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Utah?

mikec142

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This is definitely late, but you were all so helpful that I figured I had to report on the trip.

I've never been to Utah so it was a revelation from a skiing standpoint.

Flew in on Monday morning (March 11th) and was checked into the hotel and geared up by 1:30pm so was able to get a couple of solid bluebird hours in at Park City that day. The Utah ski areas had gotten a big dumping over the weekend, so there was plenty of powder to be found. Spent the afternoon skiing the Motherlode, Silverlode and McConkey lift. McConkey's Bowl and the areas off that lift were my favorites. Ate dinner at Wasatch Brew Pub (as per one of your suggestions)...it was perfect for what we were looking for (casual burger and a beer).

Tuesday (March 12th) we drove to Alta...

The drive up the canyon is spectacular (no traffic) and we got there around 9am and got a spot in the top parking lot. Another bluebird day and shocking how much untracked (and tracked) powder was there. Loved the areas off the Collins, Sugarloaf, and Supreme lifts. Alta fits into that category of "untamed" to me. There is some seriously hairy terrain that I loved. I didn't do any of the "hike to" stuff. It wasn't necessary as there is so much great stuff to do without hiking. My buddy and his daughter were looking to take it easy in the afternoon so I really got to check out the steep stuff on Baldy Shoulder and High Traverse. The light got flat around 2pm and I was wearing my dark lenses which made it really hard to see the bumps. Actually kind of dangerous, but I survived. The Wildcat lift area was cool, but the lift itself is a slow double with no bar. Talk about old school. I was admittedly nervous riding it. Loved Alta. The drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon is worth the price of admission in and of itself. Dinner was at La Cantina in PC. Again, perfect for what it was.

It started snowing Tuesday night and pretty much didn't stop until early morning on Thursday. We skied Park City again on Wednesday (March 13th) in the howling winds. Mountain hosts said the Jupiter area was minimal visibility and high winds so we pretty much stayed down low with a trek up McConkey's as the exception. A ton of fun. We went to take the gondola over to the Canyons side after lunch but found out that the Gondola was closed due to wind. I had dinner this night with a buddy who live in PC at No Name Saloon. It was okay. My buddy said, best burger in PC. I say, good music but the burger was fine at best. My buddy and his daughter who I was traveling with ate at Shabu and loved it.

The plan for Thursday (March 14th) was to do Snowbird or Solitude, but the canyon roads were closed until about 10am so we skied at PC-Canyons. I had heard some negative things about Canyons, but was proven very, very wrong. Canyons has all the things I hate about a resort, from huge mansions on the mountain to roads that go under the lifts to the complete and utter over developed feeling. It felt like I was skiing in an unaffordable real estate advertisement. That said, what we didn't know was that the Canyons side of the resort was closed all day on Wednesday due to winds so we got 15" of untracked powder on a bluebird day on Thursday. Lapped the Saddleback, and Dreamcatcher areas all day with a brief excursion on Tombstone and 9990. The Dreamcatcher area was outrageous with both pine and aspen glades. Same thing with Saddleback (but more people). Dinner was at Davanza's. We had heard its the best pizza in PC. There was a huge line but since we were an odd sized party of 3 they were able to seat us right away. The place is quirky and very collegiate feeling with beer cans all over the walls. I guess that I'm spoiled with the NJ/NY pizza thing because this was some really bad pizza. That said, we were starving and heading to the airport for a red eye, so we made do.

A couple of notes...I found Alta to be amazing. I was shocked at how much I liked Canyons. I really didn't love Park City (the mountain) with the exception of a few areas. Even though the town of Park City was cool and fun for nightlife, the next time I go I would stay at Alta/Snowbird. No nightlife whatsoever, but who cares, I'm there for the skiing. Plus it eliminates the road closure issues. If I were there with the family, I might stay in PC again though. Flying into SLC was simple and it was cool to be on the mountain the same day.

One quick note...although I didn't love the lack of character at PCMR and it's easy to see how the experience can be stuffy...I will say that the customer service aspect is pretty high class. On day three, my brand new ski pants got ruined by magic marker that rubbed off the rental poles (rented from the resort). After skiing on day 4 I showed the pants to the manager at the rental shop who promptly got guest services involved. They got one of their managers involved. The solution was that the manager would pick up my pants back at my hotel and send them out to be cleaned. After a few unsuccessful tries at cleaning them, PCMR ordered and paid for a replacement that is being shipped to my house as I'm typing this. The manager has been in constant contact with me via text and email and frankly couldn't be any more gracious about the experience.

Unfortunately, I have zero idea of how to post pictures on AZ.
 
Last edited:

kingslug

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
6,990
Points
113
Location
Stamford Ct and Stowe
I used to go for the spring skiing but got skunked many times when it wouldn't war up and was stuck on groomers.

As far as posting pics:
hit Go Advanced
hit manage attachments
hit add files
choose the pic you want from whats stored in your computers/ phone gallery
hit open
hit upload
hit insert inline20190104_124925_resized (002).jpg
hit done...and there you go
 

thetrailboss

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Messages
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This is definitely late, but you were all so helpful that I figured I had to report on the trip.

I've never been to Utah so it was a revelation from a skiing standpoint.

Flew in on Monday morning (March 11th) and was checked into the hotel and geared up by 1:30pm so was able to get a couple of solid bluebird hours in at Park City that day. The Utah ski areas had gotten a big dumping over the weekend, so there was plenty of powder to be found. Spent the afternoon skiing the Motherlode, Silverlode and McConkey lift. McConkey's Bowl and the areas off that lift were my favorites. Ate dinner at Wasatch Brew Pub (as per one of your suggestions)...it was perfect for what we were looking for (casual burger and a beer).

Tuesday (March 12th) we drove to Alta...

The drive up the canyon is spectacular (no traffic) and we got there around 9am and got a spot in the top parking lot. Another bluebird day and shocking how much untracked (and tracked) powder was there. Loved the areas off the Collins, Sugarloaf, and Supreme lifts. Alta fits into that category of "untamed" to me. There is some seriously hairy terrain that I loved. I didn't do any of the "hike to" stuff. It wasn't necessary as there is so much great stuff to do without hiking. My buddy and his daughter were looking to take it easy in the afternoon so I really got to check out the steep stuff on Baldy Shoulder and High Traverse. The light got flat around 2pm and I was wearing my dark lenses which made it really hard to see the bumps. Actually kind of dangerous, but I survived. The Wildcat lift area was cool, but the lift itself is a slow double with no bar. Talk about old school. I was admittedly nervous riding it. Loved Alta. The drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon is worth the price of admission in and of itself. Dinner was at La Cantina in PC. Again, perfect for what it was.

It started snowing Tuesday night and pretty much didn't stop until early morning on Thursday. We skied Park City again on Wednesday (March 13th) in the howling winds. Mountain hosts said the Jupiter area was minimal visibility and high winds so we pretty much stayed down low with a trek up McConkey's as the exception. A ton of fun. We went to take the gondola over to the Canyons side after lunch but found out that the Gondola was closed due to wind. I had dinner this night with a buddy who live in PC at No Name Saloon. It was okay. My buddy said, best burger in PC. I say, good music but the burger was fine at best. My buddy and his daughter who I was traveling with ate at Shabu and loved it.

The plan for Thursday (March 14th) was to do Snowbird or Solitude, but the canyon roads were closed until about 10am so we skied at PC-Canyons. I had heard some negative things about Canyons, but was proven very, very wrong. Canyons has all the things I hate about a resort, from huge mansions on the mountain to roads that go under the lifts to the complete and utter over developed feeling. It felt like I was skiing in an unaffordable real estate advertisement. That said, what we didn't know was that the Canyons side of the resort was closed all day on Wednesday due to winds so we got 15" of untracked powder on a bluebird day on Thursday. Lapped the Saddleback, and Dreamcatcher areas all day with a brief excursion on Tombstone and 9990. The Dreamcatcher area was outrageous with both pine and aspen glades. Same thing with Saddleback (but more people). Dinner was at Davanza's. We had heard its the best pizza in PC. There was a huge line but since we were an odd sized party of 3 they were able to seat us right away. The place is quirky and very collegiate feeling with beer cans all over the walls. I guess that I'm spoiled with the NJ/NY pizza thing because this was some really bad pizza. That said, we were starving and heading to the airport for a red eye, so we made do.

A couple of notes...I found Alta to be amazing. I was shocked at how much I liked Canyons. I really didn't love Park City (the mountain) with the exception of a few areas. Even though the town of Park City was cool and fun for nightlife, the next time I go I would stay at Alta/Snowbird. No nightlife whatsoever, but who cares, I'm there for the skiing. Plus it eliminates the road closure issues. If I were there with the family, I might stay in PC again though. Flying into SLC was simple and it was cool to be on the mountain the same day.

One quick note...although I didn't love the lack of character at PCMR and it's easy to see how the experience can be stuffy...I will say that the customer service aspect is pretty high class. On day three, my brand new ski pants got ruined by magic marker that rubbed off the rental poles (rented from the resort). After skiing on day 4 I showed the pants to the manager at the rental shop who promptly got guest services involved. They got one of their managers involved. The solution was that the manager would pick up my pants back at my hotel and send them out to be cleaned. After a few unsuccessful tries at cleaning them, PCMR ordered and paid for a replacement that is being shipped to my house as I'm typing this. The manager has been in constant contact with me via text and email and frankly couldn't be any more gracious about the experience.

Unfortunately, I have zero idea of how to post pictures on AZ.

Glad to hear it worked out. Consider me one who prefers the "Canyons side" to PCMR. If you do a little homework, you can make the Canyons work to your advantage by skiing up and down versus across the resort. There are tons of nooks and crannies and good woods.

Glad to hear you had a great day at Alta. Snowbird's crazy stuff is right in front of you with no hiking required most of the time.
 

snoseek

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NH
I'll be there soon. Leave it to me to hit probably the worst week of a ski season in a banner year!

Next week holds some potential and we have a refresh incoming as I type. Putting the bike down for a bit and getting some.
 

Zand

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Dec 30, 2003
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Spencer, MA
At Brighton today...natural stuff is crusted over...edgeable enough to get down stuff but not really fun to ski. Doyle's Dive under the top of Snake Creek is the softest ungroomed I've found so far. Will keep searching for similar stuff.
 

thetrailboss

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At Brighton today...natural stuff is crusted over...edgeable enough to get down stuff but not really fun to ski. Doyle's Dive under the top of Snake Creek is the softest ungroomed I've found so far. Will keep searching for similar stuff.

Your timing has not been too good this season unfortunately. We are just coming off our first big warm spell.
 

Zand

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Your timing has not been too good this season unfortunately. We are just coming off our first big warm spell.

Tomorrow might be a huge sleeper day. All of a sudden the NWS forecast for Alta is 15-23 inches tonight.
 

jimk

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Tomorrow might be a huge sleeper day. All of a sudden the NWS forecast for Alta is 15-23 inches tonight.
Agree. I hope to ski Snowbird tomorrow. Don't know what to say about crowds. If this was early March I'd say beware of mobs, but tomorrow might be semi-sleeper?? Probably will ski Bird on Sat and Sun too, or maybe Alta one day.
 

snoseek

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Tomorrow might be a huge sleeper day. All of a sudden the NWS forecast for Alta is 15-23 inches tonight.

I think you're right as I just got off work and drove down and it was coming down pretty hard. Im getting my ass up that canyon early tomorrow...hopefully the road conditions allow
 

jimk

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Rolled over in bed to see that LCC road closed from 530AM to approx. 8AM today, 3/29. Bird got 10" in last 12 hrs.
 

Zand

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Rolled over in bed to see that LCC road closed from 530AM to approx. 8AM today, 3/29. Bird got 10" in last 12 hrs.

Isn't their snowstake that's on the webcam 18"? Because it's totally buried right now...
 

snoseek

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If you want a fighting chance get in the lineup early and wait. I should have stayed up there last night. I got to wonder if half the valley is gonna try to get up.
 

Zand

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Alta is reporting 13". Hopefully to the powderhounds that's not enough for a real powder day and they'll all stay home. And maybe all the Ikon passholders in the area used their AltaBird days already. Wishful thinking right?
 

snoseek

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Today will be good. I got on the work van up so no lineup for us! Get lined up ASAP and you shoukf be ok

Edit road is open 4×4 with snows or chains
 

Skrn

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Wishful thinking for sure. I was there last weekend. Very light crowd on Saturday with Alta reporting 4" before first chair, much larger crowd on Sunday with Alta reporting 7" by first chair. My co-worker who works remotely from SLC is taking a day off today to ski snowbird. So locals will come out if they can, especially after a dry week from Monday to Thursday.

Hope you get some good turns.

Alta is reporting 13". Hopefully to the powderhounds that's not enough for a real powder day and they'll all stay home. And maybe all the Ikon passholders in the area used their AltaBird days already. Wishful thinking right?
 

thetrailboss

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12" fresh at Snowbird. 10" at my house. They forecast 1" or less. Amazing. Enjoy it today.
 

thetrailboss

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Alta is reporting 13". Hopefully to the powderhounds that's not enough for a real powder day and they'll all stay home. And maybe all the Ikon passholders in the area used their AltaBird days already. Wishful thinking right?

As said, hopefully you are skiing now! Wish I was, but I will get mine this weekend. ;)
 

BenedictGomez

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Well this is encouraging. I'll be at Snowbasin on Sunday, and they're reporting 13" and still snowing.

EDIT: Snowbasin's live snowstake is at 15" right now. And Alta's webcam shows it's still coming down.
 
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