Multi-Resort Western ski trip....

[Tonyr]

Resort or Ski Area

UT, MT, WY

Date

Jan 27, 2021

Snow Conditions

1. Powder
2. Packed Powder

Piggy backing our CO trip, and since our household is all still working remotely, we thought we would make good use of our Epic and Mountain Collective pass for the season. We went from Park City to Big Sky to Grand Targhee to Jackson Hole back down to the SLC area hitting all the ski resorts we've always wanted to try. Like last time I'll do a quick recap of each place and keep it all in one thread.

Our first stop was a few days in the Canyons during the last week of January. The mountain was around 60% open but with 7200 acres of skiable terrain there was plenty to ski. We hung out mostly on the Saddleback express, Tombstone express, and the 9990 lift which in my opinion is the best terrain in Park City. We didn't get much snow while we were there this time but the conditions were still great as you can see....

The Condor area was still mostly closed but I did get a chance to hike up to the Murdock bowl. I made about 20 minutes until I tapped! The powder up there was good but it wasn't worth blowing a lung! The photo above is the Red Pine Chutes off of the 9990 lift which is my favorite run in Park City.

 

[Tonyr]

Our next stop was a 6 hour drive up to Big Sky, we had two awesome days up there. The first day was in white out conditions for a few hours the 2nd day was all sunshine. Two days is really not enough time to explore Big Sky but from what I saw I was really impressed. They have terrain up there for everyone and the tree skiing was as good as anywhere that I have ever been. It's also the first place I've visited that comes close to the beauty of Telluride. We skied the backside of the mountain the first day and the frontside of the mountain the 2nd day. I didn't even attempt the tram as the line was ridiculous to get on it.....

It was very hard to see where we were going after about 2 hours we could see again....

These are from the 2nd day which was a beautiful bluebird day....

 

[Tonyr]

From Big Sky we moved to Grand Targhee which just joined the Mountain Collective pass this year. The resort is pretty remote but the skiing is great, nothing too steep for the most part but the powder and tree skiing is great, it was my son's favorite for trees. The first day the snow was a little chopped up and crusty, the 2nd day we got a foot of snow so it was two different experiences but both were fun.

This was the powder day, the trees at Targhee are fantastic. Also we didn't wait more than a minute in line either day.

As I mentioned earlier, there is not a ton of steep terrain at Targhee but they do have some. This is looking up at the run called the Toilet Bowl, it has a 47 degree pitch and was probably the steepest run that I skied the whole trip. As you can tell, I edged down it more than I skied it!

 

[Tonyr]

Our next stop was Jackson Hole, out of all the stops we were going to make this was the one that I most looked forward to. I booked two half days and had full days on my Mountain Collective pass for Saturday and Sunday. The good news was that it snowed everyday we were there and the terrain was every bit as awesome as I thought it would be. The bad news was it snowed everyday we were there making the weekends almost unskiable. Every line on the mountain was a 40 minute wait and the tram was easily over an hour. Thursday and Friday afternoons were "manageable" as waits were only 15 minutes or so at each lift. As much as I loved skiing Jackson I don't think I'd ever ski there again over a weekend and if I did I pay for an instructor for the day so I could skip the lines, they were that bad!

I skied one run on Sunday and called it a day after I saw this!

Here are the positive notes!

The highlight was getting my wife and son down the tower 3 chute. We spent 4 hours out on the mountain on Saturday and got in two solid runs. Since we were in lines all day we decided to make our 2nd and last run of the day count which is why they even attempt this run with me. On a positive note it did take us about an hour to get to the bottom.

 

[thetrailboss]

Piggy backing our CO trip, and since our household is all still working remotely, we thought we would make good use of our Epic and Mountain Collective pass for the season. We went from Park City to Big Sky to Grand Targhee to Jackson Hole back down to the SLC area hitting all the ski resorts we've always wanted to try. Like last time I'll do a quick recap of each place and keep it all in one thread.

Our first stop was a few days in the Canyons during the last week of January. The mountain was around 60% open but with 7200 acres of skiable terrain there was plenty to ski. We hung out mostly on the Saddleback express, Tombstone express, and the 9990 lift which in my opinion is the best terrain in Park City. We didn't get much snow while we were there this time but the conditions were still great as you can see....
View attachment 50460View attachment 50461View attachment 50462View attachment 50463
The Condor area was still mostly closed but I did get a chance to high up to the Murdock bowl. I made about 20 minutes until I tapped! The powder up there was good but it wasn't worth blowing a lung! The photo above is the Red Pine Chutes off of the 9990 lift which is my favorite run in Park City.
View attachment 50464

Awesome pics. Canyons' side is underrated IMHO. There is some great terrain there.

 

[thetrailboss]

Our next stop was Jackson Hole, out of all the stops we were going to make this was the one that I most looked forward to. I booked two half days and had full days on my Mountain Collective pass for Saturday and Sunday. The good news was that it snowed everyday we were there and the terrain was every bit as awesome as I thought it would be. The bad news was it snowed everyday we were there making the weekends almost unskiable. Every line on the mountain was a 40 minute wait and the tram was easily over an hour. Thursday and Friday afternoons were "manageable" as waits were only 15 minutes or so at each lift. As much as I loved skiing Jackson I don't think I'd ever ski there again over a weekend and if I did I pay for an instructor for the day so I could skip the lines, they were that bad!

View attachment 50498I skied one run on Sunday and called it a day after I saw this!
View attachment 50499
Here are the positive notes!
View attachment 50500View attachment 50501View attachment 50502View attachment 50503
The highlight was getting my wife and son down the tower 3 chute. We spent 4 hours out on the mountain on Saturday and got in two solid runs. Since we were in lines all day we decided to make our 2nd and last run of the day count which is why they even attempt this run with me. On a positive note it did take us about an hour to get to the bottom.
View attachment 50504

That sucks about the lines. Makes me feel better about the shitshow that is Alta/Snowbird this year. Lines have been ridiculous.

 

[thetrailboss]

From Big Sky we moved to Grand Targhee which just joined the Mountain Collective pass this year. The resort is pretty remote but the skiing is great, nothing too steep for the most part but the powder and tree skiing is great, it was my son's favorite for trees. The first day the snow was a little chopped up and crusty, the 2nd day we got a foot of snow so it was two different experiences but both were fun.
View attachment 50484View attachment 50485
This was the powder day, the trees at Targhee are fantastic. Also we didn't wait more than a minute in line either day.
View attachment 50486View attachment 50487View attachment 50488View attachment 50489
As I mentioned earlier, there is not a ton of steep terrain at Targhee but they do have some. This is looking up at the run called the Toilet Bowl, it has a 47 degree pitch and was probably the steepest run that I skied the whole trip. As you can tell, I edged down it more than I skied it!
View attachment 50490

Looks awesome. You can see the contrast between Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee in terms of crowds. At least I don't see crowds here. And remote is relative I guess. I'd say that Big Sky is more remote than Jackson or Grand Targhee.

 

[jaytrem]

Nice report, thanks for posting. JH seems to get crazier every year.

 

[Zand]

The good thing about Jackson is that they have a webcam on almost every lift. Makes it easy to find the shorter lines (although on a Saturday those may not exist!).

I really have to expand my horizons and get to Targhee and Big Sky one of these years.

 

[Tonyr]

From Jackson Hole we made our way down to Snowbird and Alta. We skied two days at Snowbird one day at Alta, we missed the really big storm by about a week so the snow wasn't nearly as good as what we skied in MT and WY but the steep terrain at Snowbird was every bit as good as Jackson Hole I thought. As a matter of fact I liked the steeps better at Snowbird. My wife and son preferred Alta. This was from the first day at Snowbird, I got a chance to ski on my own the 2nd day and hit most of the good stuff.

This is Great Scott, a little rocky but it wasn't so bad.

This was Dalton's draw which is right under the tram and a nice steep tree run.


The Fin

And my favorite trail at Snowbird called Barry Barry Steep. I'm not sure how they came up with that name but the run is outstanding. Its on the backside of the cirque traverse. Most people were skiing down the frontside which is a steep open bowl, the backside of the cirque is steep too but all trees. Was one of my favorites of the trip

Lastly here are a couple of photos from Alta, we got only one day in there but what a cool place. I see it as the godfather of all the no frills ski resorts, a must visit!

 

[Tonyr]

We then made our way over to Deer Valley, I have to admit while the area was beautiful I wasn't a huge fan of this mountain. There were too many people there who didn't know how to ski but were there just to say so. The highlight though was the Daly Chutes, they are the steepest runs on the Park City side of the mountain range and alot of fun, no beginner's there!

 

[Tonyr]

We finally made our way back over to Park City, while Snowbird and Alta were closed down for 60 hours due to all of the snow Park City was wide open. I did some of the best skiing of my life over the next few days. I much prefer the Canyons terrain to Park City proper but the Motherload meadows on the Park City side is a homerun! The lift never has a wait and NO ONE skis in the trees back there. We kept lapping knee deep untouched powder all day!Our last day in Park City was the best day of skiing that I have ever had. The 9990 lift broke down for a good 24 hours while about 2 feet of snow hit. I worked until 1 pm or so that day and skied right over to that lift for my first run not knowing that it had been broken down. I got right in line when the lift finally reopened and when I got to the top I skied down a huge untouch line that was all powder up to my chest. Every turn snow was blowing up into my face it was unreal. This photo was from the 2nd time I came down, you can see how fast the snow got chopped up!

 

[Tonyr]

Our last day of the trip ended at Snowbasin. We were pretty tired so we only skied a few runs but I was very impressed with the terrain and definitely want to go back again one day. On another note, they have the nicest lodges you'll ever see. It feels like your having lunch in a 5 star hotel! I hope everyone enjoyed the trip report.

 

[jimk]

Nice report. Jackson has been really busy the last three times I was there too (2015, 2018, 2020). Way to find the powder!

 

[Tonyr]

Awesome pics. Canyons' side is underrated IMHO. There is some great terrain there.

We loved the Canyons, thought the terrain was much better than Deer Valley and Park City.

 

[Tonyr]

Nice report. Jackson has been really busy the last three times I was there too (2015, 2018, 2020). Way to find the powder!

Thanks, weekdays only next time!

 

[Tonyr]

That sucks about the lines. Makes me feel better about the shitshow that is Alta/Snowbird this year. Lines have been ridiculous.

We skied Alta Snowbird on a Monday Tuesday Wednesday and didn't wait at all. We planned on going back to Alta last Saturday but didn't even try due to the 60 hour closure a day or two before. We figured Saturday would be a zoo so we drove up to Snowbasin instead, the lines up there were fine.

 

[Tonyr]

Looks awesome. You can see the contrast between Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee in terms of crowds. At least I don't see crowds here. And remote is relative I guess. I'd say that Big Sky is more remote than Jackson or Grand Targhee.

I thought Targhee was more remote than Big Sky. Atleast Big Sky had a village with some nice hotels, shops, and restaurants. Targhee really has none of that, it was just a remote place to ski.

 

[Tonyr]

Nice report, thanks for posting. JH seems to get crazier every year.

Yea that is what a local was telling me. Jackson has become a bucket list place to ski. Its an expert skiers playground with amenities similar to some of the higher end resorts. It's really the only resort that I can think of that caters to both the Squaw Valley and Deer Valley crowds.

 

[Tonyr]

The good thing about Jackson is that they have a webcam on almost every lift. Makes it easy to find the shorter lines (although on a Saturday those may not exist!).

I really have to expand my horizons and get to Targhee and Big Sky one of these years.

I promise you, on Saturdays short lines don't exist!

You would love Big Sky it has all the steeps Jackson does, (you do have to hike to some of it) a ton of great tree skiing, and a lot more varied terrain. I liked the tree skiing at Big Sky better, there are trees to jump into all over the place. Also the scenery in MT is prettier if that makes any difference. Targhee is worth the trip as well if your in Jackson it's a little over an hour away. Not as good as the other two but still worth trying out.