Best Cities for Snowboarding Most of the Year

Okay - I know Portland has year-round snowboarding, but in general, what other cities offer skiing/snowboarding for a lot of the year (think 8-9 months maybe?). Something where I can drive to a mountain under an hour and snowboard after work, wknds, etc.

I'm thinking for when I a) burn out or b) take a year off before bschool.

 

You won't get it year round in Denver, but when you do, it's pretty incredible. Though I do have a buddy that makes it a point to ski once a month year round - he straps his skis to his back and does a day hike several miles up one of the perma-glaciers up in the Rockies, then skis down. Pretty awesome.

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

south lake tahoe... not the longest season (thats utah) but its got everything youll ever want/need. casinos, ridiculous skiing/snowboarding, huge lake of awesomeness, and the women are super hot.

"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish"
 

I gotta second the Captain. Base yourself out of Denver and you can drive or fly anywhere in CO and UT for great skiing all winter long.

I think Whistler in BC and Banff in Alberta both have really long season as well. IIRC Banff is open from November to June.

 
Best Response

best two places in North America are Jackson Hole and Little Cottonwood Canyon (Snowbird/Alta), Utah. Alyeska is amazing as well but you really need to be into the backcountry scene and I'm not sure that's your deal. Note: The Park City resorts in Utah (Park City/Canyons/Deer Valley) suck although the town is arguably decent. Snowbird gets 500-600 inches of snow each year; the most you'll find pretty much anywhere.

Salt Lake is a real city with immediate access to the best skiing in the world. Deep powder and insane, sick lines. Tons of backcountry, and the area is the nexus of the extreme skiing scene. Jackson is big thigh country. Great pow, really fun vibe, and a huge, challenging hill.

Denver mountains aren't great, but it's nice due to the accessibility factor. But the 'Front Range', which has the mountains closest to the city, can't compare to the destination resorts. And Aspen and Vail are pretty far, and they are crowded, with far less snow and worse terrain than Utah or Jackson.

San Francisco is an amazing city and the Tahoe areas are a ton of fun. Squaw is a personal favorite and that place has great steeps. But it is crowded as ass and low elevations equal rain and "Sierra Sludge" vs. the fluffy pow you find in Utah. But it's probably the best place for a skier/financier to end up due to the proximity of high paying jobs and serious skiing. And there's like 20 resorts in the area, plus Reno for gambling.

Whistler is overrated, IMO. The town itself is a blast. Amazing terrain and big vert for North America but the lower third of the moutain is essentially worthless and low, coastal elevations mean you get super wet, heavy snow. Always a crap shoot at Whistler. It's a haul from Vancouver and has way worse snow than Utah or Jackson. Mt. Baker is similar with the very wet snow. And Banff is icy and cold and lonely.

Euro style would be Geneva or Zurich, but the snow is hit or miss. Very, very fun mountains out there and huge vert. My favorite ski town is Zermatt. Euro ski towns as a rule have better/more women than the US.

If I was given the choice I would look for a rental apartment in Sandy, Utah which is at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon. It's basically part of Salt Lake. You can have a real job and you have serious, world class outdoors literally at your doorstep. All the pro skiers live there and it's a fun community kind of set apart from the typical, no fun Utah scene.

If being near a real city was not required I would check out Jackson, Aspen, or maybe something like Big Sky if you wanted a mellower scene with a sick hill and good pow. All those have sick skiing (Aspen doesn't get the best snow but it scores points for being really, really fun).

btw i did a ski bum season pre-bschool and it was a great time.

 

If you want to ski and do lots of it, I suggest you locate yourself in Denver and buy the Epic pass for $600. You get unlimited, unrestricted skiing at five resorts (Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and A-basin). You also get access to Heavenly and another resort in Tahoe if you ever make it out there. Considering a normal lift ticket is ~$80-100, it pays itself off quickly. Best deal going in my opinion. A-basin and Keystone are the closest to Denver and take 1-1.5 hours to get there depending on traffic. Breck is typically 1.5 hours away while Vail is 1.5-2 and Beaver is closer to 2 hours. Also, A-basin is open for ~8 months in any given year. The other resorts are open closer to 6-7 months.

If you get bored of those resorts, there's always Aspen (3-4 hours), Steamboat (3-4 hours), Silverton/Teluride (6-8 hours) and Jackson Hole (6-8 hours) to ski at.

 
ShawnDU2009:
If you want to ski and do lots of it, I suggest you locate yourself in Denver and buy the Epic pass for $600. You get unlimited, unrestricted skiing at five resorts (Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and A-basin). You also get access to Heavenly and another resort in Tahoe if you ever make it out there. Considering a normal lift ticket is ~$80-100, it pays itself off quickly. Best deal going in my opinion. A-basin and Keystone are the closest to Denver and take 1-1.5 hours to get there depending on traffic. Breck is typically 1.5 hours away while Vail is 1.5-2 and Beaver is closer to 2 hours. Also, A-basin is open for ~8 months in any given year. The other resorts are open closer to 6-7 months.

If you get bored of those resorts, there's always Aspen (3-4 hours), Steamboat (3-4 hours), Silverton/Teluride (6-8 hours) and Jackson Hole (6-8 hours) to ski at.

Agreed - other places may have some great mountains, but it's hard to beat Denver for variety (at an economical price) and length of season. Not to mention you get to live in an actual city with ~1 million people rather than a tiny mountain town.
- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

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