Looking for comparasons

[Travelgirl]

We've ridden in Cooke City many times, Revelstoke, Crested Butte, Silverton, Telluride, Red Mountain. How do these areas compare to West Yellowstone and Island park as far as snow and play areas? PS, when we were in Revy the snow absolutely sucked! We were there a couple weeks after the big iron shoot out and they hadn't had any significant snow, it was like riding a groomed trail on the entire mountain, it was packed to within inches of every tree.
We are trying to get a trip organized and were just going to go back to Cooke but, things are looking booked for the kind of lodging we need. (cabin or such that sleeps 6+ with a kitchen, living room and hopefully more than one bath). I'd also like to be within walking distance of town and restaurants.
Just trying to plan the best I can!

 

[Abindl]

I have had pretty good luck with Island Park. Island Park Village resort is a nice place to stay. You can access Black Canyon as well as Mt Jefferson (until the tree huggers shut it down, anyway) right from the lodge. The riding area is huge compared to Cooke and I'll guarantee you can find untracked meadows. There is a snowmobile rental, fuel, and food within walking distance, which is very nice.
Good luck with your search

 

[JSun]

I have been to Cooke once and to IP several times...

Given the choice I would take IP 8/10 times. IP is HUGE compared to Cooke and there is a little bit of everything, from tighter terrain to hill climbing. Plus, I have yet to hit any rocks in IP...

We have always rented a cabin over by the reservoir. Some years the snow sucks but I have never not had a good time.

Joe

 

[Travelgirl]

thanks for the responses. At this point we are struggling to find people who can go out with us. I hate to spend the $$ to go to Tog just to be paired up with people on a guided tour. We love meeting new people though and really prefer to ride with 6-8. Just for safety and digging helpers LOL! Don't know if maybe I should put a post looking for riding partners. It seems a waste to bring a 24' inclosed for two sleds!

 

[turboless terry]

west and island park are awesome if you know where to go. Services in island park are slim and none. It is tough to get breakfast in a few spots. Ponds lodge has breakfast. The bunny huggers killed the economy from what it used to be. A lot of places are shut down in the winter. The centennial side of island park is awesome. The other side I could do without. It is really thick with trees. I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

 

[V-Man]

I can't provide the best comparison having not been to all of those places, however we did a trip to West Yellowstone 2 years ago and it was awesome. The place is huge and there were tons of wide open play areas every day that our wives loved. Here's a video my wife put together from our trip: http://vimeo.com/20204060

To find play areas in new places I use google earth to search the area ahead of time then put some waypoints/tracks in my GPS to find them. Works great!

 

[joshua335]

We've ridden in Cooke City many times, Revelstoke, Crested Butte, Silverton, Telluride, Red Mountain. How do these areas compare to West Yellowstone and Island park as far as snow and play areas? PS, when we were in Revy the snow absolutely sucked! We were there a couple weeks after the big iron shoot out and they hadn't had any significant snow, it was like riding a groomed trail on the entire mountain, it was packed to within inches of every tree.
We are trying to get a trip organized and were just going to go back to Cooke but, things are looking booked for the kind of lodging we need. (cabin or such that sleeps 6+ with a kitchen, living room and hopefully more than one bath). I'd also like to be within walking distance of town and restaurants.
Just trying to plan the best I can!

Sounds like you got unlucky on the Revy trip, too bad you weren't riding with someone who knew the area as I guarantee they could have found you some untouched areas. I lived a few years in SW Montana, rode the area several times along with W. Yellowstone and loved it. Much smaller mountains then BC stuff though, in MT you're already high elevation so you don't gain as much height, whereas in BC you start low and gain huge elevation gain. You're also riding lower elevations meaning more power on the sleds which increase the fun factor

10.5ft base right now in Revy...

 

[AdrenalineAddict]

You should give West Yellowstone a shot, it's still my favorite playground other than my backyard in Elko. Lionshead is a quick trip from the highway and most will say it's overly crowded, but the last couple years the NE side of the mountain hasn't hardly seen anyone. The snow last week was perfect and trackless. Hell Roaring Canyon out of IP is fun when the snows deep. Check in with the folks at Polaris West and tell them what you're looking for, they'll steer you the right direction. West Yellowstone is dead compared to 10 years ago but has a fair amount of nightlife and entertainment from January through February anyway. West has a great trail system, lots of open meadows, and some awesome (reasonably safe fun climbs) in certain spots.

 

[Travelgirl]

yes, we did get screwed in Revy! We had plans to go someplace else in the states but, that year was a bad one for pretty much everyone so we tried to go where the snow was. No such luck!
It's looking more and more like we might hit West. All of our sledding buddies are either broken or have work or no long track or no $. I've been looking at High Country guides, hoping they might find another group to pair us with and guide us to some fresh pow. It sure does make the trip cost a ton more when you aren't sharing the truck gas/hotel/guide service! And it's more fun at night ribbing each other when you have a group! Thanks for the advice everyone.