Utah
 

A ski buddy and I are considering the US this year for skiing and would like
to tour around and see a few top resorts, Utah looks a good prospect.

We will be on a 10/12 day holiday. Does anyone have any advice/info on how
best to see the top resorts in the area, eg: the most convenient bases to
stay at for car access to the best from the following: Alta, Beaver
Mountain, Brian Head, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City, Powder
Mountain, Snowbasin, Snowbird, Solitude and Sundance?

Which are the 'not to be missed' resorts and which ones are of less
interest?

MTIA Steve

I had a great week in Utah with my son over spring break. We stayed at
a Days Inn in Salt Lake City. It's on 7000 South near I15 in Midvale,
and very close to the bus station where ski buses meet the light rail
line. In SLC there are city buses going to the resorts in Big & Little
Cottonwood Canyon (and, I think, over towards Park City).

Our routine was to drive West along 7000 South to a ski shop called
Canyon Sports where discount lift tickets are available for the local
resorts. From there we would either continue driving to our resort for
the day or park near a bus stop and take the bus. There were several
days when the snow caused the canyons to be closed to vehicles without
chains or 4WD (our rental had neither) so the bus was a convenient,
safe and cheap option.

It's all good, but I enjoyed Little Cottonwood Canyon the most, with
Snowbird & Alta. Snowbird offers guided tours in the morning and, as
the days only guidee, I enjoyed it immensely. Solitude, in Big
Cottonwood Canyon, provided the best snow that I have ever experienced
(I bought, and needed, powder cords). I was told that Brighton tends to
be rowdy, but can't confirm that.

Moving around to the North, and further from the city (perhaps a
half-hour drive) Deer Valley was a rather luxurious experience, and
would be very attractive to somebody who likes meticulous grooming more
than I do. The Canyons (used to be Park City West, I think) has
spectacular scenery and was my son's favorite, but felt too much like a
real estate development for my taste.

Years ago I drove down to Sundance and found it a very nice, but much
smaller, place.

It's good to stay up in the mountains, and SLC isn't a particularly
pleasant city, but I was content to trade that for the ability to drive
to any of the resorts depending on that day's weather.

I will definitely be going back there.

Giles

Giles gives very good information. Spent a week in UT last year. We
stayed in Park City near The Canyons. If you're on a tight budget
there are several relatively inexpensive but decent hotels in Sandy and
Midvale (you might join epicski.com and search the forums for lots of
discussion on this topic). From there you're within easy driving
distance to The Canyons, Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley, Alta,
Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton, and Snowbasin. Canyon Sports is indeed a
good place for discount lift tickets. Park City is a terrific resort
town with lots of interesting bars, restaurants, and shops. The
downside of Park City is that I think the best skiing and scenery is in
the Big (Solitude and Brighton) and Little (Alta and Snowbird)
Cottonwood canyons. The three Park City resorts do offer tons of good
cruising terrain. When we go back, and we will go back, we'll probably
focus on Alta, Snowbird, and Solitude. And I really want to try
Snowbasin -- every review I've read is a rave.

(you might join epicski.com and search the forums for lots of
discussion on this topic).

Skihound
Thanks for the info and the very useful forum above. I've registered and
will no doubt spend hours looking through!

Steve

Bunter wrote:
A ski buddy and I are considering the US this year for skiing and would like
to tour around and see a few top resorts, Utah looks a good prospect.

We will be on a 10/12 day holiday. Does anyone have any advice/info on how
best to see the top resorts in the area, eg: the most convenient bases to
stay at for car access to the best from the following: Alta, Beaver
Mountain, Brian Head, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City, Powder
Mountain, Snowbasin, Snowbird, Solitude and Sundance?

Which are the 'not to be missed' resorts and which ones are of less
interest?

We drive out for a short (10-14 days) tour every once in a while (it's
hard to leave Tahoe, but we make the sacrifice.) The best skiing is
Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, not in that order. The rest are forgetable,
and specialize in tourist hollidays, not in skiing. You can stay cheap
in numerous motels at the mouth of the canyons and daytrip up the
canyons no sweat.

Also Jackson/Targhee are an afternoon's drive away and worth the effort,
particularly since Jackson is so overbuilt for the summer tourist crowd
that they practicully give away rooms in the winter - Motel 8 for
instance had rooms at $140 for 2 for the WEEK last year. Drive to
Jackson after skiing, ski Jackson, and hit Targhee on the way back to
SLC, since lodging in Driggs is tighter.

(Check out http://skitruck.com/ and visit them when you're in SLC - it's
a kick; 1000s of pairs of skis cheap.)

lal_truckee wrote:
Bunter wrote:
Which are the 'not to be missed' resorts and which ones are of less
interest?

We drive out for a short (10-14 days) tour every once in a while (it's
hard to leave Tahoe, but we make the sacrifice.) The best skiing is
Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, not in that order. The rest are forgetable,
and specialize in tourist hollidays, not in skiing. You can stay cheap
in numerous motels at the mouth of the canyons and daytrip up the
canyons no sweat.

Several years ago, I stayed with a group of friends in a small
non-descript condo at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon and it
was the best skiing and the cheapest stays I've ever had on a ski
trip. One of my all-time favorites. Only bad thing was that the
snow was so great, they closed the slopes *and* the road one
afternoon around 3. They finally dug out the avalanche around
2AM and bussed us all back down the mountain - wouldn't let us
take the cars! And *I* didn't make it back up there for what was
surely an epic next day... argh! There was almost 5 feet of new
powder over the week that we were there and I've never seen
anything like it since.


--
Brent Harsh - KD4PBO /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign: Say
bharsh at ncroadrunner \ / NO to HTML in email and news.
------------------------X-------------------------------
Cary, NC, USA / \ Read my mail with fixed fonts.

I am assuming you ahave chosen Utah because of the quality of snow. I am not sure what the Tahoe crowd means when they say it hard to leave. Perhaps skiing there is just convenient for them. If you like skiing light powder snow from top to bottom instead of Siera Cement definitely come to Utah.

The best powder skiing is Alta. You have to work for it. Lots of traversing and climbing. alta also does not groom very much. Snowbird is next. 3000 ft of vertical. Plenty of Glades, Chutes, trees and fantastic bowls. Keeep in mind there is nothing to do at alta/snowbird socially. It is all about skiing. if you are taking advantage of the mountain you will be too tired to do anyhing at night.

Solitude, Brighton get great utah snow but arew not as difficult or challenging as Alta/Snowbird.

Park city, Canyons, Deer Valley all are mega resorts catering to those who would rather have a great meal than ski. the skiing can be quite good though but the elevation is lower than alta/Snowbird, and it snows less.

You can ski alta/Snowbird and stay in the valley inexpensively. There are suite hotels for about 80$ per night. You can be up on the mountain in a half hour if the road is open.

Have fun and please aask if yo need more help


Any other questions, just ask..

If you want to hit them all, you will want to stay in SLC. Downtown is not
quite as boring as people make it out to be, but it is no where near the
nightlife of Park City.

I lived in SLC in the early 90's, I won't comment on some of the resorts,
but if I were going back to ski, I'd focus on Deer Valley, Alta, Solitude.
I'd probably also try the Canyons, and a couple of others upgraded by the
Olympics, but then again I might now. I wouldn't bother with Brighton or
Sundance unless you are just collecting lift tickets and T-Shirts.

I'd start at Deer Valley, then go to Solitude, Alta, Solitude, Alta, and end
my trip back at Deer Valley.

Just my opinion.

--
Richardson/Bayh in 2008
Cause I feel like voting for a democrat this time around.

"Bunter" wrote in message
...
A ski buddy and I are considering the US this year for skiing and would
like to tour around and see a few top resorts, Utah looks a good prospect.

We will be on a 10/12 day holiday. Does anyone have any advice/info on how
best to see the top resorts in the area, eg: the most convenient bases to
stay at for car access to the best from the following: Alta, Beaver
Mountain, Brian Head, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City,
Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Snowbird, Solitude and Sundance?

Which are the 'not to be missed' resorts and which ones are of less
interest?

MTIA Steve

oh, yea, one other thing, be aware that some of the resorts in Utah, like
Deer Valley and Alta, don't allow snowboarders. Which is another reason I
like them so much.


--
Richardson/Bayh in 2008
Cause I feel like voting for a democrat this time around.

"Bunter" wrote in message
...
A ski buddy and I are considering the US this year for skiing and would
like to tour around and see a few top resorts, Utah looks a good prospect.

We will be on a 10/12 day holiday. Does anyone have any advice/info on how
best to see the top resorts in the area, eg: the most convenient bases to
stay at for car access to the best from the following: Alta, Beaver
Mountain, Brian Head, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City,
Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Snowbird, Solitude and Sundance?

Which are the 'not to be missed' resorts and which ones are of less
interest?

MTIA Steve