Single traveller - Best resort option???

[Shikara]

Hi all,

I'll be around the west coast USA for a holiday mid february 2014. I'm keen to do about 5-7 days approx skiing/boarding.

Im 26 and will be travelling alone.
I'm after the best option for a ski resort that will let me easily meet people for both skiing and nightlife.

It is unlikely i'll have a car so proximity of accom to activites is a major consideration.

I would appreciate some insight into best resort options.

I'm considering Tahoe area, Jackson hole, Aspen or Vail currently but these are just stabs in the dark. I would love some advice. Cheers

 

[absentskier]

What are you looking for in the mountain / terrain?

 

[Shikara]

What are you looking for in the mountain / terrain?

I'm honestly not that fussed. A variety of stuff but not somewhere so big that you can't meet up with people. An intermediate terrain park would be ideal as well.

Im more concerned about the experience as a whole rather than the riding (i know ill have fun riding any kind of terrain)

 

[piolet]

Considered mammoth? How convenient does it have to be? Your thoughts or tahoe through to vail is pretty wide open

 

[Shikara]

Considered mammoth? How convenient does it have to be? Your thoughts or tahoe through to vail is pretty wide open

I'll look into mammoth

In terms of accessibility, i dont mind if it takes a while to get the resort. Just when im there i'd like accom, riding and nightlife to all be close without screwing around.

 

[absentskier]

Shikara you have heaps of options. Park City, Vail, Aspen, Squaw, Mammoth, Breck, the list goes on. Whistler too.

 

[skidiva]

Shikara look up www.skiwithkim.com. She does programs that run for four days for the same group. She has one scheduled for Vail in Feb 24-27. There is also a group called aspen divas - www.aspenteamdiva.com. They do weekly ski groups. I couldn't seen any dates for them on the website but you could email them. They also get discounted accommodation in aspen. Their info is also accessible on the aspen snow school website - click on partner programs. There is also the womens edge program that is detailed on the aspen snow school website - search womens edge program or click on the adaptive programs to lead you to the info. They run weekly groups starting on a monday all season. A friend of mine will be doing this but not until the 1st week of march so I can't give you any feedback on it. A lot of snow schools at mountains have weekly programs (4 days) for the same group so you can look up individual ski schools and check if they run weekly programs - these are often quite social as you are skiing with the same group.

 

[Summit]

Travelling solo, I'd suggest picking resorts with the best youth hostels that also have good skiing
Jackson Hole - Hostel x in Teton Village. Stayed there 3 months ago, recommended.
Crested Butte - International Youth Hostel...great place
Aspen - St Moritz Lodge
Winter Park - Used to have a well regarded hostel in Fraser. Not sure it's still operating
Mammoth - Davison House
Tahoe - Was there 3 months ago and drove past a youth hostel on the North Shore, might have been at King Beach.

 

[Johnb007]

I personally don't like Vail as it seems pretentious and snobby. However it is easy to get to with a freeway running right past the town.
Steamboat is great. Old town is fun. Airport is only about 20kms out of town. Good road access but not on a freeway.
Telluride is great. Old town is fun. A few airports service the town. Road access is difficult.
I personally love Aspen. Airport is about 2km from town. Friendly place. Lots of variety in terrain. 3 major hills to choose from.
So those 3 would be my suggestion.
Tahoe area is fragmented a bit and you really need a car to go there. Each resort is relatively small compared to Aspen so when I go there I ski Heavenly for a few days and Squaw for a few days etc. Popular because it is an easy (4hour?) drive from San Francisco.
Park City is easy to get to from Salt Lake City. Old town is fun. I have used a car to go to The Canyons, Deer Valley, Alta, Solitude and all the other resorts in the area. I personally don't like the skiing in Park City but the old town has character. For skiing I like The Canyons and Solitude. Both fun to ski with variety. If you stay in Park City, then Deer valley and The Canyons are easy to get to.

In any case if you haven't skied in a big US resort before then any of them will be fun. Probably my pick would be Steamboat. (Note it has little extreme terrain. If you like extreme then Jackson and Telluride should suit you best.)

Have fun.

 

[Shikara]

I personally don't like Vail as it seems pretentious and snobby. However it is easy to get to with a freeway running right past the town.
Steamboat is great. Old town is fun. Airport is only about 20kms out of town. Good road access but not on a freeway.
Telluride is great. Old town is fun. A few airports service the town. Road access is difficult.
I personally love Aspen. Airport is about 2km from town. Friendly place. Lots of variety in terrain. 3 major hills to choose from.
So those 3 would be my suggestion.
Tahoe area is fragmented a bit and you really need a car to go there. Each resort is relatively small compared to Aspen so when I go there I ski Heavenly for a few days and Squaw for a few days etc. Popular because it is an easy (4hour?) drive from San Francisco.
Park City is easy to get to from Salt Lake City. Old town is fun. I have used a car to go to The Canyons, Deer Valley, Alta, Solitude and all the other resorts in the area. I personally don't like the skiing in Park City but the old town has character. For skiing I like The Canyons and Solitude. Both fun to ski with variety. If you stay in Park City, then Deer valley and The Canyons are easy to get to.

In any case if you haven't skied in a big US resort before then any of them will be fun. Probably my pick would be Steamboat. (Note it has little extreme terrain. If you like extreme then Jackson and Telluride should suit you best.)

Have fun.

Thanks all for the tips.

I think ill look into Park city. It looks as though ill have to fly into Salt lake anyway to get to Denver.

Whats the nightlife like around Park City or the other SLC mountains

 

[Johnb007]

Young crowd hangs out in Park City. Night life is OK. I think it is the pick of the SLC resorts as far as that goes. Make sure you stay in the downtown area. You can ski there or take a bus to Deer Valley or The Canyons which are maybe a 20 minute ride away. The 3 will keep you busy for a week. I love exploring the back areas of The Canyons. Lots of variety.

If you choose to ski there why do you want to go to Denver? If you want to ski Steamboat or Aspen you can fly direct to them without flying to Denver and then taking a 300km bus trip there and then 300km back. Much better to fly direct if you can. Aspen is an easy drive but Denver to Steamboat you go over Rabbit Ears Pass which can be tricky in bad weather. I have driven over it a few times at night in bad weather and it is tricky. Not dangerous but still to be avoided if you can manage to fly direct to Steamboat. Steamboat will get 3 ft of snow over the next few days so the pass might even be closed for a while.

 

[Shikara]

Young crowd hangs out in Park City. Night life is OK. I think it is the pick of the SLC resorts as far as that goes. Make sure you stay in the downtown area. You can ski there or take a bus to Deer Valley or The Canyons which are maybe a 20 minute ride away. The 3 will keep you busy for a week. I love exploring the back areas of The Canyons. Lots of variety.

If you choose to ski there why do you want to go to Denver? If you want to ski Steamboat or Aspen you can fly direct to them without flying to Denver and then taking a 300km bus trip there and then 300km back. Much better to fly direct if you can. Aspen is an easy drive but Denver to Steamboat you go over Rabbit Ears Pass which can be tricky in bad weather. I have driven over it a few times at night in bad weather and it is tricky. Not dangerous but still to be avoided if you can manage to fly direct to Steamboat. Steamboat will get 3 ft of snow over the next few days so the pass might even be closed for a while.

Great, thats what i wanted to hear.

Re denver i just meant my flights from San Francisco to denver (if i was going to ski colorado) stopover in SLC so may as well just go SF to SLC instead and not go to denver at all.

 

[Johnb007]

OK. I was pleasantly surprised that SLC was not a bad place to visit either. Not the best but OK. Lots of surprises - like I have never seen so many tattoo parlors. Lots of bars etc, so spending a night or two there isn't so bad. If you like ink maybe get a souvenir there? lol. If you are spending time in San Fran, PM me as I know the place very well. Spent 4 months there this year and have been there dozens of times. It is a FUN town with just so many things to do. Have fun in Park City and make sure you get to The Canyons for some interesting skiing.