Planning Guide - Define the Trip
This first step could be the most important, and that is to really envision what this trip looks like. This is more of a philosophical exercise than true planning but if you don’t know what you hope to experience how can you ever make it a reality?
It's tempting to skip straight to logistics — dates, budgets, flights — because those feel like real progress. But logistics without a clear picture of what you're actually building toward tend to produce a trip that's technically well-organized and somehow still disappointing. The skier who wants a quiet week of long groomer runs and an early bedtime is planning a fundamentally different trip than the one who wants a boisterous group week with a lively base village and a late-night scene, even if they end up on the exact same mountain.
Take a few minutes before you touch a calendar or a price tag. The answers you land on here will steer almost every decision that follows.
Ask yourself: what would make this a successful ski trip? What are you trying to get out of this, and what types of resorts make sense for you?
Some things to consider:
Who's coming
Is this a group trip or a solo adventure? Perhaps a couple?
Who are the likely travelers — friends, family, acquaintances?
Where you're headed
One resort for the whole trip, or hopping between mountains?
New resort, an old favorite, or an unfamiliar region entirely?
Staying in North America, or looking abroad?
Already tied to a megapass (Epic, Ikon) or another season pass option (Indy Pass, Mountain Collective, PGR, etc.) that may shape the options?
What you want from it
How much does an active après-ski scene or world-class dining matter?
Fly in and ski within the hour, or travel further for a dream resort?
What you can handle
Comfortable skiing — and sleeping — at high altitude?
What's the budget, and where's the flex in it?
You'll revisit several of these — mountain access, altitude, budget — in more depth in Step 4: Choose the Mountain.
It's also worthwhile to take a poll of your potential traveling companions to get a sense of ability levels and interests. And while you're at it, take a good hard look at yourself and ask those same questions.
More than any other factor, this could drive your choice of destination — which ultimately determines just about everything else.
Once you have a good sense of the objectives of this trip, it's time to move on to what is often the most difficult step, especially if you have a large group: finding the time.