# How to plan a solo ski trip and meet people on the way > Plan a solo ski trip: pick a mountain with free host tours, stay where people gather, turn a chairlift ride into a lap and ride a new mountain safely. Source: https://skibudsapp.com/guides/solo-ski-trip Updated: 2026-11-04 A solo ski trip works best when you plan the parts where you'd otherwise be alone. Pick a mountain with free host tours or group lessons, so day one starts with other people. Book lodging where people gather, like a hostel, a club lodge or an organized group trip, rather than a quiet rental. Use the singles line and the chairlift to turn a ride up into a shared lap. And ride an unfamiliar mountain by solo rules: marked runs within your ability, a check-in plan with someone at home, the patrol number saved, and no trees on a deep day without a partner who stays in sight. The skiing is usually the easy part. The harder parts of a trip alone tend to be the evenings, the first chair at a mountain where you know nobody, and the fact that nobody sees you fall. This guide covers a trip of several days. For a single day alone at your home hill, start with [skiing alone: how to ski solo and meet people](https://skibudsapp.com/posts/skiing-alone-how-to-ski-solo-and-meet-people). ## Pick a mountain that makes solo easy Look for three things on a resort's website before you book: free mountain tours, group lessons, and terrain you can ride comfortably without anyone showing you around. Free host tours are one of the most useful solo tools in skiing. Volunteers or staff take a group around the mountain for an hour or two, you learn the layout, and everyone on the tour is someone you can ride with afterward. A few examples from resorts with SkiBuds guides, checked November 3, 2026: - **[Whitefish](https://skibudsapp.com/resorts/whitefish), Montana.** The resort's [Ambassador Tours page](https://skiwhitefish.com/ambassadors/) says the tours are "offered daily at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m." from December 12, 2026, to March 31, 2027. They're free but need a lift ticket, there's no need to register, and you find the guides by looking for "the orange coats at the top or bottom of Chair 1." You need to ski blue runs comfortably. - **[Deer Valley](https://skibudsapp.com/resorts/deer-valley), Utah.** Its [Mountain Host Tours page](https://www.deervalley.com/things-to-do/activities/mountain-host-tours) lists complimentary intermediate and expert tours for 2026/27, leaving from the Mountain Host Hut near the top of the Carpenter Express and Homestake Express chairlifts. Every participant needs a valid lift ticket or season pass and a signed Mountain Activities Release Form. Deer Valley is ski-only, so this one is for skiers. - **[Winter Park](https://skibudsapp.com/resorts/winter-park), Colorado.** Volunteer hosts run a [free mountain orientation tour](https://www.winterparkresort.com/things-to-do/activities/free-guided-mountain-tours) daily at 10 a.m. from the top of the Gondola: about two hours on blue and green trails, for intermediate riders and up. Spots are limited and reserved through the page, which says to check back closer to the 2026/27 season to reserve. Schedules change every season, so check the resort's own page for your dates. If the mountain you want has no tour, a group lesson does the same job: a few hours with the same handful of people at your level, and by lunch you've watched each other ride. The [resort guides](https://skibudsapp.com/resorts) cover terrain by ability for 116 mountains, so you can check there's plenty you're happy on before you commit. ## Book lodging where people gather Where you sleep decides your evenings. A condo on your own is restful, and it's also the quickest way to spend every night of a trip alone. A common suggestion in solo-skiing discussions online is to stay somewhere you'll meet people without having to work at it. - **Hostels and shared dorms.** A common room and a shared kitchen do the introducing for you. Read recent reviews for the atmosphere you want: some hostels are social, some are quiet, and a private room in a hostel gives you both. - **Ski club lodges and club trips.** Some clubs own lodges or run trips with the lodging booked. On a club trip, everyone else signed up to ski with people too. [How to join a ski club](https://skibudsapp.com/guides/join-a-ski-club) covers what to ask, including whether riders group up on the mountain or only share the bus. - **Organized group trips.** Shops, outdoor groups and alumni associations run trips open to people signing up alone. SkiBuds founder Stephen Phillips spent the 2018/19 season living in a four-bed dorm room in Whistler, riding 153 days. Much of the first SkiBuds app came from ideas people offered on chairlifts and in that dorm, and the app's very first idea was a way to find people to share accommodation with. The [season guide](https://skibudsapp.com/posts/how-to-do-a-ski-season) has more on choosing a room and the people in it. ## Day one: a lesson or a host tour Book the first morning before you arrive. A host tour or a group lesson on day one means the mountain gets introduced by someone who knows it, and you meet people at your level before you've had a chance to ride three laps alone. At the end, ask the obvious question: "Anyone riding this afternoon?" Some of the group will already have plans. Usually someone doesn't. If you've arranged to meet someone from an online group instead, use the [first-meetup checklist](https://skibudsapp.com/guides/ski-buddy-meetup-checklist): a named public spot at the base, a 15-minute wait rule, two easy warm-up laps, and a line that lets either of you end the day without a reason. ## Turn a lift ride into a lap Riding up alone can feel awkward, and it's also the easiest place on the trip to meet someone. Use the singles line when there is one; it exists to fill empty seats, so you'll ride with people you don't know. Let everyone settle, then ask one question about the mountain: "Where's the snow been best today?" works anywhere. If the answer is short, let it go. If it isn't, and you're heading the same way, ask near the top whether they want to take a lap. [Chairlift etiquette and how to talk on the lift](https://skibudsapp.com/posts/chairlift-etiquette-and-how-to-talk-on-the-lift) has more openers and the loading details. One lap with a stranger is a lap, not a plan for the trees. Keep it to marked runs you'd ride alone anyway. ## Evenings and après Après is easier alone than it sounds, because everyone at the bar has just done the same thing you have. Sit at the bar rather than a table, ask the person beside you what they rode, and bring up the host tour or lesson group if they're there. If big crowds wear you out, a hostel kitchen, a club dinner or a quiet early night are all fine choices. [Après-ski: how to enjoy it](https://skibudsapp.com/posts/apres-ski-how-to-enjoy-it) covers what happens and how to join in. If you meet someone new, keep it to a public place and sort out your own way home. ## Ride an unfamiliar mountain alone, safely The main risk of riding alone is simple: if you fall somewhere quiet, nobody sees it. At a mountain you don't know, you also don't know which runs empty out by last chair or where the boundary ropes are. - **Stay in bounds and on marked runs within your ability.** Read the trail map the night before and note the names of your lifts and runs, so you can describe where you are. - **Save the patrol number.** [Deep Snow Safety's prevention page](https://deepsnowsafety.org/sis-prevention-equipment/) lists a "Cell phone with resort emergency number" first among the safety gear to carry. Keep the phone in an inside pocket, because cold drains batteries. - **Tell someone your plan.** Send someone at home the mountain, the area you're riding and the time you'll be done, and what to do if they don't hear from you. Text them when you finish. - **Leave tree wells and deep snow for a partner.** The same Deep Snow Safety page puts its rule in one line: "Ride or ski with a partner and keep your partner in sight at all times." A new friend from the chairlift isn't automatically that partner. On a deep day alone, stick to open groomed runs. - **Don't duck ropes.** Beyond the boundary, avalanche terrain needs training, rescue gear, a forecast and a partner. [How to find a backcountry ski partner](https://skibudsapp.com/guides/how-to-find-a-backcountry-ski-partner) is the place to start. Long solo drives need the same habits. Check the official road service for each leg before you set off (the [resources page](https://skibudsapp.com/resources) links them), share your route and arrival time, and plan fuel and rest stops before the mountain passes rather than on them. If the forecast closes the road, wait a day. A shared ride solves a lot of this, and [how to plan a ski carpool](https://skibudsapp.com/guides/ski-carpool-planning) covers splitting it with people you meet. ## Solo trips as a woman Everything above applies, and many women add a few habits: a hostel with women-only dorms, a women's clinic or camp as the first day, and a friend who knows exactly where you're staying. [Women's ski groups and meeting partners safely](https://skibudsapp.com/guides/womens-ski-groups-and-safety) lists women-run communities and programs and covers first meetups, carpools and what to do when someone crosses a line. ## When the trip turns into company Some of the best trips start alone and end with company, as long as the order is right. In March 2020, Stephen flew to Whistler to ride with a friend and met a rider named Aodhgan through the original SkiBuds app. They rode two days together at [Whistler](https://skibudsapp.com/resorts/whistler-blackcomb). Aodhgan was heading to [Kicking Horse](https://skibudsapp.com/resorts/kicking-horse) next, Stephen took him up on the offer to come along, and they rode its last day of the season, then the last day at [Lake Louise](https://skibudsapp.com/resorts/lake-louise). The full story is in [Whistler to Kicking Horse](https://skibudsapp.com/posts/whistler-to-kicking-horse-end-of-season-ski-road-trip). Note that the two days of riding came before the road trip. If someone you met on the hill invites you to the next mountain, settle the route, costs, lodging and a way home for each of you before you get in the car. [How to find people to go on a ski trip with](https://skibudsapp.com/guides/how-to-find-people-to-go-on-a-ski-trip-with) has a checklist for that conversation.