Canyons, Alta, Snowbird, Brighton 3/31-4/3

[tekweezle]

Just completed my trip and I have some info to share. bottom line-4 days of skiing, 3 nights, 2 vacation days used-about 700$ and endless smiles. Could have been cheaper if we got airfare on Jetblue and got a car rental instead of an SUV.

Overall, it was an excellent trip. Got a combo of 3 days of blue skies, 1 day of mid winter white conditions with fresh snow and excellent cover. I am not normally a fan of skiing in 50-60 degree weather but when the conditions are this good it;s no problem at all.

Took the early morning Delta flight and arrived in SLC at 10:30. After getting our bags and SUV rental, we were on the slopes by 12:00. We went to the canyons since it was closest. we did not regret the choice. I got the lift ticket at the ticket window with no hassle at all. The free ticket thing is only good certain times of the season.

Conditions were surprisingly good-snow was firm from a certain point up to the top. the bottom was slushy but did not worry about it til end of day. not bad for 4 plus hours of skiing. We were skiing on the remnants of the last storm. plenty of untracked snow could be found

Day 2 was at Alta. Rain in the valley was a blizzard in the mountains. 8-12 inches of snow falling. at times, the snow resembled little styrofoam pellets. it was almost too much of a good thing. aside from the poor visibility, it was awesome. did endless laps off the sugarloaf and supreme lifts in fresh falling snow. I know it;s a skiers only mountain but the traverses were just brutal. Fell off a catwalk into a bowl trying to get to the Ft Collins lift and had to trek through deep untracked powder to get back to the lift. In spite of the white conditions, i never noticed the temp on the thermometer falling below 40 degrees. The ride back to sandy was a little intense with the flying snow. The huge Nissan Pathfinder that seats 7 was not too nimble.

Day 3 at Snowbird. I am not a big fan of the Tram. the line is long and the mad rush to get in is annoying but it is the only way to get to the top easily. the double chair is ancient. Beautiful bluebird day skiing on the bounty of yesterday's storm. everything was awesome although in the sun, the snow got pretty mush in the mineral basin in the afternoon. Completely burned my legs out.

Day 4 at Brighton, more bluebird skies. Empty parking lots, everything groomed nicely. Snow was firm in the morning, getting mushy in the afternoon. Wish I had more time. Did mostly easy high speed cruising with occasional off trail powder hunting. got to double chair on the right of the mountain for some spring time crud.

From there off to the Airport. Got back about 11:30pm. Delta mangled my luggage bag a bit.

[tekweezle]

if pics are worth a 1000 words then surely videos are worth a 1000 pics!

links to some video. sorry they are unedited and about 15 mb each. the raw files were over 100-200 meg each!

http://media.putfile.com/Snowbird-68
http://media.putfile.com/Snowbird-30

http://media.putfile.com/Brighton-4-3-0681
http://media.putfile.com/Brighton-4-3-0630

you might need a DiVX or Xvid codec to view these

http://media.putfile.com/Utah---fred4
http://media.putfile.com/Utah---fred5

[andyzee]

Sounds like a good time. What time did you leave Brighton?

[tekweezle]

Stopped skiing at 1:00 and left Brighton at 1:45pm. Got to SLC airport around 3:00 after looking for gas.

Traffic wasn;t too bad since it was a monday. Probably could have skied longer but the sun was turning everything to mush.