Best Skiing outside of Alta & Snowbird in SLC Area

Hi All,

I used to go to Utah every year for business conferences. I have now
changed jobs so I am taking my wife out to Utah for a long weekend the 2nd
week in January.

I have skied both Alta and Snowbird and I love Alta although I am not
thrilled with Snowbird.

My question is: What other resorts would your recommend outside of SLC? I
know Deer Valley is much more expensive than Alta. I was wondering about
how the Canyons and Solitude compare to Alta? Keep in mind that we are only
interested in skiing so I don't care whether the resort offers snowboarding
or not.

Thanks,

FF

Give Snowbasin a try. Lots of varied terrain and served by high speed lifts.
Worth the 45 minute drive from Salt Lake.

Solitude would be my other choice.

Fred

"Frequent_Flyer" wrote in message .com...
Hi All,

I used to go to Utah every year for business conferences. I have now
changed jobs so I am taking my wife out to Utah for a long weekend the 2nd
week in January.

I have skied both Alta and Snowbird and I love Alta although I am not
thrilled with Snowbird.

My question is: What other resorts would your recommend outside of SLC? I
know Deer Valley is much more expensive than Alta. I was wondering about
how the Canyons and Solitude compare to Alta? Keep in mind that we are only
interested in skiing so I don't care whether the resort offers snowboarding
or not.

Thanks,

FF

Brighton would be another "cost conscious" option. You can drive up
to Odgen and visit either Snow Basin or Powder Mountain, but don't
expect to get to either in the advertised 45 minutes. I bought a lift
ticket voucher in the parking lot of Powder Mountain last year for
$25. Seems they augment the minimum wage paycheck of parking
attendants by giving them a few tickets to sell.

Kneale Brownson wrote:


Brighton would be another "cost conscious" option. You can drive up
to Odgen and visit either Snow Basin or Powder Mountain, but don't
expect to get to either in the advertised 45 minutes. I bought a lift
ticket voucher in the parking lot of Powder Mountain last year for
$25. Seems they augment the minimum wage paycheck of parking
attendants by giving them a few tickets to sell.

So what did you think of Powder Mt? Other than PCMR (too crowded and
overbuilt) and Sundance (too low elevation that late in the year - it
was serious soup) I've never made it out of the LCC/BCC resorts.

For FF, try Solitude and Brighton. You'll be glad you did.

-Walt

"Kneale Brownson" wrote in message

Brighton would be another "cost conscious" option. You can drive up
to Odgen and visit either Snow Basin or Powder Mountain, but don't
expect to get to either in the advertised 45 minutes. I bought a lift
ticket voucher in the parking lot of Powder Mountain last year for
$25. Seems they augment the minimum wage paycheck of parking
attendants by giving them a few tickets to sell.

Actually, many places give employees a certain number
of free lift tickets as part of the compensation package.
That along with rental, food and merchandise discounts.

And in any of those cases I've ever heard of the same
employees are absolutely forbidden to sell them. Often
it's cause for termination. The vouchers are meant to be given away to
promote business at the resort, not take money away from the resort by
preventing a customer from buying a ticket because the customer just bought
some liftie's comp ticket.

You usually end up having to explain how you got
the comp ticket, so you'd better know somebody's name.

Lots of the time it ends up to be more trouble than it's
worth, especially when they won't take the ticket you
paid 25 bucks for.

"foot2foot" wrote in message
...

"Kneale Brownson" wrote in message

Brighton would be another "cost conscious" option. You can drive up
to Odgen and visit either Snow Basin or Powder Mountain, but don't
expect to get to either in the advertised 45 minutes. I bought a
lift
ticket voucher in the parking lot of Powder Mountain last year for
$25. Seems they augment the minimum wage paycheck of parking
attendants by giving them a few tickets to sell.

Actually, many places give employees a certain number
of free lift tickets as part of the compensation package.
That along with rental, food and merchandise discounts.

And in any of those cases I've ever heard of the same
employees are absolutely forbidden to sell them. Often
it's cause for termination. The vouchers are meant to be given away to
promote business at the resort, not take money away from the resort by
preventing a customer from buying a ticket because the customer just
bought
some liftie's comp ticket.

You usually end up having to explain how you got
the comp ticket, so you'd better know somebody's name.

Lots of the time it ends up to be more trouble than it's
worth, especially when they won't take the ticket you
paid 25 bucks for.

You just have to know the details of how to tell the resort "**** you".

While true that selling them is cause for termination, 99.9% of the time
all you have to do is say that someone GAVE it to you. You don't have to
know who. Tell them you picked some guy up hitchhiking in the middle of
the night and he gave it to you. It's that old story. Pick the scenario
for which they haven't make a prohibition and STICK WITH IT! It's like
bootlegging lessons. I do it all the time. But at areas that I think
suck where I'd never consider skiing (and teaching isn't skiing).

Beware too. Some places plant sellers and buyers. I never got caught
with my gold pass but I think pc was catching on. I got rid of 40
tics/yr. there for a few years.

How does Snow Basin, Powder Mountain, and even Solitude compare to
Alta/Snowbird for a intermediate skier. I am trying to decide whether to go
someplace different this year or stick with Alta since I know I lke it
there!

Thanks,
FF


--
Live in the Triad of NC? If so then visit http://www.triadnc.net/
"Kneale Brownson" wrote in message
om...
"Frequent_Flyer" wrote in message
.com...
Hi All,

I used to go to Utah every year for business conferences. I have now
changed jobs so I am taking my wife out to Utah for a long weekend the
2nd
week in January.

I have skied both Alta and Snowbird and I love Alta although I am not
thrilled with Snowbird.

My question is: What other resorts would your recommend outside of SLC?
I
know Deer Valley is much more expensive than Alta. I was wondering
about
how the Canyons and Solitude compare to Alta? Keep in mind that we are
only
interested in skiing so I don't care whether the resort offers
snowboarding
or not.

Thanks,

FF

Brighton would be another "cost conscious" option. You can drive up
to Odgen and visit either Snow Basin or Powder Mountain, but don't
expect to get to either in the advertised 45 minutes. I bought a lift
ticket voucher in the parking lot of Powder Mountain last year for
$25. Seems they augment the minimum wage paycheck of parking
attendants by giving them a few tickets to sell.

"Frequent_Flyer" wrote in message
.com...
How does Snow Basin, Powder Mountain, and even Solitude compare to
Alta/Snowbird for a intermediate skier. I am trying to decide whether
to go
someplace different this year or stick with Alta since I know I lke it
there!

Thanks,
FF

The terrain is good. They allow snowboards though so there won't be as
much powder and *no* crud.

Frequent_Flyer wrote:

How does Snow Basin, Powder Mountain, and even Solitude compare to
Alta/Snowbird for a intermediate skier. I am trying to decide whether to go
someplace different this year or stick with Alta since I know I lke it
there!

Soritude and Brighton compare favorably to Alta for intermediate skiing.
Comparing blue trails to blue trails, Brighton is a bit easier than
Alta, Solitude a bit more challenging, but the variation isn't that
large. Alta's the best of the three, but the other two are definitely
worth a day for variety.

I can't say I found anything I really liked at Snowbird. Especially
the lodge area.

I haven't been to Powder Mountain or Snow Basin, so I can't comment on
those.


--
//-Walt
//
// The Volkl Conspiracy

"Frequent_Flyer" wrote in message r.com...
How does Snow Basin, Powder Mountain, and even Solitude compare to
Alta/Snowbird for a intermediate skier. I am trying to decide whether to go
someplace different this year or stick with Alta since I know I lke it
there!

Thanks,
FF


I'm an intermediate and highly recommend trying Snowbasin. Great
variety in runs, good lifts and super atmosphere. The lodge
facilities are the best in Utah. The best news, it's not crouded!
It's about an hour or less (depending on the weather)from SLC toward
Ogden. As on the canyon roads, recommend a 4wd vehicle if there is
snow. Last February we were lucky to ski both Snowbasin and Alta on
big snow days. Snowbasin does not have lodging, just skiing. Enjoy!

Mark