SLC resorts logistics

Neil Gendzwill wrote:
wrote:
Neil Gendzwill wrote:

Are the blues at Louise and Sunshine seriously "holy crap" compared to
those in the east? Never been to the east, don't have any idea how the
ratings compare.

Well, eastern terrain is pretty varied. I'm in Pennsylvania, which I
believe is less challenging than many places in New England. Some New
England ratings are probably comparable to those out west.

They vary in the west, too. Louise and Sunshine use a comparable scale,
but what's black at Kicking Horse would often rate a double-black in the
Banff area.

Our trip had an optional excursion to Kicking Horse, but needless to
say, we skipped it.

We visited Banff at the end of our first season of snowboarding, so we
stuck to the greens. The greens at Lake Louise definitely would have
been blues back home -- very steep in spots.

There's not a lot of green at the Lake. The main beginner's run
"Wiwaxi" definitely has some pitches that make beginners nervous.

Yes, I remember that one. Thought the name was very cool, since one of
the Burgess Shale fossil animals was named after it.

The greens at Sunshine
Village were not as tough, just extremely long, which was fun (except
for the snowboard-unfriendly flat areas).

You've got to know when to point it at Sunshine, otherwise you're
walking a lot.

We went to Banff in early April. The conditions were still quite good,
but this time I wanted to experience peak season snow instead of spring
skiing conditions. Feb. is crowded for a good reason, I imagine.

Yeah, but if you avoid that one weekend it's still doable. The Canadian
resorts aren't near as crowded that weekend as the US ones, so maybe
consider switching your trip or doing it different next time.

My brother-in-law is a teacher and my son is in high school, so it's
tough to get away for a decent amount of time without the Monday
holiday. Again, I imagine I'm in the same boat with hordes of others
.....

Joe Ramirez

Walt wrote:
wrote:

Neil Gendzwill wrote:

wrote:

Are the blues at Louise and Sunshine seriously "holy crap" compared to
those in the east? Never been to the east, don't have any idea how the
ratings compare.

Well, eastern terrain is pretty varied. I'm in Pennsylvania,

Ok. Here's the deal: The hills in PA are down at least a rating from
New England and the west; a blue in PA would rate green elsewhere. A
black in PA might be blue out west, although I've seen green runs out
west with spots that are steeper for longer than black runs in PA.
Anything blue in the west would be black in PA.

Moreover, Snowbird is one of the tougher resorts that the west has to
offer. If you find anything in PA daunting (including the "double
blacks" at Blue Mountain) you should probably not go to Snowbird.

BTW, lest I come off like some kind of vert snob, realize that I live &
ski in Michigan, which is on par with PA for the ratings. I ski PA every
Christmas and I've been to SLC half a dozen times, so I'm familiar with
the resorts in question. I mostly ski blues out west. I'm just trying
to present an objective assessment on the relative steepness, not stroke
myself about what a rad extreme dude I am.

//Walt

No, this is very helpful, thanks. If Snowbird turns out to be a bit too
much, even on the easy runs, we can always spend just one day there
instead of two. That's the good thing about the multi-resort pass. But
we can't skip it entirely because my brother-in-law has his heart set
on seeing the place.

Joe Ramirez

wrote:

But would Solitude from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. offer more opportunity than
Brighton from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.?

Rhetorical questions are fun.

AstroPax wrote:
On 1 Nov 2006 07:26:31 -0800, wrote:

2. How long does it take the free ski bus to get from downtown SLC to
the four Cottonwood Canyon resorts?

"Free" ski bus???

-Astro

It's free if you buy a lift ticket.

Joe Ramirez

wrote:
AstroPax wrote:
On 1 Nov 2006 07:26:31 -0800, wrote:


2. How long does it take the free ski bus to get from downtown SLC to
the four Cottonwood Canyon resorts?

"Free" ski bus???

It's free if you buy a lift ticket.

Or more precisely, some pre purchased lift ticket packages come with
vouchers for the bus.

// Walt

wrote:

My son and I are snowboarders. We've been riding for only a few years
in the eastern U.S. Freeride only; no interest in pipes or parks. We
wouldn't be attempting anything above a blue in Utah. (Our past
experience in the west -- Lake Louise/Banff -- revealed that greens out
there are often the equivalent of blues back here.) My brother-in-law
is a skier with a lot more experience. He skis blacks in the east; I'm
not sure how his abilities will translate to western powder, but he
typically likes long, fast runs. Not a bumps fan.

Our general plan is to make Snowbird the priority; my brother-in-law is
keen to visit that resort. We'll probably go there for two days. I
would like to go to another resort for one day (but no more than that)
-- almost certainly Brighton since it offers night sessions and seems
to generate more enthusiasm among Internet snowsport types than
Solitude. Maybe my brother-in-law will go to Alta for a day if we go to
Brighton; that'll be up to him.

If you're after more mellow blue terrain, Snowbird is the worst choice
for that. There are blues, even down from the Tram, but the overall
theme is steepness and challenge. Looking up at it from the base area,
it looks like the Matterhorn compared to most ski resorts. I wouldn't
say don't go, but I'd say don't go there your first day. Alta next door
is more mellow; you should consider that. Plenty of challenging
terrain there too, if you want it.

If you really want groomers and cruisers, consider Deer Valley and
(gasp) Park City. Deer Valley is a super-groomed, luxury place. I've
only skied there one day. A lot of people here slam PC, but I didn't
think it was so bad. I'm from the East; that was the first Western
place I skied.

Brighton and Solitude I don't know. Bear in mind though that SLC
resorts are in three different canyons: PC, DV, and the despised The
Canyons are in Parley's canyon, Alta and SB are in Little Cottonwood
canyon, and Solitude and Brighton are in Big Cottonwood canyon. AFAIK,
you can't travel between canyons by road, except by going way back down
almost to SLC.

Anyhow, you can't go too wrong in SLC. Plenty of ski areas and plenty
of snow.

Dave

Neil Gendzwill wrote:
wrote:

Well, if the blues are "holy crap" and the blacks are "time to clean
the lift chair," I guess there are always the greens. Seriously, in
an extremely large resort, the average difficulty level doesn't concern
me that much, since one can almost always find suitable terrain
somewhere. That was our experience at Lake Louise and Sunshine.

Are the blues at Louise and Sunshine seriously "holy crap" compared to
those in the east?

No. I'd say only in terms of extent, not in challenge.

Dave

Walt wrote:

If you can last from 9am to 4pm and still want more, you are a better
man than I. People who ski first chair to last are pretty rare - I'm
one of them, but I'm usually ready to quit after 7 hours. Most people
last two to three hours and are done for the day.

I definitely ski longer than that! But first chair to last - no.

Sun Valley's ski school prices are way lower for the afternoon slot than
the morning. My instructor told me that the reason was the high-speed
quads wore people out by noon. Which a 3400 vertical ft run with a 10
minute lift-ride back up will do!

Dave

Dave Stallard wrote:
wrote:

My son and I are snowboarders. We've been riding for only a few years
in the eastern U.S. Freeride only; no interest in pipes or parks. We
wouldn't be attempting anything above a blue in Utah. (Our past
experience in the west -- Lake Louise/Banff -- revealed that greens out
there are often the equivalent of blues back here.) My brother-in-law
is a skier with a lot more experience. He skis blacks in the east; I'm
not sure how his abilities will translate to western powder, but he
typically likes long, fast runs. Not a bumps fan.

Our general plan is to make Snowbird the priority; my brother-in-law is
keen to visit that resort. We'll probably go there for two days. I
would like to go to another resort for one day (but no more than that)
-- almost certainly Brighton since it offers night sessions and seems
to generate more enthusiasm among Internet snowsport types than
Solitude. Maybe my brother-in-law will go to Alta for a day if we go to
Brighton; that'll be up to him.

If you're after more mellow blue terrain, Snowbird is the worst choice
for that. There are blues, even down from the Tram, but the overall
theme is steepness and challenge. Looking up at it from the base area,
it looks like the Matterhorn compared to most ski resorts. I wouldn't
say don't go, but I'd say don't go there your first day. Alta next door
is more mellow; you should consider that. Plenty of challenging
terrain there too, if you want it.

If you really want groomers and cruisers, consider Deer Valley and
(gasp) Park City. Deer Valley is a super-groomed, luxury place. I've
only skied there one day. A lot of people here slam PC, but I didn't
think it was so bad. I'm from the East; that was the first Western
place I skied.

Two problems: Alta & Deer Valley don't look kindly on snowboarders, so
two-thirds of our party would have a tough time there (yes, it's a
cruel world ...); also, we already bought the lift tickets good only at
the SLC resorts.

How is the Mineral Basin area at Snowbird? There's supposed to be a lot
of intermediate terrain there.

Brighton and Solitude I don't know. Bear in mind though that SLC
resorts are in three different canyons: PC, DV, and the despised The
Canyons are in Parley's canyon, Alta and SB are in Little Cottonwood
canyon, and Solitude and Brighton are in Big Cottonwood canyon. AFAIK,
you can't travel between canyons by road, except by going way back down
almost to SLC.

Yes, I believe that is correct, which is why I'm not seriously
considering doing, say, Snowbird and Brighton on the same day. Would
have to take the bus down one canyon, out, and then back down the
other.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Joe Ramirez

Walt wrote:
wrote:
AstroPax wrote:
On 1 Nov 2006 07:26:31 -0800, wrote:


2. How long does it take the free ski bus to get from downtown SLC to
the four Cottonwood Canyon resorts?

"Free" ski bus???

It's free if you buy a lift ticket.

Or more precisely, some pre purchased lift ticket packages come with
vouchers for the bus.

Paid $93 for a three-day lift ticket good at all four of the SLC
resorts. At that price, the bus is as close to free as it's going to
get!

Joe Ramirez