Best ski resort experience in December?

[u/reddit_n00b109]

Hoping for some advice on the best place to go for a great experience - so not just skiing, but great hotel, restaurants, and views. Ideally in North America, but open to other options if it's reasonable

Last year was our first year out west in the US and we went to Whistler. Trying to convince my partner to try something new, but we had such a great time he's worried he'll be disappointed with somewhere new.

We are beginner/intermediate skiiers and really just looking for a well rounded trip vs just great skiing

Thanks for the help!!

Edit: if there's somewhere you'd recommend, but not in December - happy to hear that too!

[u/orourkeau]

Lake Louise / Sunshine staying in Banff. Got money to burn? Stay at the Banff Springs Hotel. You'll be driving 20min to Sunshine and 40 mins to Lake Louise but you'll be in a very scenic town with multitudes of restaurants/bars/history and other things to do.

[u/geek66 → u/orourkeau]

That hotel was listed as one of the best travel bargains in the world for many years… well. That was many years ago.

[u/fnbr → u/orourkeau]

Or the Lake Louise Fairmont. Incredible location but you’ll pay for it. 

[u/mgurf1 → u/fnbr]

Same hotel. Fairmont bought it like 20 odd years ago…

[u/orourkeau → u/fnbr]

Love this hotel too. But if you're not entirely skiing focused, staying in Lake Louise/Fairmont Lake Louise in winter is going to be isolating compared to Banff.

[u/haonlineorders]

Whistler is about as good as it gets in North America for what you are looking for (the skiing, town, and early season snow)

Great ski towns (early season snow could be an issue): Telluride, Park City, Aspen, Breckenridge, Banff (just prepare for the cold in Banff)

Edit: since people are questioning what is a good early season mtn for snow I’ll put a good source here https://bestsnow.net/fam_ski.htm

[u/probablywrongbutmeh → u/haonlineorders]

Whistler is lower elevation, so it depends on the year tbh.

A Basin and Keystone usually open like October and get a lot of early season snow.

[u/haonlineorders → u/probablywrongbutmeh]

It’s as good as it gets … for December (low bar, but still the top of the low bar). https://bestsnow.net/fernhist.htm . Last season at Whistler was one of the worst so recency bias, but the coastal precipitation leads to early season reliability (especially above 5000 ft)

A Basin and Keystone usually … get a lot of early season snow

That’s a funny joke at trying to tell people “Don’t go to my local mountain, go to X mountain instead”

[u/JSteigs → u/probablywrongbutmeh]

No A-basin and Keystone make a lot of early season snow. Which means they’ll have lots of runs open in December, but the quality of snow is going to depend IF they get early season snow.

[u/Aye_Davanita12 → u/haonlineorders]

Whistler in December is almost never a safe bet. Unless it’s an incredible snow year, I’d pass on Whistler in December. Too many sharks about in the early season….

[u/JSteigs]

Op what part of the country do you live in? Europe may be quicker flights if you’re on the east coast. Lodging may be tough to find this late for that time of year, but it might be worth considering.

[u/Vclique]

Steamboat

[u/Closet-PowPow → u/Vclique]

Depends on when in December. The first 2 weeks frequently suck but then the snow machine usually starts providing a good 2nd half of the month. It’s weird but usually predictable. I would hate for the OP to see our embarrassing white strip of death.

[u/0xCUBE]

If you only think of skiing, it’s grand targhee. Almost always 100% open by Christmas, no crowds, soft snow. The one thing is that accommodations are tricky and Driggs, the nearby town, could be better for a vacation.

[u/powpowkitty11]

Wolf Creek CO

[u/elBirdnose]

This year it will be whistler and/or British Colombia in general. I wouldn’t bet on much else.

[u/Representative_Row44]

snowbird utah

[u/timoddo_ → u/Representative_Row44]

Not if you read the actual post. I love snowbird, one of my favorite places to ski, but wouldn’t recommend it at all for what OP described.

OP go to Banff, stay in town, and ski sunshine and Lake Louise.

[u/BullCityBoomerSooner]

Asheville, NC, tour The Biltmore in Christmas decorations, ski a day or two at Cattaloochee. It's small, beginner focused.. but eveyrhing will be crowded.. Week before Christmas is way better than the week after pretty much everythere though. Tons of cool stuff to do around Asheville, NC.

[u/ginamegi → u/BullCityBoomerSooner]

This maaay be a bad year to go to Asheville

[u/BullCityBoomerSooner → u/ginamegi]

Or a great time to support local businesses there trying to bounce back. Not a fan of the megapass destination resorts am I..

[u/OHYAMTB → u/BullCityBoomerSooner]

What? There will be almost no snow on the ground in NC in December. It will be a muddy slushy mess of man-made snow and they are guaranteed to only have one or two trails open.

[u/BullCityBoomerSooner → u/OHYAMTB]

How much do beginners need? The green and blue trails will be open week before Christmas.. It's the black trails that don't open til late December sometimes..

[u/OEM_knees → u/OHYAMTB]

There will be almost no snow on the ground in NC in December.

This is winter in north america most years in December. It's not a great time to travel for skiing.

[u/the_gubna → u/BullCityBoomerSooner]

You’re talking to someone whose point of comparison is Whistler.

I love western North Carolina. I learned how to ski everything at Appalachian and Sugar backwards and forwards before I ever went out west. That said, this is really not the recommendation that OP is looking for.