DrCR Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I'm hitting Utah this year with a few friends for maybe 10 days or so. My thought is to spend at least one day at every resort worth visiting, and then stay ski-in/ski-out at the best mountain or two for the remainder of the time. After a bit of homework, my initial thought is to say off mountain to the south/south-west and drive in to Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, PCMR/Canyons, et al., and then say ski-in/ski-out at Powder Mountain for the remaining days since, I've read, Powder Mountain's access road can be iffy. But I don't even know, for example, if Powder Mountain would be the best time investment or even worth visiting. I don't mind a bit of driving initially to check out all the resorts of interest, but I'd like to settle in a bit to have more chill time after the first several days. Any recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcousticBoarder Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 (edited) I have been to Solitude, Snowbird, Park City and Powder mountain. Maybe Canyons too, I don't remember... Solitude is nice, it has a fitting name. It usually is not too crowded, which means plenty of space to put in some carves. It is a bit smaller than the rest, but I think it is also cheaper. I would definitely visit this one, one of my favorites. Met up with some local carves when we were there too. Powder Mountain when I went was also great. There was not as much snow when I was there, so no problems on the roads. I know they have a shuttle that goes way down, people backcountry ski down to the road and get picked up by it to get back to the top. As it's name suggests, it is a great place to go soon after a storm. Lots of places to hit some power if you want, even after a few days. I know they also offer snowcat service to get to some more remote places at the mountain, if you want to get some off piste power time. Definitely had some nice carving spots too though, probably my second favorite out of the ones I have been to. Park City is huge. There are definitely some runs there for carving, but because of it's fame, it is usually more crowded. When I went we only spent a day there and then went back to solitude. We did meet a few carvers there too though. It is a bit remote from the others in cottonwood canyon ofcourse I personally did not care for Snowbird too much. Lots of traversing, quite a few steep and/ or narrow trails that are pretty much unavoidable to get to any decent carving areas. If you ski too, you may like it for that, but I did not enjoy it as much on a carving board. The magic carpet tunnel through the mountain was fun though! Edit: These are my thoughts from a carver specific viewpoint :) Edited December 3, 2015 by AcousticBoarder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Donnelly Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 (edited) Gotta consider Snowbasin, we liked Powder Mtn too. On line resources: http://www.visitsaltlake.com/ http://www.skisaltlake.com/ Plenty to choose from! Edited December 2, 2015 by Pat Donnelly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boardguru Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Snowbasin is a great mountain, plenty of steep terrain. Powder Mountain is really a very fun place to ride. I started riding there in1976. Not so much steep terrain as other resorts, but a whole lot of very fun places to ride. Way low key atmosphere, it is a total local vibe. When the storms favor it for powder it TOTALLY rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatSn1perGuy Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Over the summer Park City and Cannons merged into the US's larges resort. Definitely spend some time there, I think they did 55 million in renovation so it should be very nice. But it will be very crowded so maybe go during the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Me, I like to stay in SLC and then drive to wherever. I have been to but not ridden Park City, which seems more of a tourist destination than the others. Deer Valley and Alta are obviously off my list also. You can get to most places on the bus from SLC or obviously driving is easy. Powder Mountain's a way away but worth the drive when the snow's good, and unlike the hills near the city the powder there seems not to get shredded so quickly. Snowbird is my favourite, but I think you may not like it if you ride those long American style "carving" boards (I keep banging on about this, I'm told). If you're comfortable all mountain then it's a great place, but... if you don't know your way around it may seem small and weird. So this one works best with a local, as route-finding is tricky, and the best bits are hidden between cliffs and stuff. Don't expect first tracks anywhere on piste here, but you can get a lot of fresh if you know where to go after a storm. But I'd hit them all - they're none of them huge places by European standards, so you can pick and choose depending on who has the snow and which way you fancy driving. Most are not predominantly destination resorts, so lots of people just drive there for the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Snowbasin is my fave. I like Snowbird too. Don't plan on carving the whole time, the off piste is too much fun not to explore. At both places. Park City seemed to be weirdly laid out but I didn't get much chance to explore as I was racing at the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Buggs Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Was at Snowbird early last year. It was fun but I was glad I brought my All Mountain board, there was more bumps and free riding than carving. If your looking to lay down turns most of the day then skip the Bird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishrising Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 PowMow was great. Snow Basin was great. Snowbird was great. The Canyons was fun. We home based out of Moose Hollow condos / Eden at the start of the access road to Powder Mtn. Day trips to the mountains I mentioned. Had a good time at all. If I were to do the same trip again, I'd probably skip the Canyons and double up at one of the other three. If I had 10 days out there, I'd do 3 or 4 days where I mentioned above, then drive to Jackson and Grand Targhee for a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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