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I agree with your 85 - 90% for the first couple years a person skis. If they take to the sport and progress, then the west has much more terrain and space to progress to. I don't know about your ~5 weeks of good snow in the west though. Most resorts, in most years, open for Thanksgiving and stop in April because people have moved on to other spring sports, not because there isn't enough snow. In good early snow years Bogus Basin, ~30 minutes outside of Boise, opens before Halloween, as do some other resorts in the area.
Bigger issue than even that is just lack of snow. It’s not fun to ski on crusted ice. Skiing out west is just a lot more fun if you are a beginner. It’s not fun taking falls when there is lack of snow coverage.
What do you think people ski on in the east? Grass?
What do you think people ski on in the east? Grass?
Of course not.
But if you take a look at "most" of the base snowfalls across the east you will see that they are pretty paltry compared to most western resorts. You just have to drive a lot further to find good skiing when you live along the eastern sea board.
Better poll is the Rockies vs the PNW, especially when you consider Whistler, BC
I think that is a more fair comparison. In that situation you just have to look at water content in snow.
PNW gets more snow and longer seasons, but it has a higher water content. Definitely not as many nice sunny days you get in the interior of the Rockies. That is why they call it Cascade concrete. Not as much dry powder, unless your east of the Cascades/coastal range crest.
I think that is a more fair comparison. In that situation you just have to look at water content in snow.
PNW gets more snow and longer seasons, but it has a higher water content. Definitely not as many nice sunny days you get in the interior of the Rockies. That is why they call it Cascade concrete. Not as much dry powder, unless your east of the Cascades/coastal range crest.
I've been to Whistler but spent little time in the Ski Resorts of the Rockies but living in Texas, one gets a lot of news from there.
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