Best Spots for Spring Skiing and Snowboarding

Ahhh, spring is here.  Although most of us love the last ditch efforts of mother nature in the form of spring dumps and blue-bird days, there is a little bubble of sadness that our favorite season is coming to an end once again…until next November, of course.  So, it’s pretty crucial that you use this last few weeks at the best spots for snow, sun and some apres action too!

I spent some time with our ahlivv resident experts on what they recommend.  These ladies spend as much time as possible on the mountain and on the scene, so take their word…it’s good.

Our first girl of the snow is Kelly Farrell.  Kelly now calls  Tahoe home, although she was born and bred skiing in the East Coast.  Here’s what she has to say about the Spring Scene at the Cali Resorts:

If you’re planning to be in Northern California in the Spring, Squaw Valley is a must. Ride up the KT chair for some open steeps.  Then, head over to the Red Dog lift to ski the trees.  Squaw is packed with open bowls, and my advice is to go later in the afternoon because the East Winds keep it  hard pack in the morning (they call it the Sierra Cement).  Spectating back there is almost as fun as riding.  On any given day, you can watch really crazy people do back flips of 80 foot cliffs, and you are almost sure to see a movie star…they call it Squallywood after all.

For the apres scene, definitely check out the High Camp Hot Tub! Get your apres pizza and beer fix, and it’s fully equipped with an ice bar and CHAMOIS – it’s the place to be for sure.  Another solid option for apres is the Olympic House – they have six bars in 1 building, so you’ll definitely find one that suits your mood.  In Tahoe City, stop by the  Lakeside to shake your tail feather and Pete and Peters for the local flava.

Other Worthwhile Stops:

• Homewood Mountain in Homewood, CA has $5 Lift Ticket Tuesdays and an awesome view of Lake Tahoe.
• Alpine Meadows in Lake Tahoe, CA offers a$159 Full spring pass! They have a great ice bar and incredible spring skiing since it doesn’t have the open sunny bowls so the snow stays solid…no slush!

Kelly also has a love for Crested Butte, and even called it home for two seasons.  Here’s her scoop:

Crested Butte has great skiing, and some really tough extremes ( lots of vertical!).  I would recommend taking the Northface lift and Ski Hawks Nest.  Then hike back into Third Bowl or ski Front Side Banana or Funnel for some super steep.  After riding the steeps and hiking all day, you’ll be ready for some solid food and drink!  For the apres scene, go to Ice Bar or Butte 66 (they have fried pickles!).  Then head into town for some local fun.  It’s such a great town, and the shuttle runs every fifteen minutes.  Hit up the Lobar for some sushi and late night dancing, or the Talk of the Town for some delicious domestic beer, locals and foozeball.  If  live music is your ‘poison’, check out Eldo.

This is my inside scoop, but for the most part, how can you go wrong skiing in the Spring in California or Colorado?  Exactly.

Next we asked Colorado expert and ahlivv Team Rider D Damra for her go-to Spring riding spots.  D kills it on her snowboard when she’s not ‘working her day job’.  Check out D’s profile and footie.  Here’s what she came up with for Spring Riding Faves:

Colorado has so many options for Spring riding, it’s hard to find something you don’t love.  But, at the top of my list is Arapahoe Basin.  What’s not to love about Abasin in the spring? Soft slushy snow, great park jibs (think nice and wide c box, several jumps, fun rainbow rail, urban on down rail, variety of kink boxes) all at your disposal May through June (conditions permitting). Some days you won’t be able to decide if you want to keep shredding or go down to the base to take advantage of après excitement: Beachin’ at the Basin consists of guests grilling, drinking beer or cocktails or both, puppies and dogs playing alongside kids and toddlers. All in all – lots of fun for everyone! You will find bands playing at the base on many weekends and/or DJ’s spinning records somewhere along the beach – you can always go inside to the bar and patio located on the second level of the lodge on those colder days. Abasin hasn’t released closing date yet but usually lifts run until end of June.

Breckenridge is an obvious favorite of both locals and tourists.  Breck rules the terrain park and night life. Breck’s Spring Massive Festival takes place every year and includes live music, culinary events, various ski/snowboard competitions, comedy nights, and a beer festival. Every year, Breck also hosts Imperial challenge(April 18th this year – the day before the mtn closes). It starts with a mountain bike ride from Town, over to Peak 7 and then to Peak 8, to the top of Imperial Bowl on equipment of your choice (ski bikes, skis or snowboard) which will take you down to the base of peak 8. Don’t look at me – I will be on the chairlift witnessing the crazy ascent/descent and give those guys mad props!  Breck closes for the season April 19th.

Copper is always a good bet for some fun end of season parties. The spring event, fittingly called Sunsation includes great (FREE) outdoor concerts with big names such as Jurassic 5, De la Soul and Michael Franti in past years. No better way to end your day at copper than to ride down to the base area and start enjoying the live entertainment and drink specials that start early in the afternoon. New this year, Copper has completed Woodward a winter sports training facility for skate and snowboarding complete with foam pits, trampolines and indoor skate features – another great way to spend your days at Copper this spring/summer! Copper mountain closes for skiing and riding April 19th.

Beaver Creek is a little hidden gem most people don’t know about. Known in the local community as the place to go on a powder day, many often prefer not to make the trek, or to stop in Vail instead of driving the additional distance to the Beav. Well those people are missing out on some great powder stashes, insane tree riding and a surprisingly great après and night life. If Beaver Creek is known for anything it’s for being a luxury mountain, serving up daily homemade cookies after skiing and the expansive corduroy groomed runs that many a jet-set are drawn to.  Apres takes place at the Dusty Boot with great food/drink specials ($5 burger basket AND a beer- what!) or Coyote Café with an outdoor patio equipped with heaters and great views. After hours you will find the locals at Bob’s Place (sports bar) in Avon. Beaver Creek closes April 12th.

Loveland Ski Resort, ahhh, one of the Colorado gems.  It has all of the awesome benefits other ski areas offer but you will be missing one thing -  crowds. That means steeps, chutes, groomers, deep snow that can remain untouched past noon (which is unheard of at the other resorts). And Loveland has recently been working on their park scene. Word on the street is they have enlisted some of Keystone’s help in building better jumps and jibs. Last week there was a lot of buzz about how they built some pretty sweet jumps with perfect landings and a couple different sized jump features over trees and bushes,  in addition to various new jibs like rainbow boxes and wall rides -which all sound amazing. I never thought I would say this and be serious, but I actually can’t wait to check out Loveland’s park. Loveland closes May 4th.

For those really looking to keep their shred on, Mt Hood will be going off this summer with signature camp sessions with the pros, several big comps and a lot of fun shredding in the sun. Everyone that goes to Hood for the summer comes back with crazy skills and new tricks in the bag for the following season. You can’t go wrong with slushy landings to help you chuck meat and learn new tricks. If you’re sick of riding parks and pipe everyday there is vast # of activities you can take part in such as hikes, yoga, lake boarding, dance parties, rafting, mountain biking. Go to Mt Hood if you want to stay on the snow through August.