I'm trying to plan a ski trip for 4 between Dec 26-30/31. I'm thinking of finding a place I can drive to from Houston unless I can find a good deal on tickets. Anyone have some ideas of good places to go skiing over Xmas break? B
If you're driving from Houston, you're probably limited to Taos(others in NM), or Durango, maybe others further north in Colorado. It also depends if you want night life or just want to ski. If you just want to ski, you might find a cheap flight to Jackson Hole, WY or Sun Valley, ID. Ski conditions should be better in those places earlier in the ski season(Xmas). If you can fly and want cool bars after skiing, check out Tahoe,Aspen, Vail. Also Park City and other Utah skiing is good, not much else there though. Park City might be relatively cheap this year post-Olympics.
Angel Fire is the best bet...I love that place. www.angelfireresort.com If I remember correctly, someone who posts here lives up there...rimrocker, maybe? Anyway, it's about a 15 hour drive from Houston, you can find cheap lodgings, and the slopes are great for beginners and intermediates.
Thanks! This looks like a good place to start looking at info! I probably only have a week to pick a place since I bet most places are close to booked for the week after Xmas. B
What level of skier are you? If you guys are just learning, or are relatively new, I would recommend either Santa Fe, Red River, or Ski Apache (Ruidoso). Taos is way to difficult for the average skiier and not really great for famlies. Also, last year I saw quite a few Texas families skiing Wolf Creek which is in southern Colorado. You should be able to get a cheap place to stay in that area. Let me know if you need more help. I grew up in Colorado, and have been to several NM places while going to school Texas Tech....
I agree with nyc and Drewdog. You can drive to NM or Southern CO in two days, or if you have buddies, you can drive round the clock and make it in one looong day. (Ah, the memories of Spring Break...5 guys in a car driving all night to Durango, waking as dawn hits the Rockies, watching the dew melt off the trees, the animals moving sprightly in their early morning routines, and trying not to gag from all the enclosed farts.) Wolf Creek is two hours closer than Durango and is one of the highest ski areas. It always seems to get more snow and more early snow than any other place. Here in NM. we're expecting a winter that will bring 125% of the average snowpack, which will help out with skiing and our drought. Had a decent little storm the last few days and looks like we're getting some moisture today. The snow seems to be sticking at the higher elevations on the north-facing slopes. I can already see the Santa Fe runs have snow on them most of the way down.
I second Angelfire. It's not nearly as crowded as some of the Colorado ski resorts like Brackenridge or Winter Park.
I'm setting up a professional meeting this Feb. in Santa Fe with a skiing side trip. If there's interest, I could make a few calls and see if a hotel and ski area would be willing to cut a deal for all CC.net folks during Jan/Feb. Santa Fe is about 25 minutes from the Santa Fe Ski Area and 1 to 2 1/2 hours from all others in NM except Apache.
Well, we're looking to go to Angel Fire around that time. Are you in the area? If so, have a Blake's Lotaburger with green chiles for me!
ill either be at baker or crystal. hopefully sometime this winter ill head up to whistle. maybe ill hit snowquamie as well...
i got a seasons pass at Grouse Mountain (vancouver) and got an express pass for Whistler this year. LET IT SNOW!!!!!!!!!
There will be four people going on the trip, two male, two female, ages 26-27. I am the least experienced skier of the group, but I can go down most intermediate and some of the easier advanced slopes. I'm worried that the time we are going will be very crowded wherever we go, seeing as most everyone will be able to take a week off between Xmas and New Years. We will try and do the drive in two days, so New Mexico and Colorado sound like great ideas. I think we might even be starting the drive from Austin and not from Houston. B
I've been to Angelfire NM twice when I was in high school. I would recommend it as I enjoyed it both times. The hotel where we stayed was right at the base of the mountain so we literally woke up each morning, had our free continental b-fast and walked out the backdoor to the lifts, it was sweet. The mountain has beginer slopes as well as a few double black diamonds which I managed to slide down on my butt Also there is a pizza joint within walking distance of the Hotel that is real enjoyable after skiing all day The hotel has an indoor pool, arcade, and dance hall I think, we were never bored. *Edited to add - Mmmm Ski Bunnies
I have been to Wolf Creek, and it is an easy 2 day drive since it seems like you will have more than 1 driver. We stayed in Pagosa(its been probably 10 years) and the town was fairly small but there were several nice places to stayand it is about 15 minutes or so from Wolfcreek and that might be a better option as far as availability goes. CK.
I lived by Wolf Creek about 10 years ago. They had plans to build it out, and it looks like they did [ ( http://www.wolfcreekski.com/images/trail_map_hirez.jpg ) . They had great snow. Pagosa Springs was nice and quiet (say 'hi' to Dan Fogelberg if you bump into him there). Crested Butte may be a little more festive but it's another 200 miles.
In Northern NM and Southern CO, it's done nothing but snow at 9000 and above for the last 14 hours or so and shows no signs of letting up. All the runs have snow on them and if we can hold on to this, it sets up nicely for a good ski season. Semi-current photo taken from Angel Fire:
