Skiing : Hunting and Recreation

[Europe]

I have been asked several times and the problem is all my knowledge/information is dated.

Hunting : the two ski hunts were Caribou in Alaska and Capercaillie in Sweden. The Capercaillie hunt was different and if you ever want to do something out of the ordinary, it was enjoyable, but not OMG, you have to do this one, in my opinion. On the other hand hunting Caribou on skis was enjoyable and I would recommend it. It was a lot easier bringing it out on the sled, except when going down hill, or around a corner or both at the same time LOL

Recreation: Again this is dated and may not be true today. We preferred The 3 vallees in France as our favorite in Europe and Vail, Colorado, in the States --at that time.

I remember Park City before it became famous. We were there years ago when we were visiting Salt Lake City and rented a car and visited the city when we were driving around. Years later we visited again, and everybody we spoke with, loved it. The slopes, the city and the accommodations .

We visited Mt Hood once in Oregon but was not impressed as well as other ski areas in other states and at that time we preferred Vail in the states

I know Panda Bear uses skis and snow shoes all the time but I think it is more just a part of her life ( which of course involves hunting )

Please help : Where are the good ski resorts today ? I know this is or could be a tough question, "good" ---- Slopes,? Accommodations ?, etc etc --but for those of you who enjoy the sport --where do you/would you , go today ?

Who hunts on skis , what do you hunt, where ?

and I thank you

 

[BrentD]

I have skied Vail and it was great. It was the 1970s though. A friend and I talked our parents into letting us go to Vail for a week in February and ski instead of going to school. Somehow, we got away with it. Grand time.

But hunting on skis I have tried a few times. I was after snowshoe hares and I found cross country skis were really not that wonderful seeing as the most rabbits were in thickets and swamps.

I have always enjoyed hunting on snowshoes, however. Squirrels and rabbits in the old days. Now mostly pheasants, occasionally deer. This isn't one of Gus's better pictures but he was a beast that day hunting in snow that would not hold him up. We got a bird or two, but not many. It is tough going in snowy cattails and tallgrass.

https://imgur.com/4IagTZe

 

[zpooch]

I ski as much as I can recreationally. Vail is the last place I would go. They are the most expensive at about $209/day and it's all about the dollar. There aren't many mountains that haven't been bought by one of the big ski companies yet. But everything Vail Resorts buys seems to get worse.

 

[rwc101]

I'm still trying to bag my first snowshoe hair. Went snowshoeing for them this morning. Lots of tracks. I didn't have the endurance to slog through 2.5-3.5 feet of snow very long. Not sure if they're sensitive to snowmobile noise. If so, I'm sure they were long gone when I arrived.

 

[BrentD]

Good luck. I never got one. I saw dozens of them driving Highway 1 and 2 in NE Minnesota back in the day, but always after dark. During the day, they just leave footprints but are otherwise invisible I guess.

 

[noharleyyet]

I learned to ski and taught myself to parallel at Taos. It's proximity and steadfastness to remain skis only suited my stubborn alpine nature. A black diamond at Taos is the real deal...a double black means true expert. The Blake at the base is a great hotel if you have the scratch. Angel Fire, Red River, and ski Ruidoso were 8 hr drives we'd make arriving just as the lifts were beginning to run.

Vail is awesome for sheer acreage and as it was our first experience with high speed lifts, many more runs could be made per day....well groomed with enormous bowls. World class accommodations and restaurants. Expensive, yep.
Purgatory, Copper Mountain, Breckinridge, A Basin, Beaver Creek...all good.

The only thing hunted on skis were bunnies.

 

[npaden]

I ski as much as I can recreationally. Vail is the last place I would go. They are the most expensive at about $209/day and it's all about the dollar. There aren't many mountains that haven't been bought by one of the big ski companies yet. But everything Vail Resorts buys seems to get worse.

Crested Butte is the place our family has spent Christmas for the last 7 years. Vail Resorts bought them last year and didn't really change anything but all the good package deals are now gone and the prices are up about 40% across the board. We really like the mountain but will be looking for other options in the future.

 

[MTGomer]

Ive hunted elk, bighorn sheep and wolves on snowshoes and skis (yes, elk. In the snow. And I drove to the hunt. On roads. Roads with snow.) I’ve learned recently that this concept is mind shattering to some. Eh, @rwc101 ?

I like skis when the snow is right but have much less experience with them than snowshoes.
With a little base, skis seem easy, fast and quiet. Snowshoes are never easy. They can be easier than post holing without them, but they suck always. If there’s a bunch of downfall or rocks sticking out that could chip skis, snowshoes are the go-to. I tried to snowshoe to kill a ram a few years ago and was still sinking to my knees with them on. A few days later, wind and sun set the snow up and it was easy cruising.

Also, snowshoes can be used with all boots. Finding ski bindings that can take boots that you want to hike in is a bit of a challenge. The Silveretta 500s are no longer made and are hundreds of dollars used.
I tried some skis from Norway that my buddy had a few years ago that would take regular mountaineering boots but the plastic on the binding broke in the cold. Thankfully it was only a few miles out and the snow not terribly deep.

I’m not a huge rec skier but there are some little hills in Montana that are wonderful on a good snow year. Snowbowl right above Missoula is one. Lookout, Discovery, and Lost Trail are others. Red Lodge on a good snow year too. Not crowded, good snow and cheap (relatively)

 

[MTGomer]

Crested Butte is the place our family has spent Christmas for the last 7 years. Vail Resorts bought them last year and didn't really change anything but all the good package deals are now gone and the prices are up about 40% across the board. We really like the mountain but will be looking for other options in the future.

Big Mountain, Now called Whitefish resort I believe may be worth looking into.
I’m sure it’s not cheap, but is likely less than Vail prices and they get some dang good snow.

 

[Europe]

Brent and noharleyyet,

as mentioned we also enjoyed Vail her parents and I sent my granddaughter and one of her friends to Vail and she was hooked. She loves to ski--"but" she went on and on about not just the skiing but the skating rink, the nightlife, a bar called Shakedown and from her description of it, some of our music lovers would like it. She stayed at the Arrebelle and liked the location and the ability to skate, swim, bar hop, ski without driving. She said she had to use a shuttle to Keystone to ski at night, but no big deal

MTGomer sheep, elk, wolves, congratulations and well done!!! that is great.

rwc101 those guys are sneaky lol

zpooch, glad you enjoy the sport, as long as you enjoy the sport wherever you are at, is all that is important. Thanks for the reply

npaden, I am glad you and your family found a place to spend Christmas in the snow each year and you enjoy it. Not a lot of snow in Texas, I bet your family has a great time. Merry Christmas

Brent, I bet you wore out before Gus did (-;

noharleyyet---a double black diamond-- is out of my league, but I did graduate off the bunny runs lol

 

[wytex]

Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
You'll find better snow over here in the Rockies, no Sierra slab just champagne powder.
Steamboat is a neat western type town , not too big and great snow. Just a pretty area to visit and wildlife to see or hunt.
Jackson, Wyoming area is also nice to visit and skiing isn't bad when the snow cooperates. I actually enjoyed the town while on our bison hunts in Dec-Jan.

 

[Europe]

we always enjoyed jackson hole and not just the feeding of the elk from the sleigh. The arch s on each corner of the park in the middle of town is pretty cool and I loved the shops. wytex you could decorate a man cave or even a home with the wildlife furniture, lamps, etc in those stores --really nice stuff. We also went on a snowmobile race while there or close to there. they had about a dozen snowmobiles and we raced on a trail through the woods, it was fun, except I lost )-;

 

[elkduds]

RE skiing for hunting, say vs snowshoes, that largely depends on your level of comfort on skis. Because they slide. I'd choose skis over snowshoes for almost any terrain/conditions, including towing a sled. Regular cross country gear is not built for bushwhacking, it is made for groomed trails. My telemark setup is better suited for hunting: skis are basically downhill skis, wide w metal edges. Bindings are cables w fixed toepieces, loose @ the heel. Boots are plastic, have a rocker sole rather than flat, and have kletter-type tread for hiking. I have heard it alleged that cross country skiers can approach game more closely than hikers, relating to poles looking like front legs. That has NOT been my experience. There are skis and snowshoes in this truck-dump pic from my 2019 elk hunt.


Ski areas: I have only sked @ resorts outside of CO twice: Schweitzer basin on the ID/CAN border, and an instructor exam @ Ski Santa Fe, not surprisingly in NM. I am far better informed about CO resorts. I skied Crested Butte almost daily from 1976-1989. 1st as a student @ Western State College, then as instructor when I graduated. So I'm biased toward the Butte. It has expanded a lot since my time there. The best terrain @ CB was mostly double black, not much for intermediates and below. Steamboat rivals the Butte for tree skiing, otherwise it is a bumpfest. As is Winter Park, with a limited selection of good double blacks on the Jane side, even those get huge moguls.


I'm the happy guy in the back row of this 1989 CBMR brochure pic.

The biggest and best reason to ski Vail is the back side: the bowls. Nothing in bounds in CO can compare w the quality, variety and expanse of that terrain. And it is below timberline, meaning milder temps, less wind, and more oxygen. For groomed trails, I choose Beaver Creek over Vail. Other ski areas get their wide open spaces by going above timberline: Breck, A Basin, Loveland, Copper, etc. Snowmass has the Big Burn, which is also wide open and below timberline, as well as a huge variety of blues and blacks. Snowmass has the broadest terrain assortment of any of the Aspen areas. Experts gravitate to Ajax/Aspen Mtn, and Hlghlands, which has great extreme terrain in Highlands Bowl.

Which brings me to the niche ski areas in CO. These are my favorites, now that I don't need a busy ski school to earn my living. Wolf Creek is up @ timberline, and it snows...…. Monarch is up near timberline, farther from the Denver crowds, historic and funky. It also has a backside. I prefer it in the spring, because it can really be cold there. Any holiday has some crowds from down south on bus tours. Sunlight is west of the Aspen complex, kind of a local-to-Glenwood area, w consistent snow and a much calmer vibe than Pitkin County. Powderhorn is to Grand Junction as Sunlight is to Glenwood: locally flavored, vacant during the week, w slow lifts, friendly people and a surprising variety of terrain. It was the highlight of my instructing career to spend 16 winters teaching on weekends there. I'd book a 4 or 5 day trip there any time the snow depth is above 40". This year I am looking forward to returning to Ski Cooper, which is the local area outside Leadville. They expanded, w a new lift and more terrain including some glades. A Basin and Loveland are smaller areas near Denver, each is half above and half below timberline. Eldora is above Boulder, another local sized area.


1990/91 was a deep season.

 

[rwc101]

Well, @MTGomer, as salty as you get over people holding opinions different that yours I'm sure the roads were nice and clear.

 

[MTGomer]

Well, @MTGomer, as salty as you get over people holding opinions different that yours I'm sure the roads were nice and clear.

Don’t mistake holding an opinion with simply being incorrect.

 

[npaden]

Big Mountain, Now called Whitefish resort I believe may be worth looking into.
I’m sure it’s not cheap, but is likely less than Vail prices and they get some dang good snow.

The only problem is that we can drive to Crested Butte (10 hours) but Whitefish would be a 23 hour drive one way in the winter.

Our fall back has historically been Purgatory just north of Durango. I've done Angel Fire in New Mexico before but it was crowded with Texans that didn't know how to ski.

Wolf Creek is one that has been on my radar, just no real decent lodging options there slopeside which is one thing that is high on my wife's priority list.

 

[zpooch]

I love Wolf Creek and Pagosa is a cool town to stay in. The lack of slopeside condos is the best part about Wolf Creek.

 

[noharleyyet]

In the early 90’s we could fly out of DFW on a charter to La Plata near Durango thru a tour agency. Shuttle to Tamarron Resort for lodging and shuttle to Purgatory daily for as low as 99 bucks a person if you could go on short notice. Food, libation, and equipment rental were the only expense. Hell it got to where they’d call me on a Tuesday for Thursday departures when they had seats left. Good times.

 

[MTGomer]

The only problem is that we can drive to Crested Butte (10 hours) but Whitefish would be a 23 hour drive one way in the winter.

Our fall back has historically been Purgatory just north of Durango. I've done Angel Fire in New Mexico before but it was crowded with Texans that didn't know how to ski.

Wolf Creek is one that has been on my radar, just no real decent lodging options there slopeside which is one thing that is high on my wife's priority list.

Gotcha. I suppose driving is the way to go unless you’re renting equipment too. Checking all that gear would be a bit of a hassle and expense.

 

[Panda Bear]

Whistler, sun peaks, lake louise but it has been awhile

Both ski and snow shoes depending on terrain and game sought

mtgomer. do you have a limit on wolves ? We are not hunting Elk right now as their numbers are down, but wolves are fair game. Are the sheep and elk hunts close to you ? congratulations, on those hunts

elkduds, noharleyyet, mtgomer, some of you fellows were serious skiers

Brent, birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, gus is a good hunting companion. How old is he ?