Biggest Ski Trip MISTAKES YOU Are Making (And How to Avoid Them) 

Gotta be honest, without peak rankings, it took me probably close to ten years to learn each and every one of those lessons. I don’t think you mentioned a mistake I didn’t make. Where were you when I needed you?!?!

For mistake number 4, I do all my ski trips solo so I am guaranteed to be in great company with the biggest asshole I know.

having worked in the industry for 30plus, the first two weeks after New Years is one of the best times for lack of crowds

I went with a group once. Never again. We only had 1 day on the slopes before leaving for the next thing. By the time everyone got out of the hotel and headed to the mountain it was 9am. We stopped at 10 for cappuccino for a F--king hour!! Finally got to the mountain at 12 noon. I immediately jumped on a lift and left everyone who hadn't skied before behind. Never came down to the base again till they were closing the mountain at 4 pm. The next year my 2 sons and I went on our own. Much better. Didn't waste a minute on a stupid coffee.

That part about access roads being icy brings me PTSD from getting in a crash in Mammoth. We were driving down a steep, icy road called Davidson Road to get to the Village. We turn the corner and see several cars piled up at the bottom. We put the car in sport mode to slow it down and slowly apply the brakes. We immediately lost all traction and began sliding down the road while spinning. It was like slow motion just watching ourselves getting progressively closer to the pileup at the bottom, knowing there was absolutely nothing we could do to change the trajectory of the car or slow down. I even had time to say "brace for impact!" before we collided with the white Toyota Land Cruiser. Oh, and I was just wearing a sweater because we were going to dinner, and it was -1 degrees Fahrenheit outside and snowing. Super fun.

These voice overs have gotten significantly more enthusiastic since the beginning of this channel!

Best thing you can do is go to the smaller to medium sized resorts. Usually not as busy and lift tickets are significantly more affordable. It doesn’t matter how much terrain a mountain has if it’s so packed you only get a few runs in and spend most of your day waiting in lines.

Live in the South of Germany. If the sky is blue on waking up, I fill up the tank, drive south for an hour and €40 gets me my ski pass for the day. US lift passes seem crazy expensive.

No 5 for sure! Every time we stay in Squamish to ski in Whistler, we end up in a line up for about 2 hrs between Squamish and Whistler due to that stupid light at “function junction”! Drives me crazy

Truer words never spoken about sliding down mountains. Great job and many thanks PR!

Somehow, I've avoided most of these....or I just didn't care (like I buy mid-mountain lunch for $30 and not worry about it). That said, I'm buying clothing, passes, making reservations etc. from April to November. I usually have my skis waxed/tuned, gear checked, replacement pieces purchased, and travel plans confirmed for the season by Halloween. My wife plans summer. I plan winter.

Ive lived in Colorado for 35 years now. April is a great month to ski. Most of the spring breaks are over, the whole mountain is generally still open, and we get a healthy dump of new fluff every week to ten days, sometimes deep into May. The worst weekend is usually MLK. If you go the week after Christmas, the 28th thru 1/1 are usually pretty good crowd-wise. The fly-in vacationers get "gassed" after 2-3 days, so it's only the hardcores after a few days of vaca. 1/1 used to be wide open, but the demographics have changed. There arent as many people staying up to welcome the New Year these days.

FYI, Jackson has some significant complimentary discounts for "Season Pass holders" of other resorts including ikon/epic holders with more than 10day passes - not sure if this is new but it's documented on their website. Also, consider the buses available from your accommodations - for places like Jackson Hole or Lake Louise/Banff there are often dedicated free luxury ski buses to/from the ski hill from town as well as the nice public bus options- this is great 'cause you don't have to drive in stressful conditions.

Thanks for posting reminder videos of yankee lines on ski resorts, we were planning on maybe Colorado but I think we will stay on the powder highway B.C. again this year

This channel is the best!!

My family ski/board every year - mainly in France. We always rent a nice but small lodge and we self cater. There is no need for fancy accommodation when you are out all day every day on the slopes. We pack a lunch to take onto the mountain - something super simple cheap like a fresh baguette with cheese and ham. En route to the resort we will stop at a supermarket to stock up on supplies for the week because the shops at resort level are very expensive. We take care of our gear and remind ourselves that there is no need to be rocking the latest designs in ski-wear. It's just a waste of money and resources.

For me, having public transit to access the resorts is my top planning factor, and removes the stress of driving. That is why Summit County, CO (Breck, Keystone, A-Basin, and Copper) and North Lake Tahoe (Palisades Tahoe, Northstar, Homewood) are my top two major ski areas in the US that I frequently go b/c they actually have decent public transit to get out and about.

Solid content! 🎿

I recall saying to a lifetime skiier that I didn't like paying $6 for a $.75 beer at apre ski. He very cleverly said, "you're only paying $.75 for the beer. You're also paying $5.45 for the atmosphere.

Great video!

One thing not mentioned is to investigate public transportation at the resort you are considering. Park City has an amazing bus system.....absolutely no need to drive to the mountain if you stay at a place near a bus stop. My group even split ubers to and from the ariport.

Hey I live in Vermont and I would love to see a rating on Magic mountain a classic it is similar to Mad River Glen in many ways with the best wood skiing in southern Vermont.

If you're a person who likes to ski and doesn't care about the frills (fancy hotels, food, driving distance, etc.) skiing local is the way to go. I ski local central Sierra hills, and while they may not be as big or luxurious as Tahoe or Mammoth, you can get nearly the same snow quality and some beautiful scenery with nearly no lift lines and free parking. You can ski until your quads literally give out.

The off slope activities didn’t mean much to my buddies and I because we would ride hard all day (no lunch stop) beer after riding, hot tub if the rental has one and crash hard. We’ve done several Cat/Heli trips and it’s the same thing there, the Cat trips we rode til dark (15-18 runs), also the trips we took were later in the season (March) with no complaints

End of Season is the best. Short sleeves and slonkin slush! Just make sure to get the RENTAL skis and flog them like a borrowed mule.

Breck is my favorite. Cool town and doesn't have a highway going through it like Vail.

I'm thinking about taking a season off. its not an easy desicion but my wallet could use a break, been indyikon and epic pass holder two years in a row and epic and ikon the last 5. I still have my splitboard i never got to use last year. when i got to mount washingtion in decenber it was raining. may just do some backcountry riding this year.

went to utah this last past may and got to ride snowbird solitude brighton and park city and even got a half foot pow day at snowbird.and it was all untouched and no crowds i really lucked out,the year prior my last dday of the season over a foot of pow at snowbird i got hit by a skier traversing and ended my trip early,messedmy wrist up and wasent worth getting hurt any more.

10:49 that's bringing back memories of a night I won't forget.

Intermediate/advanced metro area skier here, usually drive up to Vt/Daks and have been out west twice in different capacities. Pc/Canyons with a big family group and Breck/Key/Vail with a smaller group of friends. I know trips are expensive but you kinda just gotta accept it and try to be smart along the way. That being said im inching closer and closer to constructing a solo or duo trip somewhere out west but like you said doing so can be daunting. This video rocks, along with your others haha.

Pls do stratton mountain review. Its my home mountain and I want to see how it does

You should do a video of lift lines to avoid at certain resorts like at Breckenridge staying away from peak 8 on weekends

legit freaking video!!!!!!! I learned a lot!🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

We stayed near Breckenridge for our last ski trip. It was the only way we could afford to take a party of 10 and stay in the same place. It was only 3 miles north. Yes, the roads were a bit slick because sometimes it would snow, but the roads were well salted and not too bad and relatively flat. It does help to rent an AWD or 4WD vehicle, or stay some place served by a shuttle service. For Spring Break, it was well under half in-town lodging and a fraction of the slope-side places. We rented our equipment in Frisco (about 8 miles north) - that also was a huge savings compared to in-town ski rentals. The multi-day ski pass is a great idea - even better than getting the full pass or paying lift tickets. Unless you're getting a pass, I would actually recommend going to smaller resorts instead of big-name places if you are just learning. I strongly recommend getting lessons. This sport is too expensive to not get lessons. Start with a half-day lesson in the morning so that leaves half a day to practice or just recover. Some places like Loveland Ski Area include rentals and lift tickets with the group lessons. Loveland Ski Area, Granby Ranch, and Ski Cooper are all great places for learning.

You should definitely go to smaller resorts we went to bachelor and there was some powder falling and we did three runs in a whole day

I love the mid-size resort option, and there are a few real gems in BC. I would much rather ski a less crowded, smaller mountain. Great posting!

I’m not planning a ski trip, but this whole video gave me anxiety like I was. 😂😂

what are the best resorts in north america? also what are the best indoor ones?

This video is quite accurate 👍

This guy is the G.O.A.T Awesome videos

If the ski resort is so fare away that you need to get a flight, just fly to Austria. Epic pass works there (Arlbrerg) and its cheaper, better, and more modern than NA resorts. Btw. 180km ski routs, with lifts

ahh gotta love maine, we dont have these issues with our ski resorts.

The modern skis turn so well, you need bigger and bigger hills to bring the thrills. Which comes with big bills. You can have more fun on a 300 ft rise, trying to survive on oldass Craigslist gear.

i upgraded to AT bindings/splitboards. no more lift tickets and more physical training baby!

whats the best time to ski in the us ? I had the chance to ski in veil last year during christmas (im from germany) the skiing was great and and the atmosphere everything was amazing although very different from the alps but anyways. the only problem that really took away from the trip for me was the amount of people on the slopes and the lift lines. it was ridiculous I had never seen anything like this in my life. is it usually crowdy in the us resorts ? or would my experience be vastly different if I would go skiing there during like a normal week in january.

We are lucky, one of the big chains tried to buy our local 1500 acre ski area, nope. 3 local business men bought the resort and kept all the same managment in place. They only sell a limited amount of tickets per day to limit lines and crowding.

not sure if sport mode is best for ice and snow?

when and where is this place that is so crowded?

This channel is so underrated

SunValley Idaho. 1st class skiing without all the lift lines. Expensive, but you're going to be skiing

If you can stay ski in and out and don’t have rent a car you’re cutting out a lot of stressful variables. And don’t ride on weekends. Ever. Also. In NA. Early December and april there will be no lift lines

This is a great video! I feel like I could add paragraphs to each point, but I’ll pick a few. You should buy high quality leather gloves and waterproof them. You can get the pair every patroller uses for $30 with single use waterproofing included, and the wax to reapply costs $9. “Ski gloves” will run you a lot more than that, wear out, and they’re much more difficult to reapply waterproofing to. Get the yellow leather ones, wear them until they are dirt brown, and don’t ever think about it again. Tires are the most important thing to good winter driving. Rental cars will have crap tires, unless they explicitly state they have MS rated snow tires. Be honest about your skills. Think about buying chains or just using a shuttle. It could literally save your life. The most dangerous part of a ski day by far is getting to the mountain.

Do these apply when you are planning a trip in (Wester)- Europe?

Love my apple pie MetRX meal bars for mountain snacks

I think the biggest mistake destination skiers make these days is not exploring pass or advance ticket options. For example in April a Keystone season pass was in the neighborhood of $360. If I go online and book the standard 7 day advance purchase 5 day lift ticket for a hypothetical spring break trip it’s about $1020. That’s about the cheapest example at a Vail mountain as the Keystone pass is dirt cheap (but with blackout dates). But Epic local at $679 with 10 days at Vail is way cheaper than a 5 day lift ticket at Vail as long you can avoid the blackout dates. A few years ago I rode the lift at Keystone with a guy that was complaining about the cost of lift tickets. Every day he bought a ticket and paid window price. Vail definitely price’s their lift tickets to incentivize pre season tickets or passes and they don’t hide it. If you go online today it will show you the savings with epic day vs. a standard lift ticket.

What if you only like to ride cliff drops and prefer low snow conditions on crowded days?

Take the lessons at a smaller cheaper resort near your hometown (if there are any of course) then venture out west. Don’t abuse alcohol at high altitude. Avoid weekends and especially long weekends.

Pretty shocking to see some of the lineups shown in this footage here! Looks almost like a theme park at times. Definitely smart to plan ahead to avoid those situations!

Just go to Great Divide in Helena, M.T.

Were those driving shots in the cottonwoods? 8:53 is the dream

3:08 seeing my old home hurts 😢

If you want the best sking for bucks resorts, goto Big White or Silverstar

Go support your small local resorts. You're not going to miss those long lines for shorter runs (When you get more of them) - just only tell your closest friends because that will be the next one to get crammed.

Are you ever doing any reviews on the major resorts in Europe?

Man I stalled on buying the Loveland pass and it cost me an extra $200 dollars. 🤦🏽‍♂️ definitely buy all passes preseason

Glad I went to many great resorts before they became overpriced and overrun. There still some smaller areas with slow fixed chairlifts that have reasonable day ticket prices and no traffic and lines.

Altitude got me last year. I was struggling the whole trip without even realizing what was going on... Whistler/Blackcomb if anyone is curious.

I am beginner and planning a ski trip around mid April for winter park. Do you think it’s a good choice. Heard there season last until mid May.

Love snowboarding! But i hate all the people and crowded mountains. Don't live out west anymore. If i did still live out west. I'd be strictly back country! Get deep out there where hopefully most people wouldn't go...but, I've gotten into skydiving and the skies aren't crowded!

Now I start worrying what lunch I could get during the day. Seems not many choices there with low quality and high price.

Wake up, new PeakRankings video dropped

i'm european and american ski pass are expensive as hell, here in the alps, it's max 30$ a day

Avoiding resorts that support the Ikon and Epic pass is a start!

No comment on general fitness ?

dude you should do a PNW resort overview, Washingtons resorts/whistler area would be interesting to see!

Go in the spring .

And if you're driving in Colorado, the Left Lane is the passing lane. Even if you're going the speed limit. Other people want to drive faster and risk getting a ticket, let them. Be courteous, be respectful, share the road.

damn there's a sick tele skier at 1:26

Doesnt mention variable weather. Who wants to lock everything in months in advance to get to a place that's in a snow drought. Either try to go to a most snow sure place, or wing it last minute when you know how conditions are, compromising a little on lodging, price or better yet, going to a non- big name resort

This whole video makes me want to find another winter activity...

where is that in the intro shot?

first link has a typo :) nice vid

It’s cheaper to book a week long ski trip to Europe then ski in the States for the same amount of time 😂 just make sure to avoid Switzerland lol

You are not limited to US or the Alps. Some ski resorts in the Balkans, Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, or Russia offer ski passes and accommodation as low as $20 per day.

When do they stop selling Epic Day passes? Do they increase in price like the normal pass?

As for lift tickets: In Europe, they cost only a third of US rates on average.

When it comes to booking a ski trip there's a lot that can go wrong. Like booking the ski trip.

I’d add a couple more tips based in my 49 years of skiing. Spend $ on leather ski gloves. Your hands will thank you as they stay toasty and dry. I’ve been using leather racing gloves for years (with knuckle protection) and they’re great. Get your ski boots custom fitted including custom footbeds. It costs about $300-400 and you might have to travel somewhere to get it done but you’ll notice the difference immediately. You can buy the best skis but if your skeleton and muscles aren’t signaling to the skis because of poorly fitted boots then the ski investment is wasted. I disagree about taking lessons at a cheap resort. You’ll likely get a less experienced instructor and won’t learn as fast. It costs an arm and a leg but a private lesson at a big destination resort will get you started so much faster if you’re a beginner. Telluride has the best beginner terrain IMO - just take a large trash bag filled with money if you go

Some ski resorts Are big But Share The same ski path As little ones😄

I haven't skied on a weekend in 12 years. Weekdays are the way to go.

Thanks for all the tips -- too bad Vail Resorts won't hire you as their key consultant to fix the mismanagement of their resorts. Your guidance could return Vail-operated mountains back to a fun place to ski, and isn't that the only point of going to a ski resort?

Why does anybody go skiing in the US of A? Greeting from Switzerland, where Vail just bought two resorts (well, there actually aren't any resorts in Europe, but they bought the lift systems.) We'll see how that goes

I’m paying 100 euros for 3 day ski pass in Poland, plus 120 euros for 3 days rental of clothes and ski equipment. And 125 euros for 3 days in a hotel 4 stars. Probably you’re gonna pay the say amount to go to Europe skiing and meeting another country.

Heck if tickets are 200 bucks a day, consider Europe. 60 bucks/day for top notch resorts. Cheaper if you book an entire week. Accommodation is also cheaper. Probably makes up the f difference for the plane tickets.

My heuristics have been updated

So, everything matters and putting in the effort is always worth it to save more money.

And all these reasons are why I ski 100% at my local independently owned ski hill.

13:52 for me, I'm always WAY too hot. even when I'm cold, I'm hot. I envy you guys who are always cold because you can just run around and warm up. I get sweaty!

My dumbass dropped/lost my mitts walking out of the lodge: Came back found them placed on the rope. Faith in humanity sustained

If you get a season pass Ski resort That's little It would not be that much