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Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 24th 03, 02:39 AM
toddjb
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

....trying to think of some new places to go over New Years this
year. Have been to Utah and Whistler and loved them both. So,
in addition to trying something new, we'd also like something
that has a good chance of December snow. ...big mountain skiing
& riding and all the fun and powder that goes along with it.
Possibly the option for a day of snowcat or heli if it is in the area.

Have any thoughts or opinions on these places?


OREGON- Mt. Bachelor (or Mt. Hood)

WASHINGTON- Mt. Baker

MONTANA- Big Sky

ALASKA- Aleyska


Thanks for any advice,

-todd
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  #2  
Old November 24th 03, 06:39 PM
Chris Stringer
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

I would choose Bachelor over Hood if you are looking for a destination
resort. Mt. Hood Meadows has some of the best terrain on Hood but the
runs are too short for my taste unless Heather Canyon is open. See my
last post for more info on why Bachelor rocks.

Chris Stringer
RDCShop.com Online Board Shop
Bend Ski and Board Sport
1009 NW Galveston
Bend, OR 97701
Email:
Web:
http://www.rdcshop.com
Toll Free Phone: 1.877.BEND.SKI
  #3  
Old November 24th 03, 06:59 PM
Mike T
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

Mt. Hood Meadows has some of the best terrain on Hood but the
runs are too short for my taste unless Heather Canyon is open.


The best in-bounds run I've ever taken in my life:

I hiked from the top of Cascade Express at Meadows, up the Superbowl
snow cat trail to 9000 feet. I dropped in, stayed to the left of the
cliffs that drop into Upper Heather, and then proceeded into Clark
canyon, onto the lower heather runout, and then onto the Hood Rover
Meadows runout. 4500 vertical feet, *no stopping*. Talk about a
thigh burner - especially the HRM runout which is pretty flat.

This spring assuming sufficient cover I'll have to do the top of Palmer
to Gov't camp run without stopping... that's about 4700 vertical.


  #4  
Old November 24th 03, 07:01 PM
Mike T
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

OREGON- Mt. Bachelor (or Mt. Hood)

WASHINGTON- Mt. Baker

MONTANA- Big Sky

ALASKA- Aleyska


Pick the one with the most snow, since you'll be going in December!
Meadows and Bachelor are both off to decent starts. If this week pans
out, they could be off to spectacular starts.




  #5  
Old November 25th 03, 12:30 AM
Jason Watkins
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

This spring assuming sufficient cover I'll have to do the top of Palmer
to Gov't camp run without stopping... that's about 4700 vertical.


Why stop there? You could do summit to govie...

http://www.spiritone.com/~carpjam/ht...odSum5.02.html

Talk about a leg burner.
  #6  
Old November 25th 03, 02:09 AM
Mike T
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

Why stop there? You could do summit to govie...

Lack of climbing equipment!



  #7  
Old November 25th 03, 02:17 AM
Chris Stringer
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

The best in-bounds run I've ever taken in my life:

I hiked from the top of Cascade Express at Meadows, up the Superbowl
snow cat trail to 9000 feet. I dropped in, stayed to the left of the
cliffs that drop into Upper Heather, and then proceeded into Clark
canyon, onto the lower heather runout, and then onto the Hood Rover
Meadows runout. 4500 vertical feet, *no stopping*. Talk about a
thigh burner - especially the HRM runout which is pretty flat.

This spring assuming sufficient cover I'll have to do the top of Palmer
to Gov't camp run without stopping... that's about 4700 vertical.


Yup, that hikable stuff above Heather is sweet, especially the next
canyon over which often has untracked for weeks after a storm. You
just have to be willing to hike to get to the good stuff. That first
bit of hiking up the ride of Heather is a bitch, but after that you
can just follow the ridge up and it's great.

If you haven't done White River Canyon yet that's a fun (albeit
illegal) run as well. Stay to riders right off of Cascade and follow
that ridge above the cornice until there is good coverage to your
right. Then duck into the trees and keep traversing over. Eventually
you will pop out into White River Canyon which is beteen Timberline
and Meadows. You can ride all the way down to the highway and then
hitchike back up to the ski area. Just be careful as there is
definitely some avalanche risk as patrol doesn't cover that area.

Chris Stringer
RDCShop.com Online Board Shop
Bend Ski and Board Sport
1009 NW Galveston
Bend, OR 97701
Email:
Web:
http://www.rdcshop.com
Toll Free Phone: 1.877.BEND.SKI
  #8  
Old November 25th 03, 04:42 PM
Jason Watkins
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

"Mike T" wrote in message ...
Why stop there? You could do summit to govie...


Lack of climbing equipment!


I hear REI rents axes, crampons, ropes, etc.
  #9  
Old November 25th 03, 09:42 PM
geissing
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

Doubt if you'll have lack of snow problems at Mt. Baker.
However, it is not a resort that has lodging at the base.
Lodging is in Glacier, WA, and that little town is a world
unto itself. Pretty much totally a hiker & ski town.
Not a big choice is lodging there either, but Mt. Baker
is a special place with lots of rolling (fun) inbounds terrain.
If you want to hike, helps to have a someone who knows the
area. Mt. Baker is THE whitest resort I've ever been too,
bar none. Cliffs can kill you at Baker, know where you
are at. No one jumps off all of Baker's cliffs, a lot of
the landings are close to flat off the biggest cliffs.
Get caught in a white-out at Mt. Baker and you are probably
at one of the worst resorts to caught in a white out.

Been to Mt. Bach, and Mt. Hood (the Meadows, Timberline,
and Snowbowl). Meadows and Timberline will always have some
snow, maybe a lot of snow?
(Snowbowl is a sleeper if they have a lot of snow, but
it's low elevation in Gov't Camp keeps it from being really
good in the early season most of the time.) Personally I loved
the town of Gov't Camp, it's a real ski town without the
glitz and razzmatazz; with a couple unique and special bars,
one a brewery, and the other a bar restaurant combo that seems
to have a quirky personality, maybe multiple personalities,
all bewitching. Worth the trip just to experience the
hominess of Gov't Camp. A place where a guy could get lost.

Mt Hood:
Again, not much in the way of lodging at the mountain unless
you go to Timberline, which has very special lodging in
the historical Timberline Lodge, (or Gov't Camp), which is
definitely worth doing for a couple days.
They don't make lodges like Timberline Lodge anymore, period.
It is the lodge pictured in the movie, The Shining, with
Jack Nicholson, but the interior scenes of the movie were
done at a hotel in Estes Park, CO I believe.
Timberline has the definitive Lodge of all Lodges.
One of those Depression Era projects.
The interior is exquisite: huge timbers, not built with
nails, but with wooden pegs. It's a sight-seeing tourist
thing on the weekends. Better to be there on the weekdays.

The skiing.....? The Meadows can be a lot of fun when
it is snowing, although the layout
of the mountain is not the best, strange at best. Almost takes
a day for a newbie to figure out the pattern of the place.
It's a bit awkward getting around.
You also need to buy a parking permit in the Gov't Camp area
to even park legally at Mt. Hood/The Meadows. Your vehicle will be
ticketed without that pass in your windshield.

Mt. Bachelor is very straightforward, but don't expect esp.
tough runs, not much in dbl-black, but I don't do dbl. diamonds
anyway. Mt. Bachelor has undoubtedly one of the best lift
systems in the U.S., maybe THE Best? I'm not kidding.
A Blue Cruiser heaven, for sure, some tougher Blacks/moguls
to get your thighs burning.
Very, very few lift lines, lots of hi-speed quads, and lots of
vertical. If the weather is windy & snowy though, the upper
lifts are off. Fog can also be a problem unless you know
the place well. Lodging is down the road at either Bend,
or up closer to the mountain in 7th Heaven, a condo hamlet.
Mt. Bach. is big, but some locals call Mt. Flatular due to
lack of true hair-raising steeps. No snow cat or heli at
the Bach., possibly at the Meadows or nearby? Again, the
weather in that region is so damn persnickety, a lot depends on it.
Spring Skiing at Mt. Bachelor can be the best in the U.S.,
right up to July 4th some years. From April on, best to be
at the Bach.

Montana---I think Mt. Bachelor and Big Mountain, MT have similar
terrain characteristics, lots of turf, spread out, but not an
experts paradise generally, although anything is possible in
Montana. Big Sky does have steeps, for sure, but it's weather
can be harsh too.
Never been to AK, but I can imagine. I don't know about
December or Jan. in Ak though......hmmmm, taking your chances.
Better in AK toward the Spring from all that I have seen
and read.

That's what I know.
Good luck, -tom


toddjb wrote:
...trying to think of some new places to go over New Years this
year. Have been to Utah and Whistler and loved them both. So,
in addition to trying something new, we'd also like something
that has a good chance of December snow. ...big mountain skiing
& riding and all the fun and powder that goes along with it.
Possibly the option for a day of snowcat or heli if it is in the area.

Have any thoughts or opinions on these places?


OREGON- Mt. Bachelor (or Mt. Hood)

WASHINGTON- Mt. Baker

MONTANA- Big Sky

ALASKA- Aleyska


Thanks for any advice,

-todd


  #10  
Old November 25th 03, 10:07 PM
Luke
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Default Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

Mount Bachelor and Mount Baker are your best options. The upper lifts at
Timberline and Meadows are more likely to be closed than Mt. Bachelor
bringing the advertised vertical down quite a bit. You can't make it to
snow cat land without a lot of hiking when Cascade express and Palmer are
closed (high lifts at Meadows and Timberline respectively). Mt. Baker has
much better bowls and powder than anywhere that I now about (world record
snowfall was there) but has a slow lift system (no high speed quads as all
the lifts and everything else in the area are diesel powered perhaps adding
to its beauty and lack of commercialization).

Mount Bachelor will have few lines, faster lifts and more vertical per
minute spent at the resort than possibly anywhere in the US. There is also
great freeriding on the back of the mountain which offers great back country
riding when not icy and the Summit lift is open. Otherwise the Northwest
Express takes you up over 2,200 vertical feet without having to get off and
go to another lift.

If you must go to Hood than go to meadows but I say Bachelor lots of riding,
Baker for powder and steeps and Hood for metro area accessibility.




 




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