dburdenbates
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I saw this thread over on Epic and thought I'd give it a shot over here. It degraded into a pi$$ing match over there as to why you would want to share you favorite spots with others or some such nonsense.
Anywho, just wondering what ski area/resorts you were pleasantly surprised with and others that might not have quite lived up to your expectations. I know that many trips are affected by weather and such, so these types of discussions are often subjective, but let's give it a shot.
Pleasant surprises:
The Canyons - I'd heard so may bad things about the service and the layout, that I suppose my expectations were terribly low to begin with. But what I experienced during my visit here was nothing but tons of fun terrain. I also don't remember it being terribly difficult to navigate around as I've heard so often. And getting there couldn't have been easier using the Park City shuttle. It drops you off right out front and there is no need to ride the Gondola up to the base.
Park City Mountain Resort - I had actually been to PCMR one time before and had an overly crowded, less than spectacular experience. But the last time hubby and I went (Feb. 2006), we enjoyed it much more. I suppose it surprised me that I liked it at all after our first experience there.
Disappointments:
Lake Louise - The real disappointment here is that I didn't realize that you can't actually see the lake while you are skiing in winter. It is just a frozen pond that basically blends in with the rest of the frozen landscape. I guess I was expecting a Lake Tahoe type view. The remainder of the experience was still very nice, though.
Vail - Given the hype, the prices, the parking fees, etc., I expected a much more Deer Valley type of experience. Instead on our first visit here, we were greeted with port-o-potties at the base instead of a "lodge". WTF? We had to pay $20 to park and then lug our crap for what seemed like forever over to the base to be greeted with this? There are also only a handful of lockers outside next to the ticketing window, so unless you want to walk in your boots from the lot, you'd best get there early to get a locker (or plan to put your street shoes on top of the lockers when none are available when you arrive). Now, I'm not a snob, but this is just not what I expected from Vail. For a place with lift tickets that are on par or perhaps even more expensive than Deer Valley and an image that portrays a more luxurious experience, it just doesn't fit. I expect that from Loveland, Alta, and other local type areas that provide a very no-frills experience and there is nothing wrong with that. But Vail, get your act together. Now, I have nothing bad to say about the terrain, I was absolutely fine with it and will certainly go back, but with expectations that are far less.
Alta - I realize that this is probably blasphemous, but I just didn't see the draw here. When I went it was crowded and the lifts were painfully slow. Perhaps we hadn't had any good snow to really experience it the way it should be. I'll still go back and see if I can find out what I missed previously.
Breckenridge - It's unfortunate that this is my husband's favorite mountain because it just holds little fascination for me. The runs all seem basically the same to me. Now, he continually reminds me that I have never experienced the entire mountain and he is correct. We have only ever been over T'giving and typically only Peak 9 (and a bit of Peak 10) is open. Hopefully, I will fall in love with it when we go next February.
Anywho, just wondering what ski area/resorts you were pleasantly surprised with and others that might not have quite lived up to your expectations. I know that many trips are affected by weather and such, so these types of discussions are often subjective, but let's give it a shot.
Pleasant surprises:
The Canyons - I'd heard so may bad things about the service and the layout, that I suppose my expectations were terribly low to begin with. But what I experienced during my visit here was nothing but tons of fun terrain. I also don't remember it being terribly difficult to navigate around as I've heard so often. And getting there couldn't have been easier using the Park City shuttle. It drops you off right out front and there is no need to ride the Gondola up to the base.
Park City Mountain Resort - I had actually been to PCMR one time before and had an overly crowded, less than spectacular experience. But the last time hubby and I went (Feb. 2006), we enjoyed it much more. I suppose it surprised me that I liked it at all after our first experience there.
Disappointments:
Lake Louise - The real disappointment here is that I didn't realize that you can't actually see the lake while you are skiing in winter. It is just a frozen pond that basically blends in with the rest of the frozen landscape. I guess I was expecting a Lake Tahoe type view. The remainder of the experience was still very nice, though.
Vail - Given the hype, the prices, the parking fees, etc., I expected a much more Deer Valley type of experience. Instead on our first visit here, we were greeted with port-o-potties at the base instead of a "lodge". WTF? We had to pay $20 to park and then lug our crap for what seemed like forever over to the base to be greeted with this? There are also only a handful of lockers outside next to the ticketing window, so unless you want to walk in your boots from the lot, you'd best get there early to get a locker (or plan to put your street shoes on top of the lockers when none are available when you arrive). Now, I'm not a snob, but this is just not what I expected from Vail. For a place with lift tickets that are on par or perhaps even more expensive than Deer Valley and an image that portrays a more luxurious experience, it just doesn't fit. I expect that from Loveland, Alta, and other local type areas that provide a very no-frills experience and there is nothing wrong with that. But Vail, get your act together. Now, I have nothing bad to say about the terrain, I was absolutely fine with it and will certainly go back, but with expectations that are far less.
Alta - I realize that this is probably blasphemous, but I just didn't see the draw here. When I went it was crowded and the lifts were painfully slow. Perhaps we hadn't had any good snow to really experience it the way it should be. I'll still go back and see if I can find out what I missed previously.
Breckenridge - It's unfortunate that this is my husband's favorite mountain because it just holds little fascination for me. The runs all seem basically the same to me. Now, he continually reminds me that I have never experienced the entire mountain and he is correct. We have only ever been over T'giving and typically only Peak 9 (and a bit of Peak 10) is open. Hopefully, I will fall in love with it when we go next February.
Just came upon this old thread and thought it'd make an interesting discussion now. Anyone care to contribute?
. So to shorten the story we spend next 30 mins to an hour falling down and panting. My dad is 10 years older and rusty. During one of our recoveries he says "Man, I don't remember it being like this, I used to race down this run" 
. As soon as we get down, I walk straight to the ski school for another lesson. 
. 
