If you’re willing to fly to Utah I’d fly a bit farther and book Tahoe area. Lots of other things to do there too, and the ost couple of years have had record snowfalls there. |
There's more risk of getting stuck driving over the passes. |
Crested Butte or Telluride will be considerably less busy and has expert terrain |
I would not count on the expert terrain at Telluride being open over Christmas and it is so much more expensive (if you get lucky with conditions and can afford it, it will be an amazing trip!) |
The OP mentioned Stowe so that’s why I responded about Stowe. We considered Killington and Stratton last year (have ikon passes) and they weren’t any better and I figured would be more crowded. The situation was somewhat unusual last year because Vermont actually had great conditions until it rained a week before Christmas and washed away tons of snow. |
I probably can’t afford it ![]() |
Are you just trying to ski?
I'd book flights to Denver and pick something based on snow. Loveland gets snow, but isn't a destination-type place. Honestly, you just never know. |
We are going to Snowbird/Alta this year because Utah has the most reliable snow. Also with your short timeframe you don't want to have to travel too far to your destination. Salt Lake City fits that profile. Denver is at least 2 hours from where you want to be. If you had a longer timeframe, I would suggest Steamboat in CO for reliable snow around that time. We've gone there the past 2 Christmases. |
I just bought lift tix and lessons in SLC area.
I probably should have bought flights the day I made this this post but I’ll keep an eye on it for the next few weeks. Thx for the advice! |
OP again - I am surprised but I just bought tix for $580/each. One involves a red eye which is not ideal but I have had a flight tracker on for a long time and that’s really the lowest I’ve seen recently for direct flights. |
We did Stowe that same week this year and it was pretty bad. Fewer than half the runs were open. None of the were blacks, so for us who like the nice long greens, it was a nightmare. I got screamed at for taking turns on almost every single run by obnoxious skiers, coming from behind me, flying down the green as if it were an expert slope. And I saw them do this to hundreds of skiers. I never realized how dangerous the conditions can be when resorts don't have their black trails open but open the greens. I do not recommend it. |
We ended up having good conditions in Brighton this week! I was nervous leading up to the trip but it worked out! |
Glad it worked out! We were at Killington for a few days last week. It was surprisingly good considering the rain after Christmas. |
Oh good! I’m glad to hear pretty good for everyone who tried to ski this time of year! |