J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by steverandomno

Ahhhh... PWS rears it's ugly head.

Sorry, I have been to neither of the areas you mention.

Try some ski movies.

Also check out the history of these guys:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Mountain_Division_(United_States)

North American skiing owes a lot to the veterans of this US Army division who have a fascinating history.

Even more protection is required these days. Watch the following video to see a demonstration of the latest body armour/helmet system:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kXsK4ueMO4

Are you?

Checking ski resort websites even though they are closed?
Posting stupid comments on ski forums?

If so, then you may have PWS (Powder Withdrawal Syndrome)
PWS normally emerges during late May in the Northern Hemisphere and around September-October in the southern hemisphere.

I'm worried because I have exhibited the symptoms above. Does anybody else suffer from this? Are there any other symptoms that I should look out for?

We have done a similar trip a couple of times. Skiing at Squaw Valley.

For San Francisco I can highly reccomend the orchard garden hotel near chinatown.

For Squaw Valley, the Resort at Squaw Creek is a great place to relax.


Northstar is a reasonable drive from Squaw and is well worth checking out.
If you fancy a good meal at Squaw then Plumpjack is the place to go (owned by the Mayor of SF).

The skiing is great at squaw, especialy if you like interesting and varied terrain. There are some realy good avi-controlled, lift accessible pseudo-backcountry areas (Silverado & Granite Chief). There is loads of gladed skiing in Squaw with the majority of the slopes below the tree line.


I didn't feel unsafe in SOMA by the way.

BTW - was at kickinghorse weekend before closing and they had a terrain park. Not big, but they did have one. Sunshines terrain park was on a different scale this year. I'm not one for that sort of thing, but it looked pretty good to my uneducated eye.

On a side note - although KH had not had snow for a while (4-5th April) the grooming there this year was amazing. The lower groomers were a real pleasure to cruise this year. A pleasant surprise considering the prevailing conditions. IMO much better than the grooming at Sunshine this year. The upper mountain was great as allways.

The point you made about KH being really good when its good but how it can turn into a icy mogul fest is my worry. Blacks don't often get groomed and with no park what am i to do if/when we have a dry spell and there is no fresh snow for two weeks.

There is almost always good snow to be found inbounds at KH. True, it can get icy at the bottom of the hill, but there is usually good snow on the upper half.
Maybe I've been lucky, but having skied KH for a while, I've never experienced a day where you couldn't find good snow inbounds.

Obviously I'm a big fan of KH, but basing yourself in Banff is a sure bet. Be sure to check out, KH and Revelstoke though, your unlikely to be disappointed.

Have fun.

Over to you Pablo...

Trav wrote:
1. Do these resorts just do a better job showing off these kind of features?

Perhaps. They are marketed to the more advanced rider so that would fit with what you are saying. Other resorts are likely to focus on this less. However, it is true that they both have probably the best in-bounds terrain in Canada (of the sort you are interested in). Revelstoke in particular has almost 6000 ft vertical.

2. There is no terrain parks at either of these resorts? correct? this seems odd but i cannot see them on the websites

There were some huge jumps at KH at one point (can't remember when) I don't think it is a regular thing though. I don't think they have one at Revelstoke. Sunshine and Louise, Big White and WB are the places if you are looking for parks.

3. Is there just as much crazy terrain at the 3 in Banff?

Yes, delerium dive at Sunshine springs to mind, but that area is often closed due to avi conditions (it only opened up a few days ago this season) and you need full avi rescue kit to enter (beacon, shovel, probe and partner). The other terrain is good bu the extent of steep interesting terrain outside of the 'extreem' areas is not as great as KH and Revelstoke. Same goes for Louise but they do not have the 'extreem' zones.

4. Should we go to Banff and just plan a trip there?

Depends on what you want? You should definately check KH and Revelstoke out. I think that is a given. banff is a lively town where you will meet loads of people. Golden (for Kicking Horse) and Revelstoke are also great towns but on a much smaller scale. If you were to base your decision on nightlife I would put the order of best option

Banff,
Golden,
Revelstoke

If you were to base your decision purely on terrain I would reverse the order

Revelstoke
Golden
Banff

You'll meet a lot of people in Banff, but you'll likely to socialize with more locals in Golden.

Good call on the Whistler decision. It is already way too busy.

An important point is length of season. The full Kicking Horse season is Dec to April. Sunshine has good skiing from Nov to May (I skied knee deep Powder on May 21st a couple of years ago :-)). Revelstoke has a similar season to Sunshine.

Banff is the obvious choice, but given that Golden is in-between Banff and Revelstoke, it could be a strong contender if you want to do something a bit different.

Whatever you do, you will love it, they are all great areas to ski/ride and all 3 have enough epic terrain to keep you all happy for a season.