3,100 miles of driving, visiting 8 ski areas in 4 states, and skiing 14 of 19 days it was all worth it. Some 20 feet of snow fell the week prior and/or during the time we were skiing.

Flew out of Washington Dulles IAD to Denver DEN. We booked our Southwest Air trip about a month in advance. Two round trip/non stop tickets were had for just under $400.

March 7-8: Wolf Creek, Colorado. After 21" of snow fell on Thursday into early Friday morning. We left Pagosa Springs arriving to a blue bird day with light winds. It snowed another 6" the next morning with partly cloudy conditions on Saturday.

Although Wolf Creek is small compared to many ski areas, it has abundant powder in typical years. No crowds & family owned. It was a gem of a place to ski!

Wolf Creek Valley overlook>

Leaving our isolated bed & breakfast in Pagosa Springs >

Alberta Face at Wolf Creek>

Knife Ridge Staircase>

Alberta Peak>

Back to Pagosa Springs>

March 11, 12 & 13: Mammoth Mountain, CA. Arrived in Mammoth Tuesday afternoon to a warm blue bird day with light winds. Mountain was 100% open. Winds came up and stayed up on Wednesday & Thursday closing the top of the mountain. Light snow on Wednesday evening followed by 2 feet overnight with 6" more during the day on Thursday. 

Looking south/south west from Benton Crossing road. This road took us through the Long Valley Caldera just southeast of Mammoth Lakes. It is one of earth's largest Calderas.>

Chair 23 in foreground toward Philippe's & Kiwi Flats> 

Chair 3 on the left with Hangman's Hollow & Cornice Bowl right>

Chair 2 daughter posing>

Chair 22 Skied a few of the Avalanche Chutes. Skied under the chair on Grizzly, Shaft, & Viva as they were the best accessible runs on Thursday. Great powder & tree skiing.>

Few sunny pics from March, 2024 when we were at Mammoth>

March 15: Palisades, CA. Drove from South Lake Tahoe, CA for a few hours on a Saturday at Palisades. They had 11" just prior with 45" for the storm that week. It was VERY crowded & there was a wind hold on much of the upper mountain. Did little actual skiing waiting in line with many others for the wind hold on Granite Chief lift to open. Upon descent I had planned to go to KT-22 but everyone was there. The line was LONG. Packed it in for a better day next time. Zero pics this day but here are a couple from March 24'>

March 16: Heavenly, CA. Just a couple inches were reported but the storm that crossed the Sierra Nevada's that week added up to 28" total. The winds were up with Sky chair closed not allowing us to go on the Nevada side. It was a significantly windy day with wind blasting us like a sand blaster could. Stopping regularly and skiing switch was the order of the day.

Skied some trees and a few bump runs off Canyon chair>

Mount Tallac>

March 18: Kirkwood, CA. With 21" just prior and 65" for the storm Kirkwood was again just fantastic! Lots of powder, tree, & bump skiing to be had. Blue bird day with no wind to speak of and quality snow only got soft when approaching the 7,800 base elevation.

Starting our family day>

Looking down from The Wall>

Traversed from the top of The Wall to just below The Sisters>

Descending into Notch Chute from The Sisters>

Looking back up at The Sisters>

Couple pics from March 24'>

March 19: Heavenly, NV. With 8" fresh POW and 36" this week the Nevada side of Heavenly was just what the doctor ordered! Always preferred the east side of Heavenly except for the East Bowl Woods off the Tramway on the CA side after a good pow day.

Mott Canyon Bill's run>

March 21: Deer Valley, Utah. Enjoyed my first time here. It did however, feel crowded as I skied mostly blue runs with my wife. Reported 9" fresh but it didn't feel like this as most of the runs were groomed and skied up. They reported a whopping 12" in the week prior so this was the least amount of snow we encountered so far. I guess it wasn't typical as the last 2 years were big snow years.

This was the most organized ski resort I have ever been to. From using their baskets for your boots/shoes (FREE) & ski storage overnight (FREE) to sign boards at the top of lifts detailing the current status of each run it was how all resorts should operate. Tissue boxes in each lift line was a nice touch so you don't need to use paper towels after a bathroom was found. The general helpfulness of the staff was very welcomed. This is a first class resort but not necessarily a skier's mountain or a mountain that I prefer to travel to.

Off of Empire Express lift>

March, 22: Steamboat Springs, CO. With 12" overnight and 17" storm total Steamboat felt like there was plenty of pow to satisfy. The upper mountain was shrouded with clouds which made it difficult to see but as you descended things improved. The base resort is exceptional with plenty of places to eat and drink or listen to music. The gondola is smooth as butter. It didn't even feel like you were moving.

3 o'clock tree run>

Kuus' Cruise trees off Sundown Express Chair>

Back to the base>

March 23, 24, & 25: Winter Park, CO. For the 3rd time in the last 4 years we find ourselves going to Winter Park. This is a great resort and one of my favorite resorts! We have friends who live close by. We enjoy spending time and skiing with them while there. Storm total prior dropped 26" of snow but some of that was skied out or heavy. It offers the best bump skiing at pretty much any resort in the US (period). Sunday & Monday had wind holds which closed Pano lift but Mary Jane offered some nice terrain. The sweet spot was after the crust softened and before it became too heavy. Tuesday we made it to The Cirque so that was a fitting way to end our ski vacation.

Mother and baby moose in Corona Siding parking lot. This was the 3rd time seeing them. They are fast and by the time you try to capture an image they are gone.>

VW bug bumps on Trestle>

Runaway>

Chutes by Runaway>

Parry Peak>

Cirque closed at Cowboy's so that is where we went down>

GOOD BYE!