2022 Ski Season
We bought Mountain Collective passes for the third year in a row. The pandemic wasn’t fully over and we really wanted to do a road trip to hit all of the western US mountains. We had bought a truck after buying our house and were planning on using that to get around the mountains.
The Plan
- Road trip around the US Rockies in our truck
- Spend a longer period of time in each city
The Truck
We purchased a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado in July 2021 as a second vehicle mainly for the house projects we were planning on doing with our new house. It had four wheel drive and I also outfitted it with new snow tires and a truck bed cover at the beginning of 2022 in preparation for our trip.
On January 6th, just before 6AM, our truck was stolen from the street in front of our house. This threw a huge wrench in our plans.
The truck was found a day later in Oakland with the interior completely stripped and no wheels, tires, tailgate, doors, or hood.
We had obligations to drive up to Idaho for a trip to Grand Targhee at the end of January. The following weeks were spent trying to work with insurance and to plan how we were going to get our trip back on track. We flew up to Idaho for the trip to Grand Targhee and bought a new truck while there.
We ended up buying a 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche. We thought about getting one back when looking for our previous truck, but were convinced that it would not be as practical. While that might be true for truck stuff, it is exactly what we need for the stuff that we want to do with it; drive it a bunch of miles, be comfortable, and have a covered truck bed. When we need a full length truck bed, we can drop the seats and the midgate and have a full 8 foot bed. When we don’t need that, we still have a bit more than 5 feet of length that is fully covered and locked.
![Alex standing in front of his new white Chevrolet Avalanche. Alex standing in front of his new white Chevrolet Avalanche.](/post/2022-ski-season/images/new_truck_hu3366ad75158ba01ca2ceee0b791a1531_183010_500x0_resize_q50_h2_box_2.webp)
Ski Trip Log
Days | Mountains | Vertical Feet |
17 | 9 | 318.1K |
Grand Targhee
The trip started off in Idaho with a drive over to Wyoming for a long weekend of skiing in Grand Targhee, WY. We stayed at a nice vacation rental in Driggs, ID.
Bozeman
We spent a week in downtown Bozeman, working from local coffee shops and getting up to Big Sky two times. We stayed at the Kimpton Armory Hotel in downtown Bozeman.
Jackson
We spent the weekend in Jackson, staying in the Motel 6. It was clean, but definitely not recommended. This was also the weekend of Kings and Queens of Corbet’s, so Rendezvous Mountain were pretty busy. The first thing we did our first day was to ride up the tram and experience Jackson Hole from the top of the mountain. Everything about the mountain lived up to the hype or exceeded it.
Denver
We spent the week at a family member’s place in Denver and made a couple day trips up to Arapahoe Basin.
Salt Lake City
We spent a long weekend in Salt Lake City skiing Alta and Snowbird. My family came to Utah to ski it with us. We stayed at the Residence Inn in Sandy. It was such a fun experience sharing Alta and Snowbird with our family and bringing them to some of our favorite mountains.
Tahoe
We spent a couple days in Tahoe skiing Palisades and stayed with family at a friends place in Carnelian Bay.
Mammoth
We finally had a chance to get down to Mammoth to ski. We had a wedding in Riverside to attend and instead of driving back up interstate 5, we drove to Mammoth Lakes and spent the weekend there. We stayed in the Westin which made it super easy to get on the mountain every day.
Ski Gear
I replaced a few pieces of outwear this year, but the hard goods all stayed the same.
Skis and Bindings
Still skiing the Mantra 102s with Pivot 14 bindings. They are still handling everything I throw at them and then some. From ripping down groomers at high speed to getting into the fresh stuff after a storm, they handle it all beautifully.
2020 Volkl Mantra 102
Boots
Just like the skis, I continued to ski with the Dalbello Panterra 120 and ZipFit liners. My feet hurt a couple times, but everything seemed to work out if I kept my boots tight.
Poles
My tried and true Goode G-Max poles are still with me with no signs of needing replacement.
Helmet and Goggles
My goggles and Helmet didn’t change this year either. I did end up picking up couple more lenses for the goggles before the season started to be more adaptable to different sun conditions.
Outer Layer
At Grand Targhee I decided to get some new gloves to keep my hands a bit warmer in the frigid Teton Range. I picked up a pair of Hestra Three finger gloves. Hestra really makes a nice glove and the price is definitely warranted.
Otherwise, I still skied in my North Face Decagon Jacket and 686 Quantum pants from previous years.
Base Layers
Nothing new on this front. I’ve been skiing in SmartWool socks since I started skiing. I also used 32° brand long underwear as a base layer for most days. For particularly cold days, I added in my REI Down Jacket.