fishrising Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Just booked a mid March trip to Powder Mountain in Utah! Need some advice on what boards to bring please. I will be riding plates. I am definitely taking my Rad-Air Tanker 187 OS and my Prior splitboard. As we are doing some cat riding and some guided side mountain riding. But what to bring for a carving board???? An all mountain board like my Donek Axxess? Or something more groom specific like my Donek Freecarve or a Coiler Nirvana? What SCRs would you recommend for groom at Powder Mountain? What else do I need to know? Oh, how about what local beers to pick up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breeseomatic Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Oh, how about what local beers to pick up? I have been to Utah a few times and the beer selection there is underwhelming. Puritanical alcohol laws prevent the manufacture of beer that is greater than 4% served by tap. Bottles are another story, but see my first statement. IPA to them is like a mild ale with water everywhere else. Drinking beer in Utah is about as expensive as straight liquor. If you go to a restaurant, you need to order food in order to drink, you can't just grab a beer and leave. Utah has some epic powder and the people a really nice, however the ABC laws are stupid, so I recommend bringing a bottle of scotch and a flask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 (edited) FishR: Powder Mountain is a great place to ride. You'll enjoy your Tanker there. Your Prior split may or may not be needed depending if you are going to leave PM and access backcountry somewhere else. The Donek Axxess is another board that will perform well at PM. There are plenty of groomers there, along with powder in late season. the Donek FC will work along with the Coiler. SCR? well, you can bring just about anything you have. There is a small hard boot contingent there but, most have moved over to Snowbasin, I hear. There is snowcat boarding and a shuttle bus, too. They have hell-boarding but, save your clams for something epic. PM has done quite a bit in the last few years to enhance their operations. Hidden Lake lift will give you access to whatever the day might bring: groomers, pow, and trees. Lot's of fun on HL. And, there is night skiing/boarding, too. There is a bar called the Powderkeg at the main lodge. No wine or spirits but, like breesej said above, lots of over-priced watered-down beer. The ABC laws are stupid but, they can be navigated by savvy drinkers. Most wine and spirits are reasonably priced but, beers tend to be overpriced and never on sale. You can buy 3.2ABV beers at C stores and grocery stores (and it's cold). Otherwise, plan ahead and buy some beers at the DABC stores in Ogden or Salt Lake before you come up to PM. Those beers are all 3.9ABV and above. Let us know your dates and some of us locals from the other valleys will make sure you find your way around the hill and the bar. Mark Edited November 12, 2014 by utahcarver grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Yeah I never really fathomed the alcohol laws, except it's not a great place for beer and sometimes I was asked to "sign in" people so they could drink. On the other hand there were none of my countrymen vomiting in the street, so perhaps there's an upside. "Polygamy Porter" is at least a decent name for beer, and you can get t-shirts advertising it... not sure how well that goes down with the people in dark suits with badges mind. From what I remember Powder Mountain was a great place with a relatively large amount of terrain the number of lifts - less intense than other Utah resorts for example. It was off the beaten track the powder lasted longer there. The local culture is a little alarming to people like me (hunting and religion and "biscuits and gravy"), but in practice no one tried to shoot me or convert me, and I survived Cracker Barrel too. Boards... personal choice as always. I took a Burton Fish and a slalom board, but that's what I like riding. From memory it was fairly "alpine", so not huge numbers of trees and not hugely steep, but that's memory for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishrising Posted November 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Thanks all! I appreciate it! I will certainly revive this thread come closer to trip time. Just too excited to not start asking questions, as I haven't been out West to ride since the 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Donnelly Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishrising Posted November 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Thanks! We will have 4 days riding. Most likely at least 1 day via a cat. And we plan on hitting Snow Basin as well for a day. Sat, Sun, Mon and Tue riding. Any preference on what resort to hit during the weekend? Is one typically more crowded than the other on weekends? Probably will try to book the cat on a weekend day to avoid weekend resort crowds...unless thats not a concern there like it is here in the Northeast... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Thanks! We will have 4 days riding. Most likely at least 1 day via a cat. And we plan on hitting Snow Basin as well for a day. Sat, Sun, Mon and Tue riding. Any preference on what resort to hit during the weekend? Is one typically more crowded than the other on weekends? Probably will try to book the cat on a weekend day to avoid weekend resort crowds...unless thats not a concern there like it is here in the Northeast... Snowbasin is a big area and yet, can get crowded on certain runs. Snowbasin has more steep areas than PM and will make your legs burn a bit more. The weekends are the busiest for both PM and Basin. Mid-week is your time for open runs. Stay at PM on Sat/Sun and go over to SB on Mon/Tues. The cat would be great for the weekend jaunt at PM. Good luck and have fun! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boardguru Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 I agree with Mark on his observations for the conditions at both resorts. We, (my wife and I) ride Snowbasin and Powder Mountain. Snowbasin starts getting crowded at around 11:00-11:30 on weekends. Powder Mountain a couple hours later, but, the crowds at Powder Mountain are WAY less than at Snowbasin. Riding the backcountry cat will be awesome for you, lots of great terrain. email me at trishwheat at comcast dot net. if you would like to ride together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamby Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 You will have a blast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Guy... Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 But what to bring for a carving board???? An all mountain board like my Donek Axxess? Or something more groom specific like my Donek Freecarve or a Coiler Nirvana? What SCRs would you recommend for groom at Powder Mountain? What else do I need to know? Oh, how about what local beers to pick up? Powder is very board specific. You must use an Oxess XXR174 with a custom SCR of 10.3. Anything other than that will be a complete waste of time and will ruin your vacation. ;) I think you may be overthinking it just a bit. I get around the mountain just fine on either a Kessler 168 or 185. Powder days see me out loafing about on a Supermodel 81. It doesn't really get crowded, even on the weekends, so you won't have much lap traffic to worry about out turning. I'd say bring an all mountain and a carver in the 170-180cm range if you have it, and don't forget your low light goggles because it can get cloudy in a hurry up there. Alcohol laws can be blamed on the predominant local sect. Honestly, the beer tastes just the same, and given the higher elevation, the lower BAC is more or less compensated for. Extreme booze hounds may be able to tell the difference, though. State liquor stores will have the high point brew if required. I live about 25 minutes from Powder, so shoot me a PM when you're close to being out here, and I'll show you all the secret groomer stashes. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishrising Posted January 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks all so far! Starting to look into booking days with the Powder Mtn run snowcats or possibly with diamond peak heli-ski (http://www.diamondpeaks.com). Any thoughts on cat vs heli for that area and time of year? I saw Mark's comment on heli and saving my clams for something epic. Prices look like ~3 days cat = 1 day heli, or thereabouts. I am leaning toward cat, but never went heli and not sure when I will be back out west... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Well I've never ridden cats/ heli there, although I have ridden with some of the owners elsewhere. If cost is no issue AND the other people can ride, use a heli. If cost is an issue, or if you cannot ensure the others are competent, cats are better. Daily heli is risky as the others may be tourists. If you're good, it's expensive as they usually have an extra vertical meter. For daily stuff, unless that know you, the terrain will be what they can rescue you from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishrising Posted January 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) Snowcat is booked! Now to pray for snow to keep coming into March! Also, I may end up riding softies...since I am going with all softbooters. Rode my softboots this weekend, and had a blast...been a long time! Thinking maybe bringing this Donek and put some softboot bindings on my 187 Tanker OS: Edited January 12, 2015 by fishrising Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishrising Posted February 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 Ok, need lodging thoughts and mountain thoughts now. Our party is increasing. We originally had a 2 bedroom condo at PowMow for 3 guys. We now have a confirmed 4th and possibly 5th going. Where should we look? House rental is fine. $100+/pp per night is fine, so call $500ish/night. We are in friday March 13 and our only set plan at the moment is we have a cat booked at PowMow for Sunday (day 2) the 15th. Other than that we are open. Thinking PowMow on Saturday (day 1). But for Monday and Tuesday day 3 and 4 where should we go? Snowbasin? Depending on snow, conditions and availability we would gladly jump on another cat. But is Eden a good spot to hit both mountains? Or stay closer to one than the other? Need some local insight on where to stay. Rodney Dangerfield's house is available to rent, we may jump on it: http://www.vrbo.com/663412 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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