Maybe you’re not so fond of spending hours driving, have issues that make driving riskier than you’d like, or want to extend the life of a fifteen-year old minivan or compact car by driving it less.
And perhaps you’ve wondered, as I have: can I go skiing without a car?
The best outdoors is the one outside your door – but it’s a shame that many in the U.S. have few or poor options close to hand. It’s even dicier for cross-country skiers. Most trail systems, parks with skiable trails, and rail trails or skiable forest roads are scattered across rural or suburban areas with low population density. Public transit (if any) works hard just connecting the scattered dots of commerce and crossroads, deprioritzing any detours to stop at outdoors recreation trailheads.
At the same time I sense: a) a slight shift among the younger (and less well-off) to prioritize transport-as-service as a need over car ownership; b) an increase in driving risks for older folks who are making up a larger percentage of the overall population; and c) an increase in interest in outdoors-as-therapy since the Pandemic.
I presented an early version of this line of thought in the post ‘The dream: Urban XC skiing in North America‘. For the curious or those who may have an abiding fascination with trains and alternative transit options, I’ve expanded on it in a new page, with a compilation of info on XC trails having public transit access as well as vacationing to an XC ski resort area by train or bus, needing a car only for local transportation.
Hope it gives some people an idea – personally I’m thinking maybe I spend some time checking out Winter Park!
Across the Snow Line 
It’s a bit of a trek from NYC, but one other great option is Silver Star in Canada. Fly into Kelowna, and then there’s a (paid) shuttle that goes up to the mountain. The main village is ski-in/ski-out for both xc and alpine skiing, and it’s a really nice xc trail system with fantastic grooming.
Sovereign Lake has if anything even nicer trails, and is next door. It’s unfortunately a bit hard to get there without a car, but the trail systems are connected, so if you’re up for a bit of a longer ski day, you can just ski there.
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Agree that Silver Star is terrific. Gorgeous terrain, abundant snow, and a nice network of trails to ski. We did venture to Sovereign Lake but did not explore much – that trail system is huge.
My wife and I stayed there (more years ago than I like to count), and we got a cab from Kelowna to the on-snow village.
The only thing I’d do differently is not book Air Canada or route through Toronto. Had a difficult delay on the way back for some reason that didn’t seem directly related to weather.
Maybe if there’s additional North American fly-in options for cross-country skiing vacations I’ll add another section to the page.
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Yeah the connection through Toronto is a bit dicey. I usually do chance it, but there are more options via Vancouver.
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