Apologies, this might sound a little promote-y:
First off, what is the Mountain Collective? Its an annual ski pass that allows the holder 2 days access at a variety of resorts and 50% off for additional days (refer to the website for the current list). This pass is great if you want to visit some top notch resorts across the US, Canada Australia, and New Zealand. There are even some bonus days in Valle Nevado, Chille, Hakuba Valley, Japan, and Chomonix France. Its cheaper than most local passes although you do end up having to pay for travel expenses. But if you’re not loyal to any resort in particular and enjoy travelling, its worth checking out. There are NO BLACKOUT DATES. The pass goes on sale in the fall starting at prices a bit under $400. I got mine for $420 after Thanksgiving and the price continued to creep upwards to $500 in December. You could potential break even after only 3 visits to the covered resorts since the cost of lift tickets continues to rise upwards of $140. In some situations, such as Whistler Blackcomb who’s season pass cost $1000, its more lucrative to get the Mountain Collective, use your 2 free days then continue to buy the subsequent 50% of tickets for the rest of the season. You might say this is the non-Vail owned resorts’ effort to compete against the Vail conglomerate. This was the second time I’ve gotten this pass and they continue to add resorts to the list every year.
Luckily, the snow pack came roaring back to life this year. We started the snow season by taking a road trip out to Salt Lake City to go to Snowbird. There are two resorts in the area on the Mountain Collective pass, Snowbird and Alta. Alta is one of the few remaining resorts that continues to be skiers only. So, as a snowboarder, we went to Snowbird. This was actually my second time going there, the first time in 2015. D decided he was going to give snowboarding another try so we spent most of the day cruising around the blues. But even the intermediate runs will treat you to those expansive Utah views.
I found the perks about Utah and Colorado resorts was how large they are. The runs are varied and plentiful and the mountains massive. So unlike the Lake Tahoe area, it never “feels” crowded despite there being a lot of people. My favorite thing about snowboarding in Utah and Colorado has to be the length of the runs. This gets to be key when you’re balancing actual activity versus standing in lift lines.
Two weeks after Snowbird, we went out to Colorado to sample the Aspen resorts. I was amazed with the number of resorts off I-70 alone. About 3 hours from Denver is the Aspen area. Within this area, the Mountain Collective is good for Aspen Snowmass and its partners Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk (any lift ticket for Aspen Snowmass is good for these other resorts). We hit up Aspen Mountain one day and then Highlands the other. I have never had a run as I long as I did at Highlands. Just take 2 lifts up and you’re in for a 20 minute run down the peak, shorter if you bomb down and want to do speed laps.
Most recently, I did a day trip up to Squaw Valley from the Bay Area. The snow wasn’t the freshest but we still managed to find some powder after they did avalanche control. Squaw is the resort I want to love but just can’t do it. This was my second time going, the first was a couple years ago during the drought. For whatever reason, the conditions are never that great when I go. Its crowded, the chairs are slow, and despite enjoying a few of the runs I find they pale in comparison to Kirkwood, Northstar, and even Heavenly. I still have one more day and the prospect of snow until July so maybe might opinion will change.
I know this post is different from my normal but snowsports in its own is something to embrace and is an enjoyable activity if you have the time and money. There’s a whole season where hiking/camping kind of get sidelined so I’m trying to explore what there is to do during the winter. Perhaps in the future I can improve and move more toward backcountry and away from the resorts. I’m hoping to get more into snowcamping and snowshoeing but until then I still very much enjoy snowboarding. Its not something I’m entirely comfortable with and I kind of like that it pushes me to contemplate what I find unnerving about it and why. Same goes for climbing but in a different sense. Snowboarding is less controlled at higher speeds where you can eat it at any minute whereas climbing is seemingly more controlled but you’re in a constant state of being unnerved. Its all about exploring your interests as a person, what makes us tick, what are we afraid of, what brings us life, and always, why?
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