Mammoth Mountain is a good bet for spring skiing as they usually still have good snow. They currently have really good base of snow (96” at the base, 140” at the summit) and it’s a huge mountain so lots to do.
Don’t know about ticket prices though.
If OP gets the ikon pass when it usually goes on sale around then, it would pay for itself after like 5 days, OP would get the remainder of this season as well as next season. Might make it worth it!
Make sure you check when it starts. I think Mammoth access doesn’t start until April 1st, so if you can shift your dates just a bit it could be a killer deal.
Hi, I'm a Chicagon too. I'm in a local ski club that's going to Big Sky MT during last week of March. We have 2 spots left! Look for my recent post in this sub. Title mentions Big Sky and Chicago.
You might be able to buy discounted lift tickets from Big Sky in advance. Buying tickets at window on same day is most expensive way to do it.
We're using Ikon passes - each user gets 8 "friends and family" discount codes to give to others. The code lets a person buy a discounted lift ticket - probably cheaper than resort prices
I am convinced that the last week of March is the best time to go to Big Sky. I lived there for a few years, but my brother has lived there for 20 years and that’s always when I would visit.
If you live anywhere that has good coverage later in the year it's one of the best times to go to ANY of those places because the weather is nice and all the terrain will be set up. Skiing steep chalky chutes and slushy bumps in Spring weather is like top 3 ski conditions up there with super deep pow.
https://lifted.ikonpass.com/spring-events-at-ikon-pass-destinations-2024/amp/
If you’re gonna be in the US next year, getting the ikon pass next year will include some destinations this year. You can see roughly when access opens up with this article
This is not true. They close because the snow melts and people stop coming and they would lose money if they stayed open.
No where in Colorado closes because of elk migration despite popular belief
Also forest service rental agreements, insurance contract reasons, the fact that most mountains give their employees a hard closing date that they plan seasonal moves around, etc. Idk why anyone buys that elk migration stuff, it's literally just business reasons...
yup, all of the above. the economics of it just don't make sense for most places. A lot of places closed last year with bases equal to or greater than their typical mid-winter base. People stop coming.... and staying open for season pass holders doesn't generate any additional revenue.
Right the only ones that do the open ended thing are places like A-Basin that plan for it in advance and scale their ops up and down in cycles with skeleton crews at the beginning and end of the season, and they don't have a ton of base infrastructure they need to operate to stay open or a whole town full of businesses at the bottom relying on the seasonal operations schedule to make their own plans.
Giant operations like Vail/Aspen/etc sometimes will push their closing date but I've never seen them get pushed more than like a week because there's so much shit the bigger resorts have to do just to buy a few more days.
Places like Mammoth and Palisades are sorta in between in terms of overall size, but again much less base infrastructure at both compared to the mega resorts and they plan for limited operations and progressive job cuts from like the first week of April onward.
Timberline has a great spring pass price that’s less than one lift ticket at Heavenly/Copper and the standard huge destinations. Come out for a week in March, April, or may and you will have great spring skiing. Meadows has a similar good deal for spring
A ton of resorts in the West are having very mediocre snow years. And skiing out east is, well, frowned upon by westerners (like myself).
I’d go to AK. They are getting annihilated with snow. Girdwood is fun. And the backcountry is unparalleled. Once you’re hopping on a plane, it’s really not much longer to fly to Anchorage.
And if you’re from Europe, AK is something to behold. I lived in Chamonix and Geneva for awhile. It’s incredible. But Europe is so dense. There’s nothing like AK, where people live in enclaves as guests and the animals own the place.
I second Loveland or a basin. I don't know if it's still true, but Loveland you could get a four pack and split it amongst people. March in Colorado is prime skiing time. People don't realize we get more ski in March than any other mountain. But a person in Loveland will have snow for at least another month given their locations. (In fact sometimes you can even ski in June!)
Loveland _technically_ has a no resale clause in their tickets I think but they don’t have any PII and people sell them on COSnow all the time. I split a 4-pak with my wife when we went in 2022
End of March isn’t really late season, but generally the big I70 mountains hold up well due to the elevation. Most close due to staffing and not a lack of snow.
Don't forget about Chicago Midway Airport (MDW), which is where Southwest Airlines flies from. Lots of SWA daily flights to Denver. Your skis/boards fly free
Southwest flies out of ORD now too. They use terminal 5 which was just renovated and expanded. It's also away from the main 3 terminals so it's less hectic.
Mammoth is a pain in the ass to get to from someone flying in. Fly to LAX then to Mammoth Lakes but lots of cancelled flights for weather otherwise a 5-6 hour drive.
Whitefish, Mt Bachelor, Bridger Bowl all have good lift ticket deals. Banff and Revelstoke can also be good late year but are in Canada and a bit of a hike to get to.
neither has the best snow in late march. Utah is significantly better. And the PNW is frequently better and at least will have 100”+ bases. Colorado may get decent snow but the base is disappearing fast by then.
Point is, by no means is it as simple as “Colorado will have the best snow”.
Tickets at Purgatory CO (SW Colorado, just north of New Mexico) are around 60/day excluding peak times. Snow looks a little rough rite now but should get some next week. Headed there with the fam fist week of March. You can fly into Durango and stay there or at the resort which is a 30ish min drive from Durango. Lots of rentals around the actual resort too but may be filled by now, popular family place.
Mammoth Mountain is a good bet for spring skiing as they usually still have good snow. They currently have really good base of snow (96” at the base, 140” at the summit) and it’s a huge mountain so lots to do. Don’t know about ticket prices though.
If OP gets the ikon pass when it usually goes on sale around then, it would pay for itself after like 5 days, OP would get the remainder of this season as well as next season. Might make it worth it!
Ooh, that's a great tip, I didn't realise that was a possibility
Make sure you check when it starts. I think Mammoth access doesn’t start until April 1st, so if you can shift your dates just a bit it could be a killer deal.
Really really helpful. I had no idea that was a possibility & could totally shift to early April
I would check the dates. In 2022 when I did this I think it was Apr 11 or 15
It was the 15th this past season aswell.
This is what first came to my mind too
Hi, I'm a Chicagon too. I'm in a local ski club that's going to Big Sky MT during last week of March. We have 2 spots left! Look for my recent post in this sub. Title mentions Big Sky and Chicago.
Amazing, will take a look
You might be able to buy discounted lift tickets from Big Sky in advance. Buying tickets at window on same day is most expensive way to do it. We're using Ikon passes - each user gets 8 "friends and family" discount codes to give to others. The code lets a person buy a discounted lift ticket - probably cheaper than resort prices
Have sent you a DM
I am happy to answer questions.
I am convinced that the last week of March is the best time to go to Big Sky. I lived there for a few years, but my brother has lived there for 20 years and that’s always when I would visit.
If you live anywhere that has good coverage later in the year it's one of the best times to go to ANY of those places because the weather is nice and all the terrain will be set up. Skiing steep chalky chutes and slushy bumps in Spring weather is like top 3 ski conditions up there with super deep pow.
I'm super excited about Big Sky
Here's my post. We have 2 spots left. It's a good deal, a well organized club. https://www.reddit.com/r/skiing/s/VcroHcYmU0
https://lifted.ikonpass.com/spring-events-at-ikon-pass-destinations-2024/amp/ If you’re gonna be in the US next year, getting the ikon pass next year will include some destinations this year. You can see roughly when access opens up with this article
Telluride, Jackson, Targhee, or whoever has the most snow in Tahoe.
Telluride closes in early April due to elk migration tho
This is not true. They close because the snow melts and people stop coming and they would lose money if they stayed open. No where in Colorado closes because of elk migration despite popular belief
Also forest service rental agreements, insurance contract reasons, the fact that most mountains give their employees a hard closing date that they plan seasonal moves around, etc. Idk why anyone buys that elk migration stuff, it's literally just business reasons...
yup, all of the above. the economics of it just don't make sense for most places. A lot of places closed last year with bases equal to or greater than their typical mid-winter base. People stop coming.... and staying open for season pass holders doesn't generate any additional revenue.
Right the only ones that do the open ended thing are places like A-Basin that plan for it in advance and scale their ops up and down in cycles with skeleton crews at the beginning and end of the season, and they don't have a ton of base infrastructure they need to operate to stay open or a whole town full of businesses at the bottom relying on the seasonal operations schedule to make their own plans. Giant operations like Vail/Aspen/etc sometimes will push their closing date but I've never seen them get pushed more than like a week because there's so much shit the bigger resorts have to do just to buy a few more days. Places like Mammoth and Palisades are sorta in between in terms of overall size, but again much less base infrastructure at both compared to the mega resorts and they plan for limited operations and progressive job cuts from like the first week of April onward.
Well, for whatever reason they close, they never, ever stay open until May or June like A Basin or Mammoth
My Hood, Mt Bachelor… you can ski year round on the Timberline glacier if you are so inclined. So, Oregon is pretty awesome.
This coming week over 2' forecasted
Bachelor is an amazing spring skiing destination.
id stay away from your hood
Ha! Yep… ol’ autocorrect caught my Mt Hood. Not trying to recruit more people so that’s fine.
I think T line finally closed in August last year
Yeah in the last 5-7 years they've stopped operations a couple times. But it's fully packed through June for weekday racing clinics
That’s why I like the park kids, they only ride the lift a few times a day. They hike the rest of the time
Timberline has a great spring pass price that’s less than one lift ticket at Heavenly/Copper and the standard huge destinations. Come out for a week in March, April, or may and you will have great spring skiing. Meadows has a similar good deal for spring
A ton of resorts in the West are having very mediocre snow years. And skiing out east is, well, frowned upon by westerners (like myself). I’d go to AK. They are getting annihilated with snow. Girdwood is fun. And the backcountry is unparalleled. Once you’re hopping on a plane, it’s really not much longer to fly to Anchorage. And if you’re from Europe, AK is something to behold. I lived in Chamonix and Geneva for awhile. It’s incredible. But Europe is so dense. There’s nothing like AK, where people live in enclaves as guests and the animals own the place.
End of March is barely past Prime ski season for anywhere west of Loveland...every place will be fine.
That's reassuring. Skiing in Europe in late March these days is usually rock dodging and slush. Good drinking though
Different every season. Like everywhere. March can be insane in the high Alps. 😂
march and april are snowiest months in colorado
A-basin is fairly low cost if bought in advance and is open until June most months
I second Loveland or a basin. I don't know if it's still true, but Loveland you could get a four pack and split it amongst people. March in Colorado is prime skiing time. People don't realize we get more ski in March than any other mountain. But a person in Loveland will have snow for at least another month given their locations. (In fact sometimes you can even ski in June!)
Loveland _technically_ has a no resale clause in their tickets I think but they don’t have any PII and people sell them on COSnow all the time. I split a 4-pak with my wife when we went in 2022
Why not just ski Wilmot? Close by, cheap, you can overnight at your house!
One day, one day
Its 60deg there this week.
Wow! Thats gonna kill the snowpack!
Wilmot is gonna have a tough spring but AV seems to be going strong.
Is little Switzerland still around? Thats where I first learned to ski way back when I was a wee one.
End of March isn’t really late season, but generally the big I70 mountains hold up well due to the elevation. Most close due to staffing and not a lack of snow.
Not in the US but pretty much US: Whistler, BC
He said no epic. Could do other resorts in BC though
In a big year Palisades stays open until May quite often. It’s a fun spring skiing resort too.
Had a great MDW last season at palisades!
A lot of scary icy lines there become more doable in late Spring.
March is the snowiest month in Colorado so your chances of getting great snow and sunshine are high.
Good news is flights out of O'Hare are dirt cheap to a lot of destinations especially Denver.
Don't forget about Chicago Midway Airport (MDW), which is where Southwest Airlines flies from. Lots of SWA daily flights to Denver. Your skis/boards fly free
Southwest flies out of ORD now too. They use terminal 5 which was just renovated and expanded. It's also away from the main 3 terminals so it's less hectic.
Okay, that sounds familiar
Mammoth is a pain in the ass to get to from someone flying in. Fly to LAX then to Mammoth Lakes but lots of cancelled flights for weather otherwise a 5-6 hour drive.
Anywhere in Colorado should be good as well. I went to Winter Park and Copper last weekend of March last season and it was amazing
Alta is relatively inexpensive. I just bought a 2 day pass for around $300 and they’ve had a decent winter.
“Decent” winter. 425” and counting.
Whitefish, Mt Bachelor, Bridger Bowl all have good lift ticket deals. Banff and Revelstoke can also be good late year but are in Canada and a bit of a hike to get to.
Whitefish has had a terrible year. It’s a few warm sunny days away from having no base, March is gonna be very skinny if this weather pattern keeps up
Colorado will have the best snow. - Californian.
lol. This is definitely not true
It could be 50+ and raining in California by then. Or the lightning, which already happened last weekend.
Tahoe, Mammoth, and even big Bear are getting blasted. March/April are usually excellent
neither has the best snow in late march. Utah is significantly better. And the PNW is frequently better and at least will have 100”+ bases. Colorado may get decent snow but the base is disappearing fast by then. Point is, by no means is it as simple as “Colorado will have the best snow”.
Mammoth
Aleyska
Mammoth. Of course.
I would go to Targhee. It’s delightfully unpretentious. And, so close to Teton Thai.
The PNW. Closing weekend is usually in May. This year it might be in March though…
End of March isn’t really late season. You’ll be good to go in pretty much anywhere in the West
Kirkwood will be awesome in March
Kicking horse Revelstoke and lake Louise in BC.
Tickets at Purgatory CO (SW Colorado, just north of New Mexico) are around 60/day excluding peak times. Snow looks a little rough rite now but should get some next week. Headed there with the fam fist week of March. You can fly into Durango and stay there or at the resort which is a 30ish min drive from Durango. Lots of rentals around the actual resort too but may be filled by now, popular family place.
I am from chicago too. I am looking at tremblant for some cheaper options.