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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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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
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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
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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. |
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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
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Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.
Why stop there? You could do summit to govie...
Lack of climbing equipment! |
#7
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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
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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
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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
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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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