THE SKI CAMINO PLAYBOOK (WIP)

Everything I Learned Planning & Surviving a Six-Week Ski Pilgrimage

Kansas City to Banff  ·  January–February 2026

The Ski Camino wasn’t a vacation. It was a pilgrimage — six weeks, twelve mountains, 829 miles skied, 409,669 feet of elevation gain, and more PB&honey sandwiches than I can count. It was planned loosely and lived fully, modeled on the philosophy of the Camino de Santiago: show up, trust the path, see what happens.

This Playbook is what I wish I’d had before I left. It’s gear lists, budget strategies, on-mountain tips, and the mindset that makes a trip like this possible. Take what’s useful. Leave what isn’t. And when something says go — go.

1. Gear & Packing

The Essentials Checklist

Pack light. You’ll be loading and unloading this every day.

Ski Gear:

  • Skis & poles
  • Rock skis (cheap thrift store pair for bad conditions)
  • Cross-country skis (for unexpected opportunities — see: Jackson Lake)
  • Ski boots
  • Helmet — non-negotiable
  • Ski jacket & bibs
  • Base layer (top & bottom)
  • Gloves & mittens (bring both)
  • Goggles & sunglasses
  • Buff/neck gaiter
  • Boot bag or boot dryer
  • Camel Back with water bladder

Lodging & Sleep:

  • Sleeping bag (for car camping or cold hostel nights)
  • Pillow
  • Backpack (doubles as day bag and overnight bag for hostel stays)
  • Ear buds & plugs (hostel dorms)
  • Eye mask

Kitchen & Food:

  • Big plastic tub (fits in vehicle — use for food and ski gear organization)
  • Yeti cooler or equivalent
  • Hot plate, skillet & pot
  • One set of silverware, microwaveable bowl/plate, cooking utensils
  • Can opener
  • Zip-lock and storage bags
  • Reusable water bottle
  • Laundry detergent

Vehicle & Road:

  • Snow chains (practice putting them on before you need them)
  • Ice scraper
  • Jumper cables
  • Paper maps or downloaded offline maps
  • Phone mount for dashboard

The Ski Camino Pantry

Stock these before you leave. Resupply at grocery stores along the way. The goal: never pay resort food prices when you don’t have to.

  • Peanut butter
  • Honey & jelly
  • Bread
  • Butter
  • Ramen noodles
  • Cans of soup
  • Velveeta (makes anything a meal)
  • Popcorn
  • Snack food
  • Condiments: ketchup, mustard, mayo, relish, salt & pepper, sugar
  • Canned chicken or tuna (mix with mayo and relish packets for a real meal)
  • Water & your preferred beverages

Free breakfast strategy:

Most Super 8s and Holiday Inn Expresses include a free breakfast. Eat well, then pack extras — a couple of muffins, some cereal in zip-bag, a yogurt, milk cartons or in coffee cup to keep in cooler, some peanut butter packets. Make your PB&honey sandwich for lunch before you leave. That’s two meals for free. The Camino provides.

2. Budget Travel Strategy

  • The hostel philosophy: Treat every night like a pilgrim — you need shelter, a kitchen, and a place to sleep. Everything else is a bonus. Hostels, Super 8s, and Holiday Inn Expresses all qualify.
  • Always ask for the lower bunk: If you’re 50+ and doing hostel dorms, request a lower bunk at check-in. Most places will accommodate. If they can’t immediately, ask them to keep you in mind. Worth the conversation every time.
  • The Priceline counter move: If a hotel won’t honor their Priceline rate when you walk in, open Priceline on your phone and book it while standing at the desk. Works most every time — as proven at the Super 8 in Jackson, Wyoming.
  • Book one night at a time: On longer stays, book just one night and let them know you’re day-to-day. Ask if they’ll honor the same rate for additional nights. More often than not, they will — and your room may not even get cleaned.
  • Stock up at a grocery store, not a resort: Before arriving at any destination with lodging and a kitchen, find the nearest grocery store. $200 at Safeway fed four people for five days in Winter Park. Resort food prices are for people who didn’t plan ahead.
  • The condo math: A slopeside condo with a kitchen almost always beats a hotel when you’re staying multiple nights or traveling with family. Split between 2-4 people, the nightly rate competes with a mid-range hotel — and you eat like you’re home.
  • Dollar-a-machine laundry: Pack enough for a week, then find a hotel with coin laundry. A dollar a machine beats a laundromat every time. Budget this into your weekly routine.
  • The senior parks pass: If you’re 62 or older, buy the America the Beautiful Senior Pass at your first national park entrance. $80 for lifetime access to every national park and federal recreation area in the country. It will pay for itself on this trip alone.

3. Pass & Mountain Strategy

  • The Ikon Base pass as your pilgrim’s credential: Research which mountains are included at your tier before you go. Some premium resorts require an upgrade or have blackout dates. Know your pass inside and out — it’s your Camino passport.
  • Track your days on the Ikon, Alltrails or preferred app: It’s your record keeping for your Camino.  I found the Ikon didn’t retain all the days I visited a location or all of the stats so a backup was helpful.  AllTrails tracks your mileage and elevation. By the end of the trip I had 829 miles and 409,669 feet of elevation gain documented. That’s a story worth telling.
  • The Jackson Hole golden ticket: Jackson Hole is not Ikon base pass. But Epic during my Camino pass holders could buy discounted single-day tickets at roughly half price. Buy in advance online. Worth every penny for one of the best mountains in North America.
  • Beat the A-Basin parking fee: A-Basin charges $20 for arrivals before 1pm on busy days. Arrive after 1pm and you park free. The afternoon skiing is excellent and the crowds thin out.
  • Ski a new mountain methodically: Green runs first. Learn the layout. Let the snow warm up. Push into harder terrain once you know how to get back down. This approach saved my knee at Jackson Hole and helped me find the best terrain at every mountain on the route.
  • Five days on one mountain: When your pass gives you five days somewhere, use them if you can. By day three you stop being a tourist. By day five it feels like yours. Copper Mountain taught me this.
  • Talk to locals on the lifts: Some of the best tips of the Ski Camino came from strangers on chairlifts. Ask where the locals ski, what’s worth hiking to, what you’d regret missing. They always know something the trail map doesn’t show.

4. On-Mountain Tips

  • Find the Morningside lift at Steamboat: Most visitors stick to the front. The backside off Morningside — trees, powder, blue runs — is where Steamboat really shines. Don’t miss it.
  • Hike to the goods at Steamboat: Above Morningside, follow boot tracks past Alarm Clock and Snooze Bar toward North St. Pats. Terrain you can only reach on foot. Drop back via Wake Up Call. Worth every step.
  • Steamboat’s Outback picnic tables: Skip the lodge crowds at lunch. Find the Outback picnic area — snow beach chair, fresh air, no one checking for outside food.
  • Don’t miss Snowbird’s Mineral Basin tunnel: Take the magic carpet through the tunnel museum and ski the basin on the other side. A local on the lift pointed me here. Unique experience you won’t find anywhere else.
  • Corbet’s Cabin at Jackson Hole: Ride the aerial tram to the top and stop for a waffle and coffee before dropping into Rendezvous Bowl. The views alone are worth the tram ticket.
  • Ski Papa and Dilly Dally Alley at Winter Park: Must-dos with kids. Ski Papa is a great family cruiser — find it first. Dilly Dally Alley is packed with bumps and jumps. The kids will want to lap it.
  • Mary Jane for intermediate-advanced skiers: Once the Winter Park groomers feel familiar, cross over to Mary Jane. More challenging terrain, fewer crowds, exceptional on a powder day.
  • The hot tub is not optional: After a big day on the mountain, the hot tub earns its keep. Go mid-afternoon or after dinner when crowds thin. Some of the best conversations of the whole trip happened in that water.
  • Wear your helmet: I fell at Snowbird and hit my head. I was wearing a helmet. End of story.

5. Recommended Stops Along the Route

  • A-Lodge, Nederland CO: Barrel sauna, hot tub overlooking a creek, common kitchen, friendly dorm vibe. A perfect first hostel stop near Eldora. Ask about car camping.
  • Block Hotel & Commons, Silverthorne CO: More upscale than a traditional hostel — full bar, great kitchen, multiple room types. Excellent base for Copper, Keystone, Breckenridge, or A-Basin.
  • Mint Steakhouse, Silverthorne CO: Grill your own dinner. Worth the splurge after a week on the mountain.
  • YMCA of the Rockies — Snow Mountain Ranch: Hidden gem near Winter Park. Affordable, family-friendly, activities galore. No TVs — which is a feature, not a bug. Perfect one-night stop with kids.
  • Zephyr Mountain Lodge, Winter Park CO: Book last minute and negotiate — use limited open terrain as your leverage. Request the seventh floor. Slope-level ski locker included.
  • Super 8, Craig CO: Budget base for Steamboat at $50-60/night. An hour’s drive each way. Ask about honoring your Priceline rate day-to-day.
  • Super 8, Jackson WY: One of the best Super 8s on the route. Old-fashioned popcorn machine in the lobby. Better breakfast than you’d expect. Use Priceline if they won’t honor the rate at the desk.
  • Fairmont Banff Springs: The splurge. Worth every penny for the right occasion. Valentine’s Day didn’t hurt.

6. Ski Camino Recipes

The PB&Honey Trail Sandwich

Ingredients: Bread, peanut butter, honey. Optional: jelly.

Method: Make it at the free hotel breakfast before you head to the mountain. Wrap in a napkin or zip bag. Eat at the Outback picnic tables, a snow beach chair, or wherever the mountain takes you. Cost: $0. Satisfaction: immeasurable.

April’s Taco Soup

The official Ski Camino ski trip meal. Feeds a family, reheats perfectly, and tastes better the second day.

  • Brown 1 lb ground beef. Drain.
  • Add: 1 large can diced tomatoes, 1 can black beans, 1 can kidney beans, 2 cans Rotel, 1 packet taco seasoning, 1 packet ranch dressing mix, 1 drained can of corn.
  • Stew until ready.
  • Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, cornbread, and Tostitos.

Leftovers: Also excellent. The boys will finish it.

Hostel Grilled Cheese & Ramen

Make both in the hostel kitchen. Eat at the bar during the NFL playoffs. Pair with whatever’s on tap. Total cost: under $5.

7. The Camino Mindset

These aren’t tips. They’re the philosophy that made the whole thing work.

  • Show up without a plan: The best days of the Ski Camino were unplanned. The powder at Steamboat. The 4am drive to Snowbird. Skiing across Jackson Lake. Leave room for the route to surprise you.
  • The spontaneous detour is the point: When something says go — go. You can always find a Super 8. You can’t always find 8 inches of fresh powder.
  • Rise early, let the evening surprise you: Up before the hostel. On the mountain before the crowds. Back in the evening with no agenda. The pattern set itself in Eldora and held for six weeks.
  • Travel light — in every sense: Less gear means less to manage. Less itinerary means more room for what actually happens. The Camino taught me this walking. The Ski Camino confirmed it on skis.
  • The Camino provides: Show up. Pay attention. Say yes. Something always comes through — a free dinner, a local tip, a room at the rate you needed, a full moon over Wyoming at exactly the right moment.
  • Know when to take the easier run: Some lessons you learn on other mountains. The knee doesn’t lie. Ski another day.

Buen Camino.

829 miles skied  ·  409,669 ft elevation gain  ·  27 ski days  ·  6 weeks  ·  1 knee