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Are you interested in having a Meet for the West Coast?

Who is interested in a West Coast Meet?

14K views 144 replies 23 participants last post by  nigel b 
#1 · (Edited)
I want to start this off first by saying that it is absolutely not my intention at all to step on the already planned East Coast event

BUT for those who can't make it to the east coast for whatever reason, it seems its come up as an interest to maybe have some type of West Coast meet? Like Mammoth, CA since a lot of other forum members seem to be going there sometime this year. Just wondering who would be interested, and what people's input would be on this. I'm not the best organizer, just wanted to stir up the pot and see if there were other people that were also interested in making this a possibility?
 
#4 ·
I feel like if we were to do this its should be done at Hood in the summer. Everyone out west already has good terrain to ride so they don't really see a need to travel a whole lot. I know not everyone rides park but there is plenty to hike around here in the summer too.
 
#6 ·
*If* you are going to do a meet in the West, it needs to be at a place with decent access. Salt Lake City area being the best all around imo. Flights are reasonable and it's less than an hour to most spots. About an hour to the Snowbasin/Powder Mountain area. Lodging options are a lot more reasonable too.

Other spots with good access. Colorado/Denver areas, Tahoe (Reno/Sacramento for airports), Seattle and Portland spots. You'd probably have to work a little harder on lodging and logistics in the PNW. Lift tickets are some of the most reasonable in the US though. Bozeman MT would be another place to consider. Not sure if Idaho has good airport access to their good spots or not.
 
#7 ·
Mammoth has its own airport and shuttle service as well so it is pretty accessible. It's also a mid point in CA since Tahoe is a little further north. BUT I have a friend who works on the Tahoe mountain so maybe that could be something to work out with him. Like I said, I don't organize well lol
 
#8 ·
Flying into Mammoth is not nearly as reasonably priced as the other areas mentioned, nor can it be as direct. You can say the same thing about Jackson, Aspen, Telluride, and many others. You can not say that there are direct flights from just about anywhere in the US to those airports though. Thus jacking up the price considerably to fly to those spots. Sorry, but Mammoth just doesn't work in that regard.
 
#9 ·
And here we have the biggest problem in organizing a Western North America meet... Agreeing on a location!

I personally love the Canadian rockies, that's why I chose to live here! You've got the biggest vert in North America (revelstoke) and another resort that's in the top 5 if I remember correctly (Kicking Horse) and they're only an hour and change apart.

Anyway, I'd like to hit up Colorado or Utah one day. No real desire to go to the true west coast for me...
 
#10 ·
Yeah, I was thinking US residents more or less. Throwing international travelers out there is a whole 'nother can 'o worms. Totally welcome of course. There should be a Canadian meet of some sort. You guys hands down have the best ski areas in North America as a whole.

Why no interest in the West Coast states btw? There is some fantastic stuff there.
 
#12 ·
Yeah, if I was back in the Hamilton area I'd be going to the East Coast meet for sure. Jay Peak is 9 hours from Hamilton but 100% worth it. I'd drive up to that far to go to a meet out here.

I shouldn't say I have no interest in the West Coast... I guess I just keep hearing of the heavier snow and I count my blessings that we get the light fluffy stuff here. The heavy stuff kills my knees by the end of the day!

Ultimately I'd like to try out as many resorts as possible! I think it's going to take a few years to fully explore the Canadian rockies first, and IF we start getting bored with our local hills maybe we'll start doing some touring into Colorado, and maybe over towards Wolfies neck of the woods.

I'm hoping our finances are good next summer, in which case we're going to go check out Argentina for some boarding. I can't get enough of the local hills in the winter, so my tourist dollars would be better spent on a Southern Hemisphere resort in the summer.

A Canadian Rockies meet would be great! Maybe I should take the bull by the horns and get one going?!?

Good luck to this meet, sounds like fun!
 
#25 ·
Yes don't count west coast resorts out. There are a lot of quality resorts out there. Mt Hood, Seattle area, Vancouver, Tahoe, Mammoth. If steeps are your thing I think the heavier snow allows steeper pitches as well. Too steep in my opinion sometimes :laugh:
 
#16 ·
Just depends on where you are flying from. RT from Denver is about $300 give or take based on time of year and your fly days. Probably in the $600 range for an East Coaster.

Tahoe is great. It's been decades since I've ridden there. Kicking around going out there for the splitfest this season. I'll know in a few weeks if I will commit or not.
 
#20 · (Edited)
By every major regional, news, urban organization FYI. I didn't see fires in the mid west when referring to Colorado. Just because it's on the eastern most edge of what is considered the West doesn't mean it's not part of what is considered the territory.

I honestly don't know where the line is drawn, but it's somewhere along the Kansas border...

Edit

Here you go.

http://thomaslegion.net/uscensusbureauregionsthewestthemidwestthesouthandthenortheast.html
 
#23 ·
I am definitely not calling Colorado the West Coast, don't get me wrong. To a lot of people, West coast just refers to the Western state ski areas. Plus if you put a meet like this on, you got to think of hubs, if it is open to people from all over. The only reason I brought out Utah and Colorado is the good airport access. All of the West Coast states have this too of course. We are as land locked as you can get.

No one is quite a convenient as Salt Lake is. It's stupid easy. My only complaint there is about who is running that state.

I am not going to organize or run this thing. It's a nightmare. Plus, I don't really care for riding chairlifts, but most people don't share that passion. Which limits me to who I'll ride with.
 
#28 · (Edited)
and typically unless you're a weekend warrior who can't pick their days noone really rides in the rain but it does solidify the snowpack as it always returns to a below freezing cycle after the front part of an unstable storm pushes in (the warm & wet)

temp wise:
30-32 degree "powder" (chowder?) does kinda suck and an be very draining physically cuz it really wants to throw you over the handlebars if you try and relax - but it is pretty rare, maybe 3-4 times a season.

25-28 degrees is alot more common out here and really its fucking great especially at the lower end of that scale. it does get tracked out tho (at resorts), and that too can be tough for people not used to it - especially if you aren't riding a stiff board that can knock that shit down.

if its below 20 and there is fresh the PNW is as good as it gets. except there's always the flats :mad: almost everything we ride out here is a volcano so there are always some flat areas, either to keep your speed on at the resort, or to have to slog thru on the hike in in the BC.
 
#31 ·
and typically unless you're a weekend warrior who can't pick there days noone really rides in the rain but it does solidify the snowpack as it always returns to a below freezing cycle after the front part of an unstable storm pushes in (the warm & wet)
Had a rain day at Fernie last year. It snowed 4 feet on the thursday, rained on saturday so we slogged through it, then had a great day on sunday...

what you experienced is a function of temperature gradient thru elevation. higher = colder.
Thanks professor!!! lol :cheeky4:

Yeah my thoughts were heavy snow would create more of a load on the slope and increase the avalanche/mudslide risk? Anyway, that's a whole other topic for a whole other day. I know avalanches have more to do with distinct layers in the snow, created by hoarfrost and other factors.
 
#39 ·
if this happened without any new snowfall during the warming/cooling i'd say 90%(+?) of the time you're gonna be on ice chunks. especially if the snow has already been ridden since the new snow...

here it will/can happen on the day of the warming event - sometimes within 20 minutes of the sun going down or getting shaded...

in the springtime the freeze/thaw cycle turns the ice into granules - little round balls like styrofoam or corn. most people call it corn snow and although it is technically little iceballs it is smooth and unsolidified so you can actually carve turns thru it kinda like pow...
 
#50 ·
if there is powder at mammoth I will most likely be there. If anyone here finds themselves at mammoth on pow day hit me up, we can call it a meetup.

Mtn High is 45 minutes from my front door and I am always up for getting high at high during the week (if Im not at mammoth). Weekends at high? No thanks.

Big Bear is bit far for me but could be talked into it with a designated driver :D but anyone who comes to Cali just to go to Big Bear should be smacked. And Ive said as much to tourists on lifts :eek: "You came here from Arizona? Im only here cos I have no job. Why didn't you go to Colorado or Utah!??!: :cheeky4:
 
#45 ·
As much as it would be fun to meet some of you....
I loathe to travel more...
Fortunately being beyond the west and only having to a few minutes east...
As luck would have it we barely get enough snow to ride into August...
And again as luck would have it, I am usually sufficiently entertained locally...

:dunno: So why bother

However if any wants to meet here (as in many of the tribe does the 2nd week of Feb), I would gladly try meet folks for a tour, provide a list local dives and micros; and instructions on how to do it slopeside or not.

However I would consider attending a summer Hood encampment.
 
#48 ·
As much as it would be fun to meet some of you....
I loathe to travel more...
Fortunately being beyond the west and only having to a few minutes east...
As luck would have it we barely get enough snow to ride into August...
And again as luck would have it, I am usually sufficiently entertained locally...

:dunno: So why bother

However if any wants to meet here (as in many of the tribe does the 2nd week of Feb), I would gladly try meet folks for a tour, provide a list local dives and micros; and instructions on how to do it slopeside or not.

However I would consider attending a summer Hood encampment.
Wrath, it's good to get out of your backyard here and there. I am perfectly happy with the goods I get (when the season is normal at least) around here. It's fun to get out to different spots. There is nothing that rules 'em all. There is just a 'hella of a lot of fun stuff to do. Road trips are part of the fun of snowboarding.

Of course it's all up to you. I certainly don't go out of my way to travel outside of Colorado (Or far within state) if it's a hassle.
 
#57 · (Edited)
I'm at a loss as to how this thread wound up with someone's gf's pictures posted. You realize this is going to get at least a thousand views hahahah. But yeah mixie, I remember going up to mammoth lakes area(Robinson Creek/Virginia Lakes area) in July/August those 2 years ago and campsites were still closed because of all the snow still up there.

Anyways back on topic: sounds like we are at three options at the moment:

A.) Set the destination to Tahoe or somewhere more accessable for non CA residents, and its also easier/cheaper for a majority of us west COASTERS

B.) Make this a Mt.Hood summer trip

C.) Make this a SoCal region meet instead of "west coast"

D.) More than one of the above? That also doesn't seem out of the question
 
#59 ·
I'm at a loss as to how this thread wound up with someone's gf's pictures posted.
you can blame me, but Ive yet to read a post from poutenen without reference to his gf...so I figured some gawddamn pix were in order...

ahem. as for the rest of your post... And Im only speaking for *ME* here, I can't plan anything too far in advance. I don't have a real job, I do contract work.

However I will do my best to make it to a SoCal meet up if I can. And Im always looking for people for ride share and lodging share in mammoth.
 
#58 ·
I think the Hood trip can be in addition to any of your other options.

Keep in mind, if you organize this, it does put you on the hook. It's a lot of responsibility. MPD has got his routine figured out, and he does it year after year. Things change, personalities conflict sometimes, and most of all you are relying on the weather. It sounds like to me that Mammoth is known territory for you and might be easiest to pull off. Tahoe and other spots get a bit more tricky if you are not familiar with where to go. Deals can be found no doubt.

I would also recommend looking at March for the meet. It is most often the best month every season.
 
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