Northern Rockies/Alberta Ski Road Trip in the Covid Era

[Jwrags]

I know we are in the middle of a pandemic but with my college son having an extended winter break and my older son spending the winter in Steamboat we decided to put our Ikon passes to use and do a ski road trip. Since we are staying in condos along the way and eating meals in our greatest risk is to my son and I skiing (my wife doesn't ski).

The trip started Thursday, New Year's Eve, with a drive from Portland to Sunriver in Central Oregon to start the trip with skiing at Mt. Bachelor. The plan is to ski here four days then make the long drive to West Yellowstone, MT for a snowmobile tour through Yellowstone. I have done this tour before and it was spectacular so I thought my wife and son would love to see it. From there we are headed to Jackson Hole for 4 days of skiing then on to Steamboat for 4 days of skiing and visiting our son (and skiing with @Ron}. After Steamboat my wife and I will drive home while our youngest son heads back to college.

By the way, the site made me pick a region in order to post this thread but none of them quite covered the regions we are going.

 

[Jwrags]

Day one, New Years Day. Early start with a mixed weather day. It was warm and the groomers were soft corduroy that would make Deer Valley jealous. There was a lot of minimally tracked snow off piste but it had picked up moisture overnight so was quite thick and sticky. It was my first day out not only of the season but on my new Stockli Laser AX, which I bought last spring but never got to ski because everything shut down. The reminded me of why I bought them! The weather was mixed all day and the crowds were fairly light. Everyone seemed to be respectful of distancing and wearing masks. The below picture is of Broken Top from the Sunrise lift when we had a break in the clouds.

 

[Jwrags]

Day 2, today, wasn't great. It was classic bad Bachelor. Very windy, but fortunately not cold. The winds were blowing so hard that Pine Martin, Outback, and Northwest Express were closed. The remainder of the lifts were running at reduced speed because of the wind. The crowds and lines grew to be intolerable pretty quickly. Yes, I am spoiled by short lift lines. Yesterday we had 5 lift rides in the first hour. Today we had 4 in two hours. The off piste was better today with some spots soft and others wind compressed. Because of the crowds we packed it in around 11. That is a lot easier to do when you know you have 10 more days of skiing over the next two weeks. Hopefully wind dies down tomorrow because more fresh snow is in the forecast.

 

[AmyPJ]

Sounds like a great trip plan! Jackson should be skiing great--quite a bit of snow there.

 

[dovski]

We are doing Big Sky in February. Original plan was to fly, but direct flights from Seattle to Bozeman no longer exist. So the new route through SLC, combined with our desire to avoid air travel has turned this into a road trip. And while I could probably do the drive of 10-12 hours in a day, this is a family trip which means taker your drive time of N and use the formula of "N + it is not going to happen in one day". So we are doing the drive over two days, and spending the night both ways in Superior Montana at the Big Sky Motel. What I like about this is that it is an old school Motel where you drive right up to your room, so no lobby or elevator and not need to mingle with others.

When we get to Big Sky we are staying in a stand alone log cabin on the hill. The plan is to have all our meals there and use it for warming breaks ... etc. if needed. Location of the cabin is good as we are a short access chair ride from Rampart and Swifty.

In April we still have plans to go to Banff, but may change that to Whitefish witch would let us drive as opposed to fly.

 

[Pete in Idaho]

We are doing Big Sky in February. Original plan was to fly, but direct flights from Seattle to Bozeman no longer exist. So the new route through SLC, combined with our desire to avoid air travel has turned this into a road trip. And while I could probably do the drive of 10-12 hours in a day, this is a family trip which means taker your drive time of N and use the formula of "N + it is not going to happen in one day". So we are doing the drive over two days, and spending the night both ways in Superior Montana at the Big Sky Motel. What I like about this is that it is an old school Motel where you drive right up to your room, so no lobby or elevator and not need to mingle with others.

When we get to Big Sky we are staying in a stand alone log cabin on the hill. The plan is to have all our meals there and use it for warming breaks ... etc. if needed. Location of the cabin is good as we are a short access chair ride from Rampart and Swifty.

In April we still have plans to go to Banff, but may change that to Whitefish witch would let us drive as opposed to fly.

You will love Big Sky a real skiers mountain as mellow or as extreme as you can stand. Whitefish is a great mt. if the weather/fog cooperates. Also you count skip Banff and drive to Fernie only about 1 1/2 hrs north of Whitefish. You are aware the border is closed?

 

[dovski]

You will love Big Sky a real skiers mountain as mellow or as extreme as you can stand. Whitefish is a great mt. if the weather/fog cooperates. Also you count skip Banff and drive to Fernie only about 1 1/2 hrs north of Whitefish. You are aware the border is closed?

Big Sky is great, skied last year with my son for the first time. @BS Slarver showed us around, so looking forward to going back in Feb. Skied Whitefish as a kid with my family and really enjoyed it. Actually grew up in Edmonton so spent most of our ski trips in Jasper and Banff but know the area around Northern Montana too.

Yes we are very aware that the border is closed, but as a Canadian (technically dual as we Naturalized last year) living in the US I am allowed to enter Canada as is my immediate family. Alberta is running a pilot program at the Calgary international airport where they test international travelers upon arrival. Once your test comes back negative you do not have to quarantine. Because of my nationality me and my family qualify for this and can take the direct flight from Seattle to Calgary. Unfortunately this program will not work if we drive across the border and we would have to quarantine for two weeks. So right now it is not a question of "can we ski Banff in April?" it is more a question of given everything that is going on "is it safe to do this and should we?" Hence Whitefish as a plan B.

 

[Jwrags]

Today was a great morning at Mt. Bachelor. 10” fell overnight and while it was slightly heavy and wind blown in areas the first couple of runs in the Cloudchaser area were great. Because of Covid mitigation the lines got a little long. After a 25 minute wait at Pine Martin we got to the top just in time for Outback to open. We had a spectacular run of untracked snow through the trees. After our second run the wait at Outback had grown to 40 minutes so we went back to the other side, which had emptied out. A great day and expecting more fresh snow tonight. The picture is from the Cloudchaser area this morning.

 

[Posaune]

Yes we are very aware that the border is closed, but as a Canadian (technically dual as we Naturalized last year) living in the US I am allowed to enter Canada as is my immediate family. Alberta is running a pilot program at the Calgary international airport where they test international travelers upon arrival. Once your test comes back negative you do not have to quarantine. Because of my nationality me and my family qualify for this and can take the direct flight from Seattle to Calgary. Unfortunately this program will not work if we drive across the border and we would have to quarantine for two weeks. So right now it is not a question of "can we ski Banff in April?" it is more a question of given everything that is going on "is it safe to do this and should we?" Hence Whitefish as a plan B.

You know, I would double check your source on this. When I looked it up it said that Canadian citizens must test negative BEFORE the flight and also must quarantine for 14 days after arriving no matter what. Maybe I got it wrong, but that's what I thought I read. Here's the link: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...s-covid19/travel-restrictions-exemptions.html

 

[dovski]

You know, I would double check your source on this. When I looked it up it said that Canadian citizens must test negative BEFORE the flight and also must quarantine for 14 days after arriving no matter what. Maybe I got it wrong, but that's what I thought I read. Here's the link: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...s-covid19/travel-restrictions-exemptions.html

As I mentioned there is a special pilot program in Alberta that eliminates the mandatory 14 day quarantine. The Alberta government is running the pilot in partnership with the federal government and it is only available at the Calgary International Airport and the Coutts land border crossing. Below is a link to the details.
International Border Testing Pilot Program | Alberta.ca

 

[Jwrags]

This morning was blizzard like conditions on Mt. Bachelor. Low visibility but great snow with accumulation throughout the morning. We left around noon but I suspect the afternoon was great and tomorrow will be fantastic. Unfortunately, we are hitting the road tomorrow to head for West Yellowstone for a snowmobile tour in the park on Thursday.

Several lifts were on hold today because of wind so lines on the other lifts were mixed. We hiked the Cinder Cone and were rewarded with some wind packed powder, but it was good. The hike was the hardest I have ever experienced it there. Fortunately my very fit 19 yo and two other guys broke trail to the top. No, I did not poach their lines, well, I did ski in front of my son but he wanted to follow me .

Next up will be skiing in Jackson Hole on Friday after our Yellowstone tour.

 

[Dr. Mark]

Safe travels. Last time I tried driving between Big Sky and Jackson the road was closed for two days. The hotel in West Yellowstone was a welcome bargain.

 

[Jim Kenney]

@Jwrags Thanks for the reports. Keep 'em coming. Besides the normal interest in conditions and terrain, the logistics of how you pull off an ambitious ski road trip with the challenges and restrictions this winter are especially valuable to hear about.

 

[John Webb]

Safe travels. Last time I tried driving between Big Sky and Jackson the road was closed for two days. The hotel in West Yellowstone was a welcome bargain.

I encountered same last year just before the Big Sky Gathering. I left a West Yellowstone motel for Big Sky midday in a howling storm. Got thru. Road then closed for 2 days a couple hours later. @Gary Stolt and crew coming from JH or SLC that night found road closed and had to detour a hundred miles !

 

[Jwrags]

So the past two days were spent driving between central Oregon and West Yellowstone. Great weather for driving and uneventful. My only advice if you are driving 20 through Oregon start with a full tank of gas...it is desolate!

 

[Jwrags]

Today we did a snowmobile tour into Yellowstone. I did this about 10 years ago associated with skiing at Big Sky. If you have never seen Yellowstone in the winter it is a bucket list item. Take a day off from skiing at BS and fo it. You won’t regret it. Tons of Bison to see, heard wolves and missed seeing a pack by 15 minutes.

Heading into the park with my wife and kid.

Firehole Falls


Old Faithful, of course.
Tomorrow we head for Jackson Hole.

 

[Posaune]

Did the Yellowstone thing two years ago. It's impossible to describe how amazing it is. I spent four days and could have stayed all winter.

 

[tch]

^^^ Agree! Great xc/backcountry skiing to be had!
Wife and I spent 4 days at the Snow Lodge a couple of years back -- skied all around the basin, and then hitched rides out to more distant trailheads on snowcats and skied back to the Lodge. Beautiful scenery, beautiful skiing, beautiful experience.

Wife. Skiing. Bison. Geyser pool. Pretty cool experience.

 

[Jwrags]

Arrived into Jackson midday yesterday but not really practical to ski. However, if was a spectacular day.

 

[Jwrags]

Today was clear and cold. Around 0 when we boarded the lift. Took a page from @dbostedo book and headed over to après Vous. Skied over there and off Teton chair for a couple of hours with minimal lines. My son was impressed with how steep and long the runs were. The lines definitely increased later in the day and especially on the other end of the mountain. Below are a couple of pics from today.