USA 21/22 Planning

[Kash]

Other than reserving the rental car, might want to stay flexible in your lodging reservation. If there is a big snowstorm, could make driving to Steamboat a bit of a push.

Happy to do some runs together at Steamboat. Does avoiding bumps mean you avoid powder in the trees too?

Absolutely not, powder through the trees is amazing!

@Sbooker, agree on Sunlight. Discovered it on a map at the Snow Expo yesterday. Looks very close to Glenwood Springs and might be a great place to ride on the Sat of presidents weekend. Good tip on having accom flexibility to head elsewhere if the weather is bad.

Really excited to ride all 4 hills of Aspen, depending on how easy it is to transfer between them with kids and their associated lessons happening.

 

[Sbooker]

Absolutely not, powder through the trees is amazing!

@Sbooker, agree on Sunlight. Discovered it on a map at the Snow Expo yesterday. Looks very close to Glenwood Springs and might be a great place to ride on the Sat of presidents weekend. Good tip on having accom flexibility to head elsewhere if the weather is bad.

Really excited to ride all 4 hills of Aspen, depending on how easy it is to transfer between them with kids and their associated lessons happening.

The bus system is fantastic. We even managed to swap hills at lunch time with very little down time.

 

[MarzNC]

Really excited to ride all 4 hills of Aspen, depending on how easy it is to transfer between them with kids and their associated lessons happening.

Kids usually have lessons at Buttermilk or Snowmass. Taking the bus between Buttermilk and Aspen Mountain aka Ajax is easy. There is also a smaller bus that goes from Buttermilk to Aspen Highlands. The schedule was every 30 min when I was there several years ago in late March. Since my ski buddy and I stayed in Carbondale, we parked at Buttermilk and took the small bus instead of using the big parking lot. Shorter walk to the bus stop.

If your kids are having lessons at Snowmass, the place is huge with lots of variety so probably not worth the time to take the bus elsewhere.

Note that Highlands is a complete ski area, meaning it has trails and terrain for every ability level from beginner to expert. That's where local families normally ski on weekends when the kids aren't in school. It was founded by someone who resisted selling to Aspen Ski Co. He donated Highlands to his alma mater, Harvard, to try to keep it away from ASC. But in the end ASC still ended up as the owner.

In contrast, Ajax has no green trails at all. However, worth taking the family on a clear day to see the view from the gondola. Can download or take the easiest blue groomer back to town.

 

[MarzNC]

Absolutely not, powder through the trees is amazing!

I started actively learning to ski bumps at Taos six years ago in order to be better at skiing powder in trees.

 

[LMB]

I started actively learning to ski bumps at Taos six years ago in order to be better at skiing powder in trees.

This was so much us this year, but it is important to note that the steeper trees in Colorado end up with bumps much more so than, for example, Hokkaido, so it became important.

 

[Kash]

I started actively learning to ski bumps at Taos six years ago in order to be better at skiing powder in trees.

I can ride them ok (ie passable), but don't enjoy that much and leave them for the skiers! I'm sure there are whole threads on here dedicated to snowboarders improving on bumps. Might check out some youtube clips on it before I go to the US.

 

[MarzNC]

This was so much us this year, but it is important to note that the steeper trees in Colorado end up with bumps much more so than, for example, Hokkaido, so it became important.

Ironically, the reason Taos is such a good place to learn to improve bump technique is that they don't get big powder storms that often. There are plenty of good skiers at Taos who love to ski bumps and trees, so there is bump terrain for practice and gaining mileage most of the time. Meaning bumps at every level from baby bumps to big bumps or bumps on very steep terrain.

The trip I caught deep powder at Grand Targhee, didn't need bump technique. It was so fluffy and deep, didn't really need to do that much to have fun making turns. GT doesn't get tracked out in the same way that Jackson Hole, or Alta, or Snowbird do.

 

[MarzNC]

I can ride them ok, but don't enjoy that much and leave them for the skiers! I'm sure there are whole threads on here dedicated to snowboarders improving on bumps. might check out some youtube clips before we go

While there aren't many paying customers who board at Taos who can really enjoy the bumps, the instructors I've seen are quite good.

 

[absentskier]

Assuming people have seen that the US no longer requires air passengers travelling from a foreign country to show a negative covid test or documentation of recovery from covid before they board their flight. Certainly good news for those of us considering a North American ski holiday in 2022/23.

 

[oreo]

Park City’s lift upgrades put on hold for 2022/23 season because a couple of nimby’s in a condo complex next to the base appealed to the city planning dept. and want them to move the base station further away from their condos.

 

[MarzNC]

Assuming people have seen that the US no longer requires air passengers travelling from a foreign country to show a negative covid test or documentation of recovery from covid before they board their flight. Certainly good news for those of us considering a North American ski holiday in 2022/23.

Given that travel to the USA from Australia will be easier to plan, I started a 2022-23 planning thread.