# Where to go for first trip out west?



## snowsam17 (Jan 14, 2008)

So i am an ice coast rider who has only ever ridden groomers. I think have been able to convince my parents to take me and my younger brother out west for a couple days around march 15ish. I need some advice on where we should go. Im looking for a place that is likely to have a lot of inbounds powder; i have no backcountry experience so hiking or anything is not really a possibility. Also, i know my parents are probably gonna want to kick back and relax while me and my brother ski, so someplace with a nearby resort type place would probably be good.

I was originally thinking about wolf creek, as the snow sounds perfect and the thought of no crowds is nice, but it seems to be pretty far from civilization and might be too much of a hassle to find a place to stay. I would love some opinions on this and whether wolf creek would have good pow in march.

i was also looking at winter park, and would be open to any other suggestions. I am also not exclusive to CO i would look at Utah too but i was under the impression that CO was better for pow. Correct me if i am wrong on this, and any suggestions on a good place in UT would also be welcome. Thanks for the help!


----------



## snowsam17 (Jan 14, 2008)

bump can anyone help me out?

after reading around a little bit i think i am currently leaning toward doing both powder mountain and snowbasin, as they both look like they have what im looking for. how has the snow been at these places this year/what can i expect here in march?


----------



## crazyluke (Dec 7, 2008)

yeah im looking to go out west or VT for spring break with some friends, never been out west or to VT what would be best??? Not trying to thread jack just get some answers out of these guys


----------



## Guest (Feb 11, 2009)

crazyluke said:


> yeah im looking to go out west or VT for spring break with some friends, never been out west or to VT what would be best??? Not trying to thread jack just get some answers out of these guys


You can do Utah pretty cheap, thats what my friends and I are doing for spring break. Fly out of Lexington to Salt Lake for $310 round trip, Hotel+Superpass (Brighton, Alta, Snowbird, and Solitude) for $90 a day, and then spending money. All total less than a grand.

Btw, where in Kentucy are you? I go to Georgetown College


----------



## crazyluke (Dec 7, 2008)

Near Louisville, senior in HS this year still deciding on college:dunno:


----------



## Guest (Feb 11, 2009)

Where do you usually ride? I go to Perfect North because its closer to Georgetown, and I am from Cincinnati so its super close to home.

What colleges are you looking at btw?


----------



## crazyluke (Dec 7, 2008)

usually perfect north, then sometimes paoli. Im looking at uofl UK NKU EKU, looked at georgetown but decided it was to expensive...


----------



## Guest (Feb 11, 2009)

I went to Breckenridge, CO a few weeks ago and had an amazing time. If you buy a multiday pass it covers Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, and Keystone mountains. They are within a 20 minute drive of Breckenridge. Also you get one or two days at Vail if you want to go there, but it is about 45 minutes away. The parents will probably love hanging out in the town as well, as there are tons of cool restaurants, shops, bars, and sights to see. Check out the websites for the mountains if you want to see the trail maps
Breckenridge Ski Resort :: Perfect Mountain. Perfect Mountain Town.
Arapahoe Basin Ski & Snowboard Area, Summit County Colorado
http://www.keystoneresorts.com/

I booked my place through this website and they gave me cheap lift tickets and a free nights stay. Just look under the specials
Breckenridge Colorado |

I'm not sure if it's the best place out west, but I went last year and this year, and I'm pretty sure I will go next year. It is the most fun thing I do all year long... I'm really thinking about moving out there

Good luck with your trip!


----------



## Guest (Feb 11, 2009)

Steamboat looks amazing


----------



## Dawg Catcher (Jan 5, 2009)

i would say if your parents are taking you out there, why not just hit steamboat/any resort with decent snow and stay on resort?


----------



## Guest (Feb 11, 2009)

crazyluke said:


> usually perfect north, then sometimes paoli. Im looking at uofl UK NKU EKU, looked at georgetown but decided it was to expensive...


Never been to Paoli, how is it?

and as far as schools, Eastern is dirty, UK is cool (Go CATS), Georgetown is really expensive and small, but the diploma looks good, and financial aid and scholarships really offset the cost (I am paying nothing out of pocket this year) and U of L, good school, but the damn cards..... NKU is mainly just a school for locals, a ton of commuter students, much better grad programs than undergrad.

I would narrow that list down to UL, UK, or G-Town. So you wanting to stay relatively close to home then, or in-state? look at some other schools as well, sticker price isn't everything, because financial aid helps a lot. I would also consider maybe Transy, Miami, etc. I wish I had looked at more schools, I only looked at 2 or 3, so i didn't have much idea of what kind of school I would have liked.

Definitely take overnight campus visits if you can at any school you are seriously looking at. Visit tons of schools, because some schools will give you some grants for visiting, I know here they will give you a few hundred dollar grant (per year) for each campus visit you made in high school to Georgetown.


----------



## Guest (Feb 11, 2009)

mapolly, what part of cincy are you from? i'm from anderson. and where do you find that $90 a night deal?


----------



## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Wolf Creek will have good snow in March. You can fly into Durango and have about a 90 minute drive to the area. There is no on mountain lodging. You can stay on either side of the pass and have about a 20 minute drive to the area. Pagosa Springs is on the West side of Wolf Creek pass and is the nicer town. There is a decent board shop there, restaurants, and lodging. The main problem is that if it's puking on the pass, that is the side that gets closed due to avalanche danger. There are some huge paths that cross the road there. Of course if that happens you could always just drive over to Durango mountain for the day. It's rare that the pass is closed for more than 24 hours.

South Fork on the east side of the pass doesn't usually have the closure issue, but there is also not a lot of options there. Plenty of places to stay, not so much for eating and such. Enough, but very Spartan in comparison to Pagosa Springs.

Utah is always a good bet. Good easy access. You can just stay in Salt Lake City or Sandy. Make sure you are on the east side of town. The drive up to the Cottonwoods is short. Most of the ski/snowboard shops in town offer discount lift tickets. I would not buy any of the super passes that include Snowbird and/or Alta. That just helps support the snowboarding ban at Alta and there are plenty of discount day tickets for seperate resorts to be found in SLC. 

Summit County or Winterpark in Colorado are also fairly easy to do. Definitely look for package deals for lodging and lift tickets. 

If you have a season pass to any ski hill in the east you can also do Crested Butte. They are giving half off of lift tickets to anyone with a season pass from anywhere. Like Wolf Creek it's a bit more remote, but what a great ski town.


----------



## crazyluke (Dec 7, 2008)

Paoli is smaller and trails arent as nice as PN, but Paoli's terrain park is better than PN IMO, its better setup and has some good jumps. Ive visited every college i listed, so now just trying to decide


----------



## snowsam17 (Jan 14, 2008)

Dawg Catcher said:


> i would say if your parents are taking you out there, why not just hit steamboat/any resort with decent snow and stay on resort?


yeah thats what im plannin on i was more looking for advice on which mountains would be best, and makin sure i wasnt headed anywhere with shitty snow. 

and thanks killclimbz that helps i think im prolly gonna do utah. i wish i could hit up wolf creek but thats a long drive after a 5 hour flight... the fam probably wont be up to it


----------



## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

For easy access Colorado or Utah majors are hard to beat. Hopefully you nail a snow cycle on your trip.


----------



## snowsam17 (Jan 14, 2008)

thanks! 

ill be prayin to the snow gods...


----------



## crazyluke (Dec 7, 2008)

does anybody know what the snow is usually like at copper mnt in the first week of april??


----------



## Guest (Feb 12, 2009)

crazyluke said:


> Paoli is smaller and trails arent as nice as PN, but Paoli's terrain park is better than PN IMO, its better setup and has some good jumps. Ive visited every college i listed, so now just trying to decide


Which school are you favoring?

Does Paoli have a decent beginner's park? The little park at Perfect sucks ass, I'm just learning park and want a place with some smaller jumps and jibs that are actually made decent and maintained well. Perfect really only maintains the Audition Terrain park, but I'm not ready to hit that shit yet


----------



## crazyluke (Dec 7, 2008)

Either NKU, or UK... toss up right now. Yeah id say paoli has a decent beginner park, some small rails, and small jumps and pretty well maintained.


----------



## Guest (Feb 12, 2009)

crazyluke said:


> Either NKU, or UK... toss up right now. Yeah id say paoli has a decent beginner park, some small rails, and small jumps and pretty well maintained.


What are you looking to study? UK is a really cool campus, I like it much better than NKU, but maybe just because I am from the Cincinnati area and hate it lol. Lexington is a chill city and there is a lot of stuff within walking distance at UK. I have some friends that go to UK and they love it. Plus, UK has the SnowCATS club for skiers and snowboarders and you get massive cheap trips once a year


----------



## crazyluke (Dec 7, 2008)

i dont really know what i would study.... im in the process of chosing..

Does anybody know what the snow is like in killington in first week of april??


----------



## Guest (Feb 13, 2009)

crazyluke said:


> i dont really know what i would study.... im in the process of chosing..
> 
> Does anybody know what the snow is like in killington in first week of april??


been there, done that. I'm a college sophomore and just settled into a major. I bounced all over from architecture, engineering, art, english, and settled on spanish/education lol.


----------

