Looking at going skiing with a group out west around the second week of Feb. Anyone go any suggestions about where to go and where to stay. Looking for an affordable location with great skiing and possible some snowmobiling to boot. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

M60-E4

I'm not a skier, but a friend of mine has been going to Whitefish, MT for several years. He rents a condo up there, and stays from a little before Christmas to April, depending on the snow. He skis every day there, except for Saturday when all the weekenders are around. During the week, he says he practically has the mountain to himself.

Winter Park, CO

Best deal going, and they have the most amount of expert terrain than any other CO resort.

skiing is the stupidest sport/activity EVER
Let's see, pay tons of money to FREEZE TO DEATH
and all the little hotties?
covered up by tons of clothing?
Talk about nothing going for it.

STUPID sport.

Some of the people I ski with at SnowShoe do nothing but talk about SteamBoat Springs.  I think skiing in the Rockies and cheap don't go together.

Quoted: skiing is the stupidest sport/activity EVER Let's see, pay tons of money to FREEZE TO DEATH and all the little hotties? covered up by tons of clothing? Talk about nothing going for it. STUPID sport.

You are kidding!?  Skiing is the ONLY thing were my mind is completely free of life's thoughts.  Not to mention how great it is to go glidding down a mountain side covered with fresh powder.  I look forward to wintertime.

Are you you sure you used skiing and affordable in the same sentance?

As far as where to go, how good of a skiier are you?
If you're a beginner, look at package deals in Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Keystone, or Winter Park.

If you're more advanced, Jackson Hole might be fun.

I wanted to add that I have a mag called Ski Colorado

Check it out.  

Winter Park routinly get the higest snow fall per year ( al;though this year I'm sure they are all great).  Good vertical drop, as well as size.

2762 acres.  I'm not sure if this includes Mary Jane, and the bowls.
360"/yr
70% advanced runs

Quoted: I'm not a skier, but a friend of mine has been going to Whitefish, MT for several years. He rents a condo up there, and stays from a little before Christmas to April, depending on the snow. He skis every day there, except for Saturday when all the weekenders are around. During the week, he says he practically has the mountain to himself.

I used to live there. Forget weekends. Great places to eat to.
Whitefish is Montana's Vail but on a much smaller scale. MT kicks arse!

Done Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.  Utah had the best snow, in my experience.  Was a bit cheaper than CO.  

In CO, I liked Copper Mtn. and A-basin, or Keystone.  Winter Park was ok, depending on the day of the week.  (Weekends are crowded, everywhere).  Steamboat has good runs.  Vail and Aspen are pricey.

In Utah, any of the four up Big and Little Cottonwood canyons are good.  (Alta is powder, the other three are groomed).  Brighton used to be the cheapest.  Park City is cool, but expensive, all the way around.  Deer Valley is rumored to be the cat's, but really pricey.

In Wyoming, skip it unless you want to get good on ice.  This is where I learned control, but took a lot of lumps doing it.

Can't help with lodging, as I lived in all three states when I skied in each one.

Grand Targhee, Wyoming.  It is cheap and has the best powder skiing in the country.  About 45 minutes away is Jackson Hole, Wyo., with 4,300 feet of vertical.  I ski at these two places all the time and have skied in Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and would put Grand Targhee above any other place for terrain and snow conditions.

ETA:  Previous post.  Wyoming has no ice that I can think of.  If you want ice ski in the east.

I used to live in Kalispell (about 10 miles south of Whitefish or so).  I would recommend Whitefish/The Big Mountain.  

By the way, I just started skiing last winter.  I thought skiing was stupid until I tried it, now I am kicking myself for not starting earlier.

Quoted: Grand Targhee, Wyoming.  It is cheap and has the best powder skiing in the country.  About 45 minutes away is Jackson Hole, Wyo., with 4,300 feet of vertical.  I ski at these two places all the time and have skied in Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and would put Grand Targhee above any other place for terrain and snow conditions. ETA:  Previous post.  Wyoming has no ice that I can think of.  If you want ice ski in the east.

I never skied Targhee, but I hunted up there.  Absolutely the best scenery in the Western US, with the possible exception of western Montana.  From Targhee, you have the backside of Grand Teton as the backdrop.  Fred's Mountain is cool.

Here is Grand Targhee.

Quoted: Looking at going skiing with a group out west around the second week of Feb. Anyone go any suggestions about where to go and where to stay. Looking for an affordable location with great skiing and possible some snowmobiling to boot. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. M60-E4

I recommend Big Mountain or Jackson Hole. They know how to keep their airports open.

Quoted: skiing is the stupidest sport/activity EVER Let's see, pay tons of money to FREEZE TO DEATH and all the little hotties? covered up by tons of clothing? Talk about nothing going for it. STUPID sport.

nice try

I snowboarded in Park City, UT 2 yrs ago and had a great time.  Only thing that sucks there for boarders is they have some sections that are intentionally moguls which is not fun on a snowboard.

One note about skiing/boarding in UT, if you plan on doing any partying while there, make sure you bring your own alcohol.

Quoted: I snowboarded in Park City, UT 2 yrs ago and had a great time.  Only thing that sucks there for boarders is they have some sections that are intentionally moguls which is not fun on a snowboard. One note about skiing/boarding in UT, if you plan on doing any partying while there, make sure you bring your own alcohol.

Partying at Grand Targhee is pretty lame too.  Once the Trap Bar closes (usually before 9 p.m.) the place shuts down for the night.  Jackson Hole has some world-famous party spots, though.

Quoted: I snowboarded in Park City, UT 2 yrs ago and had a great time.  Only thing that sucks there for boarders is they have some sections that are intentionally moguls which is not fun on a snowboard. One note about skiing/boarding in UT, if you plan on doing any partying while there, make sure you bring your own alcohol.

Who ever told you the last part (that I put in bold) is wrong. Alcohol/wine/>3.2 beer is sold in the state liquor stores (ABC). You may have to purchase a relatively cheep club membership at bars, but you can at least smoke in the bars unlike other places in the west (I think Colorado went smoke-free recently). There is even a state liquor store in Little Cottonwood Canyon (at least there was during the summer of 2005).

I have snowboarded in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming when I lived in Utah. I had the annual pass at Brighton and at Snowbird for a few years. If you want to have a real blast, check out Snowbird/Alta ~ You can buy a combo pass for both resorts (Alta is skiing only). They recently built lifts/runs that connect the two resorts. Snowbird has a lift that goes to the backside of the Wasatch front -wicked steeps. You also have access to the backcountry there too.

I like Wyoming and Colorado alot and plan on moving to one of those places one day, but SLC has so much to offer for in the way of snowfall (500" per year) and the resorts (9 w/in an hour and a half of the airport) so close to the airport, you would be hard pressed to find a better place to go. You could be at the on of 6resorts within an hour of landing at the airport.

Just my $0.02.

I love Park City, personally.

i've skied all over.

aspen is my favorite.. but its expensive..

a mid-cheap idea.. jackson-hole. most beautiful place i have ever been too. the mountain is tuff though. but gran tarhee is close and easy to ski. if you go stay in jackson hole, not the mountain and go see the buffalo in yellowstone one day.. jackson hole is my second favorite city..

for me cheapest real ski is salt lake city, 7 or 8 major ski resorts within 45 minutes if you stay in town. in town you can get biz class room with fast internet cheap. for me non stop outta atlanta is easy.. the town itself though is weird. least favorite.. feels like the stepford wives town... just plain weird..

wanna gamble, go to south tahoe, ski heavenly, squaw, kirkwood others. pretty good place but hard to get too and tons of californians come up for th weekends. but you can stay cheap and you might pay for your trip at the casino .. or loose a ton..

vail.. fly into denver, drive thru eisenhower tunnel or fly into eagle. you can ski vail, keystone, beaver creek, breckinridge on same ticket, ski one during the day, ski keystone at night.. the area is expensive though..

steamboat.. pretty nice, but can get crowded at the bottom. locals i think call the bottom wally world because it is so crowded.. steamboat is mid-expensive..

copper.. is ok but nothing to do and its 10,000 feet base makes it tough on your stamina. climbing the steps is a drag..

you might try whistler/blackcombe.. in canada, far away  but pretty cheap. considered the worlds best it is different from every place else, for americans it can be pretty cheap. i stayed there 2 weeks once for what it normally cost me to stay one week in the states..

BTW..  i never ski east the the mississippi (at least since i was 16). too easy to go west for the same or less money.

places i have not been i want to go... sun valley (arnolds mountain), taos (dont get much snow but highly rated) and telluride (expensive and hard to get too)..

i skiied switzerland once... i dont recommend europe.. europeans come here for the worlds best skiing (not kiddig).

you might try whistler/blackcombe.. in canada, far away but pretty cheap. considered the worlds best it is different from every place else, for americans it can be pretty cheap. i stayed there 2 weeks once for what it normally cost me to stay one week in the states..

+100  I've skied quite a few places and nowhere else are there more people working there, that live there, and are so damn proud of their own mountain(s).

Stay safe

Haven't skiied in a few years, but if you want to do a lot of skiing go to Summit County  Colorado.  The county encompasses A-Basin, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Copper Mtn.  They are all within an hour of each other  and they used to be on multi-day lift tickets for any of the mountains.  Winter Park/Mary Jane are crowded from the Denver metro locals and not as large as Breckenridge or Keystone.  Most snowfall at any ski hill in CO is Wolf Creek down in the four corner area,( almost twice the snowfall of any of the other resorts) but it is a small resort.

I was going to mention Sun Valley, but it is expensive.  You might be able to get a package deal, though.  Great skiing and food.

I've skied Utah too.  Great mogul runs (at Alta), but a lot of people and slow chairlifts.

How come no one has mentioned Schweitzer near Sandpoint, Idaho?  You could fly into Spokane and rent a car.

Schweitzer (Front)



Schweitzer (Back)

Yeah, Ass-pain is an awesome place to ski with four mountains within minutes of each other.  If you get your but out there at the end of January, you can catch the X Games, very kick ass.  The snow is great, TONS of terrain to cover and the views are very nice.  Plenty of booze there too.  

--VT

If you want to ski central CO, I can give you an idea on how to save $$$$ on lodging....

SRM

Idaho has plenty of places to snowmobile and ski...

Sawtooth and Boise National forrests are full of places.

I am about an hour from Sun Valley, and other ski resorts up in the mountains here.