Utah Ski Areas - Compare and Contrast???

Sorry, I was thinking more about the base area. I'd have to ponder the lifts a bit, but I do remember the backside being a pain, access-wise.

thetrailboss said:

Why do you say it is well designed? The lift layout is terrible IMHO. Especially if you want to ski Honeycomb a lot. Granted they just realigned the Summit Lift such that you could feasibly do laps in two instead of three lifts.

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interesting perspective. i actually came in to say how i loved the "circuit" layout. it felt like a really natural way to ski the place and allowed me to keep bouncing back and forth between the honeycomb and summit terrain, sort of combining the two runs into one big run.

summit chair>honeycomb lap>return chair>quick groomer>powderhorn chair>parachute/middle slope>summit chair

honeycomb would get tracked out so fast if they had a lift up the center of the runout to somewhere along the traverse

Edd said:

Sorry, I was thinking more about the base area. I'd have to ponder the lifts a bit, but I do remember the backside being a pain, access-wise.

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Their base is very nice. I imagine that there is some logic to their lifts...mainly preventing folks from lapping certain areas too quickly in order to preserve snow conditions or something...but I thought that they wasted two nice new HSQ's by having them unload very close to each other instead of, say, replacing the triple on looker's left with one of them.

KustyTheKlown said:

interesting perspective. i actually came in to say how i loved the "circuit" layout. it felt like a really natural way to ski the place and allowed me to keep bouncing back and forth between the honeycomb and summit terrain, sort of combining the two runs into one big run.

summit chair>honeycomb lap>return chair>quick groomer>powderhorn chair>parachute/middle slope>summit chair

honeycomb would get tracked out so fast if they had a lift up the center of the runout to somewhere along the traverse

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That's what I wonder their intent was....to keep traffic down.

Thanks to all of those who commented on the ski choice for Alta.

Very helpful thread, thanks for the info to all who posted. Finding the vast array of choices are completely overwhelming.

BenedictGomez said:

Very helpful thread, thanks for the info to all who posted. Finding the vast array of choices are completely overwhelming.

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BG, feel free to PM me for more specific guidance.

The front 4 and Pow Mow are my choices. We tend to hit BCC a lot. Brighton is best if any kind of weather comes in. Hard Coin is unbeatable when every time you come up the chair your previous runs tracks are gone. Being out in the open can be no fun in a Rockies snowstorm. Honeycomb is incredible if your there at the right time (ie Avalanche control has done their work). Catherine's and Devils Castle along with the Wildcat area @ Alta. Of course the Bird just has drops all over the place. April 1st can't come fast enough.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Regarding skis, No reason to go fat unless there is powder. If so I agree with fat rockered skis. What does 100mm buy you in average conditions? Nothing.

Park City/Canyons is great, big, fun, tons of intermediate skiing, enough expert skiing, but is the most crowded. We skied SLC region areas over the holidays with almost no lift lines whatsoever and kept hearing horror stories about 20+ minute lines over at PC.

DV is very nice and a great place to experience.

Snow Basin for great terrain and lodges, but often has crappy snow... Go if it gets some.

Though all areas are fairly close, storms can bless one area with abundance while practically skipping one that is just 10 miles away. I always go where the snow is.

Solitude, uncrowded family area with some great terrain.

Alta is my favorite and has a lot of easy skiing mixed in with a lot of expert terrain. Traverses yes. A must ski.

Snowbird can be intimidating but also has great expert and plenty of intermediate terrain as well. Can be frenzied and full of testosterone on powder days.

Powder Mountain is my second favorite to Alta. I would not call it an experts mountain by any means...lots of low angle terrain and very open trees, perfect to introduce an intermediate or advanced skier to powder and tree skiing. So much acreage and so few skiers that you can find fresh tracks there a lot easier than Snowbird or Alta. Also very laid back, old school and friendly... the new owners have not done much more than put in a new road at the top where they want to build expensive houses.

Brighton, I have never been... heard it has great tree skiing. Maybe next season!

If I were there on a family vacation I would base in Park City for the ambience and easy access to skiing. Hardcore skiers can find good deals renting timeshares up at Snowbird on CL and other online outlets but dining and grocery shopping options are very limited . Lots of very reasonable hotel and motel options in Sandy and SLC itself if you don't mind driving a half hour or so to the hills and staying in a bland urban setting. This is what we did over the holidays and it worked out well.

For Powder Mountain and Snowbasin you should just make the drive from wherever else you are staying... though I think it would be fun to rent an isolated house or condo at Pow Mow and just chill there for a week.

Bump.

I think that I was asked about closing dates for the resorts here in Utah. Just got an Email from Ski Utah saying the following:

March 20th: Nordic Valley
April 3rd: Beaver
April 10th: Snowbasin, Deer Valley, Park City, Powder Mountain
April 24th: Alta

Snowbird: no closing date

thetrailboss said:

Bump.

I think that I was asked about closing dates for the resorts here in Utah. Just got an Email from Ski Utah saying the following:

March 20th: Nordic Valley
April 3rd: Beaver
April 10th: Snowbasin, Deer Valley, Park City, Powder Mountain
April 24th: Alta

Snowbird: no closing date

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Report on Epic was that they are shutting down Peruvian and the Tram early this year. Don't know why and certainly Gad and Little Cloud would be enough for me but thought that was interesting news.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

4aprice said:

Report on Epic was that they are shutting down Peruvian and the Tram early this year. Don't know why and certainly Gad and Little Cloud would be enough for me but thought that was interesting news.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

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Yes they are shutting down the Tram and Peruvian Side for replacement of the Tram cables: http://www.snowbird.com/tramcables/

They are open daily until May 13th and then weekends only after that point.

crank said:

Regarding skis, No reason to go fat unless there is powder. If so I agree with fat rockered skis. What does 100mm buy you in average conditions? Nothing.

Park City/Canyons is great, big, fun, tons of intermediate skiing, enough expert skiing, but is the most crowded. We skied SLC region areas over the holidays with almost no lift lines whatsoever and kept hearing horror stories about 20+ minute lines over at PC.

DV is very nice and a great place to experience.

Snow Basin for great terrain and lodges, but often has crappy snow... Go if it gets some.

Though all areas are fairly close, storms can bless one area with abundance while practically skipping one that is just 10 miles away. I always go where the snow is.

Solitude, uncrowded family area with some great terrain.

Alta is my favorite and has a lot of easy skiing mixed in with a lot of expert terrain. Traverses yes. A must ski.

Snowbird can be intimidating but also has great expert and plenty of intermediate terrain as well. Can be frenzied and full of testosterone on powder days.

Powder Mountain is my second favorite to Alta. I would not call it an experts mountain by any means...lots of low angle terrain and very open trees, perfect to introduce an intermediate or advanced skier to powder and tree skiing. So much acreage and so few skiers that you can find fresh tracks there a lot easier than Snowbird or Alta. Also very laid back, old school and friendly... the new owners have not done much more than put in a new road at the top where they want to build expensive houses.

Brighton, I have never been... heard it has great tree skiing. Maybe next season!

If I were there on a family vacation I would base in Park City for the ambience and easy access to skiing. Hardcore skiers can find good deals renting timeshares up at Snowbird on CL and other online outlets but dining and grocery shopping options are very limited . Lots of very reasonable hotel and motel options in Sandy and SLC itself if you don't mind driving a half hour or so to the hills and staying in a bland urban setting. This is what we did over the holidays and it worked out well.

For Powder Mountain and Snowbasin you should just make the drive from wherever else you are staying... though I think it would be fun to rent an isolated house or condo at Pow Mow and just chill there for a week.

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Good post from Crank.

Only been to Brighton once, but liked it a lot. Several spots on mtn have great scenic views. It's smallish compared to some of the bigger names, but everything is served by their handful of HSQs so you can get a lot of vertical. It is known to be favored by boarders and has various parks, but a great spot for skiers too with moderate crowds usually. The bulk of the place is very accessible to upper intermediates and low experts. The Millicent terrain provides some double black diamond terrain and hike-to challenges. They tell me if you do the big hike above Millicent there is top tier extreme terrain.

This season I have six days over in PC/DV area and six days at Snowbird. All the stuff Crank said is pretty much on target. PC is now huge and provides great "resort skiing", lots of intermediate exploring and enough pockets of double black diamonds for most folks. Clearly, it is the place to stay if you want ski town ambiance and après ski. The top elevation of 10k at PC (9500 at DV) vs 11k at Snowbird does make a difference as LCC and BCC pick up a lot of small storms the lower resorts don't and are less vulnerable to rain events, but in the middle of a good season this isn't a show stopping differential.

The lunches at DV IMPRESSED this confirmed brown bagger and I didn't even try the really good stuff. I had a bratwurst one day and a hot dog on the other. They come with a choice of about ten free toppings. When you load a $9 hotdog (dinner size dog) up with chili, two pieces of bacon, sauerkraut, mushrooms, grilled onions, gourmet relish, cheddar cheese, and more it fills the plate. If you split the huge $5 order of fries with a buddy you have a lot of tasty food for $11.50...about the same as a burger and fries at Five Guys, but in a gorgeous lodge and mtn setting.

Snowbird is bada$$. I left that place every day with jelly legs. There isn't a whole lot of effortless cruising, esp if Mineral Basin is not an option due to low viz, baked snow, or big lift lines. I am still learning to pace myself on the tougher frontside terrain at Snowbird. When I do I can enjoy it more. Hard chargers can ski to their heart's content here on top tier expert terrain with some of the best snow in the US. I have spent a total of 23 days in Utah area this winter and I'm blown away by the microclimate of the Wasatch. Going back again in early Apr. SLC itself can feel like Southern California while 25 minutes away they are having an 18" snow storm in LCC. In between the big dumps, LCC and BCC catch little 2-3" snows several days a week all winter long that no one even talks about, meanwhile the 500" annual snowfall average piles up.

I was kind of underwhelmed by Powder Mtn the only day I was there, but as Crank says it can be a great place to first experience some of Utah's charms; trees, deep powder, side country cat runs, etc.

Bump
Starting the process of planning a Utah trip for this coming winter. We are thinking March to hopefully have the best shot at great conditions.
I've been to Alta/Bird 20 yrs ago with my family (I was in HS at the time so just skied/slept) and loved both mtns.

We are thinking of the Salt Lake Ski pass which allows us days at Alta/Bird, Brighton, and Solitude.
Will be a group of 5-6 of us all solid skiers. A few of us (myself included) may do Wed-Sunday and ski 3-4 days.
Other guys (those not married and w/o kids!) may be going for an entire week.
We are on a budget so staying slope side in Deer Valley is not in the cards this trip.

Couple questions:
1) Does the 4 mtn ticket I mentioned sound like a good idea?

2) Stay closer to the mtns in a condo or grab a room in downtown SLC? Having stuff to do at night is of interest to us but we are not going to party or look to be out all night. A bar/place to grab food and a hot tub would honestly be sufficient.

3) Rent a car or use the bus?

xwhaler said:

Bump
Starting the process of planning a Utah trip for this coming winter. We are thinking March to hopefully have the best shot at great conditions.
I've been to Alta/Bird 20 yrs ago with my family (I was in HS at the time so just skied/slept) and loved both mtns.

We are thinking of the Salt Lake Ski pass which allows us days at Alta/Bird, Brighton, and Solitude.
Will be a group of 5-6 of us all solid skiers. A few of us (myself included) may do Wed-Sunday and ski 3-4 days.
Other guys (those not married and w/o kids!) may be going for an entire week.
We are on a budget so staying slope side in Deer Valley is not in the cards this trip.

Couple questions:
1) Does the 4 mtn ticket I mentioned sound like a good idea?
YES

2) Stay closer to the mtns in a condo or grab a room in downtown SLC? Having stuff to do at night is of interest to us but we are not going to party or look to be out all night. A bar/place to grab food and a hot tub would honestly be sufficient.
If you plan to do both Little and Big Cottonwood Canyon, staying down in Sandy is better. Cheaper too.

3) Rent a car or use the bus?
CAR

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the bus is really easy if you dont want to spend the money on a car. remember you should have 4wd to get up and down the canyon in snow. its not super treacherous, but i wouldnt want to do it in a chevy cavalier. check out the TURO app. basically airbnb for cars. way cheaper than renting an suv from enterprise etc

xwhaler said:

Bump
Starting the process of planning a Utah trip for this coming winter. We are thinking March to hopefully have the best shot at great conditions.
I've been to Alta/Bird 20 yrs ago with my family (I was in HS at the time so just skied/slept) and loved both mtns.

We are thinking of the Salt Lake Ski pass which allows us days at Alta/Bird, Brighton, and Solitude.
Will be a group of 5-6 of us all solid skiers. A few of us (myself included) may do Wed-Sunday and ski 3-4 days.
Other guys (those not married and w/o kids!) may be going for an entire week.
We are on a budget so staying slope side in Deer Valley is not in the cards this trip.

Couple questions:
1) Does the 4 mtn ticket I mentioned sound like a good idea?

2) Stay closer to the mtns in a condo or grab a room in downtown SLC? Having stuff to do at night is of interest to us but we are not going to party or look to be out all night. A bar/place to grab food and a hot tub would honestly be sufficient.

3) Rent a car or use the bus?

Click to expand...

Will be out the week of the 20th, let me know if your going that week. We pretty much stick to the front 4 with a side trip to PowMow if people desire or DV if we can find bargin tickets. Between those areas you will have more then enough to ski.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Powder Mt should be on your list.

xwhaler said:

Bump
Starting the process of planning a Utah trip for this coming winter. We are thinking March to hopefully have the best shot at great conditions.
I've been to Alta/Bird 20 yrs ago with my family (I was in HS at the time so just skied/slept) and loved both mtns.

We are thinking of the Salt Lake Ski pass which allows us days at Alta/Bird, Brighton, and Solitude.
Will be a group of 5-6 of us all solid skiers. A few of us (myself included) may do Wed-Sunday and ski 3-4 days.
Other guys (those not married and w/o kids!) may be going for an entire week.
We are on a budget so staying slope side in Deer Valley is not in the cards this trip.

Click to expand...

Here's my take:

Couple questions:
1) Does the 4 mtn ticket I mentioned sound like a good idea?

It is a good idea and a good value. Just make sure that you understand how the passes work--can you ski the same place more than once, etc.



2) Stay closer to the mtns in a condo or grab a room in downtown SLC? Having stuff to do at night is of interest to us but we are not going to party or look to be out all night. A bar/place to grab food and a hot tub would honestly be sufficient.

Let's be honest, there is NOTHING really for nightlife in the canyons. Given that they all are so close to downtown SLC, and there are lots of lodging options, stay in SLC.

3) Rent a car or use the bus?

Rent a car but tell the rental agency that you need snow tires and are going into the Canyons.

Very helpful everyone. I'm sure I will be back with a bunch more questions as we get closer to booking this.