Northern Rockies/Alberta Rob & Tom's Excellent Ski Adventure (aka: Welcome to Retirement!)

[teejaywhy]

3400 miles, 17 ski days, 9 resorts.

The idea started at the end of last season when my brother announced that he is retiring in February and that his wife has given the ok for a "go ahead, get-it-out-of-your-system" ski trip.

We pondered the options and we both liked the idea of a low-budget road trip, driving about the mountains of the west, taking in as many resorts as we can, finding budget lodging, brown bag lunches in the parking lot, etc. The Mountain Collective pass immediately came to mind - a great value, offering 2 days at each of a respectable list of western resorts, with a bonus 3rd day at the resort of our choice.

I went to work and mapped out some tentative options, eventually settling on one that involved 17 ski days. We secured the MC passes and I began booking accommodations.




My plan was to blog the trip in real-time as we traveled. But... I'm lazy and disorganized! In any case, here is my story of our adventure, after the fact. Apologies for not making a better effort to meet-up with other Ski Talkers. All the advance planning involved, it did not translate to the actual skiing... we ended up just taking it as it came.

Rob flew out to Phoenix from his home in Ohio and we hit the road February 23 for the ~11 hour drive to Salt Lake City.



Wasatch waiting...

 

[SKI-3PO]

"go ahead, get-it-out-of-your-system”?

 

[RachelV]

I mean I'm willing to be surprised here but I highly doubt the end result of this trip is going to be that it's out of his system.

 

[teejaywhy]

Eight nights in Salt Lake City at the luxurious La Quinta in S. Jordan. 6 ski days with a planned rest day. For both of us, our first turns of the season.

Day 1 Saturday:
We started with Snowbird on a Saturday. We arrived very early to secure a great parking spot close to Creekside. But then a long wait for the lifts to open.


The area was without new snow for more than a week so we were greeted with firm conditions and a bit busy as might be expected for a Saturday. We lapped Gad II all morning until some lines formed, then we took an early lunch. We wanted to head over to Mineral but reports of 20 minute lift lines kept us in the Gad valley for the rest of the day. Short day, only 11K vertical, but a good day to start the trip.

Day 2, Sunday: Snowbasin
A beautiful day, started with some high clouds, then cleared for most of the day until the clouds moved back in about 2PM. We got to visit Strawberry this time (wasn't open on my only other visit) and we headed over there early and spent all morning lapping the groomers. Not busy at all for a Sunday. Firm early morning, but softening very nicely by mid-day. Excellent 2nd day, 16.5K vertical.

Lots of snow!


Rob, representing his Michigan peeps


Some nice wind buff up at the top of Strawberry



Day 3, Monday: Alta
Bit of a cloudy, windy day. Firm morning, nice chalky groomers as the day progressed. Didn't take many pictures. A take it easy day, only 12K vert, legs starting to feel it! The most interesting observation of the day: As we were booting up in the Albion lot, three tour busses arrived. 160 members of the 70+ Ski Club! Shared lift rides with many members, a few with 85+ stickers on their skis. A very active club, visiting 7 different resorts on this trip! Hope I get there someday!



We took Tuesday off as planned, despite the arrival of a storm. We didn't want the hassle of canyon traffic, and as it turned out, it was super windy and very cold and not much new snow was produced. We bummed around the city and visited ski shops and had a pizza and some beers at Slackwater.

I did make note of some things at the hotel. At least their printer was working!

 

[teejaywhy]

"go ahead, get-it-out-of-your-system”?

That's how it was pitched to the wives!

But in reality, this trip of nearly a month is remarkable for a couple of working schlubs like ourselves.

 

[SKI-3PO]

Is that the LaQuinta in Midvale?

 

[teejaywhy]

Following our rest day, we re-visited the resorts in reverse order.

Day 4: Wednesday - Alta
Bluebird day, groomers softened by a bit of new snow. Off-groom was still a bit chucky and thick. Managed only 16K vert but feeling stronger after our day off.







Day 5 - Thursday: Snowbasin

Partly cloudy morning, clearing to a nice sunny day. Wonderful soft groomers. By mid-day some of the off-groom had softened enough for a bit of exploration. 18K of vert today!

Found parking in the Wildcat lot. Great ski-in / ski-out access for a tailgate lunch


Finally got to visit this famous spot to have a Garlic Burger:


Day 6 - Friday: Snowbird

Our final day in SLC, we returned to the Bird on a cold, cloudy day. The poor visibility kept us from venturing into Mineral Basin . We stayed in Gad with a couple of trips over to Peruvian where we stopped to watch a bit of a Freeride ski contest, with lots of spectacular crashing happening. The cold and bad visibility motivated us to take a couple of long breaks, so only 12K vert today.





Funny observation in the liftline:

 

[teejaywhy]

Is that the LaQuinta in Midvale?

No, a few exits south in South Jordan, I-15 and 10600 South.

 

[SKI-3PO]

No, a few exits south in South Jordan, I-15 and 10600 South.

Ok - I don’t think @JohnL trashed that one.

 

[teejaywhy]

Saturday Mar 2 - Travel Day

All in all, the La Quinta was not a bad place to stay. $124 per night including taxes & fees. Hot tub and an unremarkable but free hot breakfast daily.

Departed Salt Lake early to beat the weather. The start of a trend of storms blasting thru on our travel days. A 294 mile drive north to Hailey ID. Gusty winds, but we moved along I-84 just fine until near the Idaho border when it started snowing heavily and covering the highway. We slowed to 45 mph in places but at least we were moving. At one point the eastbound traffic was completely stopped due to an 18-wheeler off the roadway.



Arrived to the Hailey Airport Inn about 3PM where we settled in and watched some more light snowfall. Went out to dinner and some beers at the Sawtooth Brewery. Idahome Hazy recommended!



Day 7 - Sunday: Sun Valley

Cold morning


Sun Valley was reporting 1" of new. Not enough to make the crusty groomers any softer. They say the runs at Sun Valley are steep. I would concur. The new snow got quickly bumped up, dense piles that was a lot of work to plow through. Even though it was a Sunday, no lines anywhere on the mountain. We parked at the upper lot at Warm Springs. Convenient in/out for a tailgate lunch.





Nice day all-in-all. 20K vertical.

Day 8 - Monday: Sun Valley

Awoke to some overnight snow. Looked to be about 4" at the Warm Springs Base. It was again, pretty dense and the chop was a lot of work. Visited the Seattle Ridge today for some great laps on some pretty steep green runs. 22K today, starting to get our legs.







Hailey Airport Inn highly recommended! $118/night w/tax&fees. No breakfast, but an outdoor hot tub. Very easy 12 mile drive to Sun Valley. The Adkinson's grocery in Hailey had lots of good freshly made, ready to eat foods, We got quiche and burritos for breakfast and had salad bar for dinner one night.

 

[JohnL]

Ok - I don’t think @JohnL trashed that one.

I only lower exit signs. I respect washers and elevators.

 

[Tony S]

I mean I'm willing to be surprised here but I highly doubt the end result of this trip is going to be that it's out of his system.

Whenever I read your posts I hear them in the voice of Kelly Corrigan.

 

[teejaywhy]

Tuesday March 5: Travel Day

Morning reveals an overnight 6". The trend of snow on our travel day holds true to form.


Off we go, only 94 miles to West Yellowstone, but the first hours were treacherous and slow going. Wanted to see Craters of the Moon, but when snow-covered, one cannot discern any difference from the normal landscape. We did discover something interesting along the way :

Safely arrived to a very snowy West Yellowstone MT and the welcoming Kelly Inn. We celebrate our successful journey with pizza and beer!



Day 9 - Wednesday: Big Sky

Fresh snow! Slick roads make for a slow 58 mile drive from W. Yellowstone. Big Sky reporting 7" of fresh, glorious, light Utah-like powder! Yay! Unfortunately, something wrong with the Ramcharger 8, so we wait in line for Swift Current and made our way over to Six Shooter. Absolutely amazing snow! We worked our way back the the base when a line developed at Six Shooter and discovered that RamCharger was open! Off we went to explore that side of the mountain. A superb day of soft groomers and easy off-groom that remained lightly tracked through the afternoon. Ended up with 18.5K of vertical.





View never gets old!


Ambush - a favorite run under the Ramcharger


Day 10 - Thursday: Big Sky

Brilliant bluebird day with soft conditions remaining on and off-groom. We checked out the bowl this morning then headed over to Six Shooter. A line down there so back to the base and did laps on Swiftcurrent, Ramcharger and Thunder Wolf. 24K! Getting stronger. Kelly Inn - $147/night, good breakfast, pool and hot tub. Everyone else there were snowmobilers.





The new tram


Old Tram base station:

 

[SKI-3PO]

Wow! Looks like beautiful days at Big Sky.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Very cool that you got to do this with your brother. I have two older brothers who were good skiers, but both phased out. It's probably been 20 years since I skied with one.

 

[puptwin]

Congratulations for making it happen! That’s a “someday” trip for most of us and you made it real. Looked great.

 

[teejaywhy]

I made a mistake in the previous post. Hailey ID to West Yellowstone MT was 238 miles!

Friday March 8: Travel Day

6:30 AM West Yellowstone Montana -14 degrees brr... Just a short 94 miles to Driggs ID. Perfect weather today! Quite the sight when the Tetons appeared:


Truck is a total mess at this point. Took several more days before all this melted off:


Driggs Idaho is my new favorite ski town. Great supermarket, restaurants, brewery and this:


My name is Yost. No relation, but we had to stop in and visit and take home some t-shirts. The Super 8 is our home for the next three nights. Basic breakfast, pool and hot tub. $130/night.
After settling in we went to check out some local brews.



Day 11 - Saturday: Grand Targhee

Another sunny day. Cold mornings, warming in the afternoon. Snow up high firm but good on the groomers. Sketchy off-groom. We explored the whole place. Would be awesome to be here on a powder day, so much wide open terrain, the whole place looks skiable. Oh yeah, NO LIFT LINES! We couldn't stop. 26K vert today.





On a good day, one doesn't want to take too much time out for lunch:


Spectacular views of the backside of the Tetons:


Day 12 - Sunday: Grand Targhee

Another brilliant day at Targhee. No lines. Great skiing. Only 25K vert today.

 

[teejaywhy]

Day 13 - Monday: Jackson Hole

No travel day today, We departed the Super 8 Driggs early for the short 34 mile drive to JHMR. On the way over, we first encountered the traffic tie up where they are rebuilding the HWY 20 bridge over the Snake river, which is right where the Moose Wilson road turnoff to the ski area. We parked in the free Stilson lot and took the shuttle to the base. High overcast but good visibility, the groomers were solid refrozen and off-groom was no-man's, at least on the lookers right side of the mountain. We never made it past the Rendezvous Lodge to get anywhere near the upper reaches. Laps on the après Vous, Teton and Casper chairs. No lines. 20.5K for the day. End of the day we shuttled back to the parking and drove through the traffic jam to the Elk Country Inn in Jackson. A bargain rate $181/nite with Mountain Collective discount. A step up from the more budget digs we've been staying, we both agreed that the breakfast was the best and everything else - indoor/outdoor pools and hot tubs, larger, more comfortable rooms, etc. (for reality, this is still a modest hotel, I'm certain there are many places that rise far far above, but hey, it sure seemed luxury compared to the Super 8!)










Lunch at the outdoor patio at the Rendezvous Lodge. Nice place. We bought beer to wash down our smashed brown-bagged turkey sandwiches.



Day 14 - Tuesday: Jackson Hole

Early muster for the free bus from the hotel to the ski area. I think they were reporting 5" of new, and some nice soft flakes were falling as we milled about waiting for the chairs to start loading. Once we got halfway up après Vous, we entered a white out. Our first run was comical as Rob fell over on his first turn. I skied past laughing, but crashed on my third turn. So weird and disorienting. Best crash of the trip was later that morning. I stopped on a cat track to look down the run. At least I thought I was stopped. Looked down at my skis and realized I was still sliding forward. Looked up to see my uphill ski hook inside the stake holding up a "SLOW" sign and I fell in slow motion, taking out the sign. Rob's turn to laugh. We discovered the chill environs of the Casper Lodge, where we stopped several times for liquid courage and our brown bag lunch. Not much exploration that day, but a lot of fun hitting the side stashes near the trees where visibility was slightly better. No lift lines. Only 12.5K vertical today.

Now, the end of the day traffic fiasco. We had registered for the 3:00 return bus but by 3:30, several other busses had come and gone, but no sign of the Elk Country bus. The helpful driver of the charter for the Bogus Basin ski club was explaining how it took 1.5 hours to get to the ski area from town. He speculated that the other busses would be quite late. But as the drivers are wanting to help each other out, he had extra room and offered a ride to the 49'er which happens to be right next door to the Elk Country. Shout out, thanks and a hat tip to the Bogus Basin Ski Club for sharing their bus! Sounds like a fun group. We briefly considered crashing their happy hour reception that was being discussed, but the 1+ hour ride had us ready for the hot tub and dinner. We checked out the Liberty Burger - great burgers, fries and onion rings.

 

[crosscountry]

That much traffic on a Tuesday? Wow!

 

[teejaywhy]

Wednesday March 13: Travel Day

Long drive today, 466 miles to Glenwood Springs through the middle of nowhere Wyoming and Colorado. And yes, a storm is passing thru. Snowing off and on all day. First part is a gorgeous drive up 191 along the Hoback river, made more interesting by the active snow and the locals who obviously drive in this weather all the time no problemo. Finally, we descended into the Colorado River Valley at Rifle, where, for the first time since Utah, there was no snow on the ground. Arrived to the La Quinta after 5PM, long day of driving. Walked past the hot springs and across the pedestrian bridge downtown to the Rocky Mountain Pizza Co.



Day 15 - Thursday: Snowmass

We watched the morning news about the huge dump in Denver and Summit county. Highways closed. 2' of snow at the resorts, unable to open.
Aspen/Snowmass on the other hand, got 5" Oh well, at least we could get there and go skiing. This visit to Snowmass was special for Rob, as he visited here as a 15 year old with a school friend whose parents owned a house on the mountain. Only took 50 years to get back!

Like Jackson, free parking in Aspen means taking a shuttle. Easy peasy. Before we knew it, we were hopping on the early opening Village Express lift and on our way to the Big Burn area, which we lapped endlessly, making turns in the soft new snow. After lunch we visited the Elk Camp area. Perhaps 2nd behind the light fluff we had at Big Sky, this was definitely one of the better days of the trip. We were having such a hoot, I took only two photos all day. 26K of vertical today!





Day 16 - Friday: Aspen Mountain

Bluebird day with fantastic snow on the top of the mountain. We mainly stuck to the Ajax and Ruthies lifts. Man, what a hoot Ruthie's run is! As nice as it was up top, it was a slushy mess at the bottom. Spring is here! No lines. 21K Vertical. Bonnie's - nice deck for lunch.









Day 17 - Saturday: Snowmass

For our last ski day we determined Snowmass was worth another visit. While it was sloppy at the base, snow was excellent up top for the groomers and the bumps. The Cirque poma was open today and we took two rides, coming down Rocky Mtn High the first time, then High Pass the second. We had an oops as we missed the cutoff for Green Cabin and ended up on Showcase. It turned out fine as the snow was great and only one steeper section was mildly bumped. We basked in the glory of our achievements by springing for beer and french fries to go with our smashed turkey sandwiches at the Ullrhof. Bartender in there makes some awesome spicy bloody marys. No Lines. 23K vertical to end the trip.