Re: Advice? Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Baker, Big Sky or Aleyska? DEC.

Doubt if you'll have lack of snow problems at Mt. Baker.
However, it is not a resort that has lodging at the base.
Lodging is in Glacier, WA, and that little town is a world
unto itself.   Pretty much totally a hiker & ski town.
Not a big choice is lodging there either, but Mt. Baker
is a special place with lots of rolling (fun) inbounds terrain.
If you want to hike, helps to have a someone who knows the
area.   Mt. Baker is THE whitest resort I've ever been too,
bar none.  Cliffs can kill you at Baker, know where you
are at.  No one jumps off all of Baker's cliffs, a lot of
the landings are close to flat off the biggest cliffs.
Get caught in a white-out at Mt. Baker and you are probably
at one of the worst resorts to caught in a white out.

Been to Mt. Bach, and Mt. Hood (the Meadows, Timberline,
and Snowbowl).   Meadows and Timberline will always have some
snow, maybe a lot of snow?
(Snowbowl is a sleeper if they have a lot of snow, but
it's low elevation in Gov't Camp keeps it from being really
good in the early season most of the time.)  Personally I loved
the town of Gov't Camp, it's a real ski town without the
glitz and razzmatazz; with a couple unique and special bars,
one a brewery, and the other a bar restaurant combo that seems
to have a quirky personality, maybe multiple personalities,
all bewitching.   Worth the trip just to experience the
hominess of Gov't Camp.  A place where a guy could get lost.

Mt Hood:
Again, not much in the way of lodging at the mountain unless
you go to Timberline, which has very special lodging in
the historical Timberline Lodge, (or Gov't Camp), which is
definitely worth doing for a couple days.
They don't make lodges like Timberline Lodge anymore, period.
It is the lodge pictured in the movie, The Shining, with
Jack Nicholson, but the interior scenes of the movie were
done at a hotel in Estes Park, CO I believe.
Timberline has the definitive Lodge of all Lodges.
One of those Depression Era projects.
The interior is exquisite: huge timbers, not built with
nails, but with wooden pegs.   It's a sight-seeing tourist
thing on the weekends.   Better to be there on the weekdays.

The skiing.....?   The Meadows can be a lot of fun when
it is snowing, although the layout
of the mountain is not the best, strange at best.  Almost takes
a day for a newbie to figure out the pattern of the place.
It's a bit awkward getting around.
You also need to buy a parking permit in the Gov't Camp area
to even park legally at Mt. Hood/The Meadows. Your vehicle will be
ticketed without that pass in your windshield.

Mt. Bachelor is very straightforward, but don't expect esp.
tough runs, not much in dbl-black, but I don't do dbl. diamonds
anyway.   Mt. Bachelor has undoubtedly one of the best lift
systems in the U.S., maybe THE Best?   I'm not kidding.
A Blue Cruiser heaven, for sure, some tougher Blacks/moguls
to get your thighs burning.
Very, very few lift lines, lots of hi-speed quads, and lots of
vertical.   If the weather is windy & snowy though, the upper
lifts are off.   Fog can also be a problem unless you know
the place well.  Lodging is down the road at either Bend,
or up closer to the mountain in 7th Heaven, a condo hamlet.
Mt. Bach. is big, but some locals call Mt. Flatular due to
lack of true hair-raising steeps.  No snow cat or heli at
the Bach., possibly at the Meadows or nearby?  Again, the
weather in that region is so damn persnickety, a lot depends on it.
Spring Skiing at Mt. Bachelor can be the best in the U.S.,
right up to July 4th some years.  From April on, best to be
at the Bach.

Montana---I think Mt. Bachelor and Big Mountain, MT have similar
terrain characteristics, lots of turf, spread out, but not an
experts paradise generally, although anything is possible in
Montana.   Big Sky does have steeps, for sure, but it's weather
can be harsh too.
Never been to AK, but I can imagine.  I don't know about
December or Jan. in Ak though......hmmmm, taking your chances.
Better in AK toward the Spring from all that I have seen
and read.

That's what I know.
Good luck, -tom


toddjb wrote:
> ...trying to think of some new places to go over New Years this
> year.  Have been to Utah and Whistler and loved them both.  So, 
> in addition to trying something new, we'd also like something 
> that has a good chance of December snow.  ...big mountain skiing 
> & riding and all the fun and powder that goes along with it. :)  
> Possibly the option for a day of snowcat or heli if it is in the area.
>
> Have any thoughts or opinions on these places?
>
>
>  OREGON- Mt. Bachelor   (or Mt. Hood)
>
>  WASHINGTON- Mt. Baker
>
>  MONTANA- Big Sky
>
>  ALASKA- Aleyska 
>
>
> Thanks for any advice,
>
> -todd