You will want a car so
that you can get to more than one spot. If you look for accomodations
other than slope side, you will find that there are lots of choices at
very reasonable prices. In many cases the lodging here can be less
expensive than staying at Killington, VT. If you consider that Denver
is about a 3 1/2 hour plane ride from NYC, and that the Summit County
is about an hour car drive from the airport, it starts to compare quite
favorably with driving to Killington, VT. If you want to push it, you
can even get an early plane and be on the slopes that afternoon.
(Denver is an hour time diff, so that helps) You should be aware
though, that the base area is like 9000ft, the peaks 12000, so you may
want to give yourself some time to adapt or risk altitude sickness.

wrote:
If you're going to get on a plane, my favorite is Summit County,
Colorado. In that area within 15 mins drive, you have Breckenridge,
Copper Mountain, A Basin, Loveland, Keystone. The first two are world
class areas, recognized as among the best anywhere. About 30 minutes
further west is Vail, which is another world class resort.

Well trader, I'd say you're a bit optimistic on those times. You
should at least double them. Sure, the times you give a good if you're
driving at 3AM but by the time you factor in parking and construction
delays it's a bit longer.

The big
advantage to Colorado over the east coast is that the probability of
finding excellent powder is high.

There is a good chance that there will be powder but in Summit County,
most of it will be groomed out before the lifts open. Whatever is left
will be skied out by noon at the latest. Vail and Copper are probably
your best bet for finding good snow. Keystone grooms to much and
doesn't get as much snow and Breck gets skied out pretty quickly but if
you are willing to explore, there's still some there.

The best time to go is March, when
there is the most snow, and nice sunny days.

March is also spring break and the most crowds. Late February is
usually a better time to go when there are fewer crowds. Early April
is good too. Most people have gone home by then and the sunny days are
still there. When we get April snow it's usually a bit more water
content so it's not the light dry powder. The snow is usually lighter
and drier in February but it's also colder but fewer crowds. Just
depends what you are looking for. Night life is better in March.

You will want a car so
that you can get to more than one spot.

Well, that's not really true. You may want want one but Summit County
has a great free public transportation system. There is a bus to Vail
that costs $$ but you can get between all the resorts in Summit County
easily without a car. That saves money if you come here.

If you look for accomodations
other than slope side, you will find that there are lots of choices at
very reasonable prices. In many cases the lodging here can be less
expensive than staying at Killington, VT. If you consider that Denver
is about a 3 1/2 hour plane ride from NYC, and that the Summit County
is about an hour car drive from the airport, it starts to compare quite
favorably with driving to Killington, VT.

Again, double that drive time. There is no way you can make it from
the airport to Summit County in an hour without risking getting pulled
over. Sure, maybe at 3 AM from the airport to the tunnel but by the
time you consider traffic and another ten or twenty miles driving once
you are in Summit County, it's a bit more than an hour. I always allow
two hours to get to the airport from Breck, more if it will be rush
hour in Denver.

If you want to push it, you
can even get an early plane and be on the slopes that afternoon.
(Denver is an hour time diff, so that helps) You should be aware
though, that the base area is like 9000ft, the peaks 12000, so you may
want to give yourself some time to adapt or risk altitude sickness.

The high altitude bothers some people and if you are coming from sea
level you could have problems. But if you lived in the Alps, you are
probably aware of all that.

Some other options you have for easy access to ski areas from major
airports a

Salt Lake City, Utah: Park City, The Canyons, Solitude, Brighton,
Alta, Snowbird. All with similar drive times to Denver/Summit County
resorts. Lower altitude and usually better/more snow than Colorado.

Reno, Nevada: Heavenly, Alpine Medows, Kirkwood, Squaw. Snow here is
usually heavy but lots of it. And gaming on the Nevada side of
Heavenly if you enjoy that kind of thing. You can usually find some
pretty good deals from the casinos.



Have fun,
snoig

Mammoth has one of the best half-pipes in the world. If you want to
beat the crowds, go up the road to June Mountain. You Mammoth lift
ticket is good at Mammoth. June has a great pipe too and the mountain
practiclly deserted, especially during the week.

http://www.junemountain.com/
http://www.mammothmountain.com/

Let me know if you have any further questions.

~J.

"Well trader, I'd say you're a bit optimistic on those times. You
should at least double them. Sure, the times you give a good if you're

driving at 3AM but by the time you factor in parking and construction
delays it's a bit longer. "

Times? You're saying they are all optimistic? I would agree that an
hour from the airport to Summit County isn't enough. But I would
disagree that doubling it is appropriate. I just checked Mapquest and
they list it as 96 miles and 1:40 which sounds about right to me from
my experiences. And you're right, I didn't factor in construction
delays, because on my many trips there, I didn't encounter them. Sure,
that can happen anywhere, but it's not what I would tell someone to
expect for a typical visit. Nor did I factor in parking times
either, as I was giving figures for actually getting there. But, I've
never spent much time at all parking either, as it's always been very
easy, fast and convenient, a couple of mins max. Maybe you should
come out east and see what a real traffic tie up is like.

My main point wasn't whether it takes you an hour or an hour and 45
mins to get to Summit. My main point was that once you are there
within about 15 mins of Frisco, you have A Basin, Keystone, Copper,
Breck, all great areas. And Vail is 30 mins away, is it not?


"Well, that's not really true. You may want want one but Summit County

has a great free public transportation system. There is a bus to Vail
that costs $$ but you can get between all the resorts in Summit County
easily without a car. That saves money if you come here. "

Yes, I know there is a bus service within Summit Cty. But by the time
you factor in that each person needs to pay to get to/from the airport,
to/from vail, and the convenience of having a car, for most people, the
car is the solution of choice. Plus, a car gives you far more choices
of places to stay, often at less cost, than places that are convenient
to the bus. If you split a car 3 or 4 ways, to me it's clearly the
best choice.


"Again, double that drive time. There is no way you can make it from
the airport to Summit County in an hour without risking getting pulled
over. "

Your focusing on the minutia here and not the big picture. My point
was that for a 3 1/2 hour plane ride, plus another hour (OK 1:40 mins
drive), getting to the Summit area compares favorably with driving to
Killington, VT, given what you have when you get there.


"But if you lived in the Alps, you are probably aware of all that. "

So I shouldn't even have mentioned it, cause everyone reading this is
from the Alps and familiar with altitude sickness?

wrote:
Times? You're saying they are all optimistic? I would agree that an
hour from the airport to Summit County isn't enough. But I would
disagree that doubling it is appropriate. I just checked Mapquest and
they list it as 96 miles and 1:40 which sounds about right to me from
my experiences. And you're right, I didn't factor in construction
delays, because on my many trips there, I didn't encounter them. Sure,
that can happen anywhere, but it's not what I would tell someone to
expect for a typical visit. Nor did I factor in parking times
either, as I was giving figures for actually getting there. But, I've
never spent much time at all parking either, as it's always been very
easy, fast and convenient, a couple of mins max. Maybe you should
come out east and see what a real traffic tie up is like.

Well, just so you know, there's been lot of construction in the county.
Just about all of my drive times have doubled this summer. A lot of
it has been finishing up this month but Breck is still doing some major
work that will last over the winter. The main Breck projects are
adding lanes and a roundabout on the north end of town and the
skiway/skyway into the main parking lot. When it's done, you will be
able to ski back to the parking lot but that's not going to happen
until next season. And BTW, they have all the towers in for the new
summit lift and are stringing cable now.

And I know what East coast traffic is like, I've lived there 8^) But
you guys don't have a monopoly on traffic. Try getting up here from
the airport at 8:00 am on a Saturday or heading back down on a Sunday
afternoon. Reminds me of the GSP coming back from the shore on a hot
Sunday afternoon. One Sunday it took me two hours just to get from
Silverthorne to the tunnel (no accidents or snow, just traffic).
Summit to Denver can easily take 4 or 5 hours during those heavy
traffic times. It's not unusual.

My main point wasn't whether it takes you an hour or an hour and 45
mins to get to Summit. My main point was that once you are there
within about 15 mins of Frisco, you have A Basin, Keystone, Copper,
Breck, all great areas. And Vail is 30 mins away, is it not?

Again, you're talking best case. Most of the time I plan for more.
Like say a good powder day with snow on the road and lots of other
people heading to Vail. So, if you are lucky it will take longer.

Yes, I know there is a bus service within Summit Cty. But by the time
you factor in that each person needs to pay to get to/from the airport,
to/from vail, and the convenience of having a car, for most people, the
car is the solution of choice. Plus, a car gives you far more choices
of places to stay, often at less cost, than places that are convenient
to the bus. If you split a car 3 or 4 ways, to me it's clearly the
best choice.

A rental car is nice for 3 or 4 but 1 or 2, maybe not. And if you're
not used to mountain driving and snow conditions then the bus may be a
better option. I was just suggesting another option.

Your focusing on the minutia here and not the big picture. My point
was that for a 3 1/2 hour plane ride, plus another hour (OK 1:40 mins
drive), getting to the Summit area compares favorably with driving to
Killington, VT, given what you have when you get there.

And I think you are leaving some things out of the big picture.
Airport drive time, arrive 1 to 2 hours early, parking, check in,
boarding, baggage, car rental/bus. I think your 4 1/2 hours is more
realisticly around 7 hours. But, you can leave early in the morning
and still be able to ski in the afternoon or leave after work Friday
and get first chair on Saturday. Obviously you've done it a few times
so you know the tricks. I just wanted to give a heads up to someone
without the experience.

"But if you lived in the Alps, you are probably aware of all that. "

So I shouldn't even have mentioned it, cause everyone reading this is
from the Alps and familiar with altitude sickness?

Actually I was talking to the OP then. Sorry for any confusion.

snoig