Your goals for next season 18/19?

[BenedictGomez]

My Top-Ten list for 2019 (in no particular order)

1) Get to Magic again

2) Get to Plattekill more

3) Lose 15 pounds

4) Get out west again (did Utah 2016 & Colorado 2017). Though I will be spending a few weeks in Utah this summer, does that count?

5) Keep improving on the bumps strides I made this season

6) Take a moguls lesson (sort of like #5, but point is, I havent had a lesson in years).

7) Get faster in the trees (without suffering injury)

8 ) Wax my skis more now that I have all the equipment

9) Keep improving upon my very particular set of SOTC skills. SOTC skills I have acquired over a very long ski career.

10) Just GO skiing. Too much waiting on or guessing "conditions" makes me lose 1 or 2 weekends each season

 

[Smellytele]

1) slow down
2) drink less beer
3)ski less
wait those are my wife's goals for me.

 

[jaytrem]

My Top-Ten list for 2019 (in no particular order)

Though I will be spending a few weeks in Utah this summer, does that count?

Vacation? You hitting some National Parks? Utah is amazing. Ski/board down a sand dune and we'll count it.

 

[bdfreetuna]

1) slow down
2) drink less beer
3)ski less
wait those are my wife's goals for me.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Vacation? You hitting some National Parks? Utah is amazing. Ski/board down a sand dune and we'll count it.

Yeah; Honeymoon. The future Mrs. fell in love with Utah a few years ago when we spent 10 days there skiing, and she wants to see it in the summer, so we're spending one week in Park City, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, etc...

The second week we're either going to do some Utah National Parks south of PC, like Arches, Dinosaur Monument, and Bryce Canyon, or we'll head north and do Yellowstone & Grand Targhee. It's a tough decision. Anyone here been to all (or most) of those?

 

[jaytrem]

Yeah; Honeymoon. The future Mrs. fell in love with Utah a few years ago when we spent 10 days there skiing, and she wants to see it in the summer, so we're spending one week in Park City, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, etc...

The second week we're either going to do some Utah National Parks south of PC, like Arches, Dinosaur Monument, and Bryce Canyon, or we'll head north and do Yellowstone & Grand Targhee. It's a tough decision. Anyone here been to all (or most) of those?

Awesome, congrats! I've been to most of those places in the summer. A few recently and a whole bunch when I was a kid in the 70s. Was at Zion a couple years ago, crazy beautiful, but a bit of a drive from pc. Skinned my knee at Arches when I was around 7, also remember the arches being really cool. Tough to go wrong anywhere out there, just that some are more crowded than others when kids are out of school.

 

[JimG.]

Yeah; Honeymoon. The future Mrs. fell in love with Utah a few years ago when we spent 10 days there skiing, and she wants to see it in the summer, so we're spending one week in Park City, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, etc...

The second week we're either going to do some Utah National Parks south of PC, like Arches, Dinosaur Monument, and Bryce Canyon, or we'll head north and do Yellowstone & Grand Targhee. It's a tough decision. Anyone here been to all (or most) of those?

Camped at Grand Teton National Park for 10 days back in the early 90's. Don't miss the Tetons! Visited and hiked in Yellowstone, spent several days there also not to be missed. Spent a whole day at Dinosaur Monument. Really a fascinating place I think most people would be interested in because we all seem intrigued by dinosaurs.

Fished in the Snake river near Teton and also the Yellowstone river which was a fisherman's dream. Both are loaded with native Cutthroat trout. Yellowstone was particularly amazing because it is strictly catch and release and consequently the average sized trout was huge. 5 pounders were "small" and we caught 10-15 pounders with little effort.

 

[abc]

so we're spending one week in Park City, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, etc...

I'm assuming you have a base (family?) in PC? Otherwise, it doesn't compare with the rest of Utah.

For 2 or even 3 weeks, you probably don't want to go all over the place and end up not seeing enough in detail.

Focus on either the south or the north. (you CAN split with one week each, but even that is short the moment you start talking about hiking and mountain biking). I like the south. Arches, Bryce and Zion is just ... out of this freaking world!

For mountain biking, Moab and Fruita, need I say more? (actually, there's a whole lot more of absolutely fantastic mountain biking in southern Utah that don't make the New York Time hippy's list like Moab & Fruita, that are just as great, go to mtbr.com to have a glimpse)

Yellowstone is great. Teton is great. Albeit a bit over-hyped. More importantly, different. Yellowstone is a nice mixture of wild life and geysers, both are unique and fantastic. But the hiking is ... well, nothing special. For hiking, I think southern Utah has better hiking because you're more "in" the scenery. Very intimate, and every turn of the corner reveals new vista. As oppose to the Tetons, where you're looking at them at a distance for a long while, a bit detached.

So it depends on your personal preference, you may like one more than the other.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I'm assuming you have a base (family?) in PC? Otherwise, it doesn't compare with the rest of Utah.

No family in Park City, but there's plenty of hiking, mountain biking, fishing, restaurants, stuff to do in that area, and we found insanely cheap lodging, so it seemed like a no brainer to stay a week there. Also, the future Mrs. really loved Utah and a few years ago made me promise to take her there in the summer as she wanted to see what the Wasatch area is like in a non-skiing/warmer setting.

It's the other week that we have complete flexibility over to see some national parks, and I do agree with your fear of attempting to, "see so much that you wind up seeing nothing", so to speak. So I need to figure out how much time is needed to really check out a park and do at least a few major trails, perhaps we'll only wind up seeing 2 parks in 6 days if it's better to take 3 full days per park, etc....

 

[abc]

Bryce and Arches are probably the two most photogenic of the National Parks. Next to Bryce is Ceder Brake and Red Canyon. Bother beautiful beyond believe. (my personal preference: intricate rock formation you can hike/bike next to)

You need to keep weather (temperature) and crowd in mind. Choose wisely on those factor, you can't go wrong in terms of what's there to see. But crowds can totally change the experience (temperature too).

 

[SkiFanE]

Camped at Grand Teton National Park for 10 days back in the early 90's. Don't miss the Tetons! Visited and hiked in Yellowstone, spent several days there also not to be missed. Spent a whole day at Dinosaur Monument. Really a fascinating place I think most people would be interested in because we all seem intrigued by dinosaurs.

Fished in the Snake river near Teton and also the Yellowstone river which was a fisherman's dream. Both are loaded with native Cutthroat trout. Yellowstone was particularly amazing because it is strictly catch and release and consequently the average sized trout was huge. 5 pounders were "small" and we caught 10-15 pounders with little effort.

We're going to dude ranch in Grand Tetons first week of July. Only ranch in any US National Park - looks amazing. First time in that part of country. Plan to get to Yellowstone one day. Maybe Snake River another. Kinda depends on what kids want to do.

 

[Smellytele]

We're going to dude ranch in Grand Tetons first week of July. Only ranch in any US National Park - looks amazing. First time in that part of country. Plan to get to Yellowstone one day. Maybe Snake River another. Kinda depends on what kids want to do.

The Tetons are incredible. Can't even describe the views as the valley is so flat and sparsely treed and the rugged mountains are so majestic. Climbed the middle teton and the grand and they were both incredible, The saddle between the 2 had the craziest outhouse.

 

[tumbler]

Yeah; Honeymoon. The future Mrs. fell in love with Utah a few years ago when we spent 10 days there skiing, and she wants to see it in the summer, so we're spending one week in Park City, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, etc...

The second week we're either going to do some Utah National Parks south of PC, like Arches, Dinosaur Monument, and Bryce Canyon, or we'll head north and do Yellowstone & Grand Targhee. It's a tough decision. Anyone here been to all (or most) of those?

We just did almost all of them starting in Moab and ending in Vegas. We flew into Salt Lake and drove to Moab. Did (in order) Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, Grand Staircase, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon. Took a week, a good amount of driving and spent enough time at each park to see the high points of each. Moab is a very cool place and you can do Arches and Canyonlands form there. Capital Reef would be a long day trip. I was blown away by each one and how different they are.

 

[BenedictGomez]

We just did almost all of them starting in Moab and ending in Vegas. We flew into Salt Lake and drove to Moab. Did (in order) Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, Grand Staircase, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon. Took a week, a good amount of driving and spent enough time at each park to see the high points of each.

So you spent 1 day at each park; was that enough? We decided on the southern option since I last posted and are going to do Dinosaur & Arches for sure, but we were thinking we'd spend 2 or 3 days at each park rather than seeing a bunch of places. Is 3 days at a place like Arches too much?

 

[jaytrem]

So you spent 1 day at each park; was that enough? We decided on the southern option since I last posted and are going to do Dinosaur & Arches for sure, but we were thinking we'd spend 2 or 3 days at each park rather than seeing a bunch of places. Is 3 days at a place like Arches too much?

Plenty to see in a week even if you stay in one general area. Besides the NPs there a lots of other places that are just as cool. When we went to Zion a couple years ago we planned on hitting Bryce too, eventually decided to cut down on the driving and focus more on one area. Glad we did, not even close to running out of new thing to see. Here is a week near Arches article on utah.com (if the huge url doesn't work look for "super 6")...

https://utah.com/super-six-one-week...e=Super Six&url=/Super-Six-One-Week-Itinerary

 

[abc]

So you spent 1 day at each park; was that enough? We decided on the southern option since I last posted and are going to do Dinosaur & Arches for sure, but we were thinking we'd spend 2 or 3 days at each park rather than seeing a bunch of places. Is 3 days at a place like Arches too much?

Arches is the smallest park. When I went, which is many years ago, we were allowed to hike around and even climb up on the arches. So you can spend as many days there as you like before you get tired of seeing yet another arches! Yes, I think 3 day might be a arch overload. I think it's more restrictive now regarding climbing up the arches. If so, maybe 2 days will be enough.

Canyonland is right next door. So, if you get sick of arches, you can just cross the road over to Canyonland. Or simply hike out into the more remote arches to escape the crowds.

What time of year you're going? It can get hot in the middle of summer.

 

[tumbler]

So you spent 1 day at each park; was that enough? We decided on the southern option since I last posted and are going to do Dinosaur & Arches for sure, but we were thinking we'd spend 2 or 3 days at each park rather than seeing a bunch of places. Is 3 days at a place like Arches too much?

We had kids in tow also so didn't do all the big hikes but made sure to see the highlights at each one. Each park is totally different and you are looking at each one from a different perspective. It amazed me that they all were so different looking in a small area. I'm glad we did see a bunch of places, I don't when I will get back there. It was very wierd leaving SLC instead of driving up LCC to ski...

Arches can be seen from the road and there are smaller hikes that are easy. The windows hike is big bang for the buck. 3 days is too much IMO. We did the highlights in about half a day.
Canyonlands- looking down into the canyons. Did the arch hike there and the longer hike out and back. Did not drive the road down into the canyon. Looked F'in crazy! Did this in just over half a day.
Capital Reef- I was blown away. Even the drive from Moab to there was beautiful. We stopped at Goblin Valley which was very cool for the kids. There is a road at Capital Reef that you drive out and we did the Grand wash road and hike. Again, just unbelievable.
Grand Staircase- Huge. We did a small slot canyon. It is attached to Capital Reef so looks a bit similar but not jaw dropping of Capital Reef.
Bryce- very cool, you are looking down onto the Hoodoos. Do the horseback ride, very worth it. Drive the road and pull off at the vistas.
Zion- Small and VERY CROWDED. It is the 3rd most visited NP in the US. You park and take a bus around most of the park. The crowds and buses are an interesting juxtaposition to the scenery. We did not do the Angels hike, a little sketch for the kids. There is a good hike at one of the tunnels that has a great view down the valley.

 

[abc]

Capital Reef- I was blown away. Even the drive from Moab to there was beautiful. We stopped at Goblin Valley which was very cool for the kids. There is a road at Capital Reef that you drive out and we did the Grand wash road and hike. Again, just unbelievable.

Good to hear you like Capital Reef so much. I too, liked it a lot when I went.

It's the first desert national park I've visited. I was like you, BLOWN AWAY! But later, all the Utah locals told me that's the least interesting of the 5 national park of Utah. I couldn't fathom how much better the other 4 possibly be like.

I have since visited all but Canyonland. I have to say they were MORE dramatic than Capitol Reef. Would I be disappointed by Capitol Reef had I visited it after seeing the other parks? I can't say as I've not been back yet.

One thing though. It's the least crowded of all the national parks of Utah. So I would keep that in mind if ever in the area during high season.

Bryce- very cool, you are looking down onto the Hoodoos.

Nooooo!!!

You MUST walking down IN the Hoodoos! It's amazing!!!

Zion- Small and VERY CROWDED.

I know it gets crowded. But it's NOT SMALL!

The road you drove in from Bryce is already part of the park, a good 50-60 miles of it. There're hikes from that road that gets you to the rim of the plateur with a bird's eye view of the valley below. Yes, majority of tourists didn't know that.

Then there's the hike into the Narrow, which is consider by many hikers as a "bucket list worthy" hike. I've been to Zions several times. Still many hikes I would like to do but haven't got around to find it time to do. It's anything but small.

 

[tumbler]

Good to hear you like Capital Reef so much. I too, liked it a lot when I went.

It's the first desert national park I've visited. I was like you, BLOWN AWAY! But later, all the Utah locals told me that's the least interesting of the 5 national park of Utah. I couldn't fathom how much better the other 4 possibly be like.

I have since visited all but Canyonland. I have to say they were MORE dramatic than Capitol Reef. Would I be disappointed by Capitol Reef had I visited it after seeing the other parks? I can't say as I've not been back yet.

One thing though. It's the least crowded of all the national parks of Utah. So I would keep that in mind if ever in the area during high season.


Nooooo!!!

You MUST walking down IN the Hoodoos! It's amazing!!!


I know it gets crowded. But it's NOT SMALL!

The road you drove in from Bryce is already part of the park, a good 50-60 miles of it. There're hikes from that road that gets you to the rim of the plateur with a bird's eye view of the valley below. Yes, majority of tourists didn't know that.

Then there's the hike into the Narrow, which is consider by many hikers as a "bucket list worthy" hike. I've been to Zions several times. Still many hikes I would like to do but haven't got around to find it time to do. It's anything but small.

I can totally see that about Capital Reef. Just what it is and the scale of it is massive. It was the 3rd park we did. I loved Arches. Bryce was great and doing the horseback ride into the canyon put us in the hoodoos which was cool. I understand what you are saying about Zion's size, I was refering to the actual part inside the gates. We definitely didn't do a lot of things.

 

[abc]

Bryce was great and doing the horseback ride into the canyon put us in the hoodoos

Ah, I didn't realize the horse back ride was in the same area of the hoodoos. I didn't see anyone on horseback when I hiked it.

about Zion's size, I was refering to the actual part inside the gates

"inside the gates" is just the Valley floor. That's the most crowded part but in my view not the most interesting part. I like the rims more. Way cool to look 1000' down and all the people like ants.

That said, it's very pleasant to walk around the valley floor without having to dodge cars. Coming from California, we always talk about when will Yosemite implement a bus system and stop all those cars spoiling the view (in addition to polluting the air)