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January 2017
Second Annual Ski Road Trip
Indiana to...
Bridger Bowl Bozeman, Montana
We skied Bridger last year and this year we were able to explore more of the mountain and yes ski the trees. We even found a mid-mountain lodge we didn't know existed.
Wherever you ski out west you are almost certain to find a bus load of local kids any given weekday. They start at preschool age and in fact at Bridger we discovered two skiers with front mounted babies less then six months and one of these moms had a three year old in tow. Young instructors have six to ten children to instruct and this presents a problem when using the lift. So adult supervision must be provided and we are asked to help while using an old style two seat lift. My seat mate was a young girl about six who hung on to the center pole with both hands, terror in her eyes and too scared to speak. I grabbed the hood on her jacket just in case and convinced her to release her death grip on the center pole to smoothly dismount the lift. The young man Rene accompanied was a confident nonstop talker. Mission accomplished.
Whitefish Mountain Whitefish, Montana
We stayed at The Lodge on Whitefish Lake and that is the only place to stay. The restaurant served the best meals of our entire trip, the room had a gas fire place and the staff was great; just park your car and ride the van to the mountain and to town. We skipped one day because the high was 5 F but entertained ourselves with the indoor pool complete with a water fall, indoor and outdoor hot tubs and the town, a real ski town with a wide array of bars and restaurants.
The resort has recently been expanded by new owners and you can see signs of new investments. There is little ski in ski out lodging and little if any housing on the mountain.
Oh yeah, we love this place even more since skiers 70 or older ski free and one of us just turned 70.
A top 20 resort for sure.
Schweitzer Mountain Sand Point, Idaho
Great ski resort with one detraction, fog. You can't ski if you can't see. The switch back road from the town to the resort is terrible so we recommend taking the bus service located at the bottom of the mountain. The cost is $3 per person and you will find your fellow riders are locals with a great deal of information.
It took several days to find the back side of the mountain where you seldom saw another skier. One of the lifts on the back side was located inside a barn like structure. So if you ski Schweitzer find the back side on your first day.
Ski in and ski out lodging with a few shops and restaurants but a far drive to town.
Another top 20 resort.
Powder Mountain Ogden, Utah
Seventy-two inches of snow the five days before we arrived. The resort has expanded and we had plenty of opportunity to ski off-piste. No apres at the mountain but Ogden is full of good places and if you search you can find a state run liquor store. The city of Ogden has proposed building a gondola from the town to the resorts which would turn this place into Park City.
While taking a coffee break one day, we met a fellow from the ski patrol who lived in Cincinnati. He asked if we had skied Perfect North in Indiana outside of Cincinnati. Perfect North is a miniscule ski resort (100 acre) with about 500ft of elevation and 5000 parking spaces. Powder Mountain on the other hand has 8000 plus acres of powder and limits ticket sales to 2000 per day. We love this place.
Powderhorn Mountain Grand Junction,Colorado
Smaller than we remembered but a great sunny day to sit on the deck and enjoy drinking a dark beer. The resort is located on the earths largest flat top moumtain.
Sunlight Glennwood Springs, Colorado
Still there but the snow was not as good as last year. A great small town and a low cost family facility. Tickets were $52 for both of us with the help of Liftopia (compare that to $130 each at Keystone). Sunlight is located near Aspen and advertises itself as no hassel, no hype and I might add no lines.
Keystone Silverthorne, Colorado
We had some trouble finding a hotel in the area due to the super bowl and the fact that you can access so many good ski resorts from here.
We skied Keystone on a very crowded day but still had a wonderful experience. The next day (Saturday before Superbowl) and Arapaho Basin is too crowded to find a place to park, and it was only 9:30 so we took a pass and caught up on some movies at the local theater. On the Monday after Superbowl we are ready to ski Breckenridge, the forecast was sunny and warm but then we learn that it's going to snow 18 inches that night and we are certain we will be trapped in the valley so again we catch a movie knowing we will return next year.
................back to Indiana
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