4 days...where to go?

Colorado doesn't suck.

edit: if you're flying with one bike (DH?) you can keep really busy out here. Depending on where you stay you can be within minutes to a short drive from lots of lift served riding.

If you can bring a trail bike as well, you'd be disappointed that you only have 4 days.

Hit me up if you come out here and we'll ride a bunch.

Mountain creek bike park!
It's great.
A 4 day trip up the east coast might be awesome
MCBP one day. Then plattekill the next. Then highland to top it off

chillindrdude said:

id like to think MCBP as my "home" mtn, since i grew up 30mins from there...learned how to snowboard there...help dig some of the trails there...

i was thinking even further north in new england...like Kingdom, Attitash, Bromont, Whiteface. but no too many bike parks are open mid-week that late into the season.

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Ya figured MCBP would be "local" to you. Seems to be the closest. I still love that mountain. In 20 minutes from it. I was at whiteface this weekend. It isn't bad. Huge real estate. Big mountain riding. Almost 4000 feet tall!

But I don't see 4 days at whiteface being fun. Trails seem to all be like the same. I mean it's a great place. But it's all the same. The town it's in is great though. Tons of trails and what not.

Highland should make the list. Or if money isn't an option angel fire or mammoth wouldn't be bad

Platty and Highland for sure. Bromont is teh awesome but pretty far for you.

If you can get 2-2½ days at Whistler, don't worry about the extra hassle. It WILL be worth it. Whistler is Whistler; it's what every place else hopes to be when it gets its 'big-boy-pants.' Go there.

Edit - - If you ride the snot out of those two days, you will have gotten anyone else's weeks-worth. I've done three-day passes a few times and found day three is a more take-it-easy day if I really rode hard the first two.

was thinking...fly into denver, rent pickup truck, ride solvista, trestle, keystone, fly home.[/QUOTE]

I did the same thing last year around the 4th of July from DC but didn't get to ride Sol Vista because it's only open 2 or 3 days a week if I remember correctly. Had to hit Trestle again instead. I don't think you would be disappointed with a Colorado trip. It's a helluva lot cooler up there that time of year than the East Coast.

Vail still has some decent DH and I think they are completing a couple long distance flow trails soon too.

Am headed back there again this August to do the same thing but am going to demo some different bikes this time.

However, I have heard that flights from Baltimore to Seattle are pretty reasonable.

chillindrdude said:

i thought about flying into seattle, but the prices i've seen, it's about $200-250 cheaper...but when you factor in the car rental and the additional 5-6hr of driving from seattle to whistler, my preference would be to just fly into vancouver.

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If money is not a limiting factor I'd vote Whistler, especially if you've never been. Flying into seattle/bellingham isn't a bad way to go as you still have a drive/bus from Whistler both ways. You also don't have to clear customs, drag all you baggage through, etc. The airline baggage fees for international are also often a bit more expensive so you may want to factor that in as well.

If you're traveling with someone else it makes an even more compelling argument to drive in my opinion from the USA. You have to get transportation to Whistler some way (car / bus rental) and often the bus may (or may not) charge you a fee for your bike as well. You could stop by in Squamish, etc on the way up depending on what time you get up there as well as sample other nearby locations easier.

You also have the ability to get groceries, beer, etc on the way up etc. If you're off for 4 days (mon-thurs) you could leave the Friday or Saturday before to have extra time perhaps for travel?

At the risk of sounding like a Hallmark card, I will say that you seem to be worrying about what could go wrong instead of salivating over how awesome Whistler will be. And by awesome I mean far more awesome than all the other options you are considering. Worst case scenario is that you get there and your bike does not. That would suck, but you could easily rent a bike, possibly even a V10c, and at the end of the day, you're still riding Whistler. Glass half full, man!

chillindrdude said:

nope, i've only been approved for 4 days from the wife *cough* warden *cough* ...
its only a 2hr transfer from YVR to whistler no? google maps say it's 5-6hrs from seattle to whistler, plus border crossing time. </quote>


<quote>customs is customs, whether you're flying in or driving in.</quote>
In my experience its not.

<quote>
the idea of driving myself 5-6hrs, right after a 4-5hr flight isn't all that appealing. </quote>



<quote>
i'm starting to think..."fcuk it", just goto whistler...now i just need to get a EVOC bike bag...

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Its ~2.5hrs i'd say depending on arrival time + customs + waiting on shuttle. You'd have to get your bags to the bus / rental and sometimes pay a fee for the bike if going by shuttle/bus. Then you only have so many options for returning time on pickup. If you drive you can stay all day @ whistler on the Wednesday and drive back to seattle/bellingham that night for departure on thursday am.

Driving is easier across customs wise, you pull up to the window and talk to them for 1min while they scan your passport. It's typically quicker in all of my experiences and less annoying baggage wise. At the airports you have to stand in a long line, dragging your bag(s) with you. You can fly via Southwest to Seattle which has cheap(er) bike fees too than most everyone. It can take some time to cross the border but going across in the week certainly makes things quicker.

Are you going alone? From memory it took ~5.5 or so with crossing last time I flew into Seattle. You gain 3hours when you fly over so if you get in early you could ride @ bellingham if you stopped on the way up splitting the trip up if you felt like it.

I'd go to whistler personally.. you may not get many chances with your "warden" so i'd hit it while you can since you've never been. Just my 2c. Travel Insurance is also a good idea for incidentals that may/may not happen for a minimal cost to augment any mishaps travel and medical wise.

If you can fly into Bellingham for less than Van it would probably be worth it. It'll shave ~2 hours off the drive from SeaTac. Garbonzo should be open still in September; its really the best time of year for the trails and lift lines.

We're trying to plan a trip sometime in Sept after the kids are back in school.

Sol Vista, Winter Park, and Keystone will be more than enough riding for 2-3 days. One day at each will give you a nice variety of riding. Winter Park and Keystone are open 7 days a week (until 7 on select days) and Sol Vista is open Fri-Sun. Stay in Winter Park and all three are within a 30 minute drive.

If you have money to burn and don't mind the extra travel head to Whistler. If not, you'll be plenty satisfied in CO.

DIA (airport) to WP is roughly a 3 hour drive.

Highland Killington and MCBP on the way back

bromont

Totally Whistler. I have done the trip 4 times from the East Coast its worth it. To optimize time fly into Vancouver, rent a car, drive up and rent a bike. There are so many good rental bikes to choose from and if you look at the cost to bring you own for few days its not worth it.

Call ahead if you want to rent a bike in the fall. They start selling them off after Aug.

Evolution usually has the best bikes for rent in the village.

I ride Highlands alot but there is no doubt that Whistler is Mecca.

Money no problem, but worried about your bike?
Colorado has some good rentals (reserve ahead of time) - Trestle has (limited) V10 rentals.
i don't know about the other places you are considering, but having the bike (and gear) already at the resort sounds like a big plus for your situation.