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The resorts you listed are the closest to Seattle and Portland and not exactly world class, the other resorts are much further, but it's good to have smaller resorts too. Curious, if you ski/snowboard regularly in the last few years?
Well they're certainly in the same class as places like Sugar Bowl, Kirkwood, and Sierra-at-Tahoe.
I don't go as much as I used but usually a few times a year, I didn't go last year though as there was barely any snow.
I don't go as much as I used but usually a few times a year, I didn't go last year though as there was barely any snow.
Au Contraire, I thought that too, but there was enough to ski on, not that bad conditions, especially if you are very experienced skier. I didn't go until late in the season thinking it was not good enough but we got some good skiing in last year.
Not better than Kirkwood. Kirkwood is World Class better than any of the Washington and Oregon resorts.
I didn't say "better", but as far as vertical drop and acreage they're actually quite comparable to Kirkwood. Also I'm pretty sure Mt Bachelor in OR and Mt Baker in WA rank ahead of Kirkwood, perhaps a few others too.
Looks like resorts like The Summit and Mt Hood Meadows are ranked ahead of "world class" Northstar. Surprised Northstar was ranked as low as it was as it's large and has a decent vertical drop. I'm guessing it might have something to do with it's terrain as it's not very challenging. A black diamond rating there might be a intermediate rated run elsewhere.
Looks like resorts like The Summit and Mt Hood Meadows are ranked ahead of "world class" Northstar. Surprised Northstar was ranked as low as it was as it's large and has a decent vertical drop. I'm guessing it might have something to do with it's terrain as it's not very challenging. A black diamond rating there might be a intermediate rated run elsewhere.
Seems like Seattle has some pretty good options within 90 min to 2 hours away.
True about Northstar, but I've been to other resorts outside of California where the diamonds should have been rated as intermediate so it could be the same for The Summit and Mt. Hood Meadows as well.
Ski teams have always trained in Lake Tahoe resorts, and Tahoe's share of the most talented have made their homes or 2nd homes in the Tahoe area. Of course, there are many other Ski towns with talented skiers as well, but Tahoe is a World Class option no doubt about that, and it is as close as 30 mins to 2 hours from the larger Sacramento CMSA.
When you live just over an hour away from some of the best Ski Resorts in the world, the average joe isn't going to quibble about having more terrain or higher vertical drop when it means they would have to fly/travel 3-5 hours to a different mountain range and pay the extra bucks for such an experience. Sure, I've flown to other resorts outside of California but the extra quality, if any, is rarely worth it. My last trip outside of California proved to me that California had better quality in that particular year. Still yet, I like to try other places hence my inquiry into Oregon and Washington.
True about Northstar, but I've been to other resorts outside of California where the diamonds should have been rated as intermediate so it could be the same for The Summit and Mt. Hood Meadows as well.
I do not put too much credence in those rankings. They tend too be biased and subjective. The rankings are all about getting tourists to spend money. California resorts traditionally have never had to compete heavily in national or international markets because there already was a large base of skiers in NorCal.
Ski teams have always trained in Lake Tahoe resorts, and Tahoe's share of the most talented have made their homes or 2nd homes in the Tahoe area. Of course, there are many other Ski towns with talented skiers as well, but Tahoe is a World Class option no doubt about that, and it is as close as 30 mins to 2 hours from the larger Sacramento CMSA.
When you live just over an hour away from some of the best Ski Resorts in the world, the average joe isn't going to quibble about having more terrain or higher vertical drop when it means they would have to fly 3-5 hours to a different mountain range and pay the extra bucks for such an experience. Sure, I've flown to other resorts outside of California but the extra quality, if any, is rarely worth it. My last trip outside of California proved to me that California had better quality in that particular year. Still yet, I like to try other places hence my inquiry into Oregon and Washington.
I don't really get how the rankings are biased and subjective when they use a lot of qualitative data. Or how that website would benefit from being biased. CA resorts rank fairly high as well, especially in comparison to WA and OR.
Sure the resorts outside of CA may not that that much better for YOU to justify paying the extra cost to travel to them but there are definitely better resorts, a lot better imo, outside of Tahoe. Perhaps not in WA and OR really but other parts of North America for sure, I'd probably put at least 3 other areas ahead of Tahoe.
I look forward to Mt. Baker(WA), Mt. Bachelor(OR), Mt. Hood Meadows.(OR). Of course I'd like to ski them all but don't have the time.
I'll do Snowqualmie(WA) just to compare with one of Sacramento's closet resorts Sierra-at-Tahoe(CA). Sierra-at-Tahoe is rated higher than Snowqualimie.
I don't really get how the rankings are biased and subjective when they use a lot of qualitative data. Or how that website would benefit from being biased. CA resorts rank fairly high as well, especially in comparison to WA and OR.
Sure the resorts outside of CA may not that that much better for YOU to justify paying the extra cost to travel to them but there are definitely better resorts, a lot better imo, outside of Tahoe. Perhaps not in WA and OR really but other parts of North America for sure, I'd probably put at least 3 other areas ahead of Tahoe.
If I lived flying distance (3-5 hours) away from any quality mountain skiing, and Tahoe was not a close option, I could see choosing other places in North America equally over Tahoe or OR or WA for that matter, but Sacramento is within 1-2 hours driving distance away from World Class resorts; these other resorts in other parts of North America are not that much better if at all, imo. Rarely worth it.
Moreover, If a place has more terrain and more tree skiing, then it may be meaningless to someone who only skis terrain parks, or vice versa.
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