Top day tripper / "local hill" that would interest...

[Dwight]

Bohemia is def on the short list for a try. Its funny bc I always wrestle with the time needed to dedicate to it. By the time I can drive there I can basically be in SLC or DEN. But I have friends they go there a lot and love it. deceptive in terms of snow bc its such a microclimate. You can look at the webcams in Houghton and its just bombing but on the radar there is zilch.

Son is at MTU and now daughter is at NMU. I will be up there more often. Might even decide to guest patrol at Bohemia and get the free Yurt housing.

 

[TonyC]

Soldier Mountain bc of the cat skiing...he couldn't say enough good stuff about it and was going back again for like the third year in a row. Of course I checked it out and the reported snowfall

A bit of an oxymoron as you need elite snowfall (400+ inches) for cat skiing to be viable on an ongoing basis. But of course if you live in Boise and watch the weather reports, I'm sure you can score the good days. But this is not a viable plan for an out of state visitor on a fixed schedule.

There is a close intersection of this list with the uncrowded list I posted in the other thread. Sunlight has already been mentioned. In the Okanagan, Apex does not have the tourist bed base that Big White and Silver Star do, yet terrain is as good (some experts would say better) and it's about the same distance south of Kelowna that Silver Star is north. Castle Mt. is repeatedly mentioned by several of us here yet is still under the radar to most of the North American skiing public.

The interior Northwest and Montana are full of the type of places Jnelly is looking for. Head east from Spokane on I-90 and you will hit first Silver Mt., then Lookout. Keep going on to Missoula, where Montana Snowbowl is the 2,600 vertical local hill. Continue another 90 minutes SE to Philipsburg a tiny but charming and authentic town with Discovery a 15 mile drive up the road form there. Lost Trail is a 2 hour detour south from Missoula or SW from Philipsburg. There are more, but these could all be hit in a 5-7 day road trip from Spokane or Missoula.

Mt Baldy, so cal

+1 to that. As a local I've had several impressive powder days there but you need even more luck with your trip to L.A. than to Boise and Soldier Mt. I have documented the erratic and recently grim history of SoCal snow conditions: http://bestsnow.net/scalhist.htm Mt, Baldy is 90+% natural snow dependent and the last good season here was 2009-10.

 

[fatbob]

Castle

 

[AmyPJ]

Snowbasin
Schweitzer
Sugarbowl
Kirkwood

 

[Uncle-A]

Hunter or "Huntah" in New York's Catskill Mountains. Closest skiing to the metropolitan area that has decent amount of challenge and vertical (around 1500'). Come on out on a busy midwinter Saturday and enjoy the crowds flying down the Belt Parkway or carefully negotiating the somewhat challenging Hell Gate...named for a spot in the East River where one must carefully navigate.

I will second the vote for Hunter.

 

[David Chaus]

Silver Mt has got to be about the most easily accessible ski area/resort outside of Utah. Kellogg is an hour 15 minutes drive from Spokane airport, all on I-90 with pretty easily driving, no steep ascents, no hairpin turns. From the parking lot and accommodations (they call it a “village”) right off the freeway, you take a gondola to get the ski area.

 

[BC.]

I will second the vote for Hunter.

3rd the vote..

....I’m there a bunch of Sundays a winter....it’s driveway to A lot....2hr drive.(6-8am)

Interesting place if u ski in the right places and West open to avoid crowds....

Entertaining place to people watch while having beers/lunch.

Outta there by 2:00.....

 

[Posaune]

Mt. Baker https://forum.pugski.com/threads/unofficial-guide-mt-baker-wa.4762/
Mission Ridge, Wenatchee, WA
Apex, B.C.

 

[Uncle-A]

3rd the vote..

....I’m there a bunch of Sundays a winter....it’s driveway to A lot....2hr drive.(6-8am)

Interesting place if u ski in the right places and West open to avoid crowds....

Entertaining place to people watch while having beers/lunch.

Outta there by 2:00.....

I see that Elk is in your profile, that is another place I like and it is at the max of my day trip drive time.

 

[BC.]

Yes, for us in NEPA, Elk would be the “Local”...of interest.

It is the choice for snow days....or on Sunday am when not road tripping to Catskills.

For Elk fans.....we all agree that if they would let you into the trees to play.....Elk would be a lot more interesting.

 

[tromano]

I think powmow and beaver in the bear river mts. In northern Utah these are good places to beat the crowds. Snowbasin as well but it feels like a "discovered" resort not a locals only place.

 

[David Chaus]

I think powmow and beaver in the bear river mts. In northern Utah these are good places to beat the crowds. Snowbasin as well but it feels like a "discovered" resort not a locals only place.

I feel the Beav and Pow Mow, if they were in any state other than Utah, would usually fit in the category of feeder hills for major destinations, except they’re further away from population centers of SLC and Odgen than the major destinations are. So the major destinations become feeder hills for Pow Mow and Beaver, for the skiers trying to avoid the crowds.

 

[Jim McDonald]

Gala Yuzawa on a weekday (don't go on weekends). Just 70 minutes by bullet train from Tokyo, lockers/rentals/etc right inside the station, and you take the gondola straight up to the skiing. Averages about 400cm (that's 13 feet for you heathens) of snowfall in January; not huge vertical, but interconnects with a joint lift pass to the larger Maruyama hill and Yuzawa Kogen, which has 840 meters top-to-bottom.
BTW, we also have a Hunter Mt {http://tinyurl.com/y9kbs97r} but it's far less convenient and doesn't get a lot of snow.

 

[Fishbowl]

I guess this is one of those threads where those of us who don't live near a destination resort all put in a plug for our own local hill.

Well, don't miss Arizona Snowbowl.

 

[raisingarizona]

I guess this is one of those threads where those of us who don't live near a destination resort all put in a plug for our own local hill.

Well, don't miss Arizona Snowbowl.

I agree.

 

[MAB]

Pebble Creek in Inkom, Idaho is a great mountain. The vibe is similar to Beaver Mountain (which I third the vote for), but it has much steeper and more challenging terrain. The snow can be hit or miss, but it is always fun. On a powder day, there are few places I would rather ski. The skiing off the backside is great, too. It is worth a trip from Targhee or even the Ogden area if you are looking to add variety to a trip.

 

[Philpug]

Hunter ised to be my "go to" for early season skiing when I was still back east. It was a ritual to go there the Wednesday, a week before Thanksgiving to get my first turns of the season in. IIRC, the first time I met @Ron, then Finndog, was when we coordinated a trip to Hunter, had to be 04-05.

 

[crgildart]

I've always wanted to check out Bogus Basin just because the name sounds so cool and it has a good rep in the old school freestyler community.

 

[tromano]

Is timberline wv still worth the trip from D.C. Area?

 

[Beartown]

Bridger