All Utah BS

[jimk]

New thread for miscellaneous Utah discussions as suggested by @letitsnow1

Pulling some posts from the Vail Sucks Thread that pertained to Solitude and some of the other Utah resorts. In particular, @kingslug was asking about how Solitude compared to Brighton, Alta, and Snowbird.

The first time I went to Solitude (maybe 2008) I actually did get a premium vibe from it, but part of that was it was dead there, which made it feel exclusive . Facilites seemed pretty nice at the time.

What made Solitude good was that it WAS quiet compared to the other Cottonwood areas. Had that been my first Cottonwoods area to visit I’d probably like it more. But since I ski Alta, Brighton, and Snowbird, it’s a tough sell.

I’ve known many folks from here and back east who rave about Solitude because it WAS their first taste of the Cottonwoods back in the day. It’s changed with IKON but I’ve been hearing anecdotally that the parking reservations and fees have indeed mitigated crowding.

Since I can ski Soli unrestricted...ill be checking it out much more now.

I like Solitude. I know the layout is a little weird, but there's a lot of good stuff there. The new (well not so new now) Summit lift was a good improvement. Have had some runs in the Honeycomb Canyon that are burned into the memory banks.

I don't have a lot of days there... but there's a reason. It really doesn't feel like big mountain skiing. Lots of pod skiing with incredibly short verticals in each, half are under 1,000 vert. Zero lifts over 1,400 vert.

But I also wish Alta had another lift or 2 with 1,500+ vert. I love getting tram laps at the Bird! Runs go on forever!

Agreed. As I have said before, my perspective was set by Alta, the first place I skied in UT. Snowbird was second. Solitude is quite different from those two.

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I mostly ski Snowbird (40 days last winter) and have a season pass there, but Solitude is the place I ski second most (~10 days per winter) because I also have an Ikon base pass. If you asked me to rank my favorite Cottonwood Canyon ski areas I'd say 1)Snowbird, 2) Alta, 3) Brighton, 4) Solitude. Having said that, they're all great and I generally have big fun at Soli too. I have several ski buddies who ski Soli a lot and know it very well. They have shown me some great and gnarly stuff there. I've also learned that Soli is a pretty good place to be on a storm day. It's less crazy than Alta/Bird and there are some good treed areas to help with visibility.
Random Solitude photos:
Buckeye Jr slope in Honeycomb Canyon


Skiing below a mineshaft in Honeycomb Canyon




Snowy day on Scree Slope in Solitude Canyon


Couple of buddies showing me the entrance to gnarly Cathedral Cirque in Solitude Canyon


Looking up Cathedral Cirque


Solitude wiggle near Sunshine Bowl


Diamond Lane view


One of the most iconic (pardon the expression) views in all of Utah skiing, Fantasy Ridge above Solitude's Honeycomb Canyon: