Mooz

Should probably still have an east coast meet next year as well. Some east coast people can make it out west and some can't. Some can do both (and will enjoy rubbing it in).

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killclimbz

mooz, why couldn't you make it out West? Plane tix being the big one, but you should be able to find tickets sub $300 rt. Lot's of people out here who can pull strings and do things to make it cheaper once you arrive. Hell at the Winterpark meet I managed to get a ton of discounted and free lift tix that I gave to everyone at the meet.

Mooz

Oh I can make it out west for sure. I just wanted to go to two and rub it in as much as possible.

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Mysticfalcon

Me too! Me too!

cifex

I think I'd be in for double trouble.

killclimbz

Powder Mountain is a really good option. Last year it would have been bad, but Utah has a bad season about once a decade. So they should have that shit out of their system.

The other front runner, Wolf Creek is another great option. It would probably be cheaper than Utah actually. Lift tix at Wolf Creek top out at $45 a day, and often times mid week it's cheaper from what I have seen. They get a ton of snow too. The big drawback is the closest major airport is at least 3 hours away. I would think that would be the Colorado Springs airport. It's a solid 5 hours from Denver to get there. So rental cars are a must. Then again, rental cars are kind of a must at Pow Mow too. It's over an hour from the SLC airpot to Powder Mountain. Certainly closer.

Powder Mountain
Pros: Snobasin is also close by. Good sidecountry. Chill area. Both resorts are big, get tons of snow. Affordable lift tickets. Powder Mountain is a big place. Might be over 5,000 acres now. That's bigger than Vail which means it's freakin' huge.
Cons: Liquor laws suck, no real good restaurants, no good bars, supporting the Mormon machine to keep acting like it does. Powder Mountain is not steep. Snobasin is though.

Wolf Creek
Pros: Gets tons of snow. Some fun if not small bars in Pagosa. Decent restaurants. Affordable lift tickets. Durango Mountain is about 90 minutes away, and if you have balls and a little extra cash, Silverton is just over two hours. Steepest overall area in the 48. Cat skiing close by. Amazing hike to backcountry on the pass that I know very well, and good sidecountry access out of the resort. Cheap lodging all the way around. South Fork is a little more dead, but has at least one bar and places to eat. The pass rarely closes on that side. Still I think Pagosa is better from an after hours perspective.
Cons: Not a huge mountain. I doubt anyone would get bored, but it's not huge. If it really dumps, the pass can close on the West side. So if Pagosa is where you stay, you can get stuck there. If you are in South Fork, the pass stays open to the ski area, but amenities are much less. This includes boardshops, bars, and eats.
Wolf Creek is in a remote part of the state. One of the more beautiful spots, but it's far away from anything major. Also not nearly as steep as what you can find at Snobasin. Might be hard to find a place to accommodate a group larger than 10 people.

rubbertoe

Pagosa Springs is a nice town. 26 miles to Wolf Creek and a pleasant drive going up and a bit dicey if icy when you are going down. Songs have been written about the ride down. The only draw back for Wolf Creek is the size of the resort that is for folks that like to ride resort(app 600 acres). The backside or back lift requires unstrapping and walking (app 1,000 acres). It probably has the best snow in the US. A couple guys dissappeared there this year on a 4' snow day that followed several other big snows so sink out of site powder is available. Killz knows the OB and I believe him when he says it is hard to find it's peer. Durango is only the 1.5 hrs and a very nice resort with reasonable lift tickets. They, Durango, do groom alot so you have to be there the day after it snows to get into the powder. It gets a lot of snow but nothing compares to Wolf Creek. Durango has a Snow cat service and by the looks of the bowls and chutes surrounding the resort I would like to try it at least once. It runs about 200 and they say you get 10 to 15 runs in a day. I talked to a guy named Greg that owns a board shop in Durango this last winter. He drove to Wolf Creek the nite before an anticipated 4 footer, slept in his car, rode all day, then took a 9 hr. detour to get back home. So the snow is epic even for someone that lives there. Alb., NM is about a 3 hr drive also. With all this being said, If I lived in the east I would problably pick Utah just because it would satisfy more people with different interest.

mpdsnowman

There will be two meets one east, one west. I dont see why that cant happen in this community particularly with all the interest. Mr Right already has a good start on here for the west and I will put a thread together something beginning early Summer for the east.

The options are to be more considered for a west coast meet for the vast areas available. You all have great points on the locations. Logically speaking...transportation via location is key. One can have the best snow in the world...but if its too inconvenient to get there for travelers, the fact that there are OTHER great locations out west more conductive to travelers overides that...its not like wolf creek is the only place out west that gets snow for example.

I found Denver to really be the only credible affordable place without hassell to fly into. WP was a long drive and I even needed a day to sit around just because of the flight schedule. SLC I could go in either direction of less than an hour and be anywhere. As far as the alcohol factor get this...Once I got off the plane in SLC, a liquer store was 5 minutes from there and I had my tanguery..now if you can get that rat poison there, the rest is irrelevant...besides everyone brought beer from their local breweries..which was quite nice..

Keep discussing it in here. There is a good base here.

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mpdsnowman

On the terrain point. Cifex is correct. Out west is sort of like a golf course on a slant compared to say Jay that is in your face from the top down. Completely different terrains, completely different riding styles. For those who never been out west you will love it..

Here is a shot that sort of shows the terrain. This was the back of powder country. U can see what killer means by loose. But thats the great part about it...very ridable with speed.





Here is some BC colorado terrain..

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Mysticfalcon

Well look at that. Deep snow thats not guarded by a rediculous number of trees. I'm excited already. Travel really is the big thing. I want as much riding with the minimal amount of traveling. Ive already got to do the flight over I dont want to have to drive all over too.