Quote:

Originally Posted by newfydog 

Park City Weather Information

That's not a source, just a copy of some random info that could have come from anywhere.

The Weather Channel has it at about 1.5 inches per month, or under 20 inches/year. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/USUT0195

There's plenty of sites with the 43 inch number.  I think there is no good downtown weather station.  The bottom line to me is that when I lived 10 minutes from the lifts in Fernie, there was snow in town 6 months a year.  Now I'm 25 minutes from the lifts and there is snow in town 6 weeks a year.Hardly any rain summer or fall    Park City is fine for skiing, but not as easy for living.

"The annual average precipitation at Park City is 43.42 Inches. Rainfall in is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The wettest month of the year is March with an average rainfall of 5.28 Inches."

http://www.idcide.com/weather/ut/park-city.htm

Annual chance of sunshine: 66%

 

Month

% Sunny

Clear Days

Partly Cloudy Days

Cloudy Days

 

January

38.71%

6

6

19

February

42.86%

5

7

16

March

48.39%

7

8

16

April

53.33%

7

9

14

May

61.29%

9

10

12

June

80.00%

14

10

6

July

87.10%

17

10

4

August

87.10%

16

11

4

September

82.76%

16

8

5

October

70.97%

14

8

9

November

50.00%

8

7

15

December

40.00%

6

6

18

 

Precipitation

Average Annual Precipitation 43.42 inches

Month

Average Precipitation

 

http://www.homefacts.com/weather/Utah/Summit-County/Park-City.html

Yeah, I've never heard of those sites. I'll stick with Weather Channel, especially since 43 seems way off.

If your choosing to a ski town you need an area that will give you the most choices for different activities. Simply skiing the same resort will eventually get quite boring. And if you have to travel for other activities how are you coming out ahead ?    

Quote:

Originally Posted by noncrazycanuck 

If your choosing to a ski town you need an area that will give you the most choices for different activities. Simply skiing the same resort will eventually get quite boring. And if you have to travel for other activities how are you coming out ahead ?    

Don't think of a ski town as a resort....... what about Chamonix? Would be life time's worth of skiing and other activites without getting boring.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sibhusky 

I can see that.  

 

Bend Snowfall by month (dark green line):

 

Whitefish:

 

Clearly we are too busy shoveling to be riding our bikes.  And you are 600 feet higher than us!!!  (Can these numbers be right??)

Yes those numbers are right. Bend is in a high desert on the leeward side of the Cascade Mountains which wring much of the moisture out of the storms coming off the Pacific (to say nothing of the Coastal  Range which take the first hit), while Whitefish is right on the edge of a huge lake.

Go just a little east of Bend, and it is even dryer. Prineville averages a snowpack of 1 inch in January, 0 the other 11 months.  We have some winter single tracks in that direction which offer pretty good biking.  A little winter biking, a little summer skiing make life pretty good here.  That and 14 brew-pubs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taxman 

 

Don't think of a ski town as a resort....... what about Chamonix? Would be life time's worth of skiing and other activites without getting boring.

exactly

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDad 


I'd definitely say North Lake, but not necessarily Truckee.  Tahoe City gets a little crazy during the holiday seasons, but the West Shore seems like an ideal locale if you don't have to make the Friday and Sunday night drives.  During peak ski times, hit Homewood or start at the back side of Alpine.  When it's less busy, Squaw.  During the off-season, Lake Tahoe is at your doorstep, it's beautiful everywhere, and temps are manageable.  An hour to the Reno airport when you need to travel on business.

If all goes according to plan/dream, I'll be making this happen a lot earlier than retirement.
 

Dad what so saying? The traffic is bumper to bumper mini vans as far as the eye can see. Mountains are flat, with poor skiers everywhere. There is talk of the pass prices going up soon. Reno airport has like two flights an hour on a good day. In the summer the mountain biking isn't very good. All and all I think this guy would be much happier in Park City. 

I still love the photos of Whitefish on page 1. I would love to visit there someday and then drive up through central BC and check it out too.

This is my ski town, for better or worse. Distances are a bit longer than most of yours (2 hours to everything, Chamonix, Courmayeur, Andermatt, whatever), but then again, I don't own a shovel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by triplenet 

Am I missing something?


 

Well, only perhaps that PC has always had snow patterns more like central Colorado than the rest of Utah - something to do with the airflow over the Wasatch - so never a great bet for fluffy pow. In fact, came across an article that forecast major economic downturn in coming years for PC because of less reliable snow, coverage. If I were picking a place to settle in for decades (and meet the rest of your criteria), I'd go for Jackson, which has airport, is 273 miles from SLC - easy weekend drive - and far far superior skiing. Or better, go live in Whistler. 76 miles from Vancouver. Which is one of the world's great cities from any perspective. (Sorry SLC.) Or yeah, brush up on your French and try Chamonix, which gets by in the skiing department, is an hour down the road from this little burg called Geneva, couple of hours from Lyon, which has decent eats. 

Despite the weird snowfall last winter I was kinda digging Tahoe, enough to return for another winter and maybe even stay year round for a couple of years. I'm coming up on 40 and definitely looking to settle down somewhere for a good bit, South Lake seems like as good a place for my needs. I have to investigate the work scene closer because at some point that's gonna be real important...

Quote:

Originally Posted by beyond 

Well, only perhaps that PC has always had snow patterns more like central Colorado than the rest of Utah - something to do with the airflow over the Wasatch - so never a great bet for fluffy pow. In fact, came across an article that forecast major economic downturn in coming years for PC because of less reliable snow, coverage. If I were picking a place to settle in for decades (and meet the rest of your criteria), I'd go for Jackson, which has airport, is 273 miles from SLC - easy weekend drive - and far far superior skiing. Or better, go live in Whistler. 76 miles from Vancouver. Which is one of the world's great cities from any perspective. (Sorry SLC.) Or yeah, brush up on your French and try Chamonix, which gets by in the skiing department, is an hour down the road from this little burg called Geneva, couple of hours from Lyon, which has decent eats. 

How is PC not a great bet for fluffy pow? It's not as good as a few resorts in the rest of Utah and northern Rockies, but it's still better than most of the rest of the country.

IMHO:  Proximity to a large metro is vastly overrated!  I would rather have to drive 3-4 hours, a couple of days a year. Than have the possibility that the masses could inundate the town, 365.

Shredhead, I agree, but there are those who grew up in metro areas and think they need it.  I did not and I can count the number of times (three times) that I drove somewhere in the last ten years because something wasn't conveniently located.  One time I took a dog to a vet down in Missoula and later took the same dog to Pullman, WA, hardly a metro area, but.. to see a specialist there.  And the third time I drove to the Ikea in Salt Lake to buy my mom a mattress to take to her in Denver (before theirs opened) because I didn't like the shipping charges to have it shipped to her and that savings essentially helped pay for my trip to see her.  

I will more than likely never have the King Tut exhibit tour through here and they don't hold So You Think You Can Dance auditions or traveling shows here, but when I look at the ticket costs for some of the stuff I don't see, I realize I would have stayed home anyway.

I will say that the price of capicola is ludicrous locally, though.  It was much cheaper and more readily available in New Jersey.  

I guess my experience was different. I was never really a city guy, and like Shredhead, figured the extra commute would be a small price to pay. However, I did miss some general conveniences when I lived in Steamboat (shopping malls/stores, close international airport, big concerts, diverse economy, other towns, etc.) Driving 3-4 hours to Denver for some of those things got old quickly, especially in winter/weather. Definitely felt a bit isolated and cut off at times.

Utah has been a 100 percent improvement in those regards. Though, like Sibhusky, I miss the fine Italian meat selection of NJ. Salt Lake City has Tony Caputo's, which I love, but up in the north, we only have one or two tiny places. Also, we could use a fish market - I miss fresh seafood dearly.

We have some fishermen whose home base is in Whitefish when they are not fishing.  Consequently, they have connections and have local fish flown in and I think they are supplying much of the valley with fresh fish.  And there is a new fresh seafood restaurant that just opened.  I haven't tried it yet, but I am sure we will soon.  

Of course, our airport is quite close, but none of the MT airports has the connections or the price of a big hub.  I'd have to drive to Seattle for that, not really worth it.  I've looked into using trains to get there, but the flights there are the same price.  So, I pay the price the rare times I leave here to go somewhere (rare).  Just got back from Austria for a reunion and when I got to Austria, the terrain was pretty much the same as here with cuter houses.  And aside from Vienna (which has become way less attractive as a destination from when I lived there 40 years ago), the diversity of food was nowhere near as good as Whitefish.  I mean how many schnitzels can you stand?  Anyway, the round trip price I snagged wasn't much different than a friend paid out of DC.  I sort of caught a surprise bargain after much searching, but she couldn't beat it the same day I was looking.  

I only drive to Kalispell, a whole 16 miles away, to go to box stores once a month.  And the other towns in the area I mostly drive THRU, like on the way to Glacier or Flathead Lake.  

But then, I skied Camelback for 27 years.  Clearly my need for variety is minimal.   LOL.  

This is my ski town.

Remote, plenty of bad weather.

But lots of snow. And nice views, no?

Man, don't tell people Whitefish...way too many people finding already - especially Canadians.

Luckily the original post indicated he still had to travel a lot. Flights in/out of FCA are still expensive and prohibitive of frequent travel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeUT 

 

How is PC not a great bet for fluffy pow? It's not as good as a few resorts in the rest of Utah and northern Rockies, but it's still better than most of the rest of the country.

Knee deep snow every day is overated for the  uh, mature, skiier moving to the snow country. When you live there you can't ski every day anyway unless you are in your 20s or 30s and even then there are other things you will prefer doing some times. Most of the west has plenty of good fresh snow days to keep you busy between breaks so all the snow data is probably of more importatnce to the vacationer and the <1% hard core.

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveturner 

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeUT 

 

How is PC not a great bet for fluffy pow? It's not as good as a few resorts in the rest of Utah and northern Rockies, but it's still better than most of the rest of the country.

Knee deep snow every day is overated for the  uh, mature, skiier moving to the snow country. When you live there you can't ski every day anyway unless you are in your 20s or 30s and even then there are other things you will prefer doing some times. Most of the west has plenty of good fresh snow days to keep you busy between breaks so all the snow data is probably of more importatnce to the vacationer and the <1% hard core.

Speak for yourself.  It's the retirees wracking up the vert where I am.  And the real hard core old farts are biking in the summer so they not only ski 6 -7 days per week, they are hitting it pretty hard.  Sure there was a guy last year wanting to set a vert record who kept mostly to the groomers, but I still found him in Good Med one day.  And the rest of the top 10 let him have the numbers so they could ski where they wanted.  I'm SURE these guys (as well as myself) would be more than happy to have the stuff you have to go to the trees for right out in the middle of the trail where it's easier to get to!  

http://northernrockiesview.com/2012/04/13/the-vert-top-10-of-2012/

http://northernrockiesview.com/2012/04/13/the-top-75-vert-seasons/

I know most of those people and most of them are over 50 and quite a few are seniors or even super seniors.  

I have no doubt that sibhusky is correct.  I've been retired for 2 seasons, and my endurance is clearly improved skiing 70 days/season instead of 45, not to mention more time for regular exercise when not skiing. 

I have also noticed during my Utah trips that there are a considerable group of retirees who live in SLC for ~5 months of skiing and then return to their original homes on the east or west coasts the rest of the year, an option I may ultimately consider.

I'll be a Crocket retiree. I just have to find out if my visa is for 3 months or 6 months. If it's only 3, then I'll go from Tahoe to a friends place at Whistler, and then the Sth island of New Zealand maybe :) But I have to win the lottery jackpot first

Steve  says: "Knee deep snow every day is overated for the  uh, mature, skiier moving to the snow country."

The skier who racked up the most vertical feet at Alyeska this past winter was a 61 year old with two artificial knees.

And no, he doesn't just ski groomers.

When your ready to retire Queenstown, New Zealand  from an ex-canuck in Kiwiland downunder

tempting, http://youtu.be/52_7BlQuZe8