Big trips for 2026?

It was in the 50s here in the mountains of Maryland when I woke up, which provided a hint that Fall -- and the upcoming ski season -- isn't too far away.

So time to revive an annual forum topic: what trips are you planning for this season?  Will you be sticking to local mountains, or tossing in some distant destination resorts into the mix?  Is anyone planning a trip to a ski resort they've never been to before?  What trip(s) are you most excited about?

I'm playing it by ear this year.  Hoping to make some local trips of course, but not sure if I'll find my way to Colorado or out west yet.  My goal last year was to visit some Mid-Atlantic areas I hadn't been to in years, and I totally failed at that, only getting in two days for the ski season (one day at Whitetail, one day at Liberty, the two closest ski areas to me).

No big trips this year, we've got some other entertainment and travelling lined up for late summer through fall.  So it will be the trinity of 7S, LM, and HV, on most weekends.  Will try to get over to BK this season, and probably Whitetail if they get flush with snow and can hold it.

I'll spend at least 3 weeks in New England skiing Epic Pass resorts in VT and NH with family and friends. We have midweek passes for T-line so a few overnighters there. Rumors of a T-line gathering Jan 7- 10 on Ski Talk. https://www.skitalk.com/threads/the-never-ending-timberline-wv-info-weather-and-stoke.12294/page-319#post-1220152  No plans for a Western trip but who knows?

Went back to the IKON pass for this year.  Did the Epic pass last year so that I could visit Telluride.   2 1/2 week trip to Steamboat, Copper, A-Basin, and Winter Park.  So I'm one of the lucky ones that saves money with a season pass. 

Stephen wrote:

I'm on the Indy Pass this year.  Unless I'm mistaken about which resorts belong, one priority is to go to Winterplace to add Turkey Chute to my mid Atlantic mogul trail videos.  Another priority is Blue Knob, cause I've never been.  For bigger trips, driven by Loveland many times, but have never been, also looking at Mt. Hood.

 At Loveland, do laps on chair 8 for me (making sure you do the trees on the bottom half).  Make sure you go up to the top of chair 9.  You can check out the tunnel at the bottom of chair 8 and (occasionally) ski under I-70.

Loveland is one of my favorite places.

Will do.  I've heard good things about Loveland, but always skipped it because it was just right off the interstate.  There's a time for everything, and I guess skipping it for all those years now leaves me with more to be excited about with the Indy pass.

wojo wrote:

Stephen wrote:

I'm on the Indy Pass this year.  Unless I'm mistaken about which resorts belong, one priority is to go to Winterplace to add Turkey Chute to my mid Atlantic mogul trail videos.  Another priority is Blue Knob, cause I've never been.  For bigger trips, driven by Loveland many times, but have never been, also looking at Mt. Hood.

 At Loveland, do laps on chair 8 for me (making sure you do the trees on the bottom half).  Make sure you go up to the top of chair 9.  You can check out the tunnel at the bottom of chair 8 and (occasionally) ski under I-70.

Loveland is one of my favorite places.

Heading to Beaver Creek in January with a group from Columbia Ski Club.   Have never been there before, and now that I am retired and getting up in the years am looking to be pampered with good food and well groomed trails. There is a shuttle to Vail, so can head over there with the Epic pass if we feel a need for more terrain.    

My daughter had been living in Bend OR, so last year our big trip was to Mt Bachelor. While it is a great mountain (volcano), it felt more like a big regional resort rather than a true destination with rather limited on-mountain amenities (all lodging is about 40 min away in town).  Also very windy (apparently known for that), and due to wind and light snow cover only opened to the summit briefly when we were there.      

You definitely need to make it over to Vail if possible, esp if you've never been there.  One nice thing about BC is that some of the highest elevation lifts have some of the friendliest/mellow terrain, so all can enjoy the good snow and scenery.  Both places are very nice, but the scale of Vail's back bowls will blow your mind (so will the size of the base village/town).  I'd go there fairly early in your visit in case you want to do a second day.  Vail can be pretty busy, but January is a good time to beat some of  the crowds.  It's been a while, but IIRC Beaver Creek does not draw quite as many visitors making for a moderate and enjoyable level of trail traffic.

Laurel Highlands wrote:

Heading to Beaver Creek in January with a group from Columbia Ski Club.   Have never been there before, and now that I am retired and getting up in the years am looking to be pampered with good food and well groomed trails. There is a shuttle to Vail, so can head over there with the Epic pass if we feel a need for more terrain.    

My daughter had been living in Bend OR, so last year our big trip was to Mt Bachelor. While it is a great mountain (volcano), it felt more like a big regional resort rather than a true destination with rather limited on-mountain amenities (all lodging is about 40 min away in town).  Also very windy (apparently known for that), and due to wind and light snow cover only opened to the summit briefly when we were there.      

While I am trying to put together a crew to ski Colorado next year to celebrate my milestone birthday, discussions have me thinking New England is more likely. The good news is I've learned some friendly acquaintances are skiers and an old friend is taking it up again. Alas, he moved out from the UWS to Va Beach, so it may be better luck at say, Massanutten.

The bigger challenge is my closest friend who skis is almost my farthest friend who skis. He abanndoned Alexandria for Costa Rica. He's interested, but it's a pretty big deal for him to come back. He also has that milestone birthday, but earlier.

Further complicating things is my car is going to a farm upstate, so we'll be a one-car family. 

So, it remains to be seen what happens - we may pull it off or it could be a trip to Elk here, another to Massanutten there. Those are acceptable of course - but I only get to play the milestone birthday card once...or at least for another decade or two.

Still noodling ideas. We have IKON pass. We usually do a trip the first week of January and the second week of March. 

Suggestions for big resorts out West that have good snow in early January? We lean towards going to Snowbird/Alta at that time because the snow is usually good, but we're also trying to explore places we've never visited before.

Mongo wrote:

Still noodling ideas. We have IKON pass. We usually do a trip the first week of January and the second week of March. 

Suggestions for big resorts out West that have good snow in early January? We lean towards going to Snowbird/Alta at that time because the snow is usually good, but we're also trying to explore places we've never visited before.

My early season trip has been to Wolf Creek in CO five years in a row.  This December will make six.  Wolf Creek has been 100% by Dec. 11 every year.  A combination of how the snow flies and the fact that ski patrol is okay opening off-piste terrain that still has trees and other "brown" that needs to be avoided.  Helps that there is plenty of terrain that isn't that steep, so holds snow better after big dumps.  Plus locals know what they are doing.  Ski patrol appreciates the help getting certain areas packed down by skiers/boarders during early season in preparation for big winter storms.

No slopeside lodging for Wolf Creek.  My friends and I stay in South Fork.  The main advantage is that the drive to the ski area doesn't require going over Wolf Creek Pass.  Most travelers stay in Pagosa Springs, where there are far more ldoging options and things to do when not skiing.

I've been driving to Colorado.  But this year I'm flying non-stop to Denver, meeting up with a couple of other friends from the east, and we'll share a rental SUV from there.  Have AWD booked just in case I end up driving on snow.

marzNC wrote:

For early January on Ikon, I'd probably come up with travel plans for two destinations in different snow zones that can be cancelled easily.  For instance, Big Sky or Tahoe.  Or Jackson Hole and somewher in Colorado.

What's your strategy for doing that? Do you book lodging in both places and then pull the plug on one of them? Surely not two sets of plane tickets?

I took a hit last year when I changed my plane tickets but at least the hotel could be cancelled without punishment because I did it more than a week before arrival.

Mongo wrote:

marzNC wrote:

For early January on Ikon, I'd probably come up with travel plans for two destinations in different snow zones that can be cancelled easily.  For instance, Big Sky or Tahoe.  Or Jackson Hole and somewher in Colorado.

What's your strategy for doing that? Do you book lodging in both places and then pull the plug on one of them? Surely not two sets of plane tickets?

I took a hit last year when I changed my plane tickets but at least the hotel could be cancelled without punishment because I did it more than a week before arrival.

Actually last year the experiment I did with a friend who still works full-time involved plane tickets and lodging for destinations in different regions.  She picked the timeframe and got vacation time set up well in advance.

The options we picked were Crested Butte and Bridger/Big Sky.  Our ski buddy who lives in NM likes CB so he was set to meet up with us if that turned out to be the choice.  Plane tickets were on Southwest.  I used points so cancelling was easy.  If I'd paid money, then would have gotten credit but with an expiration date.  While we like finding a condo/house for a week long ski trip, we booked motel rooms because of the cancellation policies.

I always ski Bridger for a few days when I go to Big Sky.  For the experiment, we booked hotel rooms in Belgrade so planned to do day trips for a couple days at Big Sky, then ski Bridger the rest of the time after moving into Bozeman.  She had never skied either.

Given the snow situation in Colorado and unexpected personal stuff, I cancelled that trip completely about a month before it was supposed to start.  My friend opted to spend a longer period in Alaska skiing Alyeska instead of going to MT solo.  She got permission to do Work-From-Home for a couple weeks.  She has a season pass there because she and her husband go there in December and April.  He's not a skier but likes Alaska.

Our ski buddy in NM went to CB anyway.  He doesn't like changing travel plans and doesn't mind skiing solo.  Plus he drives to ski so no issues with flights.  For CB we had booked motel rooms.  First a couple nights in Salida to ski Monarch, then in the town of CB for the rest of the trip.

In the last 15 years, I've been exploring new resorts partially to find my favorites.  Meaning somewhere I'd be happy to stay for 2-4 weeks.  The advantage of having done that is I know lodging options and travel logistics first-hand for those destinations.  My ideal destination includes more than one mountain, even if one is an independent so need to buy lift tickets instead of using a multi-resort pass.

That’s Schweitzer from my back yard. 25 minutes to the parking lot. Will be skiing there a bit this winter. Also have passes to 49 Degrees North and Silver Mountain. Two great mom and pop areas.

Big roadie will be Mammoth for the ST gathering, and may combine Taos with it. Likely to visit friends at Lost Trail, MT and Panorama, BC.

May sneak in a cat or helicopter trip if there are last second cancellations. I’m a five hour drive from lots of operations.

Decided to head to Taos twice this season so instead of Ikon, I got a senior season pass (65+).  Going in early February with my schoolmate, Bill, who lives in Albuquerque (mid-70s).  We'll ski at Wolf Creek for a few days first, then do a Ski Week while staying slopeside at Alpine Village Suites.  In late February the Ski Divas are gathering at Taos for their annual get together out west.  For quite a few of the senior Divas, a Taos Ski Week became an annual habit after the last Diva gathering for Taos.  There will be newbie Divas joining in as well, including more intermediates than usual.

Also have a senior pass for Wolf Creek, which I started doing a few years ago.  The Value version for seniors (65-79) that doesn't include holiday period or any Saturdays in Jan-Feb is under $400 during the 1-week pre-season sale coming up soon.

The four travel/ski buddies I've skied the most with out west are going to share a big 4BR house in town for the late February trip to Taos.  The first house we shared was a small 4BR house in SLC in 2015 (tiny kitchen).  We all did semi-private lessons that trip (Snowbasin, Alta).  That was the first time Bill did a lesson at Alta, which was the turning point for him to start adjusting his stance to make better use of current ski design.  He enjoyed bombing down bump runs at Aspen Mountain in high school on straight skis.  All of us ski far better these days because of Ski Weeks (starting 2017) and lessons at Wolf Creek (starting 2021).  I never expected to be good enough to enjoy skiing double-black terrain in the Rockies when I started doing adults-only ski trips in 2010.