It was time to take back some freedom and winter seemed like the most fitting time to travel. Winter does not have the ‘summer’ tour crowds and mosquitos, but it does have skiing. On a 7-month road trip, we accomplished skiing at 40 different resorts. Accommidation at ski lodges for so long was out of our budget, so we ‘renovated’ our 4Runner to serve as our mobile lodging. The route is shown above and listed below. Although we did not do the most direct route, our journey should provide some guidance on the where and the how.

The Route:

Once our rig was done, jobs completed, and snow was falling, we started in CO to ski some i-70 Resorts (Winter Park, Keystone, Copper, Breckenridge, and Vail), then headed to Southwest CO to ski Crested Butte and Telluride. Pit stop at our home base to exchange some gear and check everything out before the long haul. From there, we headed north towards Jackson Hole. Then onto Whitefish Mountain in MT. This was a great jumping off point for Canada, so we crossed the border and headed towards Fernie. It was FRIGID here, so we got a day in at Sunshine Banff before making the long drive to a warmer and snowier Whistler. Following Whistler, we headed to Revelstoke to ski for a week. At this point, we really stopped following a designated route and went where the snow was falling; hence an all day push to Snowbird in Utah! After a week skiing the fresh snow in Utah at Park City, Alta, Brighton, Deer Valley, and Solitude, we followed storm after storm back north, hitting Jackson Hole again, Bridger Bowl, and Big Sky on the way. We got our last days of great powder skiing in at Schweitzer in ID and Steven’s Pass. From there, spring had arrived and we went more west (then south) to get some corn skiing in. After a beach visit on Olympic Peninsula, we headed up to ski Hurricane Ridge. Heading out of Washington, we skied at Snoqualmie and Crystal. Then Mt. Bachelor in Oregon on our way to North Star, Squaw (now Palisades Tahoe) Valley, Alpine Meadows, and Heavenly. We finished out the primary parts of spring with corn skiing in California before making our way up the coast. The last resort we skied at was a windy May day on Mount Washington on Vancouver Island in May.

The Tickets:

Figuring out how to ski so many resorts as cheap as possible was not difficult, as there are multi-mountain ticket options. We decided to go with the Ikon pass and Epic Pass and buy day tickets where needed. We were happy to have both as it gave us tons of new skiing access, but I think it would have been managable to have one or the other.

The Overnight Parking:

One challenging part of our trip was finding camping close to resorts, quiet, and legally so we could relax and unwind before a long night’s rest. With some ski areas allowing over night camping and most having a trailhead or snowmobile parking lot near by, we were able to find quality camping pretty much everywhere. The most difficult area was around Salt Lake City, as you cannot overnight park on many of the canyons (due to hazard) where the ski resorts are, and right when you exit the canyons, you’re in a city! Some of the best resorts for camping at include: Whitefish Mountain, Mt. Baker, Winter Park, Revelstoke, Lost Trail, and Mt. Bachelor (showers available!).