Ski the Mountain Collective

The Mountain Collective is an amazingly affordable ski pass that gives you 2 days of skiing at each of over 15 bucket list ski resorts in Canada, USA, Chile and Japan.  My twin brother Jim and I have done two trips using the Mountain Collective Pass.  First  was  a southern loop starting in Las Vegas.  The second was a northern loop starting in Salt Lake City.

Our Southern Loop

We did  our Southern Loop trip in late February.  Jim and I left Las Vegas and drove up through Death Valley and past Area 51 , the infamous secret military base rumored to by housing extra terrestrial aliens from a 1947 space craft crash.   Stop by one of the gas station / outposts and you start becoming a believer that, if nothing else, these are America’s most eccentric locals.  Over a 10 day period we alternated 2 days skiing with 1 day of driving to the next resort.  For us seniors, this worked out well to rest our tired bones, and stretch things out with some hiking.  The weather was warm and the sun shone bright in California and so mid afternoons became patio time as the snow softened.  In California, we skied Mammoth staying at The Sierra Nevada Resort  We drove up to Lake Tahoe and skied Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, and stayed at The Squaw Valley Lodge   It is an all day drive to Salt Lake City and Alta, however well worth it to see the Bonneville Salt Flats where land speed records are regularly achieved, and the Great Salt Lake.  Jim’s son Eric and my brother-in-law David joined us at Alta.   Jim, Eric and David are all expert skiers and so I upped my game.  We had a couple of intense days of skiing.  In fact, more intense then I expected, as we arrived in a blizzard at the Gold Miners Daughter Lodge and they closed the road behind us til noon the next day.  Its the first time I have been skiing with the avalanche cannons blasting around us.  The Lodge is right at the base of the Alta ski lift, and with 4 of us,  we got a dorm room which turned out to be 4 bunks in a regular hotel room with its own bathroom.  We signed up for room and board, and this is an amazing deal as we enjoyed the high end menu in the Lodge dining room along with the folks with expensive accommodation.

Our Northern Loop

We did our Northern Loop at the beginning of April with the idea to get longer and warmer days.  Again our ski / road trip was 10 days, and with a start and end  in Salt Lake City.  We followed the same pattern as before, 2 days of skiing and one day of rest/hiking / driving to the next resort.  Our first day of skiing was at  Jackson Hole Resort , a resort renowned for vertical front face.  My son John flew in from Toronto.  It was closing day.  There was lots of snow, however the resort closes due to wildlife migrations.  After an exhausting day, we all had a good time at  the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar celebrating the end of the season with the regulars.  In Jackson Hole, we stayed in a cabin in Cowboy Village Resort  .   The next day we drove over Teton Pass, skied  Grand Targhee  and stayed in a condo at  The Grand Targhee Resort My brother-in-law David drove over from Idaho Falls to join us.  This is Cathy’s home resort from when she grew up in Idaho, and it has become my favourite.  The resort is smaller, uncrowded and sits above the tree line with spectacular views of the Teton Mountains.    Then Jim and I headed to Ketchum, Idaho, and Sun Valley Ski Resort .  In Ketchum we stayed at The Tyrolean Lodge .  Our final couple of days were spent back at Alta and Alpine Meadows.  This time we stayed at The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird.

Thoughts about the Mountain Collective

Jim and I are positive about the Mountain Collective.  It has let us ski some world class resorts, it got us thinking about combining a road trip with skiing, we did some twin bonding, and we are very pleased with the actual trips.  Every resort we went to was fully aware of the Mountain Collective Pass, and we had no problems getting our passes.

Whats next for Jim and me.

Jim and I are doing another 11 day trip this January, 2019.  This time its going to be the Canadian Rockies, from Calgary to Banff to Revelstoke to Whistler to Vancouver.  Jim will be piggybacking on his season pass at Mt Tremblant.  I will pick up the Banff multi resort pass, and then hope to score some discount local passes at Whistler from my nephew Eric.  So the good times keep rolling!  Now I just need to get in shape.