I'm planning a trip to ski/snowboard for the holidays in December. I've never been before but I heard it's great.

Where's the best place to go? Best prices? Tips? Any info would be greatly appreciated

 

Last year, my husband & I flew out to Salt Lake City and went skiing at Solitude Mountain. What I really liked was that Solitude was very quiet and our passes allowed us to ski at any of the 4 mountains in Big Cottonwood Canyon (Solitude, Alta, Snowbird, and another one I can't think of right now). Our accomodations at Solitude were nice, although none of the restaurants there really hooked us. Solitude doesn't do night skiing, but if I remember correctly, Alta (just up the street) does.

I always heard great things about skiing out west. Prior to last year's trip, I had only been skiing on the East coast. I used to think Vermont was the shiz-nit as far as skiing. Yeah, it's nice, but for powder (not ice), head west!

http://www.skisolitude.com

 

Salt Lake City by far has the best skiing in the US. My family goes every year in March, and we stay in town and hit a different slope each day.

My favorite slope is Snowbasin, especially since all the upgrades from the Olympics, plus it's a bit remote so you don't get a lot of people during the week. Alta and Solitude are great. Deer Valley has some great groomed runs, but it's pricey.

If you've never been, then I would suggest at least a half-day of lessons. The lessons are fun, and prevent you from killing yourself the first day. Also, no beginners should ever go to Snowbird. I swear their blue's are like everyone elses double black diamonds.

 

if you've never gone before, dont spend the money goin to a high class resort. Go someplace cheap, as you'll only be on one little bunny run anyway.

Make sure you:

1)take a newbie with you, to learn together
2)never take a pro with you to teach you
3)spend the money on a ski/ snowboard class
3)get waterproof pants if you're snowboarding
4) have fun, dont get discouraged!

 

Get 'em even if you're skiing. That way people can't tell you've peed yourself the first time up the lifts!

I agree with r_duff. Don't spend a ton of money on a resort. You can stay in a decent hotel in town and hit several different slopes, and there is some great food in SLC if that's where you choose to go. No good beer, but that's a different story (actually Wasatch Brewery's Polygamy Porter is pretty good).

 

Thanks for the replies!

So far I haven't looked much into Salt Lake City. I've been told that killingston is nice in Vermont, and Colorado also has awesome slopes. Also I was told to check out Jackson Hole.

Which is more fun, snowboarding or skiing? Or is it worth it to try both?

 

try both and see which you like..i do skiing and have tried snowboarding too..if i was able to spend more time on the slopes i would do both more...i only go east though because of cost...vermont has a ton of good mountains..of course good is all relative sincei havnt been out west.

 

For all ski-related questions, check out www.epicski.com

Out West is awesome skiing. I've only been to Lake Tahoe, but there are so many good resorts out there. The snow is different out there, and you may get to experience powder. My sister-in-law lives there, and she said most of the resorts opened early this year, so December should have good ski conditions.

Killington is the closest big resort to me. It can get crowded on weekends, but it's great during the week. Just make sure you check the calendar and avoid things like college week, if you don't like crowds.

Killington has a great beginners' ski school. I took a five-day lesson (9am-11:30am) the first time I went, and I was able to get around the mountain fairly well by the end of the second day.

From what I'm told, it takes a lot longer to learn to snowboard than to ski. I haven't tried it myself, but it sure looks like fun when you know how to do it properly. However, it looks like a real pain in the ass (literally) if you don't know what you're doing.

Whatever you end up doing, make sure you bring the right gear. I skied in VT last year when the air temp was -24F, and with the wind chill it was -45F. You can't have any exposed skin when you ski in that weather.
Tahoe was so warm I had to unzip every damn zipper in my ski jacket, and I was still hot. It was in the high 20s/low 30s, which felt like summer in the gear I was wearing.

But do check out epicski - there are some real experts there who can give you some great advice, and they also rate and give snow reports on all the resorts during the season.

Here's the spycam for Killington - no snow yet... http://www.killingtonskiclub.com/SPYCAM.htm

And other cams from resorts around North America.
http://www.rsn.com/cams

 

I'm biased, go to Whistler, BC

 

let see, you are located in LA. try... west virginia? if you don't want to travel all that much.