Wrapping up the 24/25 season at Mammoth

As is our tradition, we had a ski/camping trip to Mammoth again this year to wrap up the season.  Due to warm temps and lack of snow causing early melt-out in the Sierra, this was a bit earlier than normal in early May.  That made it 41 days for me (Ron) and 23 for AiRung.  Not that many.  We were somewhat affected by our decision to make Bear Valley our home resort.  Due to weather conditions that left lower-altitude resorts without much snow to work with, Bear Valley didn’t have the good terrain on the Grizzly chair open very often and other than one spectacular powder day, it was a lackluster season at Bear.

Mammoth upper mountain, May 2025

Back to Tahoe!

I turned 60 this year and realized that with retirement coming up soon (again), I need to improve my home resort situation.  There really wasn’t enough at Bear Valley to want to ski there more than 1-2 days a week.  When we were in South Lake Tahoe we had 3 major resorts to choose from, which gave us all kinds of variety.  It was enough to make me want to ski every other day during my brief first retirement.

Long story short, we sold our house in Arnold and bought back into Tahoe.  We found the PERFECT place at the end of a street with only one neighbor and zero vacation rentals around us, on a large lot.  The house needs a lot of work, but the location makes it worth it.  We are 10-minutes from Heavenly.  Other options we looked at were Park City, Salt Lake City, and Victor, Idaho.  Those places have better skiing, but they aren’t really practical since we still need to have a presence in the SF Bay Area and they would require flying.  This is impossible with our dogs so we ended right back where we started from.  It’s also impossible to find a wooded lot like this one in any of those places unless you have at least $5M to work with.

New Tahoe house backyard, July 2025

New Zealand: Endless winter

When we realized our Ikon passes include some New Zealand resorts, we booked a trip.  We went in mid August which should theoretically have been the best time of the year for skiing in NZ.  Our home base was Queenstown on the south island, which meant we were skiing at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.  Conditions were not great with only about 43″ of snowfall YTD (!) which is about 50% of normal.  Both of those areas have great snowmaking coverage though, and it was actually really fun.  There was even a rare powder day at Coronet Peak.  This was one of our best overseas trips ever.  We may just make Australia and New Zealand an annual trip.  It’s a great way to keep skiing year-round.

I plan to put together full reviews of both of those areas when time permits, but for now here are a few photos.

Curvey Basin at The Remarkables NZ, August 2025

Views of Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown from Coronet Peak NZ, August 2025

Plans for the upcoming season

Since we are back in Tahoe, we had to get Epic passes to ski our home resorts Heavenly and Kirkwood.  We had already purchased full Ikon passes before we decided to go back to Tahoe, so now we have lots of options.  We have trips planned to go back to Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee over Christmas, and Park City, Deer Valley, Snowbird, Alta, Brighton, and Solitude in February.  We will have our work cut out for us on that February trip!

Getting to some new North America resorts this coming season might be a challenge, but at least we already have Coronet Peak and The Remarkables to review.  Due to the fact that we are both still working, adding more of the 2nd tier resorts with over 1,000 vertical may be a stretch this year, but we will see if we can squeeze one or 2 in.

Milford Sound NZ, August 2025

The countdown to the beginning of the 25/26 season is on with just 3 months to go.  Can’t wait!

Finished!

It’s with mixed emotions that we announce the completion of the project!  Through 12 years, countless long drives and airline flights, and lots of challenges we stuck with it.  The reward is a collection of the best memories of our lives skiing these 100 fantastic resorts together.

Mission Ridge employees help us celebrate the completion of the project: March 2025

#100

We couldn’t have picked a better resort to finish the project at.  Mission Ridge is a gem on the eastern side of the Cascades rich in community and a fun atmosphere.  The employees gathered for photos and were generally thrilled that we made their resort our last of the project.  We met with the new general manager and marketing director and talked about the project and the resort.

Perfect groomer at Grand Targhee: March 2025

YOLO

Shortly after returning home we decided that life is short and you might as well have fun so we went back to Victor, Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming to ski Grand Targhee, Jackson Hole, and some of the smaller resorts in the area that did not make the list.  We stayed there for 2 weeks and hit a nice powder cycle the first 10 days and then a few days of spring conditions.  Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee combined in one trip is our favorite combo out of the list of 100 resorts.  This is the 2nd trip this year and we will certainly go again next year at least once.

The most beautiful barn in the world: The T.A. Moulton barn in Grand Teton National Park, March 2025

Going forward…

The project to ski 100 of the best ski resorts in North America together is complete, but there are plenty of smaller resorts that fall under the criteria to be on the list that are still well worth skiing.  The focus going forward will be to ski and review some of the more interesting ones.  The only criteria will be that it must have at least a 1,000 foot vertical drop.  Just from this recent trip we already have Pebble Creek Idaho, Kelly Canyon Idaho, Snow King Wyoming, and Pine Creek Wyoming to write up reviews for.  Pebble Creek was particularly great and would have been on the list if it had more than one ski pod.

Pebble Creek, Idaho: March 2025

We would still like to ski Alyeska which is the only resort in the west that we should have included on the list but didn’t, and maybe even a few of the Northeastern resorts that should have been included like Gore, Saddleback, Loon, Bolton Valley, Okemo, and Stratton if we feel ambitious.  This should keep us busy!

Back home…

After our great trip to Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee just before Christmas, we came back to California to do some skiing closer to home.  We hit Dodge Ridge on Christmas day which is always a great uncrowded day to ski.  It’s covered by our Cali Pass and we had vowed to make it there at least once this season.  It’s a rare resort where there is basically nothing we can’t ski, yet there is enough challenge to keep it interesting.  It was a nice relaxing day.

Soft snow at Dodge Ridge, January 2025

Over our Christmas to New Year break we skied our local hill Bear Valley 4 days and then we did one more day over the MLK weekend.  Yes, we skied all holiday dates which is not a great idea and something I would never recommend!  Unfortunately we are not retired any more so we do what we must.  Bear wasn’t too crowded except for one day which was pretty un-BEAR-able ha ha.  After this season we will have to update our review.  This is our 4th “home” resort that we will have a deep understanding of as far as the good and bad.

Early January groomer off the Polar Express at Bear Valley, 2025

The Japan trip

California experienced a long dry spell for most of January, so it was great to head over to Japan and ski some soft snow and legit powder.  We did a review of Niseko that contains pretty much the whole story.  Japan has been super-hyped on social media for the past few seasons so it was great to get over there an see what the place is all about.  Niseko receives an average of 550″ of snow a season so planning a trip there is a pretty safe bet and we did have some decent conditions by our standards.

Soft skiing in a snow squall at Hanazono Niseko resort, February 2025

California is in the midst of a huge storm right now which should set us up well for the next 5 weeks at home.  Bear Valley received 32″ of snow and will finally be opening Grizzly.  Yay!

Next up…an audible was called on resort 100

We’ve been watching the situation at our 100th resort Alyeska and decided that we needed to call an audible and make a last-minute change to the list.  It’s been raining on the lower half of the mountain consistently.  The weather forecast is for more of that.  One of the things we shy away from is frequent rain because when we make a huge effort to get somewhere remote like this, the last thing we want is to only be able to ski the top of the mountain.  Add to that the fact that airfare for 2 of us 5 weeks in advance is $2,400 and hotels there are expensive and it’s not really looking like a good choice as a top 100 destination.

View down to the Hanazono Niseko base area, February 2025

I’m pretty sure we will eventually ski it and evaluate it against the others for inclusion, but for now we are going back to Mission Ridge in Washington instead.  Mission Ridge has been on and off the list as it evolved over the years.  It is slightly larger than Alyeska with a similar vertical.  Mission was taken off the list a few years ago when we got tired of the finicky weather in Washington, but overall it actually looks a little more reliable than Alyeska and is much easier and affordable as a ski vacation.

We have already skied more than the 100 resorts we originally intended due to consolidations that happened after we began the project (Park City / Canyons and Squaw Valley / Alpine).  We also dropped Homewood which was threatening to become a private club but which is now coming back next year as public with a new gondola.

The project will continue…

All this means that we will continue to refine the list as we ski new places, and will have more than 100 reviews, but the spirit of the project remains that these are what we think are the best resorts in North America!

Waiting for the bus after night skiing at Hirafu Niseko, February 2025

Posing in front of Grand Teton, December 2024

It’s hard to believe, but we came up with the idea for this project 12 years ago.  Here we are again starting another fun-filled ski season!  If all goes well, this will be the year we ski resort #100 Alyeska, Alaska and finish the project.

Dodge Ridge, December 2024

Season 12 is already well underway…

I’m writing this from Driggs, Idaho where we are staying for our first ski trip of the season.  We already have some great skiing under our belts.  It started at our new home resort Bear Valley on December 7th.  Then a huge storm came in on December 14th for a solid day of powder skiing.  We hit Dodge Ridge on the way back to the Bay Area on the 15th.

Day 1 at Bear Valley, December 2024

3 days later we hopped on a plane to Jackson, Wyoming for 4 days of skiing at two of our favorite resorts:  Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee.  We were lucky because JH received about 50″ of snow in the days leading up to our trip.  It was still lightly snowing the first day and then we had 3 days of blue sky and light winds.  We’ve been here before but in the previous trips various planning mistakes were made.  This time we got it right and had a perfectly great time.  It’s something we plan to repeat often now that the project is about complete and we are free to ski our favorites.  From the Bay Area it’s a less than 2-hour direct flight to Jackson so it couldn’t be easier.

Both the Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee reviews have been significantly updated based on this latest visit.

Dreamweaver at Grand Targhee, December 2024

Plans…

Our next trip will be to Hokkaido, Japan to ski Niseko in late January.  This is something we always wanted to do and since we only need to ski one resort for the project this year, we were able to squeeze it in.

The final trip will be to Alyeska some time in March depending on the weather.  It’s a quick direct flight from San Francisco so we can plan this one later and ski a couple of days over a long weekend.

One of the greatest groomers in North America: Rolling Thunder at Grand Targhee, December 2024

As always, we look forward to this ski season and exploring the new places we find ourselves in!

The 23/24 ski season wrapped up earlier than normal for us on April 21st when both Heavenly and Sierra at Tahoe closed for the season.  Last year we skied until July and posted our year end wrap post more than 2 months later!  Mammoth didn’t get much snow this year so will be closing before our schedule allows us to do our normal ski camping trip sadly.

Bluebird day at Bear Valley, April 2024

Season Recap

Most of the Tahoe area resorts did OK with about 80% of normal snowfall, but it didn’t come until January which wasn’t great for our holiday plans.  We hardly used our Sierra at Tahoe unlimited passes this year because we got them to ski mostly holidays and they only had the beginner terrain open over Christmas.  Half of the snow that did fall at our house came in one huge storm in early March which blocked the roads and trapped us in the house for days.  So it goes for a sport that is dependent on weather!

So 38 days for me and 30 for AiRung is the lowest number in years, but we did at least make to to resort #99 Marmot Basin in mid March.  And there were plenty of great times at our local Tahoe resorts as always.

Nice snow at Banff Sunshine Village, March 2024

Alberta Trip

The trip to Alberta to ski Marmot Basin in mid March was a huge success.  We spent a week up there and re-skied Lake Louise and Banff Sunshine in addition to Marmot.  Ironically, the day we skied our 99th resort was super warm and slushy by noon.  Jasper recorded a record high temp of 68F.  We had been so worried about frigid temps and we got one of the warmest days of the ski season!

A warm day at Marmot Basin, March 2024

We were 2 days early because right after that temperatures plummeted and a prolonged storm dumped 20-30″ of snow at Lake Louise and Sunshine Village over several days.  Each of the next 3 ski days was a powder day.  Lake Louise is one of our top 10 favorite resorts and we were thrilled to ski it with fresh snow.

Powder day at Lake Louise, March 2024

On the drive up to Jasper from Calgary, we stopped at the Yamnuska wolfdog sanctuary which is something we always do when we see one.   We are both into animal rescue (we have 2 rescue dogs currently) and like to support those places.

Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary, March 2024

Big changes…

After the Alberta trip, we cherished the last 6 days we will be skiing in Tahoe for a while.  We’ve had a house there for 19 years and it was our primary residence for the last 4 of those.  For many reasons we decided to change it up and make our Bay Area house our primary.  We will be swapping out the Tahoe house for a place in Arnold, CA near Bear Valley.  It’s a lot easier to get to and an hour closer.  We loved Tahoe and have many of our best ski memories from the hundreds of days skiing Heavenly, Kirkwood and Sierra at Tahoe.

The last day at our favorite Tahoe resort Heavenly, April 2024

Next year

We have 2 major trips planned for next year: Resort 100 is Alyeska which will be our first time skiing in Alaska, planned for early March.  And after talking about it for years we are finally planning a trip to ski in Japan in early February if everything works out.  Can’t wait!

Thanks for reading and see you back here in the fall!

A Nice day at Banff Sunshine Village, March 2024

We’ve been busy having fun on the slopes since the last update.  Frequent small storms (and one huge one) in Tahoe brought our annual snowfall almost up to average.  Tahoe always seems to come through in the end!

AiRung skis the trees at Heavenly, February 2024

Utah trip

In mid February we spent a week in Park City and Salt Lake City skiing Park City resort and Solitude.  It snowed almost nonstop and we had fresh snow every day, including a couple of really deep days.  Our trip good luck is holding up!  We took the dogs with us which was challenging but will definitely make that trip one of our most memorable.

The Town lift at Park City, February 2024

Blizzard!

In early March we spent several days enduring an official NWS blizzard.  It snowed 68″ at our house with extreme wind.  We couldn’t drive anywhere for days because the roads were drifted in.  This wasn’t really fun, but it did set us up with some great conditions once the resorts were able to dig out.  Sierra at Tahoe was completely closed for 4 days and it took many more days of hard work before everything was back open.

Blizzard in Tahoe, March 2024

Rosie doesn’t mind the snow, March 2024

Santa Fe

A long weekend trip to New Mexico left time for a day of skiing up at one of our favorite resorts: Santa Fe.  There is something really special about Santa Fe and we keep going back when we can.  The mixture of steeps, trees, excellent groomers, views, and New Mexico sunshine is hard to beat.

Santa Fe New Mexico, February 2024

Next up…number 99

Our 99th resort is up next: Marmot Basin in Jasper, Alberta.  We will be flying to Calgary next weekend for a week-long trip starting at Marmot.  We will also ski Lake Louise and Sunshine Village again.

Hogsback at Heavenly, March 2024

A slow start in the Sierra

Nice grooming at Heavenly, December 2023

The last 2 years spoiled us.  By this time last year we had received 143″ of snow at our house.  The year before it was an even more massive 152″.  This year we’ve had only 2 “storms” and a total of 12″!

Dodge Ridge in the central Sierra isn’t even open yet and most of the open resorts have very limited terrain available, but we’ve gotten out a few times.  Our plan to ski Sierra at Tahoe over Christmas failed again.  Last year it was too much snow and this year too little.  Resorts with a lot of snowmaking like Heavenly are doing OK and we’ve been skiing there the most.  The views of Lake Tahoe are reason enough to go up and make some turns.

Snowmaking at Heavenly, December 2023

The plan

With only 2 more resorts to ski it’s a pretty easy plan this year. We will be heading up to ski Marmot Basin in Jasper, Alberta in mid March for our 99th resort.  In February we will be heading back to Utah to ski Solitude again. It’s changed considerably since we last skied there 13 years ago in 2011 and the review needs an update.  We might be able to squeeze in another trip somewhere in late February depending on snowfall which has been lacking pretty much everywhere in North America so far.

Bring on the snow!

Sadly, the 22/23 winter and ski season has come to an end.  What a season it was though! Cold and snowy from beginning to end.  With only a couple days of rain at the house all winter, most of the precipitation fell as snow, and there was a LOT of it.  We measured 334″ at our house.  Nearby Sierra-at-Tahoe measured 472″ at the base and 686″ at the top — just 5 miles away from us!  We had 4 or 5 power outages and many days where we couldn’t get out of the house due to impassable roads.

Big snow banks in our neighborhood, March 2023

Skiing began very early on November 12th at Heavenly.  Our last day was July 3rd at Mammoth — almost 8 months later!  It felt like endless winter.  We made the most of it, and even though both of us are still working we got the same number of days we got the year before when I (Ron) was taking a break from work: 55 days for me and 44 for AiRung.

Last snowstorm of the season at Heavenly, May 2023

Almost done!

We made excellent progress on the project completing another 10 resorts.  8 of them were in the Northeast which we consider to be an epic achievement resulting in a huge sigh of relief.  With 98 done, we only have Marmot Basin in Alberta, Canada and Alyeska, Alaska left.  These are both best skied in mid March so we won’t be completing the project next year.

West Bowl at Sierra-at-Tahoe, April 2023

Late season in Tahoe

As usual, the 2nd half of March to early May was the best skiing of the year because we could actually get to the resorts and the crowds started to diminish.  It kept snowing right up until the end with the last snow storm on May 6th when we were skiing Heavenly.

Perfect spring day at Heavenly, April 2023

Mammoth in July

We always wrap up the ski season at Mammoth and this year it was much, much later than last year.  That meant the skiing wasn’t as good because there is no such thing as good snow when it’s close to 70 degrees out and the sun is blazing.  Still, it’s a tradition and we like the camping in the nearby forest.  This was about as late in the year we have ever skied and luckily there are only 4-5 months before it all starts again!

Main lodge area at Mammoth, July 2023

Do it!

If you ever thought of doing something like this project, do it!  Skiing all these resorts all over North America has been the most fun we have had in our lives.  We are getting close to the end and in some ways we wish we made the list bigger so we had an excuse to make the huge effort to reach distant resorts as long as we can ski.  Whether it’s skiing, visiting national parks, climbing mountains, or whatever you love, a bucket list project can be a blast!

“Climax” run at Mammoth, July 2023

Perfect conditions at Sugarloaf, March 2023

We leave, it snows

It almost never fails.  We leave Tahoe for our Big Trip and the biggest storms of the year happen.  This year was beyond anything seen before.  About 90″ of snow fell on top of the 210″ that had already fallen this winter.  It made the news repeatedly as buildings collapsed and resorts were buried.  Sierra-at-Tahoe and Heavenly were both closed for days and most of the days they were open operations were very limited. Luckily we have the best neighbors ever and they kept the driveway clear for us!  There is nothing like coming home to 3′ of heavy snow and ice blocking the driveway and they saved us from that.  Thanks Jason!

Powder day at Sugarloaf, March 2023

Lucky with the weather this time

Even though we regret not being in Tahoe for the historic event, it was actually the perfect time to ski the last 8 resorts in the Northeast on our list.  This was without a doubt one of the most fun and memorable trips of the project!  A few big storms came in just before we went and we caught 2 more while we were there.  Most of the resorts were 100% open, or close to that.  Temperatures were reasonable, and we didn’t hit ANY rain!  Amazing luck.  The 2 previous trips featured rain, sleet, and -40F wind chills.

Brackett Basin at Sugarloaf, March 2023

We started the trip by flying into Boston on a red-eye and driving up to Northern Maine to ski Sugarloaf.  The last 30 miles featured pretty heavy snow, but driving through a typical storm in the northeast is not like driving through a blizzard in Tahoe.  They do a great job with the roads and the snow banks are low which leaves the road just as wide as normal.

The charming town of Kingfield, Maine – close to Sugarloaf, March 2023

Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Cannon, Smugglers’ Notch and Jay

We skied 6 days in a row starting with 2 at Sugarloaf, then on to Sunday River, Cannon Mountain, Smugglers’ Notch, and Jay Peak.  For Sunday River and Cannon we spent only one night nearby and then drove on to the next resort after skiing.  We tend to ski until late in the day for the review, so this gets really tiring and hectic.  Not to mention our legs which get more and more sore!  At some point you kind of settle-in to the routine and your body adjusts to the demands of skiing 25-30K of vertical a day thankfully.

Fantastic grooming at Cannon Mountain, March 2023

Travel and rest day

For the 2nd half of the trip we left our excellent cabin in Jeffersonville, VT at Sterling Ridge Resort and did some winter tourist things on the way to Lake Placid, NY.  This was our only day off from skiing.  The ferry across Lake Champlain was a unique experience for us — especially on a ski trip.

Back in my birth state New York we made our way to Lake Placid and looked around the 1932 and 1980 Olympic sites and did a sled dog ride on Mirror Lake.  This was AiRung’s first time walking on a frozen lake and it was funny when I noticed she was walking gently almost as if she was afraid of falling through.

A walk on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, March 2023

Whiteface, Pico, and Killington

Whiteface was a special treat with probably the most steep grooming we have ever encountered.  Add to that rare bluebird conditions, temps in the high 20’s, and no wind!  It’s the highest resort in the northeast with the largest vertical drop and ranks 2nd on our eastern resort rankings after Sugarloaf.  We call it the “Sun Valley” of the east because the resorts are actually very similar the way they ski.

Fantastic Whiteface Mountain, March 2023

After skiing almost 30K we popped back in the car and drove several hours back to Rutland, Vermont to ski the last 2: Pico and Killington.  Rutland looks a bit like many towns in California strangely.  Our hotel had a panoramic view of the large mall parking lot LOL.

Our last resort Killington had to be skied in one day instead of 2 because a large Nor’easter was coming in and we had to get out before that happened.  We rescheduled our return flight for one day earlier.  This was a good decision because that storm made the national news with plenty of footage of mayhem on the roads shown.  We did almost 31K of vertical at Killington and really enjoyed it even though almost everyone we talked to before going there gave us a bad impression of the place.

Another perfect day at Killington, March 2023

Done!

Getting back to the airport in Boston was a reminder of why I don’t like driving in Boston.  The last 6 miles took about 1 1/2 hours and we barely made the cutoff time for baggage.  We lifted off in the exact same weather we arrived in — pouring rain.

It’s a huge relief to have pulled this trip off without missing any of the resorts on our list.  Anything could have happened, but it didn’t and the conditions were perfect for reviewing these resorts fairly.  Skiing in the northeast is really appealing and fun when conditions are good.

This is what $2,000 worth of lift tickets looks like these days. Some have multiple days on them if you are doing the math!

Northeastern resort rankings

After 3 trips across the continent and 14 visited resorts we are ready to rank them!  Note that there are a few resorts that we would have liked to have skied and reviewed like Magic Mountain, Burke, Bolton Valley, Stratton, Wildcat, Gore, Saddleback, Attitash, Waterville Valley, Okemo, and Loon, but tough decisions had to be made to keep the list at only 100 resorts.  Admittedly, we have favored western resorts due to somewhat more reliable and likable weather.

Plenty of steep stuff was skied at Sugarloaf, March 2023

What’s next?

Now we will enjoy late-season skiing in Tahoe.  Palisades is planning to stay open until June and although we haven’t heard anything about Heavenly and Sierra I bet they will extend as well.  We will wrap it up as always with a skiing/camping trip to Mammoth, which plans to stay open until late July. This could end up being another year where our final ski days are on the 4th of July week!

Rare eastern snowcat skiing at Sugarloaf, March 2023

The unmarked Poma Line run at Pico, March 2023

Our first 8-passenger chair was skied at Sunday River, March 2023

Record Snowfall in Tahoe

West Bowl at Sierra at Tahoe, January 2023

Wow, late December to mid January was crazy!  As of January 19th Tahoe had received more than the average snowfall for a whole season.  We experienced power failures, 8″ of RAIN in one day, resort closures, massive traffic jams, and unplowed roads for days in South Lake Tahoe.  That much snow is actually not great for skiing since it impacts resort operations negatively.  Yes, there is such a thing as too much snow! One day we went up to Sierra and just sat in the lodge for 1 1/2 hours waiting for them to open a lift — any lift.  Later, both Sierra and Kirkwood had lifts taken down by wind on January 23rd.  Sierra’s West Bowl and Puma chairs are still down as of this writing 9 days later.  It’s also been the coldest winter in Tahoe since 1973 according to the NWS.

Neighborhood street XC skiing was about all we could do in early January, 2023

The Red and White trip

If you are reading this in 2023 you probably remember the meltdown of Southwest Airlines over Christmas.  We had plans to fly to Spokane to ski Red Mountain and Whitewater in British Columbia but luckily canceled them in mid December due to lack of snow.  Turns out our flight to Spokane would have been canceled anyway.  Whew!

Well, the snow finally came and we made the trip in mid January after Southwest got things straightened out.  Those were 2 of the easiest and emptiest flights we ever had.  Our flight back had 33 people on a 170 person plane!  Timing is everything…

Wait is that the sun?? Fun day at Whitewater, BC – January 2023

Trip reports are coming later, but we had a really good time and got a good feel for both resorts.  The first day at Red was challenging with thick fog and even some rain at the bottom (again!).  The snow was good starting 1/3 of the way up though, and coverage was great.  Whitewater was fun on day 2 and is clearly loved by the local Nelson community.

There was some drama on the drive back from Nelson to Trail when a rock slide closed the road we were on.  It was dark, there was no cell service / internet for GPS, and we had no idea where we were as we followed vague instructions from the police for a LONG detour to Castlegar.  We made it though, and day 3 back at Red was clear-ish and allowed us to have a complete picture of the resort for a review.

A clear day at Red Mountain, BC – January 2023

Housing changes mean new options

We are now back to living part time in the SF Bay Area in Newark and part time in Tahoe.  Because of that we have actually skied Dodge Ridge twice this year using our Sierra-at-Tahoe pass Powder Alliance benefits.  We love it enough to make 2 day trips this year which means getting up at 5:30AM and not getting back until 6:30PM.  The 2nd trip last weekend was our best day of the season with 6″ of snow falling during the day and a great time following AiRung’s friend Nicole and her family who are lifelong Dodge Ridge skiers.  We got to see how the local community up there gathers for skiing and laughs.

Free refills at Dodge Ridge – January 2023

What’s next?

With 90 resorts complete, we need to get to work on the Northeastern resorts since 8 of the 10 remaining are there.  We have a tentative plan to go back around March 1st.  If that doesn’t work due to continuing lack of snow we will redirect to Alberta, Canada and re-ski Lake Louise and hit up Marmot Basin near Jasper for the first time.  Until then we will be up in Tahoe enjoying the bountiful snow!

This is why we ski. Dodge Ridge – January 2023