THE QUICKEST FIX
ALTA/SNOWBIRD, UTAH
When you see a storm headed for Salt Lake City, book the first flight to town arriving before 10 a.m. on a Friday鈥攁nd go to the airport with your long underwear on. Deplane, check into the Cliff Lodge, and you’ll be on snow by 11:30. Continue skiing choker powder at Alta and Snowbird until they shut the lifts Sunday afternoon. Fly home contented an hour and a half later. Complain to your co-workers about your sore legs for three days, minimum.
POSTGAME
WHISTLER BLACKCOMB, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Seattleites drive here, but a three-day jaunt is within reach of anyone on the West Coast. And why not? With 5,000 vertical feet of skiing, Whistler Blackcomb is like the Alps without the jet lag. The buildup for the 2010 Winter Olympics included major improvements to the Sea to Sky Highway, which cuts about a half-hour off the drive (or shuttle) from Vancouver. And the expected post-Olympic visitation hangover is in full effect鈥攖here’s usually a dip after the Games鈥攍eaving deals galore at swanky hotels like Adara ().
DON’T FORGET ABOUT CALI
SQUAW VALLEY USA, CALIFORNIA
See those big, rockered powder skis on page 34? They make the Sierra’s trademark heavy powder easier and more fun to ski. Our advice: Get some, and go there鈥攊t’s easier to get to than you think. Squaw is just three hours by car from the Bay Area, and Reno, with direct service to just about every major city in the U.S., is just an hour away.
BORDER TOWN
JAY PEAK, VERMONT
A freak combination of topography, geography, and a weird phenomenon known as the Jay Cloud means Jay Peak鈥攖ucked up in the Northeast Kingdom, just a few miles from Canada鈥攇ets western-style snow. The place averages more than 300 inches in a good year. Plus it’s one of the few eastern hills with legit chute and face skiing. All that and it’s only four hours from Boston.